Nemesis (16 page)

“A mild one,” said Amanda. “It’s in your stunners.”

“Yeah…” I saw her point. The stunners’ batteries were the same gleaming black as the magicproof walls of Central.
Only magic-wielders can tell the difference…

“Did the file say anything about other side effects? Those kids seemed pretty unhinged,” I added, in explanation, glad Saki had let go of my arm so I could clench my hand to stop it shaking.

“Unhinged? Skyla was angry, out for revenge, but no, there weren’t any other side effects recorded.”

I closed my eyes for a brief moment. Just having it confirmed lifted some of the weight off me. I wasn’t endangering people by seeking out magic, not in the way the others had. Perhaps I wasn’t the best judge of my own mental state, but at least I knew magic had nothing to do with it.

“And those twins?” asked Amanda. “They tortured Ada.”

My other fist clenched. I wasn’t sorry I’d killed that girl, nor that her twin was dead, either.

“I have no idea,” said Saki. “Weren’t they adopted by the family who wanted revenge on the Alliance? Brainwashing, I imagine. Or family loyalty.”

I didn’t doubt that. I could imagine all too clearly.

“We should report to Ms Weston,” I said to Amanda. “Thanks,” I added to Saki, whose eyebrows rose at the acknowledgment. My father must have made quite the impression on her.

I still had to face an extremely displeased Ms Weston. She wasn’t at all happy about her sister’s involvement, and barely listened as I told her my suspicions about the Campbells and the ravegens.

But her attention sharpened when I told her the idea that had occurred to me in the nurse’s office.

“I know it’s risky,” I said. “But Markos told me a war’s likely within the week. These are desperate times.”

“That they are, Kay,” she said, regarding me shrewdly. “And we certainly intended to test the Chameleons in the field. That was remarkable thinking, though I shouldn’t be surprised.”

I blinked. Was that meant to be a good thing or a bad thing? You never could tell with Ms Weston.

“I’ll put your plan forward to the council,” she said. “You’re absolutely right–it’s risky. But our options are limited. You’re dismissed for now.”

I left the office quickly. I needed to get hold of a new communicator if I wanted to research lustre. Unless I went to the archives…

A familiar figure waited at the bottom of the stairs, red head bowed.

“Ada,” I said.

She spun around, and her eyes widened as she took in the bandages on my hands. She’d cleaned the blood off her face and changed into office gear rather than guard uniform, but she stood awkwardly, shuffling from one foot to the other.

“Oh. Hi. I was just waiting for my brother.”

“I figured. Are you okay?”

She studied the floor rather than meeting my eyes. “Yes, I’m fine. Why do you keep asking?”

One eyebrow raised, I said, “Need you ask?”

“Yeah. Answer a question with a question. About right.” But despite the savagery in her tone, she looked… miserable, really. Though she tried to hide it. Her shoulders were hunched, her shifting feet impatient. Someone had upset her.

“Ms Weston didn’t say anything to you, did she?”

Tell me what’s wrong.
But if I asked, I’d get another snappish retort.

“No.”

“She’s skinned all of us alive at one point or other. It’s just how she is. Amanda said you were one of the best she’d tested in the simulations.”

“You talked to her?” She glanced up at me then, a slight flush spreading across her face.

“We tracked some more of those goblins on Valeria. I just got back.” I held up my broken communicator. “Reckon I should try and sue those goblins for breaking two of these?”

That got a faint smile out of her. “Goblins? And there I was thinking this’d be as dull as my last job. Which, for the record, was stacking shelves and serving ungrateful customers at a supermarket.”

“I don’t think ‘dull’ is a word the Alliance understand,” I said, with a half smile. She’d worked at a supermarket? No wonder she’d been so astounded when I’d offered her a job here. “You’re forgetting what happened in my first week.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said, some of the tension relaxing in her posture. “Okay, I haven’t picked up any trespassers yet. Or arrested anyone.”

