Part One is here

 

‘You do what I say, or everyone in the Council will know your real name.’

His huge mouth split open, the yellowing teeth within catching the light shining down from the floating lights. She was transfixed, staring at the shifting skin, the way it rippled slowly over his bones. Then the reality of his words sank in and she began to shiver. It was cold here and the market no longer felt like a friendly place.

She looked about for Banner but he’d disappeared into the crush. What the hell was she supposed to do? Seeker held out his hand, beckoning her closer. ‘Please, come nearer so we can talk without others hearing.’

She glared at him, but crossed the space between them and stood before his empty desk. ‘I like the display, you put lots of thought into it.’

‘More than you imagine, my dear. So Martin has headed around the world and left you all alone. That must be most upsetting. And now your new friends have raced to your rescue. What a remarkable bit of timing.’

‘I’ve been in another dimension.’ Why did she say that? Maybe she thought it might intimidate him, enough that he’d give up on the blackmail. Or maybe it was the best she could manage. The excitement of being here had faded leaving her wrung out and desperate for sleep.

Seeker inclined his head in a slow nod. ‘Well, that’s impressive. Shame you didn’t stay there, you’re probably thinking. They don’t let computers in here, I hear. You must be missing yours about now. It’s helped you in the past, I believe.’

He knew far too much for her liking. ‘I get along just fine without my computer, thanks all the same. What do you want?’

‘Ah, is that it, the polite chat done with already?’

‘Polite chat?’ She could hear her voice rising, but didn’t have the energy to control it. ‘All you’ve done is threaten me and take the piss, so you can shove your polite chat.’

His mouth spread in a strange imitation of a smile. ‘Your confidence has grown, even without your precious Martin at your side. Pity. You should have been more generous when I asked for your help, maybe we wouldn’t be here now.’

She stuck her tongue out at him. ‘What do you want?’

‘I have a great interest in what happens within the Council. Unfortunately, their blocking spells are most powerful. But if I had a pair of eyes inside, someone who could keep tabs on things and let me know…’

‘How would I let you know?’

‘You have a phone, do you not? Text me with anything you think might be of use.’

‘How long do I have to spy for you?’

He shrugged, the movement sending miniature landslides down his bare arms. ‘We’ll see. Let’s see whether you can find anything useful for me, first. If you can’t then maybe the deal will change. Or maybe I’ll just share your name anyway.’

She bit her lip. There was no way out of this. Why hadn’t Martin warned her about the name thing? As long as this guy was around, she’d have to do whatever he wanted. She shuddered. He’d called her the entertainment, the first time they met. Turned out he was right.

‘What’s your number?’

He handed her a small, plain business card.

 

SEEKER

Finder, information, miscellany

Mobile: 07835 543728

Twitter: @BigBadSeekerMan

 

She sniggered. ‘Thought you said you weren’t on twitter.’

He cleared his throat, the sound bouncing off the far wall. ‘Yes, well, too good for business to resist.’

‘Big bad seeker man?’

‘Better, I think, than my real name.’

‘Depends what your real name is. Have to be pretty shocking to be worse than that.’

He folded his arms and bent back, groaning as his back clicked. ‘I need water. Time to leave. I expect to hear from you.’

The market stall collapsed and he folded it until he could carry it beneath one arm. Then he strode from the room without a backward glance. She watched him go, wondering how long it would be before she learned a spell that would actually cause damage to someone.

As if by magic, which wasn’t out of the question, Banner emerged from the crowds. ‘Wonderful isn’t it? Normally I find it a little overpowering, but it’s just so real, so alive.’

‘You know, you really are a strange man.’ She held her hands up in apology, face burning. ‘Sorry, I need sleep.’

He shrugged and gestured for her to follow. They wound their way through the market and into a long corridor, marked by the silence within. She hadn’t realised how loud the market was and let out a long breath as they walked deeper into the earth.

The corridors were sloped, gradual enough for her not to notice, only the pictures on the walls didn’t quite line up with the floor and ceiling and it bugged the OCD side of her. Her need for neatness began and ended with wall hangings, and her hands were itching as they passed picture after picture. The effect made her slightly dizzy. They reached a door with the number 42 engraved on it in neat silver paint.

