The Key (81 page)

‘Wait, don’t forget about Adriana,’ Clara says. ‘We must get her out of there, too. Walter might do something terrible to her if Minoo disappears.’

Linnéa observes Clara, senses how afraid she is of Walter and how much she hates him.

‘OK, we’ll get her out,’ Linnéa says while looking at Viktor. ‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed anything about Alexander, but everyone who isn’t a natural witch is knocked out cold by all this magic. We’ll have to carry her out.’

‘Clara and I can do it,’ Vanessa says. ‘We’ll go invisible, of course. At least it isn’t a worse idea than our usual plans.’

Viktor’s eyes are glued to her while she speaks.

Should I tell her? If we’re all going to die soon …

And then he glances at Linnéa and, for the first time tonight, slams shut the gateway into his mind.

But it’s too late and she knows now that he loves Vanessa. Linnéa is surprised, but actually not very. How can one
not
be in love with Vanessa?

I know how you feel
, she thinks.

Viktor smiles a little sadly at her and then looks away.

‘Minoo has told us about the others and their powers,’ Anna-Karin says. ‘Is everyone loyal to the Council?’

‘Alexander, definitely,’ Clara says. ‘But he is likely to be asleep.’

Viktor shuts his eyes again.

‘I can’t see him from this angle. He’s sitting in an armchair with his back to the window. But he hasn’t moved for a long time.’

‘What about the others?’ Vanessa asks.

‘Sigrid is completely loyal. And her familiar is a mink, so be careful even when you’re invisible. It’s harder to tell where Felix and Nejla stand.’

‘I think we know where Felix stands,’ Clara says, giving Viktor a sidelong glance. ‘With you.’

There is a sound of an explosion in the town. Just as they turn to have a look, a cloud of fire flares up in the centre. The fire lights the sky. Car alarms start howling.

‘Shit!’ Vanessa says in a small voice. ‘Shit.’

Linnéa looks away. Doesn’t want to think about what might have happened, how many might have been injured or dead.

She has no time to feel anything now. No time to be afraid.

‘Come on,’ she says. ‘We have to hurry.’

Minoo hears the explosion.

She knows that it came from a third-floor apartment in a brick building on Malm Road in the town centre. Rut Olsson fell asleep at the kitchen table and overturned a lit candle that fell on the rag-rug. It was her eighty-third birthday and she was celebrating it alone. Her beloved children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all live in Göteborg. Her greatest fear was that she would end her days hidden away in a home for the elderly. But she died quickly, and so did her neighbour, after the kitchen fire reached the bottled gas tubes feeding Rut’s cooker.

All very regrettable. But it could have been worse. Minoo understands that now. There are no perfect decisions. Every time, advantages and disadvantages must be weighed against each other and, every time, sacrifices have to be made.

There is always someone who must be sacrificed.

This insight has grown during these last few weeks, as she has grown stronger.

At last, she has grasped what her vision in the spring actually meant.

It showed her that the power of the guardians would come to her. That all their power would be vested in her. Now, the transfer is almost complete.

She has spent three weeks inside the black smoke. It feels like an essential part of her now, as much as her arms and legs. She has been exploring her magic on her own, but also under Walter’s guidance.

Not that she has told him of all her new discoveries, far from it. Walter knows incredibly little.

‘Minoo!’ he says.

He is of no interest to her right now.

The other Chosen Ones are on their way here. The Ehrenskiöld twins as well. She can see them walking across the snow-covered yard in front of the manor house, which is glowing with lights. They are close to the main entrance now.

She sees Nicolaus, torch in hand, hurrying towards the opening of the tunnel in the mountain.

At the same time, she can see the new, gaping hole in the cave. The wall with the ectoplasm circles has crumbled. The wall that the other Chosen Ones tried to keep secret from her. When the darkness fell, Minoo had watched as the cracks spread until it collapsed.

Everything is progressing as it should.

‘Minoo!’ Walter says again.

Her body sits on his office sofa. Alexander has fallen asleep in an armchair. The lynx is padding anxiously up and down near the window. It can sense danger in the air.

