Taken

The knocking on my door came again. “Alex?”

I should know who it was, but my sleep-fogged mind couldn’t process it. I looked around the room. The flash of danger on my precognition had gone. The room was safe. I looked at the alarms I’d set before going to bed: the chair under the door handle with glasses balanced on it and the ward stone that would have triggered if something hostile had appeared in the room. Nothing had changed. I was alone.

Knock-knock-knock went the door. “Alex? Are you there?”

“Coming,” I said vaguely, looking around. Something had woken . . . no, it had set off my . . . what had it been? The dream was fading and I couldn’t remember. I shook my head and reached for my clothes.

I opened the door to see Anne standing in the hallway, dressed in a long-sleeved blouse and a purple skirt. Her hair was styled neatly around her shoulders, and she looked as though she’d gotten up early—or at least a lot earlier than me. “Hey,” I said. I looked from left to right. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Ah . . .” Anne said. “Luna’s practising with Gabriel in one of the azimuth rooms, Variam’s getting ready for his first match, and everyone else is in the hall waiting for the first round to start.”

“You’re on your own?” I glanced up and down the hall again. Somehow that bothered me.

“There’s something wrong,” Anne said. As I looked at her I realised that she looked worried. “Yasmin’s gone missing.”

“Yasmin?” I frowned. “Who—?”

Suddenly I remembered. The girl from yesterday, Natasha’s friend, who’d been trying to bully Variam and Anne. An image flashed through my head of her face turning away, mud, and tall hedges. I put a hand to my head, feeling a sudden chill. “Alex?” Anne asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m fine.” Suddenly the walls of the mansion felt oppressive. We were alone and I couldn’t sense anyone in the present or the future but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. “Walk with me. We’re going outside.”

*  *  *

As soon as I was out in the sunlight I felt better. It had turned into a clear, crisp winter’s morning, a low sun shining from a cold sky. The gardens of Fountain Reach were all around us, well kept and beautiful. Away from the wards my divination magic was back to full strength and the creeping unease had gone. A few other people were out and about, elderly gardeners tending the plants and apprentices walking in the sun.

“She was supposed to have been back last night,” Anne said. We were walking along one of the gravel paths, curving slowly around towards the back of the house. “Natasha woke up this morning and found she never got in.”

“She was outside the mansion when she vanished?”

“I think the last anyone saw her was at the station.”

“And no one’s been able to get in touch with her since?”

“I don’t think so.”

It sounded familiar—too familiar. I knew the Keepers would be searching but my gut told me they’d have no more luck than with the previous ones. “The tournament’s still going ahead?”

“I don’t actually think most of the apprentices know that she’s missing.”

I gave Anne a look. “So how come you do?”

“Um . . .” Anne said. “I guess people just mentioned it?”

I had a feeling there was more to it than that but let it slide. I took a glance around. The fountain in the central driveway was visible over the hedges and people were in sight in the gardens. From outside, the mansion and everything around it looked normal, peaceful . . . but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong here.

“Jagadev sent you and Variam here,” I said. “What did he tell you?”

“He told us to help you.”

“But why here? What does he know about Fountain Reach that made him send us to it?”

Anne frowned. “Variam asked, but . . . I got the feeling it was something about the place, not the tournament.”

“What about the place?”

“He wouldn’t say.”

I thought for a second, then nodded. “Okay, I need to do something dangerous. Can you give me a hand?”

Anne hesitated for a second. “. . . All right.”

*  *  *

The corridors of the mansion were empty as we headed back. I could hear the buzz of voices from the direction of the central hall, followed by a roar. The first round of the tournament had begun. “He’s this way,” Anne said. “Um . . . there’s something you should probably know. Morden and Jagadev don’t get on very well.”

“So I gathered,” I said as we started down one of the corridors. “What’s up with that?”

“I’m not sure. But Morden once asked me if I’d leave and be his apprentice.”

I glanced sharply at Anne. “What did you say?”

“I said no,” Anne said. She sounded very definite.

We walked a little way in silence. Through the walls I heard a muffled cheer from the duelling hall, along with someone shouting something. “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to,” I said. “But what exactly is the deal you and Variam have with Jagadev?”