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  About the Book

  After their mission in London, Nomad, Riff, Phoenix and Orbit are back at HELIX, training to master their magic.

  But things have changed.

  Nomad’s secret is out. Her peers know she is a Witness: a sorcerer with the rare ability to read others’ magic.

  This causes ripples at HQ, especially when it means that Steel, the most popular cadet in her class, is no longer the centre of attention.

  But there are greater threats than new rivals. When the cadets are sent to New Zealand to investigate a top-secret case, they find themselves in more danger than they bargained for.

  With no one to trust and time running out, it’s a race to stop the Inductors before they have enough power to destroy HELIX for good.

  Contents

  COVER

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER 1: THE MAN ON THE RIVERBANK

  CHAPTER 2: DARK CORRIDORS

  CHAPTER 3: TRAPPED

  CHAPTER 4: A SECRET MESSAGE

  CHAPTER 5: MYSTERY AND HISTORY

  CHAPTER 6: STEEL

  CHAPTER 7: HIDDEN CLUES

  CHAPTER 8: CIRCLING DANGER

  CHAPTER 9: SPARKS AND SPARRING

  CHAPTER 10: CRYPTOGRAPHY

  CHAPTER 11: SHARP EDGES

  CHAPTER 12: THE VIALS

  CHAPTER 13: INTO THE NIGHT

  CHAPTER 14: A PATH IN THE SHADOWS

  CHAPTER 15: TANGLED ROPES

  CHAPTER 16: ORIENTEERING

  CHAPTER 17: ‘X’ MARKS THE SPOT

  CHAPTER 18: OUT OF TIME

  CHAPTER 19: RED SKY AT NIGHT

  CHAPTER 20: DARK LIQUID

  CHAPTER 21: THE MIDNIGHT VIAL

  CHAPTER 22: SURVIVAL

  CHAPTER 23: THE HIDDEN CIPHER

  CHAPTER 24: SAILOR’S WARNING

  CHAPTER 25: SABOTAGE

  CHAPTER 26: BEHIND THE MASK

  CHAPTER 27: THE RED SKY VIRUS

  CHAPTER 28: FOG AND MIST

  CHAPTER 29: THE MORROW MORN

  CHAPTER 30: TRUST

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  BOOKS BY SKYE MELKI-WEGNER

  COPYRIGHT NOTICE

  For Jack and Shirley Melki, who inspire me every day with their courage, strength and love.

  It began with a stranger in the dark.

  As the evening deepened, it kicked a vinegary chill into the air. It was only the sixteenth of April, but a premature cold snap had sliced across Melbourne. If winter were an upcoming movie, tonight would be its teaser trailer.

  I stood on a city bridge and fought back a shiver. It was the sort of night when bare fingers stung, and the sky felt barbed, and streetlights danced on the skin of the river. A night when everything felt sharper, and anything felt possible.

  My name was Natalie Palladino, but I’d recently left this identity behind. Two months ago, I’d been plucked from my suburban high school and plunged into a world of danger, lies and secrets. ‘Natalie’ was gone now, replaced by a codename. I was Nomad, a teenage cadet, training to join a global spy agency. But HELIX wasn’t a typical agency – and I wasn’t training to be a typical spy.

  I was a sorcerer.

  My quintessence skimmed and twisted: a tangle of shining light, invisible to passers-by. Such energy floated around every living creature, hidden in a non-linear dimension. Due to a fluke in their genetic coding, sorcerers could access their quintessence and weave it into circuits. By producing circuits, we created magic.

  I yanked a few strands of light into a semicircle, weaving the quintessic circuit for heat. Overhead, a streetlamp flickered. As my quintessence warmed the air, I wrapped the light around my shoulders like a blanket. Only I could see its magic. Only I could feel its magic.

  And only I could spot the stranger on the riverbank.

  If it weren’t for the flash of his own quintessence, I might never have noticed him. The city came alive at night, making it easy to blend into the crowd. Trams rattled, buskers played, and dinner boats churned bubbling lines of froth along the river. But I was a Witness, born with the rare ability to see the sorcery of others, and I was practising my skills. I forced my vision into the tenebrous shroud: a state of darkened concentration, where the world around me rippled in shadow.