‘The world will end soon,’ Walter says. ‘Are the guardians just going to let it happen?’

She looks thoughtfully at him, her head tilted a little to the side. His aura is a matte yellow, like the fur of a lion, and stronger than ever. It pulsates around him.

He has placed the box, the cross and the table between them. The box that is not a box. The cross that is not a cross. More sacrifices will be required.

All for a good cause. It must be done to let them close the portal and create harmony in the world, once and for all.

The Chosen Ones and the twins are in the hall now. Everything is progressing as it should.

Minoo sees herself reflected in the glass covering the framed picture behind Walter. A magnificent three-masted ship against a richly coloured evening sky. She sees herself smile blandly. Sees her own eyes, black and glowing. Eyes that no one else can see.

‘We had an agreement!’ Walter says. He can barely keep himself from yelling. ‘They gave me a mission to fulfil. And then they cut me off! The same day that the portal must be closed! I must know what is going on!’

He has been following the guardians’ directives for four years. He has operated in the shadows. He saw to it that Adriana’s application to do her research in Engelsfors was approved. He encouraged Alexander to organise the trial. He chose to overlook the fact that the Chosen Ones outsmarted Alexander and then told him to use Adriana as a scapegoat. He assured Alexander that his sister wouldn’t be harshly punished and then ordered the judges to condemn her to death, so that Minoo would try to rescue her and learn more about her own powers. Walter’s combined efforts have triggered the sequence of events that has led to this exact moment. He has been invaluable.

So has Alexander, in his own way. Minoo observes him as he sits, deeply asleep, his head slumped sideways. She has been inside his memories and had a good look around. He is obsessed with Walter. He is chained to him by fear and shame and admiration and hatred. Again and again, Walter has used and betrayed him. And yet, he trusts Walter blindly. Some people have that kind of power over others.

Walter doesn’t any more. Not over Minoo.

She has taken it from him, and that is the most unforgivable thing anyone could do to him. She can feel his rage, his hatred. He would like to make her suffer and then kill her. But he doesn’t dare do anything now, because he knows that she is strong. Even though he has no idea just
how
strong.

Minoo could neutralise him, easily.

But, for now, Walter is necessary. Just for a little while longer.

* * *

Follow me across the floor
, Viktor instructs Linnéa.
Some places creak less than others
.

Linnéa passes the warning on to Anna-Karin, then looks around at the enormous dark room.

A few heavy crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Six folding chairs are arranged in a circle in the middle of the floor. It is eerily silent. The bars in the tall windows cast long shadows on the parquet. Outside, the snow glitters in the light from the outdoor lamps.

They follow Viktor to a door at the far end of the room. Now and then, the parquet groans under their feet. Linnéa stops every time it happens and holds her breath. She knows that Walter’s office is on the other side of the door.

Walter.

Linnéa feels a surge of terror. What has she exposed Minoo to by leaving her here?

Then she thinks of Vanessa, who is somewhere else in the building trying to rescue Adriana. She would so much like to send her a thought and find out if she’s all right. But she doesn’t dare to.

She looks at the door again.

Are you positive they’re still in there?
she thinks.

Viktor turns to Linnéa and nods.

Don’t try to read Walter’s mind
.
He will notice. You have only one chance to take him by surprise
.

They reach the door. Linnéa stands in front of it, next to Anna-Karin.

Thanks
, Linnéa thinks, looking at Viktor.

You were right
, he replies.
You can’t change a rotten system from within. All that comes of it is that you become rotten yourself
.

Linnéa realises just how big a risk Viktor and Clara run by doing this.

At least you tried
, she thinks.

He smiles ironically.

Good luck
, he says, then nods at Anna-Karin and wanders away across the parquet.

Are you ready
? she thinks to Anna-Karin.

Anna-Karin nods, a grim look on her face.

Remember how strong you were in school today
, Linnéa thinks.
We can do this together. We’re stronger than ever and—

I know
, Anna-Karin interrupts.
I am not afraid
.

Linnéa meets her friend’s green eyes and feels her own terror fade. They hold hands.

Wait
.

