Strange Attractors (35 page)

She delayed them. And Jarrod’s loss led to the calling that unleashed Drayco’s rage…

Makee planned all that?

She might have.

Ingenious, but why?

I’m not sure yet.

Do we warn Temple Dumarka?

I imagine they would hear this lot coming already with the noise they’re making. This is a diversion, Teg.

From what?

From whatever that demon witch is up to. Makee wants us focused on Corsanon’s movements and not hers.

Then we’d better find her.
Teg stopped in a clearing.

Get out of sight, Teg. Now! There’s a lad on a grey mare about to spot you.

Teg darted into the tree cover and froze, watching the scouts pass. He startled, recognising the rider. He’d been on the side of the road, handling a black horse the day he and Rosette drove past in the carriage. Was it only two days ago? He backed further into the shrubs, his eyes shifting behind the leafy cover. A second later he turned and bolted. The lad was heading his way.

Keep hidden, and make your way to the lower Prieta portal. Get back to Temple Los Loma and let An’ Lawrence know what’s going on. We might have a war on our hands before sunrise.

Yes, Mistress. And you?

I’m going on to Dumarka. Time to visit the High Priestess there.

What about Makee?

Nell’s going to have to stay on that.

But she’s on her way to Los Loma, to Rosette.

She won’t be gone long.

The library lights were on but no one else was about. Rosette closed the door and turned on the computer and a small table lamp. The vastness of the room shrank, the warm glow of the lamp making Drayco’s eyes shine. She used the computer program to create
the horary chart, marvelling how the click of a few buttons calculated the position of the planets in seconds, a process that used to take her up to an hour using longhand maths and logarithms.

Is it readable, Maudi?

‘Checking.’ She tapped her lips. ‘There are enough degrees on the ascendant, the moon is not void of course, and yes, Saturn’s clear of the seventh and first houses. We’re good.’

And the location?

She studied the chart, a smile crossing her face. ‘The moon rules the second house of possessions and it’s angular in the tenth.’

Interpret?

‘That means
Kreshkali’s grimoire
is where it belongs or where she worked with it last.’

Here in the library?

‘Exactly.’

Or by her bed.

‘I hope not.’

What else does it say?

‘The moon is intercepted, in a sign with no house cusps, no doors. That means the grimoire has either fallen behind something or she’s put a glamour on it. Concealed it. We need more light.’

I’m guessing Kreshkali wouldn’t be so careless as to let it fall anywhere.

‘It’s a glamour, of course, and it has to be here. She wouldn’t have had time to take it to her rooms. She came straight to us after translating the notes.’ Rosette flipped open the compass.

Do we have a direction?

‘We do. The tenth house means the south room, confirming the library. The moon in Pisces indicates the north-by-west wall and water signs denote lower
levels.’ She looked up at the two-storey shelves. ‘I’m very glad of that. Help me, Drayco. Look for a shimmer when I brush past.’

The northwest wall of the library held thousands of books but Drayco spotted the ripple in the glamour as she swept her hand over the lowest shelf. Rosette chuckled.

Something humorous?

‘It’s ironic, Dray. It would have taken us a lot longer to find if there’d been no glamour at all.’ She hesitated, her fingertips tingling.

Second thoughts.

‘Not any more.’ She plucked the book from the shelf, not expecting it to sting her, and it didn’t. Sitting on the floor, her legs stretched out, Rosette held Kreshkali’s grimoire in her lap. ‘Watch the door for me, Dray. I’m going to have a look.’ She took a deep breath and opened the book.

Nellion smiled as the melodies drifted towards her. She rode the thermals downward, swooping in low to catch a glimpse of the musicians between the treetops. Shane stood near the temple ruins, tapping his foot and playing the flute. The sweet sound, like a bird song, filled the woods. Sitting on a stump nearby was Clay. He played guitar in a driving rhythm, his red hair jouncing as his head rocked in time to the beat. That was an enigma—finding the lad in Corsanon. And not their Corsanon by the look of it, yet still in their time. The paradoxes were bumping into each other so fast she knew it was more than random.

