Taken

“No,” I said. “Let’s see if we can get out of here before Onyx starts something.”

We started towards one of the exits, moving through the crowd. I recognised the odd mage, but not many; I don’t go to these kind of events often. “Aren’t I on the list?” Luna asked.

“It’s single elimination. There are more than thirty-two entries but fewer than sixty-four, so not everyone is fighting in the first round. The others get—” I stopped with a sigh.

“Going somewhere?” Onyx asked, stepping out in front of us.

I watched Onyx carefully, keeping a close eye on the futures ahead. We were surrounded by the buzz and chatter of conversation and at least twenty people had a clear line of sight to us. I didn’t seriously think Onyx would start something with this many witnesses but got myself ready anyway. “Onyx,” I said. I glanced over at the wall he’d shredded yesterday, then back again. “Seems they’ve made repairs from your last visit.”

“Going to tell them why you were here?” Onyx said. He was wearing a black coat and trousers, not modern but not in line with traditional mage gear either. He was smiling and might even have looked friendly if you weren’t paying attention.

“Not just yet,” I said. “Well, it’s great Morden’s sent you here to help but we’re kind of busy. See you around and—”

“Not so fast,” Onyx said, stepping closer. His eyes glittered as he watched me. “You haven’t entered.”

“The tournament? Not my thing.”

“Scared?” Onyx asked softly.

“Are you going somewhere with this?”

Onyx stared at me for a second, then raised his voice. “Bear witness!” he shouted. “The mage Alex Verus has caused me loss and harm, and under the ancient code”—he locked eyes with me—“I demand satisfaction.”

Conversation around us fell silent as everyone turned to watch. Looking into Onyx’s eyes, I felt a nasty sinking feeling. “You’re challenging me to an azimuth duel?”

Onyx gave a cold smile. “No. Old style. Three days from now, Verus. I’ll be waiting.” He turned and walked out.

Slowly the buzz of conversation started up again. Everyone on this side of the room was watching us and I could see people whispering. “Let’s get out of here,” I said to Luna.

I ran the gauntlet of stares out of the hall and into one of the corridors. Luna hurried after me. “What just happened?”

“Pretty much what it sounded like,” I said, thinking hard. How the hell was I supposed to win a duel against someone like Onyx?

“What’s an ‘old style’ duel?”

“Like an azimuth duel, but no shields.”

“Wait, no shields? So if you get hit—?”

“They’re done to first blood or to submission.”

“He’s not going to be doing it to first blood, is he?”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” I said. We came to a four-way junction and I shook my head, putting Onyx out of my mind. The duel wasn’t for three days and I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. “We need to find Anne and Variam.”

“He didn’t even accuse you of anything,” Luna said. “He just said ‘loss and harm.’”

“Probably he’ll send that part in a formal letter.” Anne and Variam had left the hall while we’d been dealing with Onyx, but I hadn’t seen where they’d gone. I took a guess and headed down a corridor that I hoped would lead us into the bedroom wing, Luna following.

“And he can just do that?” Luna said. “Fight you in a duel and try to kill you without anyone stopping him?”

“Pretty much.”

“This is such bullshit!” Luna said. “How can he just walk in here? What about what he did in the spring at the British Museum? He should be the one getting accused of stuff and having to defend himself!”

“There were never any formal charges made about that, remember?”

“He tried to kill us! Everyone knows he did it. We saw him!”

“And it’s covered by Council secrecy.”

“He tried to kill you yesterday!”

“Which I can’t accuse him of without admitting that I was here when I wasn’t supposed to be.”

“And all those men he killed at the British Museum?”

“None of them were mages.” I led Luna down a flight of stairs and through a sitting room. A pair of mages were standing talking; they glanced at us, and both Luna and I fell silent as we walked by. “Onyx is Morden’s Chosen,” I said quietly once we were out of earshot again. “Accusing Onyx would be the same as picking a fight with Morden. No one on the Council wants to do that.”

“I can’t believe this,” Luna said. “How can the mage world be so screwed up? I go to classes and everything seems fine, but—Mages like Levistus and Griff and Belthas and Morden and Onyx, they do all this and everyone just pretends like nothing’s happening!”

“Remember how I kept telling you it was dangerous to get involved in my world?” I said. “And how you never listened?”

Luna glowered down at the floor. We walked a little way in silence. “What are you going to do?” Luna asked.

“Wait for his formal challenge,” I said. We’d come into a long corridor with no doors leading off it. It didn’t look anything like bedrooms. “By the way, I think we’re lost.”

*  *  *