Read Online Fated: An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka - Free Book Online Page B

with brilliant eyes down upon the mages facing it. Ah, I thought. ‘Lightning man’. So that was what she meant.
    The leader of the Light mages shouted something, but no one was listening to him any more. About five of the Light and Dark mages hit the elemental at the same time, fire and wind and earth slamming into it as one.The elemental hit back, and a lightning storm blazed outward from the top of the stairs, bolts slamming off shields to crackle down into the floor.
    By this point I was running again. For a diviner like me, a two-sided battle is more than dangerous enough. A three-sided battle isn’t even worth thinking about. By my count there were now
four
sides: the Dark trio, the Council reinforcements, the elemental and me. My curiosity wanted to stick around and see who won, but it was outvoted.
    The only problem was that the free-for-all I was running away from just happened to be right between me and the exit. I sprinted past the Rosetta Stone and Assyria, took a right at the Nereid Monument and ducked into a corner in the Greeks and Lycians displays. Pulling out my glass rod, I channelled a thread of magic and whispered urgently. ‘Starbreeze, friend to the air and – no, wait. Lady of the wind, dancer of, friend to, um … oh, hell with it, Starbreeze, it’s Alex Verus, and I need you
right now
. Get me out of here!’
    There was a crash from the direction of the Great Court and the air lit up white. I’d picked the furthest corner I could find, but from the way the floor vibrated, it wasn’t far enough. ‘Starbreeze! Come on! Where are you?’
    Running footsteps echoed from where I’d come. I scanned, then snapped a quick look around the corner. Running through the gallery which held the Nereid Monument were two figures in dark clothes: Cinder and the woman. I ducked back and swore under my breath. ‘Why do these people keep
following
me?’
    ‘Who?’ Starbreeze said in interest.
    I jumped and spun to see Starbreeze hovering right next to my face, the transparent lines of her face almostinvisible in the darkness. Starbreeze giggled. ‘Scared you!’ She pointed brightly back towards the Great Court. ‘Lightning man!’
    ‘Yeah, I noticed. Let’s get out of here!’
    ‘Stay and watch?’
    Around the corner, the sound of approaching footsteps had stopped. Dimly I heard Cinder’s voice, muttering, ‘—someone there.’
    ‘Khazad?’ the woman’s voice muttered back.
    Why can’t they find their own place to hide?
‘Let’s not,’ I urged. ‘Look!’ I rummaged through my pocket and came up with a silvered earring. ‘Here, Starbreeze.
Starbreeze!
’
    Starbreeze was floating five feet up in the air, gazing absently in the direction of the battle. She gave a look down at the earring, then shook her head and went back to staring at the wall happily. ‘Lightning’s pretty.’
    ‘Starbreeze, come on!’
    Starbreeze shook her head. ‘Uh-uh.’
    Over Starbreeze’s voice, I could just hear Cinder talking. ‘—not Khazad.’
    ‘Burn the room he’s in.’
    ‘Can’t tell which room.’
    ‘Burn them all, then.’
    As I heard those last words my precognition screamed. I went from a standing start to a dead run in one second flat, sprinting out through the exit on the right.
    There was a
whoompf!
and a wave of heat washed over me, followed by the wail of smoke alarms. I turned back to see that the gallery I’d been standing in was a cloud of ash and smoke. The edge of the blast had missed me by maybe ten feet.
    As I watched the sprinkler system came on, water hissingas it struck the molten glass of the display case, Starbreeze came zipping out of the smoke. ‘That hurt!’ Her voice rippled, upset, and her form was shaky, specks of ash fluttering as she moved.
    ‘Then let’s
go
! Get us out of here!’
    Starbreeze swept down and around me, turned me into air, and whisked me up and out of sight. I had one fleeting glimpse of Cinder and the woman emerging from the smoke, then we were