Fire (63 page)

‘First and foremost, the fire must be put out,’ Nicke says in a didactic tone, as if Dad is seriously slow on the uptake or, alternatively, about two years old. ‘Then we’ll have a closer look for the likely cause.’

‘The cause of this is celebrating just round the corner! Positive Engelsfors has instigated this! They have been threatening me constantly since the autumn and you haven’t done a bloody thing about it!’

‘Now, I think we had better calm down, right?’ Nicke says.

‘Calm? Why should I be calm?’ Dad shouts.

Minoo watches him anxiously. She doesn’t doubt that PE is behind this. But when Dad loses his temper, he simply sounds paranoid.

‘Afraid I’ve got a job to do,’ Nicke says and walks off.

Dad stands there. Minoo can virtually see the anger drain away. All that’s left is despair.

When he had finished journalism college, he immediately landed a post in Stockholm, at one of the national dailies. He made a good career for himself. But all the same, he chose to move back to his old home town as editor-inchief for the local paper. Not because it was a prestigious job, but precisely because it was not. Because Engelsfors was a town in decline. A town without hope, where fear and bigotry thrived.

He has given his life to this town. And now, it has taken everything from him.

Minoo dearly wants to go to him. But she has spotted several yellow jackets in the crowd. Probably not amulet-wearers, but she can’t be certain. And her father is safe, while hundreds might die tonight.

‘Come on,’ she says to Vanessa. ‘We must go.’

‘Nicke really is a fool,’ Vanessa says when they start walking back to the City Mall. PC Plod has more fucking talent.’

‘I can’t get into my head that he’s been your mum’s boyfriend,’ Minoo says. ‘She seems such a nice person.’

‘I guess that’s what attracts all the losers.’

The sensor at the automatic door doesn’t respond to invisible people, so they have to pull them open and sneak inside.

The others are waiting for them outside the Crystal Cave. But they are not alone.

‘Fuck,’ Vanessa says and Minoo can’t help agreeing.

Viktor is there. He keeps a lookout in Minoo and Vanessa’s direction. And raises his hand hesitantly to greet them.

Vanessa lets go of Minoo’s hand and the same wafting sensation as before runs through Minoo’s body.

‘Is your father all right?’ Anna-Karin asks.

‘Yes. But PE has burned down the office.’

She looks at Viktor. He looks as if he hasn’t slept all night and the shirt under his unbuttoned coat is creased. Minoo is reasonably certain that he wore the same shirt yesterday.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asks.

‘The Council has decided to deal with the whole Engelsfors incident immediately,’ he says. ‘They intend to execute Adriana this evening. I don’t know the exact time.’

The pain in his eyes looks almost genuine, but Minoo can’t bring herself to trust him. She is convinced that he never does or says anything without a hidden agenda. The creased shirt and the harrowed face could just as well be his costume and mask for a new role.

‘So why tell us?’ she asks. ‘Is the idea that we should set out to rescue her and run straight into a trap? So that you and Alexander can arrest us and charge us with a new crime?’

‘I understand why you would think that,’ Viktor says wearily. ‘But I am telling you the truth. And I do want you to rescue her.’

‘Why should we buy that?’ Vanessa said. ‘Yesterday, you
were in there, helping to get her sentenced to death.’

Viktor looks away, as if he can’t bear meeting her eyes.

‘I know you think that Alexander is a monster. You are wrong. He doesn’t want Adriana’s death. She’s his sister.’

‘Sure, he obviously cares for her a lot,’ Linnéa says. ‘You must have noticed it from the way he tortured her.’

‘He never thought her sentence would be that severe,’ Viktor says.

Minoo recalls Alexander’s face when the sentence was announced. He had looked truly shocked. But she has as clear a memory of his detachment as he wrung the neck of Adriana’s raven.

‘I take it then that Alexander knows you are telling us?’ Minoo says.

‘No,’ Viktor says.

In her head, Minoo suddenly hears Linnéa’s voice.

The weird thing is, I think he’s being truthful. About everything. He’s allowing me to read his mind.

‘They might act any moment now,’ Viktor continues. ‘Please. We must hurry.’

What he has told them is beginning to sink in. Adriana is going to be executed. Tonight. When Helena, Krister and Rickard have planned some kind of magic massacre in the school gym.

‘She is being kept under house arrest,’ Viktor continues. ‘I can help you to get in. But then I can’t do any more.’

