Strange Attractors - Kim Falconer [118]
‘You read the notes? In my grimoire?’ Nellion’s voice cut through the workshop, sending the rows of coloured inks jumping on the shelves.
‘I knew that would be the more upsetting news,’ she whispered.
Grayson noticed the perspiration on Rosette’s forehead. He started to speak but a tilt of Nellion’s head silenced him.
‘You activated the spell?’ Her voice rang like a town bell.
Rosette covered her ears. ‘I tried to activate the spell. It was my risk and I was willing to take it. It’s not like I haven’t been dead before. But it doesn’t matter. Nothing happened. The CPU is gone, the base molecules are empty.’
Nell looked at Drayco. ‘And you were in on this?’
The temple cat stared back, unblinking.
‘Where’s An’ Lawrence?’ she shouted.
‘Sleeping.’
‘Wake him up!’ Nell clapped her hands. ‘Get to the kitchens, now! I want coffee, a strong pot, and something sustaining. We’ve much to consider.’ She eyed her daughter. ‘And you have a fair bit more explaining to do.’ Nell stormed out of the room, leaving a palpable wake behind her.
‘We’ll meet you there,’ Rosette called out, her hands clasped behind her back.
Grayson looked at her. ‘So that’s Nell?’
Rosette nodded.
‘Not so different from Kali after all, I guess.’
‘Not tonight.’ She shook her head and followed Nell to the kitchens.
Xane shaded his eyes, scanning the woods. He felt a presence there, though he couldn’t spot it. As he concentrated, the scene in front of him changed, the blurred outlines coming into sharp focus and the colour shifting to red. There it was—a wolf peering from behind a tree. It was watching him! Xane’s horse shied, more a response to his excitement than from the sight or scent of the creature. They were upwind and the wolf a long way off. Xane rubbed his neck, feeling the scab. It was confounding, spotting the creature—possibly the same wolf that ran with the temple cat. He was also disturbed by his inexplicable vision. He didn’t understand it but if it was real and not illusion, he had to consider it a boon. If that’s what it takes, getting shot in the neck with a hemlock-dipped arrow, to wake up my magic, then I’ve no regrets.
He urged the mare forward, turning off the road and entering the woods. His eyesight remained infused with the strange red-shifted colours, a grid mapped over the top of everything. It was some spell, this vision enhancement. As he honed in, the wolf disappeared, vanishing into the thick tree cover. Xane frowned, realising he was calculating streams of numbers—the variables of direction the animal might take, based on an infinite number of possibilities within a 360-degree radius, each degree endlessly divided in half.
He stopped his horse. Infinite? I don’t even understand what that means. ‘Come on, Rose. He’s gone. Nothing to fear,’ Xane said, about to turn around. ‘But we best let Willem know.’ He hesitated. There was something compelling about the wolf that made him want to follow. He looked over his shoulder. The scouts had moved on, fanning out around the foothills of the eastern Prieta Mountains, leading the way for the foot soldiers. ‘I guess it wouldn’t hurt to track him a bit, would it, Rose? After all, we’re here to report as much as we can. No sense going back saying I think I saw a wolf and it might be like the one at the gates.’
He smiled and his vision returned to normal as he headed deeper into the woods. He didn’t know what kind of magic was going on in his head, but he was learning how to turn it on and off. He searched for tracks but found none. It must have been imagination after all.
Rosette refilled the coffee cups, pouring ginger and mint tea for herself. She propped her elbows on the table, holding the mug under her chin, pungent steam warming her face. An’ Lawrence argued with Nell, but it was different from the way he and Kreshkali fought. How can it be, Teg? Kali and Nell are the same person—different glamours—but then again, they are not. Rosette turned to him. Are you finding this strange?
Teg stretched his arms over