A new voice in Linnéa’s head. And seeing how confused Anna-Karin looks, she must have heard it, too.

Do nothing until I tell you to
.

It is Minoo.

OK
, Linnéa replies hesitantly, and feels the thought arrive.

When did Minoo learn to do this? And what is going on in there?

* * *

Vanessa and Clara walk hand in hand as they enter a corridor with a brownish-red carpet and dark red wallpaper. If this is how the manor house looked when it was a hotel, no wonder the owners went bankrupt. It looks like the set of a horror film. Who’d sleep here willingly? The walls are hung with portraits that don’t improve Vanessa’s mood.

Clara points at one of the doors further along the corridor and squeezes Vanessa’s hand. For as long as their bodies are in contact, they can see each other. Otherwise they are as invisible to each other as to everyone.

Almost
everyone. In this place, a roving mink or lynx can turn up at any minute.

Vanessa glances at Clara from the corner of her eye. Her first impression was that Clara looks frail, but now she has a feeling that Clara is much tougher than she looks. And there is so much Vanessa would like to talk to her about.

When Vanessa came inside, she carefully scraped the snow from her shoes to avoid leaving a trail and noticed that Clara had the same routine. Both are used to the little problems of invisibility; Vanessa hasn’t met anyone before who is.

She wants to tell Clara how grateful she is because Clara made Robin confess. That she wishes she had thought of it herself. But there is no time to talk now.

Vanessa looks around. No familiar is around, sniffing the air and transmitting information to its owner. She hopes that it doesn’t mean that they’re sneaking after the others.

They stop outside the door to Adriana’s room. It is locked. Vanessa lets go of Clara’s hand, and Clara seemingly dissolves into nothingness. Vanessa starts fiddling around with a bent hairpin. Picking locks was one of the few useful things that Wille taught her. She thinks gratefully of him and his career as a petty criminal. When the lock gives, she fumbles for Clara’s hand and finds it. She can see her again.

They enter Adriana’s study together. The lamp on the desk is on and casts a faint light. She recognises quite a few of the things she saw two years ago, after another hairpin job.

The double doors in one corner of the room are closed. Vanessa is sweating in the thick jacket.

‘It’s just Viktor,’ Clara says.

Vanessa is just about to ask what she means when the door opens behind them and Viktor enters from the corridor. They both go visible again and Viktor looks relieved. He doesn’t say anything and Vanessa hopes that no news is good news. She opens the double doors.

And chokes back a scream. Someone is sitting on a chair in the dark bedroom. She turns the light on and sees that it is Adriana. Her eyes are closed and she is sitting in a wheelchair.

Vanessa turns and sees that Viktor and Clara look just as shocked.

‘What has happened to her?’ she whispers.

‘All they told us was that she was ill,’ Viktor replies quietly.

Vanessa is glad that Adriana is sleeping; glad that she doesn’t have to find out right now exactly how ill she is.

She tries to push the wheelchair but the brake is on. It takes her a moment to work out how to operate it.

‘Hold on to me,’ she says to Viktor. ‘I think I can make both you and Adriana invisible.’

Viktor puts his hand lightly on her shoulder and she releases more of her magic to envelop them all in the cloak of invisibility. Next to them, Clara also disappears.

Vanessa pushes Adriana into the study when the door to the corridor suddenly opens wide.

The young woman in the doorway must be Sigrid. She wears a white, knee-length dress patterned with tiny cherries. The full skirt swings around her hips as she walks into the room. The mink is perched on her shoulder and watches them with its tiny, beady eyes.

A boy and a girl follow Sigrid into the room. They’ve got to be Felix and Nejla.

Nejla checks the room. Then she puts out her hand and a fireball flares up. It hovers above her palm.

‘It’s pointless to stay invisible,’ Sigrid says. ‘My familiar sees you!’

‘Yeah, we know,’ Clara says wearily. She becomes visible.

Vanessa follows her example. Felix looks upset when he sees Viktor. Vanessa doesn’t feel convinced in the slightest that Felix will be on their side.

Sigrid is clearly furious. The low-cut dress shows off the blush spreading up to her neck.