‘Are we meant to smuggle her out on our own?’ Vanessa says. ‘And where do we hide her from the Council? Any ideas?’

‘Adriana can’t escape,’ Viktor says. ‘They would find her in no time. Her bond to the Council is even harder to break than for ordinary members.’

‘Can we break the bond?’ Anna-Karin says.

Viktor shakes his head.

‘There is only one way to save her. She must become innocent.’

‘How do you mean?’ Minoo asks.

‘Adriana betrayed the Council when she was young. After that episode, her behaviour stayed exemplary and she was regarded as fully rehabilitated. It was only after she arrived here that everything started to go downhill. If only it was possible to wind back time and make her once more into the person she was before coming to Engelsfors.’

‘Oh, yes? What’s the effing idea?’ Ida sneers.

‘We have been observing Max in the hospital, and studying him,’ Viktor says.

He is now intensely focused on Minoo. And it dawns on her what he has in mind. She begins to see what he is after but doesn’t want to know.

‘We discovered that someone had been inside his consciousness,’ Viktor continues. ‘We couldn’t identify the magic that had been used. Whoever exerts such power is able to do things we believed to be impossible.’

Minoo stays silent, only shakes her head.

‘Are you telling us that if only someone magicked away Adriana’s memories of everything that’s happened since she came here, then the Council would forgive her? Like that?’ Vanessa says and snaps her fingers.

‘Yes, I’m almost certain of it,’ Viktor says. ‘It’s true what I said about Alexander. He doesn’t want her to die. If he were offered the chance to have her declared innocent, he’d jump at it. He is powerful enough to have her interrogated again and have the sentence revoked. It would suit the Council. A living, obedient member is preferable to a dead rebel, who might become a martyr.’

It sounds perfectly reasonable, Minoo thinks. Even though
the Council have managed to convict Adriana, she is proof that it’s possible to trick them.

‘Minoo,’ Viktor continues. ‘You did whatever it was to Max, isn’t that so? And if you can do that, you are also the only one who can save Adriana.’

Minoo’s eyes wander towards the frontage of the Crystal Cave. The interior lights are off and all she can see is her own shadowy mirror image in the shop window.

There’s something wrong with you. But you know that already, don’t you?

‘I understand that you’ll want to talk this through together,’ Victor says. ‘I’m going outside the Mall to wait. But please hurry.’

He glances at Minoo one last time before walking away.

The Chosen Ones stand together without speaking until the doors have closed behind him.

‘It could be a trap,’ Vanessa says.

‘I don’t think it is, somehow,’ Linnéa says.

‘Doesn’t matter one way or the other,’ Minoo says. ‘I simply can’t do this. When I liberated Elias and Rebecka’s souls, Max’s memories just came along. It wasn’t that I took them from him, I just saw them. I sensed that, if I’d carried on, I could have pulled out all his memories, but then his soul would have followed, just like that. It’s like I can only … amputate. And what I’m asked to do now is brain surgery.’

‘Since then, our powers have grown stronger,’ Anna-Karin says to Minoo. ‘And this is Adriana’s only chance.’

‘Okay, listen,’ Ida says. ‘I know you’ll all think that I’m emotionally stunted, like you always do. But we already have plans for tonight. There will be a couple of hundred people in the school tonight. And Adriana is just one person.’

Anna-Karin’s cheeks flush with anger.

‘How can you?’ she says. ‘Adriana is our friend!’

‘I know, I know!’ Ida replies. ‘I wish we could save her, too. Look, it isn’t my fault that there’s a clash with PE’s spring sacrifice party! What if we need Minoo to stop them? Imagine, if she goes with Viktor and everyone in the school dies just because she isn’t there with us? And it isn’t even certain that she
can
save Adriana, she says so herself!’

It’s like one of those conundrums they’ve discussed in philosophy. Is it right to harm one person in order to save hundreds? Is it right to save one person if it will mean the death of hundreds? Theoretical thought experiments that are intriguing to argue about in class. In fact, Minoo got top marks. But a different kind of dilemma to face in reality.

‘That’s true,’ Linnéa says. ‘We don’t know how things will pan out tonight. We don’t know exactly what PE’s plans are. And we don’t know if we’ll need Minoo.’ She looks at the others and continues. ‘We can’t decide on the best strategy. All we can decide is what is right and then try to do it. And it is not right to leave Adriana to die. We actually have a chance to save her and stop whatever PE is up to as well.’