  In the shroud, I could see sorcery.

  Around me, clusters of people trotted along the bridge. They laughed and chatted among themselves, oblivious to the smoky light that swirled around their limbs. These people weren’t sorcerers, so their quintessences had never been awakened. No colour in their magic. No life, or vitality. Just tendrils of grey, eddying around them …

  And suddenly, a flash of colour.

  A lone figure stood on the riverbank, tall and thin, his body half concealed by shadows. He had just stepped out from behind a wall, bringing his quintessence into view. Its light was stained a vivid red, the colour of agitation – or possibly anger. It rippled through the darkness, as if a firefly had struck the surface of a pond.

  A dark beard concealed half the stranger’s face, but I caught a glimpse of his eyes beneath his cap. He was staring at the bridge. No, not the bridge.

  He was staring at me.

  ‘What d’you reckon, Nomad?’ Riff stepped up beside me, his face alight with its usual grin. ‘Ready to grab some grub?’

  He bounced a little on his toes, unaware that anything was wrong. His own quintessence floated around him, bright and colourful, in contrast to the muffled grey of our fellow pedestrians. It was currently a cheerful amber, mirroring his grin.

  Riff was fifteen, the same age as me, but he could still out-hype a herd of toddlers high on red cordial. He had a knack for levitation, and hated to keep his feet on the ground. Even now, I could tell he was itching to float upwards. If we hadn’t been in public, he might have flipped over the bridge railing with a cocky smile, as if the air were water and his arms were fins.

  Of course, that was out of the question. HELIX was a secret agency, with extra emphasis on the word ‘secret’. As cadets, it was one of our most important duties to hide the existence of magic from the general population.

  ‘Sorcerer,’ I said quietly. ‘Southern bank.’

  Riff deflated, tilting his head as he followed my gaze. ‘You sure?’

  ‘His quintessence is red.’

  ‘You mean like a hint of red, like that time I chucked my white shirt in the wash with red boxers, or like –’

  ‘Like someone who’s got a whole lot of magic, and knows how to control it.’

  ‘Weird.’ Riff frowned, studying the man. ‘What’s he doing here, then? Shouldn’t be any agents out tonight, not with the meeting and everything.’

  I checked my watch. Riff was right. An important annual meeting was scheduled tonight at HQ, and every agent was obliged to attend. This was a grown man, not a cadet like us. If he worked for HELIX, he should be at HQ.

  ‘Recognise him?’ Riff asked.

  I shook my head, eyes on the stranger. As the man shifted his weight, his quintessence flickered, shining like a dark red flame. ‘You?’

  ‘Nope. Could be wearing a Spectral Mask, though.’

  Riff sounded uneasy now, and I didn’t blame him. The man could be a rogue sorcerer, but he’d be a fool to show his face so close to HQ. If he wasn’t a HELIX agent, he was almost certainly an Inductor. The Inductors were a cabal of ruthless sorcerers, with operatives hidden all over the world. They strengthened their magic by killing civilians and siphoning power from their victims’ pain.

  A month ago, we’d barely survived a mission to thwart an attack in London. Technically, we were far too young to be sent on missions, but Witnesses were incredibly rare and I was the only one av
ailable at short notice. Our former boss had roped in three other cadets to accompany me – Riff, Phoenix and Orbit – and despite our differences, we’d managed to form a tangled friendship.

  Of course, when you’re running for your life with a magical bomb in your hands, it’s a bit hard not to form a bond with your co-workers.

  ‘Stay calm, don’t gawk,’ Riff said. ‘Act casual, like you haven’t seen him yet. Laugh or something, like I’ve just told you a joke.’

  I laughed. Strange how easily I slipped into the role, like an actor playing my part on a stage. We’d trained for this sort of thing in our Disguises briefings at HQ, and I knew the importance of upholding a facade. If this stranger realised we were onto him, he might lunge straight into a deadly attack. If not, he might bide his time and tail us from a distance …

  And that might give us a chance to escape.

