Divided: The Alliance Series Book Four (14 page)

“I’m glad to have helped,” said Mr Helm. “Our laboratory has greatly benefited from the generosity of your grandfather…”

“Yes,” I interrupted before he started rambling again. “I have one last question. Do the trackers used by the Alliance to pinpoint magic-wielders work with doorways? Could the Alliance track a magic-wielder to another world?”

“Why… no, that’s impossible,” said Mr Helm. “You must know in any world where magic is above the second level, it’s impossible to track an
individual
signal.”

Unless you can amplify a tracker.
It’d be a long-shot to figure out why Ada’s signal disappeared. Only a magic-wielder able to sense the ‘radio signals’ of each world could create doorways, if they had a world-key or auros. But that didn’t mean I could find Ada, if I still couldn’t pick up on
her
signal.

Like I’m giving up now.
“Good luck with the car,” I said. “We should go.”

“You gonna tell me what all that was about?” asked Simon, once we’d left the building and were past the guards outside. “Kay, it sounds like you can do what no one else—”

“Yes,” I said, in a low voice. “But don’t tell anyone. Even I don’t know why.”

I hadn’t told him about the experiment—that was the one piece of information I’d omitted. It seemed irrelevant now, and would lead to questions I didn’t want to get into. Finding Ada was paramount.

“What’s the plan?” he asked as we boarded the train again. The hover locomotive barely paused before zooming off at top speed, the wind through the wide open windows bitingly cold.

“Ada’s brother’s setting up communications. I’m supposed to track her, but I can’t… so I’ll just have to keep opening doorways until I find some sign of Ada.”

“That’s… risky,” said Simon. “Really risky.”

“You think I don’t know?” I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated beyond measure. “I couldn’t convince Ms Weston Cethrax was under the control of those—
things.
Not to mention what happened on Vey-Xanetha, because Ada and I were the ones who fell through the doorway and saw the Vox. And—damn, I should have asked. I don’t like that the lab’s named after those magic-creatures.”
KimaroTech.
Had my grandfather named it?

“Didn’t look shady to me,” said Simon. “A bit overly-secure, maybe, but I suppose that’s normal for this place…”

He paused, looking around the almost-empty carriage. Through the open window, Valeria’s capital shot past in a blur of silver-grey. Three teenage guys wearing hover boots flew by, waving at the passengers.

“I kind of expected him to give us a lecture on the meaning of existence. The answer to the big questions.”

“Nah, he seems more of the practical type,” I said. “That car would save on hours wandering the Passages, if it works. Only problem is, you run the risk of hitting patrols with an invisible car. And engines and the Passages don’t exactly go together if it gets overheated.” I remembered the story that had done the rounds at the Academy of the idiot who’d tried to drive an Earth car into one of the main Passage entrances. It hadn’t ended well.

“He’s the expert,” said Simon. “What now? Want to tell Valeria’s Alliance about it all? They might listen.”

“I’m not supposed to be here,” I reminded him. “They’d have me sent back to Central in a heartbeat. I’ll bet Ms Weston’s already got people looking for me, seeing as I swiped the Chameleon and world-key from her office and I don’t have a communicator.”

“Damn, Kay,” said Simon. “I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, no offence, but you’ve always had a knack for trouble…”

“Tell me about it,” I said. “This is on a whole new level. But Ada’s out there. She’s alive.”

“I get it,” said Simon. “She—she’s not like you, is she? That kind of magic-wielder?” He spoke in an undertone, but I scanned the carriage all the same.

“Not exactly,” I said. “It has to do with her homeworld. That’s what I’m afraid of—the Stoneskins were planning to use her for something. Her magic’s not like anyone else’s, as far as I know.”

“Hell.” Simon looked thoroughly spooked. “Is there no one—? Look, man, I’ll vouch for you. Spread the word. Whatever I can.”

Even through the numb horror of Ada’s absence, a small measure of relief came through. “Thanks, mate,” I said. “Not sure if they’ll take your word for it, but if I had proof they exist, without a doubt… I need to get Ada away from them. Never mind the damned rules.”

“I’ll look for proof,” said Simon. “You concentrate on Ada. There has to be evidence something’s not right on Cethrax, right?

“Is anything ever right there?” I said. “No—tell them you saw something around the hidden Passage. Does New York even know about that?”

“Huh. You know, I’ve not heard it mentioned…”

“Typical of bloody Central, keeping it secret,” I muttered. “Okay. Tell them. I know it’s not in your area, but there are a bunch of hidden staircases down there and there’s probably one up near where you patrol. Tell them you heard a noise and followed it.”

It seemed a flimsy lie. But plausible enough for what we needed. I didn’t think Earth’s other Alliances would be too pleased Central had been keeping something like that a secret. Let alone the other allied worlds.

“Cool. I’ll do that. You find Ada, and try not to get yourself killed.”

There was something else I needed to mention. Something I should have done when I’d joined the Alliance.

“If I do die,” I said, “can you make sure everything I own is donated to the shelter in London?”

Simon blinked. “Shit, man, I didn’t mean—you really don’t think—?”

“Just in case,” I said. “I wrote it down, it’s saved on my communicator backup.” One of the first things I’d had to do on joining the Alliance was their formal last will and testament. You’d think it would have put off some of the idiotic new recruits.

Simon stared at me with questions in his eyes. But there were some things I’d take with me even to the grave.

I checked the view from the window again. “It’s our stop.”

Simon shook his head, looking dazed. I’d never meant for him to be dragged into the insanity my life had turned into since I’d joined the Alliance. But maybe, if we warned the Alliance branches, they’d be prepared for whatever was coming.