“First time for everything.”

“Yeah.” She frowned, biting on her bottom lip. “I–Aric said something…” She stopped, looked away almost guiltily.

“That bastard,” I said. “He didn’t give you a hard time, did he?”

“I can take care of myself,” she said, suddenly on the defensive again. “He won’t be bothering me again.”

Whoa. “Wait, what happened? What did he do?”

“Nothing.”

“Right.” Next time I saw the asshole, I’d make him sorry. I should have guessed he wouldn’t leave well enough alone.

“You don’t have to do anything,” she said, like she’d read my thoughts.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll give me a reason to. Aric does nothing but stir up trouble. If that was him firing his stunner in the Passages earlier, he’s probably off the rota. Hope he gets sacked next. God knows he most likely bribed his way in in the first place.”

“Is that possible?” she asked.

I shrugged. “His family provides Alliance technology from Valeria. They own an empire across three universes, pretty sure the connections are there. He got in here before he even graduated, and his grades were shit.”

“Hmm.” She chewed on her bottom lip again. She had bruise-like shadows under her eyes that hadn’t been there before.
Ah, crap.

Before I could say anything, she blurted, “Did you really try to kill Aric?”

Whatever I’d expected, that sure as hell wasn’t it.
Should have guessed,
a voice in my head berated me, as my heart beat loudly in my ears.

“He told you that?”

“Just answer.” She turned away. “I just want to know.”

“I’m guessing he only told you part of the story,” I said, carefully. “In the Passages, after I first found out I could use magic, I lost control of it.”

The colour drained from her face. “Why?”

“Because he’s a dick, and he happened to be in the way.” I could almost see her thoughts playing on a wheel–suddenly I had a good idea why she’d dropped her stunner. “I wasn’t trying to kill him, but I didn’t know what I was doing. It’s not going to happen to you, you know that, right?”

“It’s not about me,” she said, a tremor in her voice. “It’s–I have to get out of here.”

“Wait.” I moved towards her. Her entire body went rigid, as her gaze fell on my still-blood-stained sleeve.

“Go away, Kay,” she said. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

I stopped.
Goddammit, Ada.
What could I say? That I hadn’t meant to kill him? Because I still didn’t know if I had. Besides, I’d crossed that bridge long ago. Magic couldn’t rewind the clock.

“What’re you doing?” a voice demanded. Her ever-grateful brother.
Next time you’re thinking of doing someone a favour, Kay, don’t bother.

“Nothing,” I said, icy-cold. “You should go talk to her.”

“Hmm.” He gave me a suspicious frown, then went to join his sister.

I watched them both leave in silence, my hands curling into fists. Muttering a curse at the Multiverse in general, I went to the guard office to get another effing communicator replacement, hoping I’d get to beat the crap out of Aric on the way.

ADA

“How’d it go?” Jeth asked. “First patrol, right?”

“Ugh. It was a disaster,” I said, as we turned into a main road and the noise of London enveloped us in a cigarette smoke and exhaust fume-scented fog. I reluctantly summarised the fight, feeling another pang of helpless anger when I admitted to dropping my weapon. Out of fear of magic, fear of
myself.

Aric had been telling the truth? Kay really had lost control of magic? It shouldn’t have been a surprise. I’d seen him
kill
with magic before. I knew it was a force beyond human control, even magic-wielders. And yet it seemed every new piece of information hammered further home just how much of a danger I was. To others. Even to the Alliance.

My head hurt just to think about it.

“You did fine, Ada,” said Jeth. “Don’t worry about it. Honest. Everyone has moments like that. They won’t blame you.”

“It shouldn’t have happened. I knew
I’d have to use a stunner. It’s not the same as the magic I used. I had no reason to freak out. I could have got people killed.”

“Ada, I wouldn’t stress too much. You’re new. You’re a step ahead of most of the new recruits who have barely any experience at all. Of course it’s going to be intimidating at first, it’s like any other job. Well, apart from the monsters.”