  ‘Look, we’re in a public place,’ I said, leaning on the rail. ‘If he’s an Inductor, he can’t risk attacking in the open. Maybe we should stay –’

  ‘Nah,’ Riff cut in, ‘we’d better move, I reckon. He’s staring straight at y– us.’

  He caught himself, but I knew what he’d been about to say. You. Witnesses were extremely rare, and my power was a valuable asset for HELIX. The leader of the Inductors, a ruthless man called Teranis, had given orders to kill any Witness on sight. If the Inductors got their hands on me …

  ‘Let’s split up,’ I said, straining to keep my body language casual. ‘If he comes after me, you’ll have a better chance to get back to –’

  Riff’s fists clenched. ‘Don’t be an idiot!’

  I risked a glance towards the Inductor. As the figure shifted his weight, something metallic winked at his hip, before it vanished under his jacket. Even so, that glint was enough to send a chill through my bones.

  ‘He’s got a torpefier,’ I whispered.

  Superficially, a torpefier looked like a small metal crossbow – but instead of bolts, it fired nightbeads, each containing a quintessic circuit. As HELIX cadets, we were trained to shoot lethargy circuits to incapacitate an enemy. These circuits could slow our enemies down, or knock them unconscious. The Inductors, however, had no such constraints. They loaded their nightbeads with death circuits, woven into triangles with X-shaped crosses in their centres. Such circuits were strong enough to stop a grown man’s heart.

  If this man shot, he’d be aiming to kill.

  ‘Righty-o, then,’ Riff said. ‘Time for an escape plan, I reckon.’

  He sounded as casual as ever, but I knew him well enough to detect the tension clipping his syllables. This wasn’t an exam. This wasn’t a drill. If we misjudged this situation …

  ‘Hate to say this,’ Riff said, ‘but it couldn’t be the Spider, could it? I mean, she could be wearing a Spectral Mask.’

  It took me several long seconds to force the smile back onto my face. I’d been thinking it, of course, but I hadn’t dared to vocalise it. The Spider. Could it be her?

  Until recently, the Spider had been one of the most highly ranked Inductors in the world. She was an expert assassin who travelled the globe to slay the Inductors’ enemies, working directly for Teranis himself. She had enough blood on her hands to rival a battlefield general. Now, she was living on the run: an enemy of the Inductors and HELIX alike.

  She was also my mother.

  For the first decade of my life, the Spider had raised me alone, travelling the world in the guise of a foreign diplomat. We regularly changed our home, moving from continent to continent, country to country, school to school. All those years, I had thought my mum was travelling to political summits and trade meetings.

  In reality, she was travelling to kill.

  When I was ten, she finally sent me back to live with my dad in Australia. By that stage, I’d learnt to carry my childhood in a suitcase. I spoke three languages fluently, and could get by in several others. My mother had taught me to hail a cab in New York, to haggle in the markets of Beirut, to navigate the canals of Amsterdam …

  Yet in all those years, she had never taught me the truth.

  I was a sorcerer, and she was a killer.

  ‘It can’t be her.’ I drew a sharp breath, trying to keep my voice steady. ‘She’s not … I mean, she’s not that tall.’

  It was an instinctive denial, the first excuse that popped into my head. Truth be told, I wasn’t ready to deal with my mother again. Not yet. Not even after London, where she had saved my life and fled into the darkness.

  But as I spoke, I realised it was true. This stranger couldn’t be my mother. A Spectral Mask could change your face, but not your height or build. My mother was on the short side, just like me, yet this stranger was unusually tall.

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Riff said. ‘Guess you’re right.’

  Something buzzed in Riff’s pocket. He yanked out his phone, which was vibrating loudly, and answered the call. ‘Hey, Phoenix, where are you?’

  ‘We’re at that pizza shop near Melbourne Central – “The Pirate’s Pizza Ship”, or whatever it’s called.’ Phoenix’s voice was faint and tinny through the phone speakers. She sounded annoyed. ‘You’re the one who said we had to try their new hot chilli pizza.’

