‘Let me introduce you to Onyx,’ Morden said. ‘He’ll be looking after you during your stay. Do feel free to approach him if there’s anything you need.’
I looked at Onyx and he looked back at me. The expression on his face suggested anyone who approached him could expect to have their throat cut. ‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ I said.
‘Excellent. Onyx?’
Onyx stepped forward and held out the cube. I lifted my hand and he placed the cube into it. Morden nodded to him and with a final glance back at me Onyx turned and left, shutting the door behind him as he went. ‘A gesture of good faith,’ Morden said with a smile. ‘I’m afraid the defences on your shop need some work. We’ll have to look into getting you some better accommodation once this is over.’
I looked at the cube, feeling its presence in my hand, patient and still. ‘So as you can see,’ Morden said, ‘I now have everything I need – with your assistance, of course. We should be moving within a day or two; please consider yourself my guest until then.’ He rose to his feet and moved to the other door. ‘This way.’
I slipped the cube into my pocket, then got up and followed Morden into a long hallway. Pictures and rugs lined the walls, but I was too busy looking ahead to notice. Morden had known about the cube from the start; his questions had been traps. If I’d lied, the consequences would have been ugly. But I still had one edge, a secret that I was almost sure Morden
It would be a very good idea for me not to be around when that happened.
‘You’ll be working with Onyx on this assignment,’ Morden was saying. ‘Along with three others.’
‘These others,’ I said. ‘They wouldn’t be Cinder, Deleo and Khazad, would they?’
‘As a matter of fact they would.’
‘Ah.’
‘I’m confident you’ll be able to resolve your differences.’
‘We’re going to meet them?’
‘Just Deleo.’
‘And the other two?’
‘Unfortunately they’ve proven … less accommodating. They should be in good condition by tomorrow.’ Morden smiled. ‘However, I’m sure you and Deleo will have plenty to talk about. First, though, I think a re-introduction is in order.’ He opened one of the doors.
The room inside was dimly lit. It looked oddly familiar and it took me a second to realise what it reminded me of: the room in Canary Wharf where I’d met Levistus. Just like there, a handful of chairs faced a full-length window made of one-way glass. But my attention was fixed on the woman standing in the centre of the room. It was Deleo, except this time, as she turned to look at us, she wasn’t wearing her mask. And this time, I knew who she was.
I stopped dead in the doorway. ‘I believe the two of you know each other?’ Morden said.
Both of us stared at each other in silence. ‘Well,’ Morden said eventually. ‘I have a disciplinary matter to attend to. Let me make it clear that I will not accept any internal fighting. Both of you work for me now. If you prove unable to cooperate, one or both of you will be replaced. Understood?’
Neither of us answered. ‘I said is that understood?’ Morden asked, steel creeping into his voice.
‘Yes,’ I said. The woman facing me nodded.
‘Good. Oh, and please stay here until I return. You’ll understand why shortly.’ The door clicked shut behind Morden and the room was silent.
‘So it was you,’ I said at last.
Deleo – not that that was her real name – spoke for the first time. ‘You didn’t even recognise me, did you?’
‘If you’d called yourself Rachel, I would have.’
She looked away. ‘That’s not my name any more.’
Silence fell again as I went back to staring at Rachel. It’s a strange feeling, seeing someone after so long. When I’d first known Rachel, she’d been a teenager, pretty and thoughtful, always changing. In her face I could still recognise the person she’d once been, but her face was immobile now, mask-like. She was striking, even beautiful in a cold way, but ‘pretty’ didn’t describe her any more.
There had been four of us, back then. Me, Shireen, Tobruk and Rachel. Tobruk was dead. Shireen was probably dead. Rachel’s fate I’d never known. After that last battle, I’d never heard from her and she’d never come looking for me. I’d forgotten her, buried her in my memory along with everything else that had happened back then. Until now.
‘Why the mask?’ I said at last.
‘You wouldn’t understand.’
‘Is this how you’ve been keeping yourself busy? Treasure-hunting?’
‘And you’ve been running a shop,’ Rachel said contemptuously.
I shrugged. I can’t say I like mages looking down on me for my day job, but I’m used to it. ‘Running a shop or treasure-hunting … it seems to have led us to the same place.’
Rachel didn’t answer. ‘Just out of curiosity,’ I said, ‘what were you planning to do with me and Luna after you got into that relic?’
‘Whatever I wanted.’
