Free WebMage by Kelly McCullough Page A

"Atropos laid a trap for me."
    Even as I spoke, I knew I'd made a mistake. My lips went numb and tingly as the spell that bound my voice reached out and twisted my words. In my head they had been angry and righteous. On my tongue they sounded like the most transparent of child's lies. Lachesis's eyebrows pinched together and her mouth thinned. But once started, I found it hard to stop.
    "She did," I continued. I was angry and scared. I sounded petulant and whiny. "A really nasty enchantment laid on my pillow. The only reason I'm alive to have this conversation is that I triggered it with my rapier rather than my head."
    "I think not," said Lachesis. "There was indeed a spell on your pillow, though my sister had nothing to do with it. I placed it there. It was supposed to bind you in sleep until I came to have words with you. How you managed to cause it to do that"—she pointed at my hand—"is beyond me." She whistled another quick chord, and the damage to my hand healed itself.
    That wasn't fair. The spell I'd encountered and the one my grandmother had placed couldn't be the same. That lethal black fire bore about as much resemblance to a sleep spell as a dire-wolf did to a Chihuahua. I was sure Atropos was responsible, but with Cassandra's curse wrapped around my vocal cords like a hangman's noose I had no way to convince my grandmother. Swallowing my accusations with my pride, I moved on.
    "If you wished to speak with me," I said, "that was a somewhat drastic way to ensure my cooperation, and most unnecessary. I am always at your disposal. How may I be of service?" I bowed again. It seemed prudent.
    "By taking a walk with me. I am displeased with your failure to attend your midterms." Her perfect features contracted in the slightest of frowns. "You appear to have forgotten the consequences of displeasing me. I thought I would remind you. Come."
    "I will, of course, be happy to accompany you to the ends of the Earth if you require. Is there anything else I might do for you?"
    "Be silent," she said, her voice as sharp as shark's teeth. "You have pushed me to the very limits of tolerance, grandson. There are a number of things I intend to draw to your attention, and I do not wish to be interrupted by excuses, however mannerly. Do you understand?"
    I nodded mutely.
    "Excellent." She whistled and the glowing column expanded. I stepped into the light, throwing Melchior a sidelong glance as I went.
    "Leave him," said Lachesis. "He's well enough as he is."
    I wasn't so sure about that. In the brief instant I'd looked at him I'd noticed oily sweat running down his naked sides. It seemed almost as though he were straining to hold perfectly still rather than having been frozen by my grandmother's command, but of course that was ridiculous. Then the quality of the light changed, and I had no more time to spare in worrying about my familiar. I was too busy worrying about me.

Chapter Six
    The dorm vanished. For a split second that felt as though it outlasted the life of the Universe we were nowhere, a point of probability traveling through the chaos that ruled the place between the spheres. The moment passed, and a stark gray landscape faded into view.
    We appeared in a sort of niche, high on the edge of a granite cliff. Below, the rock fell away for a thousand feet before meeting the foaming gray of the wind-driven sea where something that might have been a penguin played in the surf. Above us stood a granite building. Whether it had originally been designed as a fortress or a maximum-security prison I couldn't tell. Either explanation seemed plausible from the architecture.
    An inscription over the doors read saint Turing's followed by a long string of binary that began "011000110 1101111101101100." I mentally translated, "Monastery and College for Computational Recidivists."
    "Grandmother," I started to say as she led me to the entrance. "I've—" The look she aimed at me made me swallow the words.
    "I did not give you permission to