The Key (91 page)

Vanessa glances at the others, then goes to sit in the passenger seat. The others settle in the back.

‘Where are we going?’ Anna-Karin asks.

‘Well now, if you’re not psychic you’ll just have to wait and see,’ Mona says.

The engine starts with a piercing howl and Vanessa fumbles for the seat belt. But there isn’t one. When Mona steps on the gas, Vanessa is flattened against the back of her seat.

A couple of crows that have been pecking on the tarmac fly away, clearly terrified.

‘I had just settled down at a bar at the airport and had a couple of shots when I had this vision of what you lot had been up to,’ Mona shouts at the top of her voice. Her hair is flying in front of her face and Vanessa wonders if she can see anything at all. ‘That was it. All I could do was try to get a refund for that sodding business-class ticket.’

The traffic lights go from green to amber and Mona puts her foot down. Vanessa hopes that Mona is psychic enough to know for certain that she won’t kill them all today.

‘Not that I’m complaining!’ Mona yells. ‘No way! Not just new rules to play by! It’s a completely new
game
!’

She leans on the steering wheel, using her body weight to turn it. They drive into Lilla Lugnet on screaming tyres. Out of the corner of her eye, Vanessa sees Minoo, Anna-Karin and Linnéa slide along the leather seats.

‘Been quite a migration to this place recently,’ Mona howls. ‘Both real witches and loads of loonies who are waiting for the next UFO to land!’

They zoom past the burnt-down house where the locals claim someone used to run a sex club at one point. The lawn is full of dandelions.

‘I’ve opened the Crystal Cave again, in the old Positive Engelsfors Centre!’ Mona screams. ‘I need staff, so let me know if you want to do some moonlighting.’

The car stops with a jerk outside the white wooden house where Adriana used to live. Mona looks at Vanessa and grins.

‘I’d say you’re going to need the cash. You’ll hardly get paid doing your other job.’

‘What do you mean?’ Vanessa asks.

‘Never mind what she means,’ Linnéa tries to climb out of the back seat.

‘Hang on now,’ Mona says. ‘Wait.’

She sounds so serious that Linnéa stops moving and sits back on the seat again.

‘This is a house in mourning,’ Mona says. ‘So you’d better tell them about Viktor now, sweetie.’

She glances at Minoo through the rear-view mirror.

* * *

Minoo meets Mona’s eyes and then looks away. She turns to study Adriana’s old home. The elaborate carvings look like piped decorations on a wedding cake. The branches on the birch trees sway gently in the breeze.

‘Viktor is dead,’ she says.

‘Dead?’ Linnéa says. She sounds confused. ‘But … when did he die?’

‘Just after I teleported us all,’ Minoo says. ‘Walter killed him and took his powers. He had already murdered Sigrid. And I don’t know if Clara …’

She falls silent.

‘Clara survived,’ Mona says. She sounds almost kind. ‘Adriana too.’

Minoo looks at her via the mirror.

‘Is she …? Is she all right?’

‘You’ll meet her in a minute,’ Mona says. ‘I just wanted everyone to know about Viktor first, so that none of you puts your foot in it. It’s a sensitive subject for some of the people in there.’

Minoo gives her a surprised look.

‘What are you looking at? I do have my sensitive moments, you know,’ Mona snaps, and jumps out of the car. ‘Come on!’

She slams the car door and starts walking in her white court shoes towards Adriana’s house.

Minoo looks at the others. Anna-Karin is tearful.

‘Minoo, I’m so sorry,’ Vanessa says. ‘I mean … everything to do with Viktor was so fucking complicated. But he was your friend, wasn’t he?’

‘Yes,’ Minoo says.

He was her friend. And her grief is just under the surface, waiting to emerge and overwhelm her. But, right now, she can’t let it.

Why didn’t you tell us?
Linnéa thinks.

Minoo doesn’t know where to begin, so she doesn’t answer. She just follows Mona through the garden. She hears voices and laughter coming from the other side of the house.

Mona rings the doorbell and they hear steps approach.

Felix opens the door. His black hair has grown longer and almost covers his eyes. He looks at them, Minoo for a little longer.

‘Hi,’ he says.

‘Hi,’ she replies.

‘How is your hand?’ Vanessa asks.

Felix makes a fist of his right hand and then opens it again.

‘I broke it,’ he says. ‘But it’s okay now.’

