Taken

I looked over at Luna. She was sprawled on her bed with one hand resting on the pillow and she seemed to have fallen asleep. As I looked into the short-term future I began to calm down a little. It was hard to see far but I couldn’t see anything catastrophic happening to anyone just yet.

“Um,” Anne said. She sounded a little embarrassed. “I’m going to need something to eat.”

“I’ll get you something,” I said. “Don’t leave this room.” I glanced at Variam. “Stay with them.”

Variam nodded.

*  *  *

It took a little while to find the kitchens and talk the staff into getting me something. I kept getting distracted by thoughts of what Natasha had done, and every time I did I felt a wave of white-hot rage. I wanted to go after her but knew that in my current state it would be a really bad idea. From the noise and the lack of crowds I could tell that the tournament was still going on, and that pissed me off even more.

I got back to Anne and Luna’s room and had just set down the tray to knock on the door when I stopped. The door was open.

I pushed the door open with my left hand, my right slipping inside my coat. Luna was alone in the room, sprawled on the bed right where I’d left her, the silver mist of her curse twining lazily around her body as she slept. Anne and Variam were gone.

What the hell?

I scanned the immediate futures but couldn’t find anything. With the mansion’s wards I couldn’t see far enough to find out where they were. I leant back out into the corridor and saw a girl peeking out of a room two doors down. “Hey,” I said. “Where did the apprentices in this room go?”

“I don’t know . . .”

As I looked at the girl I recognised her. She was the same one I’d seen Anne talking to two days ago. “What’s your name?”

“Celia.” The girl came hesitantly out of her room, drawing a little closer. She was small, with blond hair and glasses. “Is Anne okay?”

“Where did she go?”

“They took her away.”

“Who?”

“Two mages. They said they were from the Council?”

“Where did they take her?”

“I don’t know. Variam went with her, he was shouting . . .”

My phone rang. I took one glance at who it was, then pointed to Luna and Anne’s room. “I need you to help my apprentice. Stay in that room and keep an eye on her. Don’t go near her, just make sure she’s not left alone. Okay?”

Celia hesitated. “Okay.”

As Celia disappeared into the room I took out my phone, hit the Talk button, and started walking. “Talisid, can you explain to me why two mages who sound a hell of a lot like Council Keepers just took Anne away for questioning?”

“You’ve heard, then.” Talisid sounded troubled.

“No, I just like making lucky guesses. Of course I’ve heard.” I reached an intersection and stopped to think. The Keepers would have taken over a room for interrogation. It wouldn’t be in the bedroom wing, it would be somewhere quieter . . . I picked a direction and started walking again. “What the hell are they thinking?”

“I’ve been on the phone to the department. Apparently they’ve received some new information linking Anne Walker to the disappearances.”

“That’s ridiculous. Anne’s one of the ones helping me. What information?”

“There was a tip-off from an apprentice—”

“Natasha. Jesus.” I covered my eyes. “She doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about. They’re arresting her over apprentice gossip!”

“That wasn’t all. How much do you know about this girl?”

“Why does it matter?” I took a glance down an empty corridor, searching through the immediate futures of opening the doors. Nothing was there and I kept going, navigating by the distant murmur of sound from the duelling hall.

“After they received the tip-off they did some investigation. And they found that Anne Walker knew or was in contact with all four missing apprentices.”

“Every apprentice knows every other apprentice. It’s not that big a community.”

“There’s more.” Talisid didn’t sound happy. “They found that in each case Anne had been in a position to learn where that apprentice would be just a day or two before their disappearance. And with the first victim, Caroline Montroyd, Anne seems to have been the only one who was told.”

I stopped. “How?”

“We always knew there was someone feeding information from the inside. We may have found that someone.”

I started walking again and quickened my pace. “It’s circumstantial.”

“Maybe it is. But I’m looking over the report right now and I assure you it’s very suspicious. Especially concerning a subject who was a Dark apprentice.”