  ‘Uh, yeah. About that …’

  ‘We’ve got that Disguises exam tomorrow, and I need time to cram for –’

  ‘Yeah, well, we’ve had a change of plans.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘We’ve got company,’ Riff said. ‘Sorcerer, across the river. He’s … Well, he’s a bit too interested in Nomad, if you know what I mean.’

  Phoenix swore, her voice crackling from the phone. ‘R4, fifteen minutes. Got it?’

  ‘Yep, we’ll be there.’

  Riff shoved his phone into his pocket. ‘Come on, let’s go grab some pizza! I’m starving.’

  He was grinning again, his face alight with a false cheeriness. I could see the twitch of nerves behind his grin. To forestall this attack, we had to play the fool, and hope the man would keep his distance.

  At least, for now.

  After London, we’d decided to take security more seriously when we were out in public. As such, we’d made a list of emergency rendezvous points: R1, R2, R3 and R4. Not the most original names, but easy to remember.

  R1 was the courthouse district, where a barricade of metal detectors could shield us from torpefiers. R2 was the Botanic Gardens, where we could disappear into the trees, or plunge beneath the murky waters of the ornamental lake. R3 was Flinders Street Station, where a labyrinth of old corridors provided countless nooks and crannies to hide in …

  And R4, of course, was our destination tonight.

  We hurried northward along the bridge, moving with the crowd. Federation Square sprawled to our right, but we ignored it, scurrying up Swanson Street. I glanced over my shoulder, heart racing. At first, I couldn’t see the Inductor in the crowd – but when I forced myself to concentrate, tuning my vision to the quintessences of passers-by, I caught a flash of crimson light among the grey.

  ‘He’s following us.’

  Riff nodded, his expression tight. ‘Yeah, figured he might.’

  I peered ahead, searching out the next intersection. Even if I was the Inductor’s primary target, Riff might be caught in the crossfire. I imagined a blast of brutal magic, sharp and wild and lethal as it struck his heart …

  ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘I’ll go left, you go straight.’

  ‘Forget it, Nomad.’

  I bristled. ‘You’re just sticking yourself in danger if you –’

  ‘I’ll be sticking myself in danger if I abandon you,’ Riff pointed out. ‘I’m still your guardian, and you’re still a rookie.’

  ‘Seriously? You’re going to pull the “rookie” card, after all we’ve been through?’

  ‘Hey, whatever works.’

  I ground my teeth. Technically, he was right. Two months ago, I hadn’t even known that sorcery existed. As more experienced cadets, Riff and Phoenix had been assigned
as my guardians for the first stage of my training. It was their job to help me settle in – and of course, to keep me alive.

  ‘Anyway,’ Riff said, ‘if I nicked off now and this Inductor popped you, I bet Dragon’d yank my spine out through my nostrils. Who do you reckon I’m more scared of?’

  ‘Good point,’ I conceded.

  Dragon was our boss: the current head of the Australian branch of HELIX. She was a lifelong agent, now in her seventies, with countless famous missions under her belt and enough grit and determination to lead any branch of the agency in the world.

  She was a hero. A warrior. A legend.

  Unfortunately, she also had about as much patience as a hand grenade.

  We crossed the intersection with Flinders Lane, and then Collins Street. The footpath brimmed with pedestrians: shoppers and tourists, office workers and families. Souvenir shops sold plastic boomerangs, while lawyers and bankers queued to buy sushi after work. Old couples trundled off to the theatre or the ballet, while giggling twenty-somethings made a beeline for the latest trendy restaurant.

  And amidst it all, the Inductor followed us.

  Faces flashed, buildings blurred and darkness clamped around my limbs. I felt my quintessence stirring, itchy on my skin, as if the magic could sense my tension.

  We hurried across another intersection. I lurched to the left around a huddle of tourists, while Riff swerved right. When I dodged, Riff dived. When I ducked, Riff darted. And still, the Inductor gained on us. He moved with an unrelenting focus, his eyes fixed straight on us. There could be no mistake now, no coincidence.

  We were his target.