“Yeah,” I said. “There is that.”

“Seriously,” said Jeth. “I know you know your own mind, Ada. But you’re not happy. You can’t deny it. If you need a break, you should tell them.”

“I am happy,” I insisted, and Jeth raised his eyebrows. “I am, and I’m not. This is what I always wanted, always, but–I guess there’s a price to pay for getting what you want most in the world.”

“Ada, you’re not allowed to get yourself down,” he said, as we pushed through the crowd into the Tube station. “You should stay away from Nell until she apologises.”

“Thought you’d tell me to talk to her. But I suppose that didn’t work out so well last time.”

“Exactly. You don’t need to worry about her problems on top of your own, Ada.”

But it didn’t matter, because Nell wasn’t there when we got home.

“Gone to the Knights’ again,” said Alber, leaning on the door frame to his room. “Dunno what the issue is this time, but they aren’t happy with the Alliance.”

My heart dipped. Like we needed anything else to worry about.

“Not our problem,” said Jeth, with a significant glance at me. “Right. I’m the eldest here, and I’m hereby forbidding all moping in this house. Tonight, there will be no mention of you-know-who–of a certain paranoid guardian of ours. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” said Alber, with a military salute. “What’s this about, anyway? She-who-must-not-be-named? Or did something else happen?”

“I completely freaked out today, is all,” I said. “Jeth’s overreacting. But I vote no talking about it tonight, okay?”

“All right,” said Alber doubtfully. “But I’m watching a crappy ninja film.”

“Bring your crappy ninja film into the living room.” Jeth pushed open the door.

“Really?” I rolled my eyes.

“Better than moping.” Jeth gave me a pointed look. “I’m gonna grab my laptop and order pizza, and you, Ada, are going to smile.”

“Uh-huh.” But I did feel a little better. My brothers were on my team, even if Nell wasn’t.

“So, how’s Technoland?” I asked Jeth later, as I curled up on the sofa watching badly-dubbed ninjas beat the crap out of each other. He frowned at me, and I added, “Come on, that’s not talking about you-know-who. Or moping. I really want to know.”

“Well, neither of you will understand most of it,” said Jeth, typing on his laptop.

“I’m so sorry. I bow down to your technological awesomeness,” said Alber. “What happened to the Chameleons?”

“That’s actually what we’re working on. Turns out Central’s looking into using bloodrock with technology. Just like we did,” he added to me. “It’s like my inventions. To help. They can get into top-secret places on missions and not be seen. No world in the Multiverse has perfected total, cross-world invisibility before.”

“Ooh, get you,” said Alber. “You’re gonna be famous?”

“Nah, but if this keeps up, I might get a promotion. Not right away, but they’re seriously impressed.”

“Help,” said Alber. “Your ego is crushing me over here.”

“Hey, just being honest. Ada, that reminds me. I was going to say earlier, but… the tech guys want a word with you. Nothing serious, don’t worry. It’s just you were the one to use the Chameleons the most, they want some pointers. Nothing to worry about.”

“Oh,” I said. “Okay.”

Those days felt like a lifetime ago. Turning invisible to break into Central.

“Ironic, I know,” said Jeth.

“Spying?” said Alber. “So you’d be like a ninja spy now? Hey, I’ve got a ninja spy film somewhere too.”

“No more ninjas,” I said firmly. “Put a James Bond film on instead. And I’m not spying on anyone!”

Still, it cheered me up, even if I had to sneak like a ninja myself to avoid Nell that night.

***

“Ada Fletcher: report to my office at seven in guard uniform.”

I stared at my communicator screen, totally disoriented. Why would Ms Weston message me at this ungodly hour to ask me to come into work? I checked the time, five a.m., and groaned.

“Cheers, universe.” I rubbed my forehead. Just for once, I wanted a decent night’s sleep, but apparently something had come up at Central.
Please no more invisible goblins.