I struggled to remember what Alex had called it. “Uh, the ‘enforced inhibitory gnosis’ thingy.”

The mage at the back interrupted yet again. “She knows what it’s called! She just proved she’s a mage! She’s a rogue, we need to…”

His voice was cut off as the Arch-Mage closed the door behind him. I smiled, despite the gravity of the situation. “Thank you.”

He arched an eyebrow at me again. “How do you know what enforced inhibitory gnosis is?”

“I…uh…,” I swallowed. I didn’t think that Alex would like it if I gave him away. “I read a lot of books. I looked it up.”

“Really.” The Arch-Mage’s voice was dry.

“Look,” I said, trying to get the conversation back on track, “I am only here to get you to free Mrs Alcoon. She’s not really a witch.” I briefly remembered that the word ’witch’ was considered insulting to mages and re-phrased. “ I mean, mage, she’s not really a mage. She has a few powers passed down to her from her ancestors but really they’re very minor. She’s of no consequence or danger to anyone. She just runs a little bookshop and drinks a lot of herbal tea and doesn’t get in anyone’s way. She got caught up in all this and it’s my fault. Put me into a coma instead, but please, let her go. She’s not done anything.”

“Believe me, if we could place you in enforced inhibitory gnosis, then we would have done so already. In fact that really rather was the original plan. There are very few mages who could resist such a spell. I think I know all of them. So before I even begin to consider releasing your friend, you are going to tell me what you are.”

I really hate being told what to do. “I can’t do that, sir.”

The Arch-Mage stared at me hard. Then he turned and opened the door behind him. “Brandt? Will you go to the Lord Alpha and request his presence down here?”

For fuck’s sake. “Wait!” I protested. “You don’t understand what will happen if you do that. He’ll hurt people.”

“Then tell me what you are.” He gazed at me with an implacable expression of his face.

I could feel my carefully constructed secret unraveling around me. But Brandt was hovering by the door, watching us closely. “And how do I know I can trust you?”

He shrugged. “You don’t. But if you want to avoid the Lord Alpha and have any chance of me even considering freeing your friend, then you need to take a leap of faith.”

I thought for a moment. “How about a compromise?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“One of your own knows what I am. That’s how I knew about what the spell was called – I asked him for help. He can testify to you that what I am is of no consequence to the mages. That I won’t hurt you or any of you. I just want you to help Mrs Alcoon. You don’t need to know what I am.” I really hadn’t wanted to involve Alex, but I would if I had to.

The Arch-Mage remained stoically impassive. Then he sighed deeply. “Very well. Who is it?”

“Uh, Alex, Alex Florides.”

He turned back to the group of mages at the door. “Brandt, instead of the Lord Alpha, can you fetch Mage Florides here please? And while you’re at it, ask the Lord Alpha for his forbearance in waiting in a little longer.”

Brandt bobbed his head and began to turn.

“Brandt?”

“Yes, Your Magnificence?”

“Do be polite when you speak to the Pack Lord.”

“Yes, sir.” He turned and ran off.

I shifted uncomfortably. “Is Alex here?”

“No, he’s in Yorkshire dealing with a small problem there. He can transport here via a portal however. It won’t take long.”

“Neat trick,” I murmured.

The Arch-Mage smiled. “Yes, it rather is.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Is that how you gained admittance here?”

“No, I told you, I’m not a mage. You just rely too much on weak technology as a security system.” I explained to him how I’d zapped the electricity boxes to the gates and the garage, figuring that they’d find out sooner or later or anyway. Besides, it wasn’t as if I would be trying to sneak back in again any time soon. There were some mutterings at the door with my explanation but I ignored them. It wasn’t my fault if the mages were stupid.

By the time I’d finished, Brandt had reappeared. “Mage Florides is on his way, Your Magnificence. And, uh,” he cleared his throat, “the Lord Alpha is getting impatient.”

The Arch-Mage made a moue of dismissal. “I’ll deal with him in due course.”

I didn’t think that Corrigan would appreciate being ‘dealt with’ by a mage, but I wisely kept silent. Scant moments later, a friendly face finally joined the group of hovering and uptight mages.

“Your Magnificence, you requested my presence.”

