you?”
I laughed shakily. “No, I wouldn’t make you do that. I just need a bit of…advice, that’s all.”
“Mack Attack, advice I can do. You should come to London, tell Lord Shifty the truth and then everything’ll work itself out. The human thing isn’t an issue anymore because you’re not freaking human! In fact - ”
I interrupted him. “It’s not about that, Alex, it’s something else.” Before he could continue to regale me with grandiose plans for how I could risk the lives of the entire Cornish pack by exposing myself, I quickly filled him in with the details of Mrs Alcoon – how she had initially seemed slightly clairvoyant and the nameless suspicions I’d had about her that had since been confirmed, up till I found her in her weird semi-permanent stasis. I even included that she knew what I really was although I left out the part about my newly discovered fire power, because it didn’t seem entirely relevant and I wasn’t too sure that I wanted anyone else to know what I was suddenly now capable of just yet.
Alex was quiet for a few moments. When he finally spoke, his voice was solemn. “Describe the object to me again.”
“It was small, about two inches long and shape of a sphere. And made out of iron so it couldn’t have been anything to do with anyone from Faery. And I held it for a good few moments before it started to chill and freeze and then…”
“Mackenzie, you need to get out of there.”
I was momentarily befuddled. “Uh, what?”
“Get out. Now. Lock the door behind you and leave. And don’t go back.”
“I’m not leaving. She helped me out when no-one else would. So she’s meddled in a bit of bad magic and then messed up. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t try and get her out of it.” I paused. “Is this because she knows what I am now? That I’m…not human? Is she contacting someone like Iabartu?”
“No.”
“So what the fuck is it, Alex? Tell me! I just need to know what to do. Alex, you know what this is, don’t you?”
This had to be connected in some way to the fact that she’d discovered my true nature, despite what Alex said to the contrary. Either her knowing what I was had put her in danger or she’d put herself into danger by trying to tell someone else.
“She didn’t do it to herself, Mack, that would be impossible. Your Mrs Alcoon is in enforced inhibitory gnosis. You can’t achieve that state on your own – someone has to put you in it. Someone from the Ministry has done this.”
“The Ministry? You mean the mages? You mean, you?”
“No, not me. Well, yes me. My group, at least. That’s what we do when there’s report of trouble.”
I had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Trouble?”
“When someone reports that there is some bad magic around, the Ministry steps in to put a stop to it. The object you’ve described is a moot – it nullifies any magic user in the vicinity who might be a threat until a representative can arrive and deal with it.”
“I have a horrible feeling that dealing with it means acting first and asking questions later.”
“That is often the case, yes. Mack Attack, if whoever arrives to sort out your little old lady shows up and finds you there, you’ll be taken into custody. They’ll try to find out who you are. Which will take them all of two minutes given how hard the Lord Alpha has been trying to find you. If this happened hours ago then even with you in the wilds of Scotland, they’ll be there soon. Leave.”
“But she’s not a threat, Alex. She’s barely got any power.”
“She worked out what you are, didn’t she?”
“Only because…” my voice trailed off as the dawning realisation hit me.
Maggie. Maggie had called in the threat. And it wasn’t Mrs Alcoon who was being targeted, it was me. It should be me in that strange trance-like state, not her. Yet again
I laughed shakily. “No, I wouldn’t make you do that. I just need a bit of…advice, that’s all.”
“Mack Attack, advice I can do. You should come to London, tell Lord Shifty the truth and then everything’ll work itself out. The human thing isn’t an issue anymore because you’re not freaking human! In fact - ”
I interrupted him. “It’s not about that, Alex, it’s something else.” Before he could continue to regale me with grandiose plans for how I could risk the lives of the entire Cornish pack by exposing myself, I quickly filled him in with the details of Mrs Alcoon – how she had initially seemed slightly clairvoyant and the nameless suspicions I’d had about her that had since been confirmed, up till I found her in her weird semi-permanent stasis. I even included that she knew what I really was although I left out the part about my newly discovered fire power, because it didn’t seem entirely relevant and I wasn’t too sure that I wanted anyone else to know what I was suddenly now capable of just yet.
Alex was quiet for a few moments. When he finally spoke, his voice was solemn. “Describe the object to me again.”
“It was small, about two inches long and shape of a sphere. And made out of iron so it couldn’t have been anything to do with anyone from Faery. And I held it for a good few moments before it started to chill and freeze and then…”
“Mackenzie, you need to get out of there.”
I was momentarily befuddled. “Uh, what?”
“Get out. Now. Lock the door behind you and leave. And don’t go back.”
“I’m not leaving. She helped me out when no-one else would. So she’s meddled in a bit of bad magic and then messed up. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t try and get her out of it.” I paused. “Is this because she knows what I am now? That I’m…not human? Is she contacting someone like Iabartu?”
“No.”
“So what the fuck is it, Alex? Tell me! I just need to know what to do. Alex, you know what this is, don’t you?”
This had to be connected in some way to the fact that she’d discovered my true nature, despite what Alex said to the contrary. Either her knowing what I was had put her in danger or she’d put herself into danger by trying to tell someone else.
“She didn’t do it to herself, Mack, that would be impossible. Your Mrs Alcoon is in enforced inhibitory gnosis. You can’t achieve that state on your own – someone has to put you in it. Someone from the Ministry has done this.”
“The Ministry? You mean the mages? You mean, you?”
“No, not me. Well, yes me. My group, at least. That’s what we do when there’s report of trouble.”
I had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Trouble?”
“When someone reports that there is some bad magic around, the Ministry steps in to put a stop to it. The object you’ve described is a moot – it nullifies any magic user in the vicinity who might be a threat until a representative can arrive and deal with it.”
“I have a horrible feeling that dealing with it means acting first and asking questions later.”
“That is often the case, yes. Mack Attack, if whoever arrives to sort out your little old lady shows up and finds you there, you’ll be taken into custody. They’ll try to find out who you are. Which will take them all of two minutes given how hard the Lord Alpha has been trying to find you. If this happened hours ago then even with you in the wilds of Scotland, they’ll be there soon. Leave.”
“But she’s not a threat, Alex. She’s barely got any power.”
“She worked out what you are, didn’t she?”
“Only because…” my voice trailed off as the dawning realisation hit me.
Maggie. Maggie had called in the threat. And it wasn’t Mrs Alcoon who was being targeted, it was me. It should be me in that strange trance-like state, not her. Yet again
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