Fated

Cinder’s smirk faded. He looked steadily at me. ‘Wasn’t joking.’

If I agreed, Cinder would expect me to go with him, and if I stalled, he’d take it as weakness. ‘No thanks. I don’t work on credit.’

‘There’ll be a share.’

‘You think there’ll be a share.’ I shook my head. ‘Come back when you’ve got something more solid.’

Cinder’s face darkened, and I felt the futures shift. Suddenly, the possibilities were looking a lot worse. ‘That your last word?’

I kept my voice very calm. ‘Don’t try and threaten me, Cinder.’

Cinder looked me up and down, slowly and deliberately. He wasn’t calling his magic up but I could sense he was ready to. ‘Seems to me,’ he said, ‘I could take you any time I want.’

‘You could try,’ I said lightly. Inside, I was panicking. I had no weapons, the cube was in the backpack over my shoulder, and Luna was hiding not fifteen feet away. If a fight started, it would be a disaster. I could see the futures forking ahead of me, depending on whether Cinder decided I was bluffing or not.

For a moment Cinder hesitated, then he grinned again and the futures shifted decisively. ‘I reckon you got nothing.’

Shit, shit, shit. Every future I could see now led to an all-out battle. I searched through them frantically, trying not to let it show in my voice. ‘Bad idea.’

‘Oh yeah?’ He spread his arms invitingly. ‘Take your best shot.’

Twenty seconds. Suddenly I found a cluster of futures free and clear of danger. I scanned them desperately. What was the difference, what did I have to do? Ten seconds. The air started to darken around Cinder, the sunlight going from yellow to blood-red.

A name. I rehearsed it, spoke. ‘Morden.’

Cinder stopped dead. His magic faded away and the evening sunlight flooded back. ‘What?’

I stood there, not answering. ‘You working for him?’ Cinder asked at last.

I raised my eyebrows. ‘What do you think?’

Cinder hesitated, and the seconds stretched out. It looked almost as if he were afraid. ‘Why didn’t you—?’

‘You didn’t ask.’

Cinder’s expression firmed up again. ‘You tell the old man we meant it. He’s not our master.’ Cinder was still trying to sound threatening, but he wasn’t going to attack, not any more. ‘He’s smart, he’ll stay out of this. You too.’

‘What am I? Your postman? Tell him yourself.’

Cinder stared at me, then took a step back, disappearing into the trees. I felt a surge of magic and he was gone.

I stayed standing for another ten seconds, scanning the future to see if Cinder would be back. Once I was absolutely, positively sure he wouldn’t be, the strength went out of my legs and I flopped to the ground. My heart was hammering. ‘Jesus,’ I muttered.

‘Alex?’ Luna finally said from behind the tree.

‘He’s gone,’ I managed. I tried to get up and found I couldn’t. My hands were shaking. All I could do was sit there as Luna emerged, looking around at the normal, everyday shapes around her. The birds that had fallen silent at Cinder’s approach had started to sing again, and there was no sign he’d ever come. Luna knelt down, closer than normal. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine.’ I brushed my hair back, then gripped it to stop my hands shaking.

Luna made as if to reach out to me, then checked herself and pulled back, drawing away to a safe distance. There was concern in her blue eyes, though, and strangely that made me feel better. ‘What happened?’

I took a deep breath, remembering that Luna couldn’t look into the future. I’d seen all the ways the meeting could end with the grass burnt black with flame, but Luna had heard only voices. ‘That was your first Dark mage.’

‘They’re dangerous?’

‘Understatement of the year.’ My breathing was steadying down. I pulled myself to my feet and patted the backpack to make sure the cube was still there. ‘I don’t understand,’ Luna said. ‘Who’s Morden?’

‘Southbound terminus on the Northern line.’

Luna looked at me blankly.

I sighed. ‘No clue. All I know is that it was the only thing that would have got Cinder off my back.’

‘But why?’

‘Because it made Cinder think I’m working for this Morden guy, and he didn’t want to pick that big a fight. But now Cinder’s going to go hunt up some people to ask, and once he finds out it was a bluff, he’ll be back. I just bought myself a whole lot of trouble.’

‘You were bluffing?’

I started for the edge of the park. ‘Let’s get out of here before he figures that out.’