“I wasn’t sneaking up, Nathan.”
“And don’t fucking argue with me!”
I walk away from them to the far end of the room. Gabriel comes with me.
He says, “You’re shaking.”
“I’m OK.” He gives me a look and I repeat, “I’m OK.”
After a pause he asks, “What do you want to do?”
“Kill ’em all.” I’m joking but only a bit. “Wallend is experimenting on other witches like he did on me. He strapped me down and tattooed me. That was worse than being with Celia. That was the worst thing of all. At least Celia occasionally treated me like a human being. But to Wallend I was just some kind of lab rat. No one should have to go through that.”
“No,” Gabriel agrees. And I think that even Gabriel is beginning to believe that the Alliance’s cause is just.
I say to him, “We work with the Alliance until Wallend and Soul are dead.”
He nods.
Van and Annalise have arrived and I take a deep breath and join them.
There are ten of us. Three Black Witches: Van, Gabriel, and Gus, who it seems is more than just a barman but also a key Black Witch with extensive contacts throughout Europe. On the White Witch side is Celia, another White Witch from England called Grace, a third White from Italy called Angela, plus Annalise. There are two Half Bloods, Nesbitt and Ellen. Then there’s me.
Celia says, “I believe we’re safe here but we’ll keep the meeting short. First I take it that, as you’re here, you are joining us, Nathan?”
“Until I change my mind.”
She looks into my eyes; hers are a pale blue filled with white shards. Then she does something I’m not expecting. She holds out her hand. “Then we’re on the same side,” she says. “Welcome to the AFW.”
“The what?”
“The Alliance of Free Witches.”
“Ha! Well, it’s no thanks to you that I’m one of those.”
“But we’re all very glad you are one and that you want to help ensure other witches remain free too.”
Her hand is still out and I ignore it, saying, “What I want is to see Soul and Wallend dead. And quite a lot of other White Witches too. That’s why I’m here.”
She says, “Am I one of those you want to see dead, Nathan?”
“You’d have a bullet in your brain if you were.”
“If you join the Alliance you’ll have to take orders from me. Can you?” she asks.
I manage a smile. “As long as they’re not stupid ones.”
“Do you expect them to be?”
I make her wait before I say, “No.”
“Good. I don’t expect they will be either but I’m sure you’ll be the first to tell me if they are.”
Her hand is still outstretched. She says, “Will you shake hands?”
“I’m struggling not to spit on you at the moment.”
She laughs a loud bark of a laugh and withdraws her hand. “I have missed you, Nathan. Even though I’m sure you’ve not missed me.”
And, sitting across the table from her, I don’t think she has any idea what it was like for me, or for any prisoner, being chained up and beaten. She’s an intelligent woman but she hasn’t got a clue sometimes. Only if you’ve been there can you know.
Van asks for an update since her last meeting with Celia. That was only two weeks ago but in that time there’s been the massacre in Paris, and Soul has replaced all the Council members with his own people: Wallend is now on the Council. Several White Witches have been arrested for colluding with the rebels. “Including Clay,” Celia says.
“What?” says Nesbitt.
“A trumped-up charge but Clay was having serious doubts about Soul. He’d lost his job, his status, his reputation, everything. Well, everything except his freedom and now he’s lost that too.”
Celia continues. “I heard that Isch’s house in Barcelona was raided shortly after we were there. Isch took poison and died; some of the girls were captured and tortured. I knew that my name would soon pop up on their lists. Soul has named those he wants for interrogation, including the ex-Council Leader Gloria; her husband and sister, Grace; plus myself and another Hunter called Greatorex. Soul was right to have them on his list—we’re all members of the AFW.
“Jessica is leading the Hunters. And I have to say she’s doing a good job. The Hunters are a mostly female organization and they’re delighted to have a woman in charge again. She has plenty of new recruits and has made attacks on Black Witch communities in northern France, Holland, and Germany. The biggest has been the one in Paris but as far as I can tell she’s killed over sixty Black Witches so far and has lost no Hunters in those attacks.
“But Jessica has problems too and they’ll grow. Even with all her new recruits, she’s going to have to spread the Hunters thinly if she wants to cover all of Europe. And many of those recruits will be less well-trained and certainly less experienced than the core Hunter army.
“Our own disadvantage is numbers. But, being small, we can move quickly to attack the Hunters. We need to move now to attack, to slow the recruitment and training of more Hunters. We must use guerrilla tactics to do that, and to win—but they happen to be what I specialize in.
“However,” says Celia, “there is one final problem. Black Witches are beginning to wake up to what’s going on but they don’t trust me and we need to attract them to our cause. The Alliance is mainly made up of White Witches and Half Bloods from Britain. We have few influential Black Witches among us. Though we do, of course, have Van and Gus.”
Gus nods. “My influence is minimal, Celia. And, as I’ve said before, to be a true Alliance we need to have a strong representation of all witches: Whites, Blacks, and even Half Bloods. But the Black Witches I speak to are not interested. They don’t believe they should fight alongside White Witches. They say they’ll fight back against the Hunters if they’re attacked. I tell them about the Black Witches who’ve already been killed but . . .” He shrugs. “Black Witches aren’t interested in causes or armies or alliances.”
