Fated

from the evening sky we walked to a ridge and into a grove of trees. I took the glass rod and recited the incantation. ‘What are you doing?’ Luna asked curiously.

‘Calling us a ride.’ I grinned. ‘An air elemental called Starbreeze. Be nice to her.’

Starbreeze must have been close; I’d hardly finished speaking before she sprang up in front of me in an invisible rush of wind. ‘Hi, Alex!’

Luna jumped as the voice came out of mid-air, and Starbreeze pointed at her. ‘Ooh! Who’s that?’

‘This is Luna,’ I said. ‘Could you go visible for a second?’

‘Okay!’ Luna jumped again as, to her eyes, Starbreeze seemed to materialise out of thin air right in front of her. Today Starbreeze had decided to look like a woman in her thirties, with long hair and clothes woven of mist. She floated closer and stared at Luna in interest, studying her clothes. ‘Pretty.’

‘Um, pleased to meet you,’ Luna said, recovering. She stepped back and Starbreeze floated closer, then whirled in a circle around her, faster than Luna could turn.

‘Starbreeze, we need to go to the tower at Canary Wharf,’ I said. ‘Can you take us there?’

Starbreeze stopped whirling and brightened. ‘Oh, the ball! I want to go there!’ She vanished in a puff of wind, leaving us alone in the grove. ‘Starbreeze!’ I yelled after her. ‘Starbreeze!’

Starbreeze reappeared in the blink of an eye, visible again. ‘Hi, Alex! Ooh!’ She pointed at Luna. ‘Who’s that?’

I sighed. ‘Could you take us to Canary Wharf? Us.’

‘Okay!’ Starbreeze swept forward over us, and I felt my body start to transform. Then suddenly it stopped, and I was standing on the grass again.

I looked around in surprise; that had never happened before. Starbreeze had zipped away, and was floating at a safe distance, pointing at Luna. She looked upset. ‘Don’t want to take her.’

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

‘She’s wrong.’ Starbreeze shivered slightly. ‘Hurts.’

Luna sighed. She’d been keyed up, excited, but now the animation faded from her body. ‘It’s me. I know.’

‘It’s all right.’

Luna shook her head. ‘It’s okay, I should have known.’ She gave me a half-smile. ‘You go ahead. I’ll meet you there.’

‘Oh, I think we can do better than that.’ I held out my arm. ‘Take my hand.’

Luna looked down, then up at me. ‘Um, what are you doing?’

‘Arachne’s very old and very wise,’ I said. ‘Your curse can’t hurt her. And right now it can’t hurt me either.’ I took the ribbon hanging from my lapel, held it up so she could see. ‘As long as this is still white, I’m safe. So,’ I smiled, ‘ready to go?’

Luna looked at me for a long moment, very still. When she spoke, her voice was suddenly cold. ‘Are you making fun of me?’

I stared at her. ‘What?’

‘I can’t touch anyone. You know that. If this is a joke—’

‘Luna!’ I touched my fingers to the ribbon. ‘Arachne made this specially for you. It’s the same spell as your curse, but inverted; it absorbs it. As long as you’re near it, Starbreeze’ll be fine, and so will I.’

Luna’s mask wavered, and I saw she was uncertain. She looked from me to Starbreeze, still floating off to one side. I held out my hand and she took one hesitant step forward, almost within arm’s length. Then she gave a shiver and backed away, shaking her head. ‘No.’

I dropped my hand. ‘Luna, it’ll be fine.’

‘You don’t know that! How can you tell?’

‘I don’t know, maybe because I can see the future?’ I stopped and took a deep breath. Being snarky wasn’t going to help. ‘I know you can’t see how this thing works. But trust me, it does.’

Luna shook her head.

‘Look, I thought you were getting on with Arachne? She obviously likes you; she wouldn’t go to this much trouble for anyone. Take her word for it.’

‘No.’

‘Goddamn it! What are you planning to do, sit here all night?’

Luna shook her head again. Her face had firmed, and her voice was steady. ‘I’ll get there on my own. It was at Canary Wharf, right? I can find my way.’

‘No you can’t. You won’t make it halfway across London before Cinder and Khazad and that woman find you, and your curse can’t protect you from one Dark mage, much less three!’

‘I guess I’ll have to take the chance.’

‘It’s not a chance! You’re as good as dead if you go out there!’

‘And you’re as good as dead if I touch you!’

I stopped, staring. Luna glared at me, then caught her breath as she realised what she’d just said. She closed her eyes, inhaled, and straightened her back. When she opened her eyes, she looked calm again. ‘Thank you for