I always thought I was prepared for anything. The worst-case scenario was usually my first thought. But I’d never imagined Ada and I could possibly end up at the centre of a war the Alliance might not be able to win.

CHAPTER EIGHT

KAY

Once Simon had gone, I turned invisible to go back through the entrance to London near Central. Luckily, there weren’t any patrols about as I slipped through the door, tapping the earpiece as I did so.

“Any progress?” I asked Jeth, walking down the paved side of the street rather than alongside the Alliance’s gate. The buildings were covered with claw-marks from the time a wyvern had escaped here.

“I’ve set up a signal. I can’t guarantee it’ll reach every world, but it’s like a boosted communicator. Where are you?”

“Just got out of the Passages. I’ve been asking around about opening doorways, and I
think
I can create a world-key to anywhere. I worked something else out. But I’d rather not be overheard.”

“Come over here, then. And watch out for Nell, she’s not happy.”

“Figures,” I said.

Ada’s younger brother answered the door. “You’re back,” he said. “You left the message for Ada, right?”

“Yeah.”

He moved back to let me into the hallway. “How do you know she’s even there?” We went into the kitchen where the bloodrock and adamantine was heaped on the table. Nell, who was fiddling with the stove, looked up to give me a glare.

“I don’t,” I said. “But just in case. I think I know what’s blocking the signal.”

“What signal?”

“Every magic-wielder has one. I can usually pick it out and track it, but I haven’t been able to sense Ada’s since they took her, even though we were in the Passages not long before. But I tried to amplify this—” I pulled out the piece of adamantine—“and it blocked me. I think it repels magic altogether, and it’s what those Stoneskins were made of.”

Nell finally looked at me. “I see.”

Now I saw she had a heap of bloodrock in a pan. Melting it? Was that how she made the solution?

“It explains some things,” I said. “But the sciras worked. I should be able to stall them, at least, but I’d rather get Ada out first.”

“I can deal with that myself,” said Nell. “We do have more than one Chameleon, you know.”

“Yes, but you’re unprotected. I don’t know how many of them there are. Not to mention, if they’re using Cethrax, we’ll have to contend with whatever the swamp throws at us.” At best, goblins. At worst, wyverns.

“I will not abandon my daughter,” snarled Nell. “Never. You have no idea what I sacrificed for her. I was the Royals’ slave. My family was slaughtered before my eyes—” She choked off. “And I saw them
change
her, and I couldn’t watch anymore. I took her during the night, and against all the odds, we both survived to start a new life. I never wanted anything else for her. I
am
her parent, in all the ways that matter.”

“I know,” I said, quietly.

Her sharp gaze missed nothing, and I didn’t want to bring up the truth she’d seen in my eyes. I could imagine the horrors she’d seen all too clearly.

“All right,” I said. “You can come, but I can’t promise anything. As long as the signal’s blocked, I won’t be able to track her accurately unless she contacts us another way. She’s quick-thinking and a good improviser. If we send out the signal, she’ll think of a way. Just like when she broke out of Central.”
I hope. God, I hope.

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in Ada—far from it. But with her magic blocked and no other weapon, the odds of her getting out alone disappeared by the second.

“You think I don’t know it’s a long-shot?” I said. “Sciras works. I punched a hole in a stone wall, and it didn’t even hurt. I’m not sure I can do that and the invisibility at the same time, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Yes, but what about the rest of us?” asked Alber. “Also, aren’t there like a bunch of those stone freaks? More than one?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, but I want to get Ada away from them first. Once she’s back, the Alliance will have to acknowledge there’s a threat, and they’ll figure something out. We should have the support of several universes on our side if the Stoneskins mount a mass attack.”

“
Should,”
said Nell. “I’ve never trusted you people. You stumble into the middle of things you can’t begin to understand—”

“If you can tell me you understand magic, I’m all ears. Don’t suppose you’ve told Ada the truth?”

Nell froze, her face a surprised mask. “You what?”

“Thought so,” I said. “You’re hiding something from her about Enzar.”

Nell’s eyes narrowed. “That’s my business.”

“It’s Ada’s business, too,” I said. “She’s in the hands of creatures who would exploit her powers. If she doesn’t understand them herself…”

“She
does
understand,” Nell snapped. “I taught her what I could. But—she
can’t
go back to Enzar.”

What? “I wasn’t aware she wanted to. They were planning to use her as a weapon, right? To win the war? Or do you know something else?”

Nell lowered her gaze. “I’ve been… keeping up to date on what’s happening in Enzar, through a source.”

That’s it?
“Right,” I said. “And if it threatens Earth? Like the hidden Passage, which Cethrax has been using to attack patrols and sneak into Valeria unguarded and God only knows what else? I understand why you kept it a secret, I’m just saying the best intentions don’t always lead to the best results. I realise that Earth’s Alliance ought to have taken action immediately upon discovering it existed—which, by the way, is something else I don’t understand.”

“And you’re an expert in inter-world security?” Her eyes narrowed. “The hidden Passage didn’t contain any doorways, aside from Earth’s. That’s why we used it. The doorways to the transition points which link with Enzar, as I’m sure you’re aware by now, are within
your
territory.”

“And could these Stoneskins be using the same routes?”

Considering they’d somehow made a doorway that had never existed before, I doubted it. But I had to be sure.

“No,” said Nell. “Your people control every inch of the place now. I’ve spent the past three months explaining to your superiors that my colleagues and I know more about cross-world security than the Alliance does. Anyone who comes through the escape route has to traverse ten levels of security, including magic scanners. I can assure you that we’d have noticed those…
creatures
that took Ada if they came through our system. Even if they had human appearance.”