Taken

“Now be careful when you test it,” Arachne said. “In fact, if I were you I’d make sure to be all the way out of line of sight.”

“I will.” I looked up. “Thanks, Arachne.”

Arachne waved a leg. “Don’t mention it. Just come back safely.”

*  *  *

Fountain Reach looked very different in the daylight. It was still cold but the sun had come out, taking off the worst of the chill. Puffy clouds floated in a blue sky, with the green hills as a backdrop.

The driveway was crowded with expensive-looking cars and two more pulled past us as we walked in, tyres crunching on the gravel. In the centre of the front courtyard was an elaborate fountain. Statues of young women poured a steady stream of water from a stone urn, while two phoenixes looked on. “What’s that?” Luna asked curiously.

“Fountain of Youth,” I said. “Old mage legend.”

We followed other people into the entry hall, handed Luna’s papers to one of the administrators, and set off into the mansion, up a flight of stairs and then down again. I checked my watch; the opening ceremony was supposed to be starting now. As we reached an intersection I could hear the buzz of activity from ahead of us but couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. “Which way?” Luna asked.

“Good question.” Fountain Reach’s wards were doing their work and I couldn’t effectively map out a route. I looked around for someone to ask directions from, but all of a sudden the corridors were empty. There was something weirdly deserted about the mansion. The ambient noise made it feel as though there were people all around you, but when you stopped to look you always seemed to be alone.

I picked a direction that I hoped was right and Luna followed. “What’s up with this place?” Luna asked, echoing my own thoughts.

“Not a clue,” I said. “It must have been built for something but I have no idea what.”

We turned a corner and the distant murmurs grew louder. To the right I could see a set of double doors and make out a voice speaking from behind it. More by luck than judgement I’d led Luna back to the same duelling hall in which I’d run into Onyx.

The hall was packed. Close to two hundred men, women, and teenagers were scattered around and I recognised dozens of mages in the crowd. Most were Light, some were unaligned, and a handful were Dark, but for every mage I knew there were two more I didn’t. Some wore ceremonial robes but most of the Light mages, especially those connected with the Council, wore formal business suits. The ones in robes and the ones in suits mixed freely, forming comfortable groups. Other mages . . . didn’t. The ones wearing smart-casual streetwear or anything else unusual were scattered more to the edges of the crowd, away from the “power” groups, as did the ones who by their dress or manner obviously weren’t mages.

The apprentices looked much like their masters. There was a little more variety in how they dressed but not much, and it was surprisingly easy to match the apprentice to the mage. I picked out Charles, the apprentice Variam had been matched against two days ago, as well as Luna’s opponent, Natasha. Charles was wearing a blazer and standing next to a white-haired mage who looked exactly like an older copy of him, while Natasha was with another Asian girl. They looked as if they’d been talking but now were turned towards the stage at the end of the room. Following their gaze I saw Crystal on the stage, wearing an elegant-looking two-piece suit. She seemed to have just finished a speech, and now she was reading from a clipboard. “The first elimination round will begin at nine o’clock tomorrow morning,” she said, her voice raised to carry over the sounds of the hall. “The draw is as follows. Michael Aran and Charles de Beaumont; Vaya Merrin and Traysia Lacann; Dominica Soria and Fay Wilder; Stephen Jasper and Victor Kraft . . .”

Luna was craning her neck looking around at everyone. “Do you think Anne and Variam are here?”

“Probably. Try and find them.”

“Gunther Elkins and Henry Smith; Desmond Yates and Variam Singh . . .”

“There’s his matchup,” I said.

“There!” Luna said.

I looked where Luna was pointing and saw Anne and Variam behind the rows of chairs. Anne was talking to a younger girl and smiling, while Variam watched them both with a surly look and his arms folded. “Variam doesn’t look happy,” I said.

“Variam’s never happy.”

“Mikhail Baich and Zander Rhys; Natasha Babel and Samantha Vash . . .”

I hadn’t stopped searching, and as I recognised one of the figures my heart sank. “Ah, crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We’ve got trouble. Wait two seconds, then look over your left shoulder. Under those paintings.”

Luna obeyed and saw what I’d saw: a thin figure dressed in black leaning alone against the wall. She sighed. “So we get to deal with him too.”

“. . . and that concludes the pairings,” Crystal finished. “All apprentices not named in those pairings will go through to the second round.” She looked around. “Thank you all and good luck.”

“Wait, did she say my name?” Luna said.