Chapter 44 #2
You don’t have to worry about Gwendolynne, since you won’t be seeing her again, my mother says. My mother has heard my musings, traced the trajectory of my thoughts. Her tone is remorseful, deeply apologetic. I’m sorry, Harrisford.
Anger rises like a rush of hot air beating against my skin.
“You were the one who encouraged me to go to her!” I’m yelling.
“You told me that love isn’t a fucking trap!
” Again, I struggle at my restraints, the ropes cutting into my biceps and across my chest. Damn it.
Why does Danny have to be so bloody good at knots?
I did say that. I can picture Pudding—my mother—now. Almost visualize the regal rise of her chin. But you’ll see, with time. It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.
“That’s a fucking lie, and you know it.” My head is pounding. Shards of grief are slicing through me, right into my core. “You cannot honestly expect me to believe that was true of you and Father.”
She’s silent for a long moment. Your father and I were a different story.
Oh yes, I want to sneer. I know their story. I know how the two of them, both from wealthy families, married each other for status, power, and money, not for love.
I may not know much about relationships, but I know this: I do not want what my parents had. I want something different. That’s why I broke things off with Isla Ennis, even though everyone thought we were the ideal couple. I didn’t love her, not truly, and for me? That is a total dealbreaker.
But I don’t say it. Instead I say, aloud, “Why should I trust you? When you’ve lied to me? Betrayed me? When you and the MLO have been causing the surges? When you’ve been killing people?”
“Mate, you’ve got it all wrong.” It’s Danny again, and he’s gesticulating with jerky movements.
“We haven’t been killing people. We’ve been doing to them what we’re doing to you.
Hiding them out in the Void until the authorities presume they’re dead, and then letting them assume a new identity so Magecorp can no longer find them. ”
I stare, nonplussed. “So.” I swallow. “Hani Nguyen isn’t dead?”
Hani Nguyen is the only name I can remember from Nora Chapman’s long list of the “deceased.” And I can only remember it because I’d spent so long staring at her photo ID.
I’d gone to such great lengths attempting to make Gwendolynne look like her (not that she ever did, of course; Gwendolynne can’t really look like anyone else when she’s easily the most beautiful woman ever).
“Hani is now Samantha Lai,” Danny says. “A twice-divorced executive who lives a life of leisure in Australia on her considerable alimony payments.”
I’m shocked into silence, contemplating, while I try to fit all these fractured epiphanies together in my mind.
“So the portals stay open because the Source is magnetized to the Void.” A statement, not a question. I know this because I can currently feel the way my own Source is being called to by the Void.
The Source wants to get back to its own dimension, my mother says quietly.
And yours is particularly strong, Harrisford.
It’s been there, accumulating power, for decades.
Her voice sounds thick; I think she’s crying.
I tried to stop them putting it in you, my darling.
I really did. But your father was just too powerful.
I let my head bow, chin to chest. My eyelids flutter shut. “I understand, Mother.” I understand, but I can’t forgive her.
I was four. You left. I can’t forgive you.
Then again, she didn’t leave, did she? Not really. This whole time she’s been with me, as my familiar, protecting me in whatever limited capacity she can.
When I speak again, my voice sounds weak. I’m empty inside; just a hollow shell. “So the power surges are because…you open portals for the people you’re hiding to get in and out? Do you open more portals than Magecorp do?” More portals mean more power, I’m guessing.
We have to open more of them to rescue people, yes. There’s a trace of regret edging my mother’s words. But unlike Magecorp, we don’t make the tethers hold portals open for extended periods.
Bile churns in my stomach, and I force myself to take a few breaths. “Is that how Magecorp kills people?” I ask. “The tethers, I mean. Because they have to hold the portals open?”
Tethers—like me. Implanted by Magecorp; saved by the MLO. What I really want to ask is: Is there a chance that I might die?
A pause. Yes, my mother says. Many of the tethers burn out. And Magecorp doesn’t care if they do, as long as they get their magic. Her voice is bitter.
“That is—” I cut myself off and shake my head, unable to find adequate words.
It’s greed, Harrisford, pure greed. My mother’s voice is rising.
They worked out years ago that humans are the most effective tethers, as opposed to objects, or familiars.
Objects are inert, and animals absorb the magic, making it harder for Magecorp to harvest. But people?
The Source fragments interact with a human’s magical abilities, augmenting the Source’s power.
Magecorp discovered that when human tethers implanted with the Source are placed on either side of a tear, they can keep the magic flowing from the Void for longer than the Source alone.
“So they need a tether for each portal,” I say, trying to comprehend it all.
“Two tethers per portal,” Danny explains. “One stays on our side—that’s your mum, in this case. The other goes into the Void—that’s you.”
My mind is getting tangled. “So I’m holding the portal open now?”
Danny shakes his head. “We’ve closed it for now. We didn’t want to risk the portal becoming too unstable and collapsing.”
But when we re-open, Pudding continues, it needs to be in the exact same spot. If any of us moves, or the portal collapses while it’s open, the two of you could get trapped.
I stare at Danny, aghast. “People get trapped inside the Void?”
Rarely. My mother pauses, hesitating. We usually stay in one place for as long as is feasible, in order to throw the authorities off our trail.
Then we remove the victim’s Source and help them escape.
Mostly it works as planned; sometimes, though, there’s insufficient time to get everybody out safely.
My heartbeat stutters. “MLO is risking its own members to save civilians? Why?”
“We’re not making them risk themselves, Briggs.” Danny sounds impatient. “MLO members volunteer, to further a cause they believe in.”
“A cause they believe in,” I repeat, scrunching up my face. “That Magecorp shouldn’t exploit people?”
Danny squares a look at me. “That magic should be available to everyone, without needing to exploit people.”
I clench my jaw, ruminating on this for a moment. All of a sudden I feel very tired. The ropes around my wrists and torso continue to cut in. “So the surges, the excess magic, the magiphilia, and the explosions…You’re causing all this because you’re trying to save people from Magecorp?”
The explosions aren’t caused by us, Harrisford, Pudding says.
“Who, then?”
There’s a long pause. Eventually, my mother speaks. They’re caused by you.