Fated

Onyx gestured again and black lightning smothered Rachel, discharging into her arm, her body, the floor. Rachel writhed, helpless, spasming, trying uselessly to escape. This time the bracelet kept going and the stink of ozone filled the room. Rachel had no breath to scream, and the only sound was the scrabble of her fingers against the carpet. After five long seconds, the lightning stopped. The room was quiet again, and Rachel lay flat in the sudden silence, motionless except for the rapid rise and fall of her chest.

Onyx turned to the rest of us and raised an eyebrow. I dropped my eyes and felt Cinder and Khazad do the same. After a moment Onyx turned back to the window. Rachel took another half a minute or so to recover, then struggled to her feet, her breathing still shaky. No one spoke.

In case you’re wondering, nothing Onyx had just done was particularly unusual. Discipline among Dark mages is brutal; it has to be. A Dark leader who isn’t willing to hurt anyone who disrespects him doesn’t stay leader for long.

That didn’t change the fact that I wanted to get the hell away from this bunch of psychos as soon as I possibly could.

‘Tell me what spells are up,’ Onyx said.

I knew he was talking to me, and I considered lying before deciding against it. Any sign of deception now and I was done for. ‘The museum’s covered with a gate interdiction field,’ I said. Cinder and Khazad were looking at me, and I tried not to let my voice show how nervous I was. ‘It’s bound to the lines of the building, and it’s strong. There’s …’ I scanned. ‘one section unwarded in one of the basement rooms. About a ten-foot cube.’

‘Sink,’ Cinder rumbled.

I managed not to let my surprise show. The arrangement was a sink ward, like a magical whirlpool. Any attempts to gate into the area would be swept down into the centre, appearing in that ten-foot space. I was starting to think Cinder might be smarter than he looked.

‘So we break through the walls,’ Khazad said contemptuously.

‘They’re warded too,’ I said.

‘And?’

Khazad was looking at me and there was a glitter in his eyes. Rachel finally straightened, and Khazad turned away as if he’d forgotten about me.

I wasn’t fooled. Khazad was still waiting for the chance to finish what he’d started in the forest. As long as I was useful I knew Onyx would prevent any infighting. I also knew that as soon as I stopped being useful Onyx would have me killed without a second thought.

I wasn’t intending to stick around long enough to give him the chance. I hadn’t been idle while we’d been waiting; I’d been path-walking, and the one bit of good news was that Luna was there, in the statue room at the back of the museum. All I needed was a few seconds’ distraction. I’d make a break for it, Luna would open the door, we’d lock it behind us and Onyx and the Dark mages could fight it out with the Council to their hearts’ content.

At least, that was the plan.

Onyx stirred. ‘Close up.’

We obeyed, standing in a cluster. I found myself brushing shoulders with Cinder, who gave me a single glance and then pulled his own mask on. Khazad and Deleo were weaving spells, black and sea-green light glowing faintly about their hands. Onyx held out one hand, and the floor underneath us darkened and turned black as a horizontal gate began to form. I watched uneasily. If Onyx gated us into that sink, we’d appear under the guns of the Council guard force. I knew Onyx was strong, but—

Onyx tightened his hand into a fist and the gate formed, linking us to the museum. For one moment there was a lurch as the interdiction field tried to take, then Onyx’s spell ripped straight through it with sheer brute force. We dropped down to the floor with a thump – a white floor, with a staircase behind and a high ceiling above. We’d gated into the Great Court, right at the foot of the stairs.

We weren’t alone. A dozen people were scattered around the court, mages and guards. All had turned to stare at us, and as we came to our feet a mage threw out his arm. He was at the centre of a cluster of three. ‘Hold it! Who are you?’

At least, that was what he would have said if he’d had the chance.

It was quite terrifying what Onyx did to those men. Normal people, when they’re dropped into a hostile situation, take an instant to orientate themselves. Onyx didn’t. In the time the leader took to open his mouth, Onyx slammed a bolt of force into the mage on the left, spun and did the same thing to the one on the right, then sent a blast straight at the face of the one in the middle, who was just in the middle of getting out the word ‘who’. If the mage hadn’t jerked back, it would have broken his neck; as it was it took him off his feet. A heartbeat later Cinder and Khazad joined in, engaging the ones remaining.