‘Thank you for doing that,’ Vanessa says.

‘I should be thanking you,’ Felix says stiffly.

He looks at Minoo again. She would like to say something about Viktor, but this is hardly the right time. Felix turns abruptly and disappears into the house.

Minoo walks into the hall. The rack is full of jackets. Lots of pairs of shoes on the floor. The same heavy, old-fashioned furniture fills the sitting room, but the oil paintings of gloomy landscapes and portraits of ancestors have been removed. The unnaturally clean smell is gone, too. On the table by the sofa, a half-drunk mug of coffee stands next to a pile of books and newspapers. Someone has even used the open hearth.

The windows are open and Minoo hears a laugh she recognises. She goes to have a look.

Nejla lies on the lawn with her head resting on a guy’s lap. Minoo has seen him before in Nejla’s memories. His name is Marcus. His raven-black hair is as long as Nejla’s by now. There are two other guys sitting next to them. One of them is about twenty, with purple hair and a ring in his nose. He is blowing at a dandelion puff and then freezes the seeds in mid-air. The other guy looks younger and wears a gold chain around his neck. He snaps his fingers and the seeds fall to the ground. Nejla laughs again.

Minoo takes a step back before they can spot her watching them. She is pleased that Nejla seems to be happy, but doesn’t feel she can cope with talking to her just now.

When she turns to move away, she almost walks into Mona.

‘I know,’ Mona says. ‘It’s like a fucking witches’ day nursery. And there are more of them. They don’t all live here, but they’re running in and out all day long. How Adriana stands it is a mystery.’

Then, Minoo sees her.

She walks barefoot across the creaking floorboards. Her dress is low cut and exposes the scarred skin on her upper chest. Her gaze is calm and alive.

She comes straight up to Minoo and puts her arms around her. Minoo smells her perfume, rich with the scent of roses. She is close to tears again.

‘Thank you,’ Adriana says.

‘I thought I had destroyed your mind,’ Minoo almost whispers.

Adriana holds her tightly.

‘You removed my bond to the Council. I’m free now. You gave me my life back.’

Minoo closes her eyes. Maybe, after all, she has used her powers to do at least one wholly good thing.

Adriana hugs the other Chosen Ones and they all sit down. Felix comes in carrying a tray with glasses and a jug full of iced tea. He clears the table and then pours tea for everyone.

‘I could hardly believe my ears when Evelina called and told me you were back,’ Adriana says.

‘Evelina?’ Vanessa says.

‘Rickard and Evelina have joined our small group here,’ Adriana smiles. ‘Gustaf, too. But we had better tell you everything from the beginning. That is, what happened after you vanished.’

Felix puts the jug down and goes to sit next to Adriana.

‘I don’t know how much you already know,’ he says. ‘But Walter murdered Sigrid. And then he murdered Viktor.’

‘We know,’ Minoo says quietly.

She senses his pain, and notices that the others do, too.

Felix waits until his feelings have ebbed.

‘Nejla and I ran back to the manor house when we heard Clara scream. We took her and Adriana to the hospital. We had no idea what to do next, or where we could go. But then Gustaf, Rickard and Evelina turned up, looking for you.’

He stops speaking and glances at Adriana, as if he wants her to take up the story.

‘I started to come to after a couple of days and then recovered quickly,’ Adriana says. ‘We decided to move in here. Nejla’s boyfriend joined us and, a little later, more witches turned up. The rumour had spread, you see, that there was a haven in Engelsfors for witches who wanted to leave the Council. Most of them are young.’

Minoo thinks of the group on the lawn and the risks they have run to come here.

‘We practise every day,’ Adriana says. ‘They’re all doing very well. Evelina is such a keen student.’

Minoo can’t help smiling because she remembers the talent she saw in Evelina when she watched everyone’s auras in Kärrgruvan. Nejla must really enjoy having another high-powered fire witch to train against.

‘I’m so happy to see you again,’ Adriana says. ‘And so proud of you.’

She looks at them all in turn.

‘Mona told me about the choices you faced in the Borderland. I can think of many people who would have thought they could save the world by accepting the deal the guardians offered you. But you saw through them and had the strength to resist the temptations. You have given humanity a new chance.’

Minoo recalls what she told the Chosen Ones while she was blessed by the guardians.

The outcome of all this will be chaos. All existing political, economic and religious systems will crumble. Magic will equal power. Those with most magic will rule over everyone else
.

