Borderline (The Arcadia Project, #1)(90)

“She said commoners, love,” interjected Foxfeather, patting Inaya’s arm. “They’re not people.”

“If one more person says that,” I growled, “I swear to God I am going to go on a killing spree.”

“Commoners don’t have feelings,” Foxfeather told me with patient condescension, as though I were worrying about my teddy bear getting lonely.

“Bullshit,” I replied. “I’ve seen Claybriar’s art, and he is up to his pointy little horns in feelings. Just because he’s not as pretty as you, that doesn’t mean he’s not a person.”

“David wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Inaya reiterated, hugging herself. Her expression reminded me of myself in the Berenbaums’ garage right before I started smashing things, so I quickly groped for consoling words.

“I’m sure Vivian and Johnny have been feeding David the same bullshit about commoners that Foxfeather is feeding us right now,” I said. It didn’t excuse him, but I hoped it explained the seeming paradox enough that Inaya could accept it.

She just stared at me.

“All I know,” I went on, “is that the three of them are involved in imprisoning these fairies, and I’m pretty sure it’s to harvest their essence, their blood. Given how deeply you’re involved in the studio, I thought you might have information that could help me piece things together.”

Inaya caught her lower lip between her teeth and furrowed her brow in the sexiest display of intense thought I’d ever seen. “Is there any way this could involve diamonds?” she said after a moment.

I leaned forward. “You know something weird. Tell me.”

“I’m the one who approves the expenses,” she said. “A while back, David ordered a load of synthetic diamonds and some other weird shit, and when I asked why, he babbled about new technology and how it was complicated and time-sensitive and I should just give it my stamp of approval. Technology isn’t my area, so I did. You have no idea how much I trust this man.”

“No, no, I get it,” I said. “After less than a week, I was ready to give him power of attorney.”

Inaya put her head in her hands, slumping forward, and Foxfeather rubbed slow circles on her back. I pictured Claybriar doing the same to me. Then I pictured the steel in my body leaching the essence from his veins. So much for that.

“Synthetic diamonds and what else?” I said.

“Graphite, you know, the stuff in pencils? But in huge quantities.”

Something clicked together in my memory. I stared out the window, barely noticing the hazy view of the Hollywood sign. “They’re building a Gate.”





42


A new Gate, on the Valiant Studios lot. Elliott would do a flip if I told Caryl, but I wasn’t planning on talking to Caryl again in this lifetime.

“How is this possible?” I addressed my question to Foxfeather, appreciating the irony that she was the most reliable source of information in the room. “I thought the trick to building Gates was lost a hundred years ago or something.”

“It was,” she said, nodding like a bobblehead doll. “The last pair has been dead for ever so long. And they were one in a zillion.”

I moved past the dubious statistic and repeated, “Pair?”

“Well, yes, you have to have one person on each side, Echoes, you know, because each piece has to go in the exact same place. They have to see through each other’s eyes while they work.”

“I take it not all Echoes can do that?”

“That kind of bond takes lots of time. Most humans find their Echoes too late and die too soon.”

“Would forty years together be enough?” I asked. When Foxfeather looked blank, I clarified, “Half a human lifetime.”

“Oh yes,” she said.

“It’s David and Johnny,” I said. “Has to be.”

This bugged me. Not so much the part about David being the lynchpin of an evil scheme—I had already tucked that away in the coping section of my brain—but the part where the guy at the head of this shiny new studio project just so happened to be the only human in a century who could construct a Gate.

“This can’t be about the studio,” I said. “Vivian wanted a Gate for some other reason. I think she came up with the studio idea to entice David into building it. Depending on how long she’s been planning this, it may be why she went into entertainment in the first place.”

Inaya rubbed her eyes as though they ached. “So what do we do?”

“I need you to help me figure out where on the premises this Gate might be, because I think Vivian found a way to use it to imprison the commoners. It’s almost certainly glamoured like the bookstore, so you’ll avoid it or not notice it. Is there any part of the lot you tend to ignore or shy away from?”

Inaya shook her head. “My dad’s in construction, so I’m fussy; I was always inspecting every inch of the site to make sure the contractors David hired didn’t screw things up. I can’t think of any place I haven’t combed over unless it’s one of the soundstages.”

“A soundstage would be a perfect place to hide a Gate,” I said. “Plenty of room, easy to isolate and keep locked, easy to glamour so people think it’s in use or whatever and don’t go inside.”