‘This is your room.’

He placed his hand on it and murmured something and the lock clicked open. ‘You will need to reset that. It’s normally the first challenge for those wishing to study here, but I don’t suppose you’ll find any difficulty in such a mundane task.’

She shook her head, looking past him into the tiny room. Bed, basin, bookshelf. All the essentials then. She stepped in and panicked for a moment before she saw the solitary plug socket by the end of her bed.

‘There will be a meeting for new students, back in the main hall, tomorrow morning at eight. Until then, follow this corridor back and turn left when you reach the main hall for the canteen. Any other questions?’

She opened her mouth but he was already striding away. She perched on the edge of the bed and stared across the three feet to the opposite wall. Well. Scarlet plugged her phone in and lay back on the bed, staring up at the equally uninspiring ceiling. This was exciting.

She climbed off the bed and out the door. As it closed, she heard a faint snick and she turned back, heart sinking. Sure enough, it was locked. Oh, bloody hell. She placed her hand against it and tried a few things.

‘Open sesame. Expelliarmus. Open, open, OPEN!’

She looked both ways down the hall, blushing. No one looked out their doors and she turned back to it. It was a spell of some sort and he’d said they used it as a test. She hated exams. Exams were, without a shadow of a doubt, the stupidest things known to man. How was sitting in a hall for two hours staring at paper supposed to prepare you in any way for real life?

She pulled her spell book out and trawled through it. There was nothing about opening doors or unlocking things, which was an oversight on mum’s part. Only the pages filled by her were now outnumbered by Scarlet’s so she couldn’t really blame her. Actually, she could. She wasn’t here so it was almost certainly her fault. Her’s or Martin’s.

She set off down the corridor. Time to snoop and see if she could find something for Seeker and maybe solve the problem of the door at the same time. The thing with Seeker had left a bad taste in her mouth. Despite his threats on their lives the last time they met and the whole ‘scary thin guy with a knife’ delivery service, she thought they’d built some kind of a rapport. He always seemed so friendly and he obviously respected Martin. But the first chance he got he blackmailed her and put her in this situation.

It was strange because she hated everyone, but it still sucked when someone treated her like crap. She should have learned by now. She stopped, one hand resting against the wall. Where was Lara? All she’d thought about for the last few days was her life without Lara, how terrible it was…

She blushed and pushed her clenched fist against the wall. What about Lara? Her parents just found out she was gay and were threatening all this horrible stuff and she must be so sad. Her lip wobbled and her eyes grew wet. She deserved to be blackmailed, she was evil and heartless. She wanted her girlfriend, so she could hold her and tell things would get better.

She pushed away from the wall and took a deep breath. She would text her immediately. She reached for her phone and remembered it was tucked at the end of the bed, plugged in. Dammit. She’d text her the moment she got back in her room. Now she had to find out what the spell was.

She kept going down the corridor, resisting the urge to bang on all the doors and run. That made her grin. How many students were there here? Were any of them as young as she was? She reached the door to the great hall and turned left, through an open door and into the canteen.

The place was massive and horribly school-like, long benches sat under long plastic tables. It smelt good though and her stomach rumbled. She didn’t touch the food at school, except the cookies of course, but she might have to eat something here. She ambled over to the hatch. An angular woman with big owl eyes stopped just short of scowling at her.

‘Not open for another ten minutes. Why aren’t you in class?’

‘I’m new, just got here, I don’t start until tomorrow. Hey, I don’t—’

The woman was gone, disappearing into the steam-filled kitchen behind. Scarlet stuck her tongue out and found a bench to perch against. The food was in the hot tubs, why couldn’t she just serve it? Her stomach growled again.

She heard footsteps behind her. ‘Well, well, we heard you were coming here. Joanna Slater, if I’m not mistaken.’

She turned, heart sinking at the silly, deep voice. It was so hard to sound threatening when you were trying to sound like James Earl Jones. But when she saw them, the three boys she’d beaten last time she was here, the voice didn’t seem so important. They wore the same black, but six months had added height and breadth to them, and their faces promised something worse than words.