Celia counters, “But you and Van and now Gabriel have joined us. So some Black Witches do listen.”
Gus turns to Gabriel and asks, “Why are you here, Gabriel?”
“Because I’m with Nathan.”
“So if Nathan is killed or leaves?”
“If he leaves I leave. If he’s killed”—he looks at me—“I don’t know . . .”
Gus says, “We need someone who will attract other Black Witches to the cause. But I don’t know of any other Black Witch who will join just because Nathan is here.” He looks into my eyes. “He’s not a Black Witch.” The black in his own eyes gleams at me and I stare back at him.
Gus is just another racist snob. The witch world is full of them.
“What are you really suggesting, Gus?” asks Celia.
“To attract Black Witches, we need someone they respect, someone who is the embodiment of all that is Black.”
“And who is that?” Van asks, trying to suppress a smile. “I’m rather disappointed it isn’t me.”
Gus laughs with her. “Sorry, Van, but you’ve always been seen as too willing to work with non-Blacks, even fains.”
“So you’re thinking of someone who represents ‘old Blacks’?” Celia sighs and ruffles her spiky hair. “Mercury would be one, I suppose?”
“Yes, she—” Gus begins.
Van interrupts. “Mercury’s dead.”
“Killed by Hunters?”
“No. Killed by . . . us.” And she waves her hand vaguely toward Nesbitt, Gabriel, and me. “In self-defense, I hasten to add, and with this as my memento.” And she turns her face to the light to show her burns. “But even if she was alive, I couldn’t imagine Mercury joining the Alliance. She would have seen no benefit to herself in joining, no . . . honor in it. I understand that.
There are several Black Witches as powerful as Mercury: Linden, Dell, Suave . . . but they all think the same way. All the most powerful Blacks will surely be unwilling to risk everything to fight with us—except one. Fortunately he’s the most powerful of them all.” And she looks at me and somehow I knew it was coming to this all along.
“Marcus?” I ask.
“If he joins there’s a chance others will too,” Van says.
Gus smirks. “If he joins we won’t need the others.”
“Is this why I’m really here, why you wanted me to join the Alliance: to somehow bring in Marcus?”
“No. I want you because you’re an excellent fighter,” Celia says. “And I don’t want Marcus. He’ll cause too many problems with the Whites in the Alliance.”
“Including yourself, Celia?” Van asks.
She doesn’t answer but she’s having to think hard.
“Nathan has put his past behind him and come to work with you. We all must do the same if we’re to move forward,” Van says.
Celia still doesn’t answer.
I say, “I can’t see him joining anyway.”
“But you’d be willing to try to persuade him?” Van asks.
“Well . . .” I’m not sure.
“No. We haven’t agreed to this.” Celia looks around the table. “Marcus is murderous. He’s killed too many White Witches. The rebels won’t stand for it.”
“They won’t stand for losing,” Van says. “Marcus will make all the difference to the Alliance’s success. Yes, he’s killed many White Witches but he’s killed a lot of Black Witches too. Most importantly, he’s killed lots of Hunters. And everyone knows that. They may not like him but the White rebels want more than anything to be on the winning side because, if they lose, they’ll find no mercy from Soul. Marcus will make it a winning side.”
Celia says, “I can organize our army without him. We’ll manage it. It’ll take time but—”
“You said yourself a minute ago that we need to attack immediately. And I agree; if we don’t stop Jessica now our fight will only get harder. Exactly how many people do you have that can fight, Celia?” Van asks.
“There are nearly a hundred in the Alliance. I’m training the able ones and—”
“How many could you send out to fight the Hunters today?”
Celia sticks out her lip and glances at me. “At this moment? Very few.”
“How few?” Van persists.
“Including myself, Nathan, Gabriel . . . nine.”
Gus shakes his head.
“But the training is coming on well; they’re just not fighters at the moment. The younger ones, the ones with certain Gifts, will be good soldiers in a few months—”
“We won’t have a few months if the Hunter army grows,” Van says. “And if this is a new society we are creating, a new order, we should be willing to forgive past crimes and go forward together.”
“But—”
“No, Celia. All witches must be given a chance, even Marcus. If he then breaks our rules, that’s different, but past crimes should be under amnesty.”
Grace says, “This is going nowhere. We need to vote on it. A representative of each part of the Alliance: White Witches, Black Witches, Half Bloods, and Half Codes. Nesbitt, you vote for half Blacks, Ellen for half Whites. Celia for White Witches, Van for Blacks, and you for the Half Codes, Nathan.”
“Those in favor?” asks Van.
Hands go up round the table. Everyone apart from me and Celia votes to invite Marcus to join the Alliance.
“So three to two, the vote is carried,” Grace says. She looks at me. “Why did you vote against, Nathan?”
I don’t know the answer, except that I don’t think my father will fit with these people: people who vote. I remember Wolfgang’s story about him killing his friend and I have a bad feeling—he’s too wild. But I don’t mention that; I just say, “It’s a waste of time. We have no way of contacting him and he won’t join anyway.”
Gus says, “You’re wrong. I do have a way of contacting him—and it’s your job to get him to join.”
