“Because if I create a null space, my curse stops working, which means she can…”
“Kill you, with ease. She possesses the ability to manipulate energy, but she’s also a war mage. They are trained to…”
“Stand and die.”
“Precisely,” TK said with a hint of approval. “I will try to help you if I can. I will replicate Tristan’s energy signature in here and draw Talin away. Negomancers are difficult to face, but not impossible. Once I separate them, you will be on your own for the most part. Can you do this?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Yes,” TK said, surprising me. “You can refuse and run, as long as you are prepared to run for the rest of your extended life. Evers won’t be the last to come after you and Tristan, especially now with your…upgrade, Marked of Kali.”
“I’m not a big fan of running and dying tired, thanks,” I said. “Besides, where would I run? I’m standing in a pocket dimension waiting for a chronomancer bent on revenge. I’d say my travel options are limited.”
“Agreed,” TK said. “Now pay attention. I will show you the sequence you need to activate the complete null state of this room. The key to this working lies where?”
I looked around the spacious temple room. There was only one large doorway. I saw where Monty had been sitting, and realized he’d been channeling energy to disrupt the null runes in the temple. Part of him must have been fighting the schism using the runes in this room.
“I have to stay in this room, don’t I?”
“Correct,” TK said. “I will place a simulacrum of Tristan with his energy signature in here with you. The deception won’t last long. Once it’s dispelled, the room will seal, closing off the only exit.”
“With me inside of it? With Evers?”
TK stared at me for a few seconds.
“Sorry, of course, with me inside of it with Evers.”
“I’m not asking you to kill her,” TK said. “I don’t think you can. You need to keep her engaged. Eliminating her would be a pleasant bonus.”
“Keep her engaged for how long?” I asked, concerned. “This sounds like me being bait.”
“Long enough for Dex to untether this pocket dimension,” TK said. “This will trap her inside and…”
“Cast her adrift forever?”
“Yes, how do you know this?”
“Monty mentioned something similar, but he thought Dex was going to do it to him,” I said. “Wouldn’t it be more merciful to eliminate her outright?”
“When you face her, you are welcome to inquire which option she would prefer,” TK said, stepping around several columns, over to a wall of runes and symbols. “Dex wants her trapped for crimes she never paid for during the war. I’m not going to argue with him. Do you want to?”
“Pass,” I said. “He bounced me around enough today. If this place is going to be her cell, what’s going to happen to the Golden Circle?”
“We can ask him if we survive this.”
“Well, now my confidence is really boosted.”
“Close your mouth and pay attention as I show you the sequence,” TK said, pointing to the wall of symbols. “If you get this wrong, it will be the last thing you do…ever.”
THIRTY-TWO
TK was an excellent teacher. Without a word, she was adept at using fear as a motivator to memorize the runes and symbols in front of me. We ran over the sequence until she was satisfied I knew what I was doing.
“What happens if I get this sequence wrong?” I asked, leaning on one of the ornate columns. “Does it have a reset button if I mess it up?”
“No. The null state won’t activate,” TK said matter-of-factly. “Evers will retain the use of her ability and attempt to escape…after killing you.”
“That sounds like the worst-case scenario.”
“It isn’t,” TK said. “The worst-case scenario is her locating Fordey and launching an attack there against LD and an incapacitated Tristan.”
“She’s a mage,” I said. “Yet she wants to destroy magic?”
“Yes,” TK said, nodding as she began gesturing. “Her kind usually does.”
“What does that mean? She’s a mage,” I repeated. “How can she want to destroy magic?”
“There’s usually a condition,” TK said, focusing in front of her. “Destroy all magic, except the magic I wield, or destroy all magic, except the magic that serves me.”
“She’s insane.”
“No,” TK said sharply. “Do not minimize her mental state. If you do, you will perish. She’s not just insane, she’s corrupt. Corruption doesn’t equal madness any more than power does. Evers has abandoned ideals, morals, and limitations. For her, killing you, Tristan, me, and anyone who obstructs her path is a means to an end. She will lose no sleep over it.”
“So, she’s insane and pissed?”
“No, she’s insane and corrupt,” TK stressed. “Vengeance will do that to a mind. Twist it, deform it, until there’s nothing else left except an all-encompassing, burning hatred that can never be satiated.”
I took a step back at the intensity in her voice.
“Whoa, can we dial down the murder vibe a notch?”
“Do not conflate the two, Simon. She is unstable, but she is also corrupt. Remember the distinction. The two states feed on each other like an ouroboros.”
“Got it, madness and corruption,” I said. “Why is she so angry at Monty and Dex?”
“She was one of the original Black Orchids during the war,” TK said. “I’m sure it has something to do with that.”
“You don’t know?” I asked, surprised. “I thought…Well, you have information on everything.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t know,” TK said, focusing on the gesturing again. “Did you do things you regret in your past?”
“We all have.”
“Some of us more than others,” TK answered as if lost in thought. “The things the Orchid did during the war would be considered unthinkable now. The root of her vengeance lies there.”
“But you can’t say?”
“I won’t say,” TK answered, with a smile that warned me I was back on that thin ice and the cracks were getting larger. “There is a difference. If you really must know, ask Dex or Tristan. It’s not