‘I don’t trust Viktor,’ Vanessa says.

‘Nor do I,’ Linnéa says and looks at Minoo. ‘But we have no choice.’

And Minoo knows she is right.

She looks around at the others. The Chosen Ones. There is so much she would like to say to them. But a superstitious instinct refuses to let her. If she acts as if this is their last time together, then maybe she’ll be able to make it happen.

I’m thinking like a PE enthusiast, she tells herself. My thoughts will not affect what will happen. Only my actions matter.

But still she cannot make herself speak to them. The words feel too grandiose.

‘I’ll come to the school as soon as I can,’ she says. ‘Please be careful.’

‘You can do this,’ Linnéa says and hugs her quickly.

Minoo’s eyes fill with tears.

‘You, too,’ she whispers.

Then she hugs Vanessa and Anna-Karin, holds them for a little longer than usual. Finally she turns to Ida.

‘I asked Gustaf not to put that necklace on,’ she says. ‘I hope he hasn’t but if …’

Ida nods gravely. And in that moment, Minoo realises that they understand each other perfectly.

When Minoo goes outside, Viktor is standing close to the door with his hands plunged in his coat pockets.

‘I didn’t think you’d come,’ he says. ‘Thank you.’

‘It’s not because of you,’ Minoo replies. ‘I came for Adriana’s sake.’

As they drive through Engelsfors, Minoo observes Viktor. His profile, his long, thick eyelashes, his nose that’s in fact a little askew, the stubble that lies like a faint shadow across the sharp line of his jaw.

Viktor Ehrenskiöld.

Supercilious incomer. A twin soul when it comes to literature and hating sports. Also an enemy. Ingratiating spy. Sad orphan of society. Alexander’s right hand. Linnéa’s saviour. Adriana’s prosecutor. Traitor to the Council.

I have no idea who he really is, Minoo thinks.

‘I still don’t understand why you are doing this,’ she says. ‘I thought you were loyal to the Council.’

‘I am loyal to Alexander,’ Viktor replies.

‘And that’s not the same thing?’

He swings the car into a street in Lilla Lugnet. They are close now to the block where Adriana lives. A light rain begins to tap on the windscreen.

‘When someone in the membership is eighteen, he or she can choose to stay in the Council or leave it,’ Viktor replies. ‘Those who choose to stay have to swear an oath of allegiance. That is, promise to follow orders, without thinking. I haven’t taken that oath.’

Minoo keeps looking at him.

‘Why haven’t they thrown you out?’

‘There aren’t many natural witches around. I’m valuable to them,’ Viktor says so naturally it doesn’t sound boastful. ‘They made an exception for me.’

They pass the fire-scarred ruins of a house and Minoo thinks about the night when the Chosen Ones were on their way to break into Adriana’s home. Then, they believed her to be a deadly enemy. Now, Minoo is travelling the same road, ready to risk her life in order to save Adriana’s.

‘If your loyalty is to Alexander, why go behind his back now?’ Minoo asks.

‘I’m doing this for him. Because he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he were to be the one who caused Adriana’s execution. I know that. He told me that he would always go with the decisions of the Council, but it was a lie.’

He glances at her.

‘And I think you realise that I am certain of that.’

‘Why didn’t you tell him that you had worked out a solution?’

‘Because the oath obliges him to obey the Council. He would be forced to choose between the Council and Adriana once more.’

The car turns into Adriana’s street. He slows down and parks a block away from her house.

‘What I’m doing now is not just for his sake,’ Viktor says. ‘I think Adriana’s death would be an injustice.’

‘I thought that the Council always made the right decisions,’ Minoo says.

‘No, that’s not the case,’ Viktor says, looking at her. ‘I have never said this aloud, but – no, the Council is not always right. The fact is that they often make the wrong decisions and invest their energy in the wrong causes. But they are needed. Without them, the whole world would be chaotic. Those capable of managing magic powers would oppress
those who can’t. The Council does a lot of good as well, whatever you think.’

‘Why not swear the oath of allegiance, then?’

‘Because if I had, I would have become unable to change anything. I want to make the Council better. In order to do that, I must be inside the system but still free to act.’

It seems that there is yet another Viktor, someone Minoo has never taken into account. The idealist.