The Key (58 page)

Linnéa leaps out of Felicia’s mind. Only a moment has passed but everything has changed. Her heart is beating hard against her ribcage, as if trying to get out.

He is going to do it. He is going to take it back.

Linnéa feels the waves of a panic attack surge through her. Each wave is larger and more powerful than the previous one.

Robin has changed his mind
, she thinks to Anna-Karin.

Anna-Karin shudders as if someone has pricked her with needles, and Linnéa understands that her panic has been transmitted with the thought.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Anna-Karin says to Julia and Felicia. ‘You must have realised that it’s all true. How can you stick up for them?’

Linnéa hardly grasps what Anna-Karin is saying. All she can think of now is what Erik thought in the assembly. It is something that has pursued her in her nightmares.

And then I’ll wipe that bitch out for good
.

If Erik and Robin are freed …

The ground is rocking under her feet. Panic has taken her sense of balance.

‘See you tomorrow in Västerås,’ Felicia says.

And then I’ll wipe that bitch out for good
.

Felicia turns and leaves with Julia in tow.

As soon as their backs are turned, Linnéa grabs Anna-Karin’s arm. The ground tips. She hasn’t even time to notice what happens before she finds herself lying down with her head in Anna-Karin’s lap.

‘Linnéa, how are you feeling? Would you like some water? I think I’ve got a bottle in my bag …’

Linnéa shakes her head.

‘What can I do?’ Anna-Karin asks. ‘Call the ambulance?’

‘No, no don’t,’ Linnéa manages to say. ‘No point, it’s a panic attack …’

She reaches for Anna-Karin’s arm again.

Did they see me? See me faint?

Anna-Karin doesn’t reply at once and Linnéa knows that they saw.

Help me up
.

Anna-Karin lifts her with a firm grip under her arms. Linnéa is ashamed when she feels how cold and wet her armpits feel against Anna-Karin’s forearms. The world spins as she gets to her feet.

All over the schoolyard, people have stopped to watch. She feels their stares. She has tranquillisers in her bag but won’t take a tablet until she is away from here. The last thing she needs is to be seen popping pills in front of everyone. It would just add fuel to the rumour that she is a junkie.

‘I’ll take you home,’ Anna-Karin tells her.

Linnéa shakes her head again. She doesn’t want to be there because her flat will remind her of that night and, besides, she’s afraid that Julia and Felicia will come to try and scare her to silence now that they know how weak she is. She can’t take any more; she shouldn’t have said anything to Patricia; she should have denied everything …

‘Then we’re going to my place,’ Anna-Karin says, but Linnéa doesn’t want that either.

I don’t want to meet Minoo’s family
.

Her mother is in Stockholm and her father usually comes home late
, Anna-Karin thinks.

But Minoo herself …

‘She usually comes home late, too.’

If only she had had Vanessa here. If only she hadn’t …

She is sweating again.

‘Are you OK to walk?’ Anna-Karin asks. ‘Or I could easily call a taxi.’

‘It’s fine. I’ll manage.’

Anna-Karin looks worried.

‘Would you like me to phone Vanessa?’ she asks gently.

‘No, don’t say anything to her.’ Linnéa shakes her head.

She feels as if she’s run a marathon. The next wave of panic is just below the surface. Waiting. Before it strikes, they must get to Minoo’s house.

Swirls of black smoke hang in the air in front of Minoo. The smoke is still and expectant.

Walter was right. As soon as she stopped being frightened and accepted her powers, her strength grew. The magic of the guardians is deeply rooted inside her and anchored by tendrils that reach everywhere, are
part
of her.

During these last few weeks, Minoo has learnt more and more about how her magic is structured. How she can use it. Walter has often left the others to practise on their own and taken her aside, spent hours with her and encouraged her to go deeper into her concentration.

This is the first time she has demonstrated the results of her work to the rest of the circle.

The last of the twilight is fading from the sky now, and the bulbs in the chandeliers cast a warm light over the ballroom. Minoo stands in the middle of the circle of chairs and looks at the small table in front of her. She has taken a handful of feathers from a black velvet bag and scattered them over the table top. Then she placed a cube of glass in the centre.

