Taken

The guest room was small, with a single faded bed, and had no windows or doors except for the one we’d just come through. One of the Council Keepers was standing in a corner with his back to us talking into his mobile phone: “. . . hair black, eyes red-brown, early twenties, wearing a green skirt and jumper. Last seen fifteen minutes ago and . . .”

The other Keeper, the hard-looking one who’d been blocking the door, turned towards us with a frown. “Where’s Anne?” I asked before he could get a word out.

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for Anne. Where is she?”

“This is a restricted area,” the Keeper began.

“I’m looking for the apprentice you were holding here,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Given that she was in your custody, that makes you responsible for her under Council law. I am making a formal request to speak with her. Please.”

The Keeper looked from me to Variam and hesitated. “You’re going to have to come back—”

The second Keeper snapped his phone shut and turned towards us. “Verus,” he said. He was older than his partner, with greying hair and sharp eyes. “What do you know about this?”

“At the moment, nothing,” I said. I had to force myself to stay calm. “Would you happen to know where Anne Walker is?”

The Keeper studied me. “She appears to have fled.”

I looked at him, then around at the bare room with its complete absence of other exits. Then I looked back at him. “You left her alone?”

“She used a gate spell,” the older Keeper said.

“That’s impossible.”

“Apparently not.”

“Anne can’t use gate magic!” Variam burst out.

“What about the wards?” I said.

The Keeper looked at me with raised eyebrows. “That is an extremely good question.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” I said. It took all I had to keep my voice level. “I couldn’t get through these gate wards, and neither could you. Are you seriously telling me that you believe an apprentice found a way through a gate ward when two Council Keepers couldn’t?”

“I know what a gate spell feels like, all right?” the younger Keeper said irritably. “And that’s what I felt through that door. Crystal and her ‘impenetrable’ wards, my—”

“Look, Verus,” the older Keeper said. “We’re a little busy. Can you tell us where Anne Walker is?”

I was silent. “I don’t know,” I said at last.

“Then I’m sorry but we’ve got work to do.” The Keeper walked past, taking out his phone again as he vanished into the corridor. The other followed, shooting me a suspicious look.

“Where is she?” Variam demanded. He was looking around the room as if he expected Anne to pop out of hiding.

“Give me a second,” I said quietly. My head was whirling.

“She couldn’t have gated out of here,” Variam said. “She can’t even use gate magic!”

“I know,” I said. I felt as though I were on the verge of getting it. I just needed one more piece . . .

“Those Keepers must have taken her,” Variam said.

“They didn’t,” I said absently.

“There couldn’t have been a gate spell.”

“That Keeper said there was.”

“Then he was lying!”

“Maybe—” I began, and stopped.

“You can’t get a gate spell through these wards,” Variam repeated. “If she’s not here it means—”

“Variam?” I said. “Why are these wards still working?”

“Huh?”

“Remember what Sonder said last night?” I said. “Wards like this take a lot of maintenance. Why haven’t they run down?”

“Who cares?” Variam said. “I guess Crystal’s fixing them.”

“But Sonder said Vitus Aubuchon attuned them to himself,” I said. “It would have been almost impossible for someone else to take control of Fountain Reach.”

“Well, Crystal figured it out.”

“Maybe she didn’t,” I said quietly.

Variam looked at me in confusion. “What?”

I didn’t answer. A dozen images and thoughts were spinning through my head. A portrait on a wall. Notes on longevity magic, failed experiments on yellowing paper. Vitus Aubuchon, who had been sickly and aging and obsessed with his health. Sonder’s words: Basically all of Fountain Reach is one giant focus. As long as you’re within it, you can use it to power spells . . . Luna insisting that it couldn’t be a coincidence, two victims of the same age at the same place. Crystal’s scorn at working for the Council until she was “old and grey.” Anne’s last words: Now I feel like someone’s watching me . . .

I pulled out my phone and dialled Talisid’s number. It took Talisid a while to answer and when he did he sounded harassed. “Verus, I’ve got two other people—”

“One quick question,” I said. “The Aubuchon family used to own Fountain Reach.”

“Yes—”

“The last mage of the dynasty, Vitus Aubuchon,” I said. “Do you know what type of mage he was?”

“He was a space mage. Spatial manipulation, gate magic, that sort of thing. Is this—?”

Something clicked. “That’s all,” I said, and hung up and turned back to Variam. “We need to get back to Luna.”

“Do you know where Anne is?”

“No. But I think I know who took her.”

*  *  *