Makee had to be playing at this, a step ahead, and Nell wanted to enlist these young men to keep an eye on her, at least here in this Gaela. She landed on the bough of a tall redwood, flapping and hopping her way
down the branches until she was nearly on the ground. She took a final jump, shifting back into human form as her bare feet touched the ground. Adjusting the glamour of her cloak, she headed towards the music.

Shane took a breath, about to play another refrain, when he lowered his flute. He gave Clay a tap, his eyes glued to Nell.

‘That’s delightful,’ she said, clapping her hands. When neither spoke, she went on. ‘I don’t suppose you recognise me, do you?’

They shook their heads.

‘You feel familiar,’ Shane said. He took his flute apart and slipped it into his pack. ‘Where did you come from?’

‘Not the portal, if that’s what you’re asking.’ She sat on a log and smiled. ‘How would you bards like a job?’

‘What did you have in mind?’ Clay asked.

Shane crossed his arms but didn’t speak. Instead he looked down towards the temple ruins where Shaea had gone.

‘She’s got tasks of her own,’ Nell said, following his line of sight. ‘Her mentor’s about to collect her. Meanwhile, I can offer you good food, a warm bed and all the music you can play.’

‘Where?’ Clay asked.

‘Treeon Temple. Heard of it?’

They had.

‘And what do you want in return, witch? You haven’t even told us your name.’

‘Haven’t I? Let’s just say I’m working with Kreshkali and we need a few extra eyes.’

‘Eyes?’

‘I want you to go to Treeon Temple and keep watch on La Makee. Follow her if she journeys. There’s plenty of gold to make it worthwhile.’

‘The High Priestess? From the portal?’ Clay asked. ‘You want us to track her?’

‘That’s the one. If you report her doings, I would be most grateful, and it will help Rosette and Jarrod.’

‘Rosette,’ Clay said. ‘The beautiful witch who swore she knew me? Where is she?’

‘I’m about to meet her.’ Nell stood. ‘What will it be, boys? Play your tunes at Treeon and keep me informed?’

‘Or…’ Shane asked.

‘Wander wherever the Entity sees fit to land you, I’d say.’ She glanced at the sky. ‘Or stay here and be pummelled by the gathering storm.’

‘Storm?’ Shane looked skyward. ‘Treeon’s exclusive. How will you get us in?’

She winked. ‘It’s already done.’

Clay slung his guitar over his back and stood. ‘I’m keen.’

Shane gave a curt nod.

‘Done then,’ Nell said. ‘This way. I don’t want you to be late.’

She guided them into the portal, visualising Treeon in the early morning light as her hand passed over the plasma Entity. ‘You won’t regret your choice.’

Rosette closed the book and placed it back on the shelf.

Maudi? I’m not comfortable with this.

‘I am, sweetheart. And remember. I’ve been body-dead before. It didn’t sever our connection. We are bonded always. I trust that.’

I trust it too, but there were aspects of being a disembodied spirit that didn’t sit well.

‘That’s because we were worried about losing Jarrod’s backup.’

I remember you being worried about a fair bit more than that.

‘But I’m not now. We need Jarrod, and if anything goes wrong, Nell’s on her way. The weapon calling didn’t bring anything of his, not a sword or a knife. Just this broken arrow.’

She had woven an attribute calling spell like the one she found in Kreshkali’s grimoire. It posed little risk, unless Jarrod had been in the middle of a sword fight. The spell would bring his weapons or accoutrements in exchange for the one she offered—a master sword from twelfth-century Earth on display in the library. She’d attached a note but it hadn’t made an exchange. The only thing that appeared was the short end of a broken arrow.

It doesn’t smell of Jarrod, Maudi. Why would a random arrow come when you called Jarrod’s sword?

‘I don’t know, though I doubt it is random.’ She sighed. ‘Activating the CPU is the only way to get him back. I’m sure of it now. Come, let’s awaken the spell. I’ll step aside, he’ll have my body, and if all goes well he can birth the baby too. I’m certain that’s an experience he wouldn’t want to miss.’

But you do?

She smiled, rubbing her belly. ‘I don’t mind.’

