Taken

Luna was silent as we left the building, and stayed silent as she unlocked her bike from the railings and we started back towards my shop. The walk from Islington to Camden is a nice one, and despite the winter season the sun was shining with enough warmth to make it a pleasant journey.

We settled into a walking pace, both of us on the pavement with Luna wheeling her bike in between. “You met Anne three months ago, right?” I said. “At the acceptance ceremony.”

Luna nodded. “How much do you know about them?” I said. “Her and Variam, I mean.”

“She doesn’t talk about herself much.” Luna’s voice was doubtful, and I knew it was bothering her too. “And Variam never talks at all. I thought he just didn’t like me, but he’s the same with everyone.”

“Do they always show up together?”

“Mostly. Anne used to come on her own, but these days they’re always together. Variam never lets her out of his sight. It’s really hard to talk to her with him scowling all the time.”

“Are they going out?”

“Anne said no.” Luna frowned. “I can’t figure Variam out though. He’s always watching her but he doesn’t act like he even likes her.”

We walked a little way in silence. The air was crisp and clear, and cars buzzed past importantly. A cyclist overtook us, riding with her back straight, her front basket filled with shopping and making the bike rattle as it went past. “Do you think it’s true?” Luna said.

I knew she was talking about what Natasha had said. “Allowing for exaggeration . . .” I shook my head. “I don’t know. But there’s something odd about those two.”

“They could have started late, right?” Luna said. “Like me.”

“From what I saw of Variam he’s pretty damn good for a late starter.”

Luna walked on, brow furrowed. “Does it matter?” she said. “If they were Dark apprentices before?”

“There are Dark mages and Dark mages,” I said. “From what I hear some of them treat their apprentices okay. The others . . .” I shrugged. “One thing’s for sure—it’d matter to the Council. It would explain why they’re still apprentices. They’d have trouble finding anyone to sponsor them with a background like that.”

“That was what happened to you, wasn’t it?” Luna said. “You used to be a Dark apprentice, then got out.”

I didn’t answer. “Alex?” Luna said. “Could I ask you something?”

“I don’t really want to—”

“What’s the Council?”

I turned in surprise to see that Luna was looking straight at me, her blue eyes serious. The winter sun was shining down over the rooftops, picking out the waves in her light brown hair. “What do you mean?”

“I know there are people in charge and everything—” Luna stopped. “I mean, what are they—” She trailed off again and looked down at the pavement, frowning. “It’s—Okay. When you first told me about the Light Council and the Dark mages I thought the Light mages were the good guys and the Dark mages were the bad guys. Then there was what happened with Griff.” Luna’s hand crept unconsciously to her right arm. “And Levistus and Belthas. But now I’m training with them. And we keep working for Talisid.” Luna looked up at me. “Should I trust them or not?”

We walked in silence while I tried to figure out how to answer. “It’s easier to understand Dark mages than Light mages,” I said at last. “Dark mages are . . . honest, I guess. Bastards, but honest bastards. They say what they believe and they live it. Light mages are more complicated.” I glanced at Luna. “You know how things were in the old times? Before the Light Council got formed?”

Luna shook her head.

“Okay. First thing to understand is that there were a lot more magical creatures back then. And I mean a lot. Think monster-of-the-week TV show. Except the heroes didn’t win as much as they do on the TV shows, and when the monsters won a lot of people died. And sometimes the mages were the monsters. There were Dark mages around back then as well, and if half the stories are true they made modern Dark mages look nice.

“Well, the Light mages grew up in opposition to that. They believed they should use their powers to protect others. Not just mages, but normal people too. They wanted a world where human beings wouldn’t have to live in fear of monsters. And that was what they worked for. Identifying the most dangerous magical creatures and learning their weaknesses. Tracking down the ones that fed off humans and destroying them. Guarding towns and cities. Stopping Dark mages from setting themselves up as tyrants. They kept doing it for hundreds of years.”

“What happened?” Luna said.

“They won,” I said simply.

Luna looked at me curiously. “I’ll give you an example,” I said. “Vampires.”

“They’re real?”