I stared at Alex. His surfer dude persona had all but disappeared in the presence of his ‘Magnificence’.

“Yes, Mage Florides. Please enter and close the door behind you.”

Alex nodded and started to make his way inside. When he caught sight of me, he started visibly and for a moment seemed to struggle to gain his composure. The he swallowed and continued in.

When the door was shut, he raised his eyes towards the Arch-Mage.

“Alex, I am led to believe that you know this young…woman.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And that in fact you spoke to her very recently, giving away information about one of our spells.”

Alex swallowed and looked down. “Yes, sir.”

“Tell me how you met.”

“Uh, it was earlier in the year when I went to Cornwall. Y’know, when the alpha dude, sorry, when the alpha there, was murdered.”

“Aah, yes, I remember now.” The Arch-Mage rubbed the palms of his hands together. “So she was passing herself off as a shifter?”

‘She’ was getting rather annoyed at being addressed as if ‘she’ wasn’t in the room. I opened my mouth to speak, then thought better of it and closed it again.

“Uh, yes, sir. It was clear straight away that she seemed human.”

“Is she human?”

Alex looked at me guiltily, then cast his eyes downward again. “No, Your Magnificence.”

“Is she a mage?”

He looked surprised at this, before answering again, “No, Your Magnificence.”

“Do you know what she is?”

“Yeah, I mean, yes, sir.”

“Does she pose a threat to the Ministry or to any mages?”

“I don’t believe so, sir.”

“How about to the shifters?”

“No, sir, although she is convinced that if the Brethren discover that she is not a shifter then there will be consequences.”

I glared at Alex. I knew there would be consequences. There were always consequences when humans found out about shifters. History was littered with examples.

The Arch-Mage picked up the thread again. “Is there anyone to whom this young lady presents a threat?”

Alex shot me another quick look. “Only those dudes who try to hurt the people she cares about, sir.”

I was getting impatient. “See? I’m not going to hurt you or anyone else. Just let my friend go.”

The Arch-Mage silenced me with a look. “One more thing before you go, Mage Florides. Could she perform magic when you met her in Cornwall?”

“Uh, no, sir. I don’t think she knew much about magic, actually. She’d never seen a trace spell in action before, although she could recognise wards. The Cornish alpha had warded a drawer and she knew it was there but not how to break it.”

“Fine, you may go now.”

Alex stayed where he was. “Uh, Your Magnificence?”

“What?”

“Mack is a good person. She wouldn’t hurt anyone unless it was necessary. I know that she attacked Martha and…”

I interrupted. “They attacked me! I didn’t do anything other than defend myself!”

“Mack Attack, dude, I’m trying to help you out here. Shut up,” Alex said kindly. He looked back at the Arch-Mage. “My allegiance is always to the Ministry, sir, and I promise you that she is not a threat. At least not consciously.”

I spluttered. “Not consciously! How could I…?

“Mack Attack, you don’t know that much about yourself. Who knows what you’re really capable of?”

The Arch-Mage’s eyes narrowed at that. “Very well. Leave us now.”

Alex sent me a small smile. I folded my arms and looked away whilst he turned and left the little room.

Once he’d gone, closing the door behind him, the Arch-Mage raised an eyebrow at me. “So it appears you may be telling the truth.”

“Of course I’m telling the truth,” I nearly shouted. “Why would I want to take on the entire Ministry? I’m not a complete idiot!”

He waited until I’d calmed down. “That’s as may be. However I’m starting to get the impression that, whatever you are, you don’t really know much about what you’re capable of yourself.”

I bit my lip. The Arch-Mage continued. “And that concerns me. Mage May told me that you had appeared surprised by what occurred when she placed the necklace on you. “ He jerked his head towards the thing around my neck. “And despite his efforts to stand up for you, Mage Florides has intimated that you do not understand your own limits.”

“But I have no interest in having anything to do with any mages,” I stated firmly. “I am not a threat. Just release the enforced inhibitory gnosis and I promise you will never see me again.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Mack Attack? Is that what you go by?”

“No, it’s just Mack. Well, Mackenzie, Mackenzie Smith. But please call me Mack.”

He ignored my last comment. “Well, Mackenzie, have you ever heard of Helen Duncan?”