You make it sound simple, Maudi.

‘It is!’ She wasn’t frightened. ‘He’ll have a tulpa body again in no time, Drayco. And then I can have this one back.’

Best do it quickly. Nell will come soon.

‘I’m ready.’

I love you, Maudi.

She buried her face in his neck. ‘I love you too.’

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and repeated the mantra. Her brainwave cycles slowed as
she drifted out of her everyday consciousness and into a meditative state. Reality slipped away. She visualised her circulatory system, amplifying the view until the cells became enormous features of her inner landscape. She pushed her awareness through the nearest cell membrane and made her way to the nucleus. The chromosomes were like long gaping eels, floating in an endless sea. She dove into the mouth of the nearest one, kicking hard past the teeth, over the tongue and down the throat. It was a huge tunnel and down she went, following the track as it wound deeper into the strands of DNA. At each base pair molecule she looked for the nano-device imaged in the grimoire, Jarrod’s CPU, but each base pair was empty. She checked over miles of them one by one, swimming by each ladder rung. There were plenty of quantum devices around, but none of them resembled the backup CPU.

Are you seeing this, Drayco?

I see what you see, Maudi. Nothing matches the images in the book. Not even close. Some interesting technology, though.

At the nitrogenous base pair she found a nano-device with a plasma screen much like the portal Entity’s. She passed her hand over it and saw duplicate DNA, a mirror of her own only there were more pairs. They were vibrating too fast to count properly, but there definitely were more of them, and…different. She wished she had time to investigate.
The CPU isn’t here, Drayco. The spell is gone!

Maybe it is smaller than we thought, or in a different form?

Possible. I’ll envisage the activation anyway. See what happens.
She pulled back from the depths of the cell structure, out of the mouth of the eel and back into a quiet place in her heart. There she was lulled by
the rhythm of blood rushing in and out, and air filling and receding from her lungs. She pictured the CPU, the boot-up sequence and the experience of Jarrod’s quantum sentient coming back online. After some time, she opened her eyes.

Maudi? It’s still you.

‘It didn’t work.’ Her guts tightened. ‘The spell is gone.’ She pulled herself up and headed for the door. ‘Where’s Grayson?’

Grayson?

‘He’s the only one I know who understands this. Where is he?’

Workshop. But, Maudi, how could the spell be missing?

‘That’s what we’re going to find out.’

T
he knocking was urgent, jolting Grayson from his thoughts. He knew it was Rosette. The sound of her bare feet, along with Drayco’s, gave it away. His stomach rumbled. Was she coming to press him for news of the notes? He’d already told her what it might mean to activate the backup CPU but now they knew for certain. What would he say? Kali had sworn him to silence. She wanted Rosette in Dumarka with Nell, safe until the baby came. The baby…He closed his journal. ‘Enter,’ he said, turning towards the door.

Where was Nell, anyway? He was curious to meet her, and he had hoped she would arrive before he faced Rosette and her questions. Maybe she had, and Rosette was simply coming to say goodbye. Goodbye? He hadn’t even had a chance to say hello. He schooled his thoughts, ready to tell her what he was feeling, ready to ask if he could accompany her to Dumarka. He took a deep breath and smiled, opening his arms.

Rosette stormed into the room. ‘It’s gone!’ She slapped her palm on the bench. Drayco growled at her side, his tail lashing.

Grayson had never noticed her resemblance to Kreshkali—not until now. Her eyes were on fire, her cheeks red. His smile evaporated and he took a step back. ‘What’s gone, Rosette?’

‘The spell is gone. Vanished! It’s not in my DNA.’

‘You can’t know that.’

‘I can and I do.’

‘Impossible. The CPU is encoded. It can’t disappear.’ He took her hand, guiding her towards a seat.

She pulled loose, bristling. ‘I’m telling you it’s gone. There’s no spell in my blood to activate.’

‘There has to be.’

She planted her hands on the back of the chair. ‘Really? There
has
to be? Funny, because I tried and nothing happened.’

The blood drained from Grayson’s face. ‘You tried to activate the spell? How could you know what to do?’