Tell the Wind and Fire(23)

Tonight, though, when I had already done something monumentally stupid, when I had tied a doppelganger to my side and was already drowning in memories, it looked just right.

“Welcome to Club Chiaroscuro,” I said. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”

“I admit it’s better than flowerpots.”

Carwyn did look mildly impressed as we went to the bar in the next room. One of the girl’s bubbles floated in between us, and I captured it in my free hand. It didn’t burst, but glowed at the proximity to my rings, and I found myself laughing. Blue and green patterns flashed on the glowing sphere, and it went spinning and trailing sparks.

“Hey, Lucie! I haven’t seen you in forever.”

I tossed the bubble up into the air and threw an arm around Nadiya, who had been one of my first friends in the city and was still one of my best friends. Nadiya was almost always laughing but knew when to be serious, and she was always talking, but never about anything that might hurt me.

“You look amazing,” I said, and she did: long, tight black dress, her hijab purple, and her eyes outlined with liquid eyeliner that I could never get the hang of. Whenever I tried, it looked like I’d taken to face painting. I was still wearing the dull, high-necked blue dress from the train station. “Don’t say a word about how I look good or I’ll never trust you again. Coming here was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you that you look good,” Nadiya said. “I was going to ask you to tell me more about how good I look. Oh,” she added a little too casually, her eyes moving past me, and my heart sank. “And I see you brought Ethan.”

I glanced at Carwyn.

“Well,” I said slowly. “Yeah.”

Carwyn’s smile was unlike any smile I had ever seen on Ethan’s face. “Hey. My Lucie is right as usual: you do look amazing.”

Nadiya didn’t know Ethan well. They were always perfectly friendly with each other, but he was a Stryker, and that made every interaction strained. Of course, she didn’t notice anything wrong with this Ethan.

“Thanks. You look good too,” she said. “Did you get a haircut?”

“I did!” said Carwyn, to all appearances delighted. “I did get a haircut. It was time, you know? Because, let’s face it, my old haircut made me look stupid.”

“No it didn’t,” I said.

“Lucie, lamb chop, it really did,” Carwyn assured me. “It was a terrible combination of mama’s little angel crossed with a poodle.” He glanced at Nadiya. “You agree with me, right?”

Nadiya looked puzzled. “Uh,” she said, “you look a bit thinner as well.”

“I haven’t been eating,” Carwyn claimed. “I was . . . depressed by how stupid my hair looked.”

“Ha ha,” I said. “Okay, shut up, you big weirdo.”

“Anything for you, pumpkin,” Carwyn drawled.

Nadiya was looking at us very oddly. I cleared my throat. “Time to dance!”

On a dance floor crammed with laughing people, sliding shadows, and beautiful false lightning, Nadiya leaned into me and whispered in my ear, “Are you guys having a fight?”

“No,” I said back, more loudly, watching Carwyn from the corner of my eye. “You know Ethan. Always talking. And then talking some more.”

Nadiya considered this and then shrugged it all off. She leaned up and said something in Carwyn’s ear, too low for me to make out. I glanced at her, worried she was suspicious.

I tried to sound casual. “What did you say?”

Nadiya bit her lip. “I know a guy who’s got dust. You want some?”

“No,” I said.

“Absolutely!” said Carwyn.

“Uh, wow.” Nadiya blinked. “Well, if you want to unlink, Ethan and I could go get the dust and be right back . . . ?”

She sounded hesitant about the entire plan. Carwyn looked very pleased with himself.

“What a great idea,” he said. “Why don’t we do that? Come on, Lucie.” He tugged at the link, our wrists bumping, and looked down at me with glee in his hooded eyes. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

“Nope!” I said.

Carwyn’s smirk faded slightly. “Ah well. Worth a try, gorgeous.”

Carwyn tugged at the link between us again and, rather than get involved in a wrestling match, we followed Nadiya across the dance floor. She went to one of the farthest corners in the next room, where she had a brief but intense conference with a guy in a leather jacket. He squinted over at us.

“Aren’t you . . . ?” he began.

“Lucie,” I said, confirmation and a clear sign I didn’t want to talk about it.

“Ethan,” said Carwyn. “Kind of a dumb name, isn’t it? I’ve never liked it.”

“Is he drunk?” Nadiya whispered.

I laughed and shrugged at the same time. The laugh came out more like a panicked hiccup.

“Oh, well, Lucie,” said the guy, who I had never seen before in my life. “We’re going to have something to celebrate soon, aren’t we? If everything goes right?”

I wasn’t going to betray weakness or ignorance, especially not in front of strangers and doppelgangers. “I don’t feel like celebrating, and I don’t want any dust.”