her right wrist with the bracelet. ‘We have to see her again, don’t we?’
An instant later Onyx emerged from the trees, and I slumped in relief. The fact that I was relieved at having
‘So where the fuck are they?’ Khazad demanded.
We were in London again, having returned to the city in the evening twilight. Right now we were above a tourist shop in Great Russell Street, in the living room and kitchen of a second-floor flat. The flat looked recently occupied and I tried to stop myself from thinking about what might have happened to the owners.
The flat’s windows faced north, overlooking the front courtyard of the British Museum, and we’d been standing by the windows watching the museum for over two hours. Night had long since fallen, and the sky was dark, the stars drowned out by the city’s glow. Buses, cars and taxis buzzed past on the street, and a steady flow of shoppers and tourists filled the pavement, but the British Museum itself was silent. Not a single person had gone in or out.
‘Why’s no one there?’ Cinder rumbled.
‘Because it’s a trap.’ Rachel said. She glared at Onyx.
I sighed inwardly. Freaking Council. Luna had given them everything they’d needed to lay a perfect ambush and they’d managed to screw it up. There should have been guards, people coming and going, the occasional mage keeping up a pretence. Instead they’d kept their entire guard force hidden inside the museum … and in the process made their ambush so obvious that they might as well have stuck up a warning sign. This is what happens when politicians get put in charge of battle plans.
‘I said it’s a trap,’ Rachel demanded when Onyx didn’t answer. She was focused again, staring at Onyx. Khazad and Cinder stayed silent. ‘Did you hear me?’
Onyx made a slight gesture with his fingers. Black energy wreathed the bracelet at Rachel’s wrist, and she jerked, crashing to the floor as her legs spasmed and losing her breath in a strangled gasp. Rachel looked up, her eyes wild with fury, and sea-green light gathered at her hands.
Onyx gestured again and black lightning smothered Rachel, discharging into her arm, her body, the floor. Rachel writhed, helpless, spasming, trying uselessly to escape. This time the bracelet kept going and the stink of ozone filled the room. Rachel had no breath to scream, and the only sound was the scrabble of her fingers against the carpet. After five long seconds, the lightning stopped. The room was quiet again, and Rachel lay flat in the sudden silence, motionless except for the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
Onyx turned to the rest of us and raised an eyebrow. I dropped my eyes and felt Cinder and Khazad do the same. After a moment Onyx turned back to the window. Rachel took another half a minute or so to recover, then struggled to her feet, her breathing still shaky. No one spoke.
In case you’re wondering, nothing Onyx had just done was particularly unusual. Discipline among Dark mages is brutal; it has to be. A Dark leader who isn’t willing to hurt anyone who disrespects him doesn’t stay leader for long.
That didn’t change the fact that I wanted to get the hell away from this bunch of psychos as soon as I possibly could.
‘Tell me what spells are up,’ Onyx said.
I knew he was talking to me, and I considered lying before deciding against it. Any sign of deception now and I was done for. ‘The museum’s covered with a gate interdiction field,’ I said. Cinder and Khazad were looking at me, and I tried not to let my voice show how nervous I was. ‘It’s bound to the lines of the building, and it’s strong. There’s …’ I scanned. ‘one section unwarded in one of the basement rooms. About a ten-foot cube.’
‘Sink,’ Cinder rumbled.
I managed not to let my surprise show. The arrangement was a sink ward, like a magical whirlpool. Any attempts to gate into the area would be swept down into the centre, appearing in that ten-foot space. I was starting to think Cinder might be smarter than he looked.
‘So we break through the walls,’ Khazad said contemptuously.
‘They’re warded too,’ I said.
‘And?’
Khazad was looking at me and there was a glitter in his eyes. Rachel finally straightened, and Khazad turned away as if he’d forgotten about me.
I wasn’t fooled. Khazad was still waiting for the chance to finish what he’d started in the forest. As long as I was useful I knew Onyx would prevent any infighting. I also knew that as soon as I stopped being useful Onyx would have me killed without a second thought.
I wasn’t intending to stick around long enough to give him the chance. I hadn’t been idle while we’d been waiting; I’d been path-walking, and the one bit of good news was that Luna was there, in the statue room at the back of the museum. All I needed was a few seconds’ distraction. I’d make a break for it, Luna would open the door, we’d lock it behind us and Onyx and the Dark mages could fight it out with the Council to their hearts’ content.
At least, that was the plan.
Onyx stirred. ‘Close up.’
We obeyed, standing in a cluster. I found myself brushing shoulders with Cinder, who gave me a single glance and then pulled his own mask on. Khazad and Deleo were weaving spells, black and sea-green light glowing faintly about their hands. Onyx held out one hand, and the floor underneath us darkened and turned black as a horizontal gate began to form. I watched uneasily. If Onyx gated us into that sink, we’d appear under the guns of the Council guard force. I knew Onyx was strong, but—
Onyx tightened his hand into a fist and the gate formed, linking us to the museum. For one moment there was a lurch as the interdiction field tried to take, then Onyx’s spell ripped straight through it with sheer brute force. We dropped down to the floor with a thump – a white floor, with a staircase behind and a high ceiling above. We’d