“You’ve got his phone number?” Nesbitt smirks.
“How I contact him is confidential,” Gus replies.
“Fine,” Celia says. “How soon, though?” She’s full of urgency now. She’s not happy about Marcus but she’s used to working for Hunters and doing what she’s told. I know she’ll just get on with it.
“I’ll arrange for Nathan to meet him in the next few days. I can’t promise faster than that.”
Celia turns to me. “If he joins us then he must understand the terms.”
“What terms?” I ask.
“He follows my orders, as all the fighters do.”
“That’s it?”
“In battle and at camp. He has to behave . . . like a soldier.”
I can’t imagine Marcus doing any of this.
Celia continues. “I need to meet with him as soon as I can. I’m sure you’ll tell him all about me.”
“Yes, I’ll make sure he knows the conditions you kept me in. What was your phrase? ‘I wouldn’t want him to think you were in any state of comfort.’”
Celia straightens and I wonder if she’ll say, “I was only doing my duty” or “following orders” or some crap like that but she doesn’t. She was never the sort to deny responsibility.
* * *
The group disperses. I have time to catch Celia alone before she goes and I ask about Deborah. “Has she left England yet?”
Celia hesitates before replying. “She says her work is too important. Everyone on the Council knows that in the past her sympathies have been with you but she’s also Jessica’s sister and somehow she’s managed to convince them that she’s changed. She’s still working in the records department. It’s through her that we’ve learned of the Hunters’ past movements and their future plans. It’s vital information, but even so I’ve told her she should leave. She’s chosen to stay, though. She’s trying to get more information on Wallend and his experiments on the Black Witch prisoners. She’s incredibly brave.”
I don’t know what to say. Deborah always was brave. If she believes something is right, that’s that; there’s no other way for her.
Celia moves off to talk to Van, and Ellen comes over to say good-bye.
I say, “Tell Arran I hope to see him soon. I think of him loads.”
She nods. “I will. He’ll be so pleased you’re with the Alliance but more pleased that you’re alive and well, and that you got your three gifts. Was it Mercury who performed the Giving ceremony for you?” And, by the way she asks, I’m fairly sure she knows it wasn’t.
I shake my head. “Marcus did it.”
Ellen smiles. “So that’s why they think you’ll be able to persuade him to join. They know that he wants to help his son.”
Celia calls, “Ellen, we’re going. Now.”
And Ellen throws her arms round me and hugs me and I notice Celia watching, a look of surprise on her face. Celia still sees me as more Black than White, more violent than gentle. Ellen treats me as a person rather than a Half Code. But she’s a Half Blood; she knows what it’s like to be judged by a label rather than the person you are.
A minute after they go Van says that she, Annalise, and Nesbitt are returning to the bunker and that Gabriel will stay with me here while I try to make contact with Marcus. We’ll all meet again at the Red Gourd in a week.
I have a short time to say good-bye to Annalise. I pull her over to the side of the room, not to talk but just to hold her and say good-bye quietly, without everyone staring at us, which they are doing anyway, except for Gabriel, who is standing at the bar with his back to us.
“Are you worried about your father joining the Alliance?” she asks.
“A bit. But I don’t think he’ll join anyway. I don’t th
ink he’ll be interested, not in me, not in the rebels.”
“You’re his son. He cares about you. He found you for your Giving.”
“That’s different. He made it as short and as unsweet as possible. He doesn’t trust me. He won’t fight with me. And I can’t see him following Celia’s orders and acting ‘like a soldier.’ It just won’t work.”
Annalise kisses me and says, “Talking of working with Celia, I’m so proud of you, that you agreed to work with her after how she’s treated you in the past, what you’ve been through with her.” She kisses me again and leans close. “You’re my hero. My prince.” She kisses my ear and then whispers, “I love you.”
And I’m not sure I’ve heard her right but I know I have and I don’t know what to say.
She moves to kiss my lips and look into my eyes, and with her lips close to mine she whispers again, “I love you.”
And I think I ought to say it back but it’s really difficult and I’m sure everyone’s listening, and then she says, “I’ve got to go. They’re waiting.”
And I kiss her.
And I’ve still not said it.
And she’s moving away from me and I pull her back and I put my lips to her ear and I manage to say it, incredibly quietly. And she starts to giggle and I can’t help but smile. And we kiss again. And then harder and I’m not bothered about the others anymore.
There’s a loud cough and clearing of the throat from Nesbitt. Annalise giggles again but I keep kissing her until she slides out of my grasp.
And they’re gone.
And it was over too quick but I did say it and so did she. And we’ll be together again in a week. Just one more week and I’ll see her again.
Peanuts
We’re still in the pub. Gus and I are sitting in the booth. Gabriel is standing at the bar, sipping a beer and eating a bag of nuts, occasionally throwing one up in the air and catching it in his mouth. Gus is bigging himself up, and his role in this “mission,” and I’m trying my best to knock him down. It’s childish of him and of me, and I’m not sure which of us is the bigger kid.
Gus says, “Marcus has a few contacts in the Black Witch community. Those he knows he can trust and rely on, those who will never betray him.”