‘So, you do believe we have a chance?’ she asks Adriana. ‘It won’t all end in chaos?’

‘It probably will be chaotic,’ Adriana says in a matter-of-fact tone. ‘The Council will have a frightening advantage over everyone else. They are well organised and exhaustively well informed about magic.’

The Council. Minoo hadn’t even begun to think about its role in this new world. Obviously, they’ll try to take over as much as possible. In the end, to take over
everything
.

‘We’ll have to get organised,’ Anna-Karin says.

‘And tell the world the truth,’ Vanessa says.

Adriana smiles, and Minoo is proud of their courage, even though it does nothing to make her feel less anxious.

‘That’s exactly what I had in mind,’ Adriana says. ‘The only way to keep the chaos from escalating is to enlighten everyone about what’s going on. That’s where I need your help. You’re the strongest witches in the world. And you’ve saved it from extinction.’

‘This is the unpaid job I was mentioning earlier,’ Mona grins.

‘Sign me up,’ Vanessa says. ‘Listen, who will people trust most, once they know exactly what’s happened? Us or the Council?’

‘Sadly, people tend to go for whoever provides the most simplistic answers and the most unambiguous guidelines,’ Adriana says. ‘It’s especially tempting when one’s afraid – and many will be. And, as always, some people will grab any chance for personal gain at the expense of others.’

‘There will always be jerks,’ Vanessa says. ‘Lots of them. It’s not great that they will have magic powers sometime soon. But, hopefully, the non-jerks will be in the majority.’

Minoo hopes that Vanessa is right. But, even if the proportion of non-jerks is larger, they must find a way to get on with the jerks. Minoo still believes that power must be shared, but she can see that it will be an enormously complicated process.

It’s all very well to save mankind from the guardians and the demons. But how is one to save mankind from itself?

‘How long do you think we’ll have before people start noticing the change?’ she asks.

‘We’ve already noticed a few odd phenomena,’ Adriana replies. ‘Events that we think are linked to recently awakened natural witches. I’m planning to travel and try to reach as many witches as possible before the Council does.’

‘The levels are rising, slowly but surely.’ Mona is trying to make her chewing gum stick to the edge of her glass. ‘I’m stocking up as best I can. There’ll be a run on ectoplasm, mark my words.’

She glances at Minoo.

‘Though I guess none of that will be of much use to you, honey-bun. Because you’re absolutely non-magical now, aren’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Minoo admits.

She feels that they are all looking at her and wonders if they pity her.

‘No powers at all,’ Mona says. ‘Never again.’

She doesn’t say this nastily. Instead she sounds thoughtful. Suddenly, Minoo finds herself hoping that Mona will start chuckling and saying something like,
You’ve got it all wrong
again, baby face; you’ll get powers just like everyone else
. But Mona is quiet.

‘Have you taken care of Nicolaus’s body?’ Anna-Karin asks.

‘What was left of it,’ Mona says. ‘A small pile of ashes and some clothes, basically. That’s what happens when you’ve been alive for centuries.’

Minoo thinks about his sacrifice, a sacrifice that she allowed him to make. Without it, they would never have been able to enter the Borderland and close the portal.

‘Was there a dagger anywhere?’ Minoo asks. ‘And a bowl and a skull?’

‘A dagger and a bowl, yes, we found those,’ Adriana tells her. ‘But no skull.’

The skull belonged to the last-but-one guide. Nicolaus was the last. The last sacrifice so that the last portal could be closed.

Minoo still can’t get her head around the idea that it is all over. Is it really over?

‘Is there any risk that they will try to come back to this world? The demons and the guardians, I mean.’

‘Not as far as I can see,’ Mona says.

No one speaks for a while. Minoo takes a sip of the peach-flavoured iced tea.

‘How much does the Council know about all that’s been going on?’ Linnéa asks. ‘And about what’s going to happen next?’

‘I’m not quite sure.’ Adriana pauses before she continues. ‘Alexander is the new chairman.’

Minoo feels a mixture of weariness and sadness. Alexander let his fear win though, in his heart of hearts, he longed to be free. Minoo saw that in him when she could still use the powers of the guardians.

‘The last time I met him was just before Christmas,’ Adriana continues. ‘He led a delegation that came to take Walter’s body away. I tried to appeal to him but …’