‘I want you to lift the cube without a single feather moving,’ Walter says.

Minoo sees him out of the corner of her eye. He is sitting in the folding chair, looking very relaxed. She sees his aura. His magic has grown much stronger. The others have stronger auras, too, except for Felix, even though he has been putting in more effort than anyone else.

For Minoo, this involves no effort at all.

She lets the smoke wind itself around the table, sensing its every shift in position. She observes the feathers, which lie perfectly still while the smoke slides over them and loops itself around the cube, envelops it.

She lifts the cube. Slowly, slowly, until it rises about a metre above the table top. She rotates it a couple of turns in the air before putting it back in its old place.

‘Excellent!’ Walter says.

Minoo makes the smoke twist above the table and the feathers take off into the air and circle around the cube in a leisurely dance. Then she stops the smoke so that the feathers hang still before she loosens her hold over them and lets them float back down.

‘Thank you for that,’ Walter says with his boyish smile. ‘You gave us an extra bonus.’

Minoo pulls the black smoke back and looks at the others. She feels triumphant and has to try to force the self-satisfied smile from her lips.

She only just succeeds.

Walter, Viktor, Clara and Sigrid look frankly admiring, Nejla and Felix envious.

The Chosen Ones only showed fear when she used her powers.

‘This is to give you an idea of what we have been up to so far,’ Walter tells them. ‘Minoo has advanced in a way that’s beyond my expectation. As you can see, she can mimic elemental magic and affect physical reality.’

He glows with pride when he looks at Minoo.

‘Please sit down, by the way.’

Minoo sits down on the empty seat between Viktor and Sigrid. Tiredness, as heavy as molten lead, spreads throughout her body.

The first day in the manor house, Walter had spoken about the importance of rest, but that seems so long ago. They usually start at seven in the morning and sometimes keep working until midnight. They haven’t had a single day off. But she can’t object. The world might end at any time. She is aware of what her priorities must be. They definitely don’t include sleeping in. Or spending time with the Chosen Ones and Nicolaus. Or Dad.

Or Gustaf.

‘I hope you will all feel inspired by this display,’ Walter says.

Minoo notes that Felix glowers at her. She is too exhausted to be bothered. When you are constantly deprived of sleep, when you are always this tired, you can only concentrate on one thing at a time. She can only focus on what is in front of her. And just now, that is Walter who is talking about how they will practise during the rest of the week, how they will start training together as a circle.

She wishes that the other Chosen Ones could meet him. Maybe he could make them understand. And trust that it is the Council’s circle that is supposed to close the portal.

Minoo regrets more and more that she agreed to search for the box and examine it. She promised for one reason only, which was to prove that she hadn’t gone over to the enemy as Linnéa claimed; that she was still loyal to the Chosen Ones. But she can’t believe that they will be able to close the portal. She remembers what Walter said when they met for the first time.

You cannot turn your back on the world because you feel you can’t disappoint your friends
.

Above all, she is angry with herself for dragging Viktor into this mess and exposing him to an unnecessary risk.

She is just putting off the inevitable. Sooner or later she must tell Walter about the box. Sooner or later she must give him the cross and the skull.

‘Tomorrow morning, we start at five,’ Walter says.

Minoo tries to tell herself that she’ll be able to sleep in the car on the way to Västerås. She looks quickly at the others. Sigrid is moving about uneasily on her chair. Clara stares fixedly at the floor. The lack of sleep seems to affect her more than the others. She seems paler every passing day, and Minoo has begun to really worry about her. But she doesn’t dare ask her how she feels. Clara has been very distant these last few weeks.

‘Sorry, Walter,’ Felix begins. He sounds nervous. ‘But must we really? Lots at stake and so forth, of course I understand that, but I can’t help thinking about what you said on day one. How important it is to have time to recover.’

Minoo stiffens. This is precisely what she thought herself, but she still gets irritated with Felix for speaking up. Doesn’t he realise how out of order he is?

Walter looks at him. His silence makes Minoo’s whole body tense up.

‘Like I said,’ he repeats, now looking away from Felix. ‘I expect to see you all here at five o’clock in the morning.’

Nejla groans loudly.

‘That’s not even morning,’ she says. ‘It’s night, I need to fucking sleep sometime.’

Walter laughs. ‘Just what I felt at your age.’

Felix looks at the floor. He had said more or less the same thing, but got a quite different response.

‘But I can’t do anything about that,’ Walter continues. ‘And we shall have to go on until late. Viktor, you have other things to deal with tomorrow, but you can join us for a while in the morning, and then later, after the court case.’

Minoo tries to catch Walter’s eye. He had promised that she could have some time off tomorrow for the magistrates’ court. It doesn’t matter that she and Linnéa are at loggerheads. Minoo wants to be there for her all the same.

‘I will also provide you with personal evaluations,’ he continues. He glances at Felix, making him shift position on the chair. ‘And, Minoo …’

He turns his gaze to her at last.

‘I want you to sleep here tonight since we’re starting so early. I’ve had a room made ready for you. There may be more nights, so you had better go home and pack what you will need.’

He must have forgotten, Minoo thinks. But how can he have forgotten?

‘Viktor will drive you home now and pick you up when you’re ready,’ Walter says. He gets up and pulls his mobile from his pocket. ‘Let’s call it a day now.’

‘I’ll be fucking dead tomorrow,’ Nejla mutters as she leaves with Clara and Felix.

Sigrid remains in the room, looking for something in her handbag.

‘Are you coming?’ Viktor asks Minoo.

‘I’ll meet you at the car,’ she says. He leaves, too, and Minoo walks up to Walter who is writing on his mobile.

‘What’s the matter, Minoo?’ he asks without looking up from the phone.

‘I was just wondering about tomorrow.’

Walter’s thumbs are flying across the display.

‘About what?’

‘I asked you if I could take time out to attend the magistrates’ court …’

Walter looks up with an uncomprehending expression. For a moment, Minoo thinks she might be too tired to remember right. Did she dream it all? Surely she asked Walter’s permission? Surely he gave it?

‘Do you actually fulfil any function in court?’ Walter asks.

‘Sorry?’

‘Well, in what capacity are you needed?’

‘I’m not sure how …’ She is uncertain of what he means. ‘I just … you told me it would be all right. And Viktor is going.’

‘Viktor is called as a witness. He
has to
be there.’

‘I … I wanted to support Linnéa.’

Sigrid is still rooting around in her handbag. She is obviously eavesdropping.

‘Will you be able to support her in any effective way?’ Walter asks.

‘Well, no, I just wanted … to be there.’

‘
Be there
?’ Walter repeats. ‘So you’re off to Västerås just
to sit
in court? And you consider that more important than our work here?’

He looks so disappointed. She feels as if she had been caught out trying to sneak away. And as if what she’s asking for is unreasonable. But it isn’t. Or is it?

‘Of course, I can’t prevent you. You have to decide yourself what your priorities are,’ Walter tells her, and starts walking towards his office. ‘Sigrid, would you come with me, please?’

Minoo walks quickly through the ballroom and continues through the rooms and corridors that have grown so familiar to her now.

She can’t understand what has happened. She can’t entirely shake off the feeling that she imagined asking Walter’s permission. Could he really have forgotten? Anyway, why would he change his mind like that?

It would’ve been easier to sort out if she hadn’t been so tired.

Minoo winds her scarf around her neck and puts her jacket on in the reception area. A strong, cold wind hits her face when she steps outside. She plunges her hands deep into her pocket as she crosses the yard to Viktor’s car. It’s only September, but it feels like November.

She takes her seat and Viktor starts the engine.

It’s become a habit that Viktor drives her to and from the manor house every day. Walter doesn’t allow anyone belonging to the Council’s circle to walk the streets of Engelsfors alone while Olivia is still on the loose.

The beams from the headlamps cut through the darkening air.

Walter had said it was for her to choose. And so it is. But the way he said it made her feel that she was about to commit an unforgivable act of treachery. But perhaps her guilt comes from inside herself? Because she’s so keen to please and be a good girl?

Miss one day in the manor house? Or the court case against Linnéa’s would-be murderers? It ought not to be a hard choice. But the disappointed look Walter gave her seems to matter more than anything else.