Page 127 of One For my Enemy

(Happy Haunting.)

“You’re very terrifying,” Bryn commented to Sasha after Roman had gone, watching him sprint doggedly away. “Look at him, he’s totally unhinged.”

“Hm? Oh yes, I know,” Sasha agreed, touching up her makeup in the reflection of a compact mirror before promptly snapping it shut, replacing it in her pocket. “Thanks for agreeing to do this, Bridge.”

“My pleasure,” Bryn assured her, passing her a salute as he returned his attention to his client’s files. “Happy haunting, Rusalka.”

“Always,” Sasha replied, lips twitching with approval as she disappeared.

V. 11

(The Brooklyn Witch.)

Of all the Borough witches, Dimitri and Marya agreed that Jonathan Moronoe, head of the Brooklyn Borough, was likely to be their most valuable pawn. He had managed, somehow, to be untainted by either Baba Yaga or Koschei the Deathless, and had run a campaign based almost exclusively on the basis of his integrity.

It was a sad fact of life that, in the opinions of both Dimitri Fedorov and Marya Antonova, men of morals remained astoundingly easy to manipulate.

“Let me get this straight,” Jonathan said, glancing between Dimitri and Marya. “You’re running for the Borough seat in order to…” A pause of bemusement. “Discredit Koschei and Yaga both? I don’t—” He broke off, frowning. “What exactly is the platform for your campaign?”

“Criminal reform, of course,” Marya supplied, smiling. She slid a thin leather book across the desk to the Borough Elder. “This book contains a log of every illegally obtained creature Koschei the Deathless has ever trafficked in. Surely this defies a number of Borough laws, doesn’t it?”

“Who’s your source?” Jonathan asked, frowning.

“An honest man,” Marya said simply. “Like you. And Dimitri.”

“Yaga is also selling magical drugs to the non-magical community,” Dimitri contributed, passing Jonathan a ledger of sales. “Which she does not have Borough permission to do.”

“Well, of course she doesn’t, as Koschei would make certain to stop her,” Jonathan said, looking somewhere between frustrated and puzzled by having to say so aloud. “You two know better than anyone the reasons both Yaga and Koschei get away with defying Borough laws.”

“Yes. And isn’t it time that came to an end?” Marya posed, with a neutral glance at Dimitri.

“With us involved in the Boroughs’ decisions,” Dimitri explained on their mutual behalf, “we can end Koschei’s influence over the other witches. Thus, we’re precisely what you need in order to address magical crime in all the Boroughs.”

“But—” Jonathan stared at them. “But everyone knows who you are. You’re Baba Yaga’s enforcer,” he said to Marya, becoming uneasy the moment she failed to deny it. “There isn’t a witch on this council that hasn’t encountered you at one time or another. Unfavorably, I might add.”

“Well, I’m not the one taking the seat, am I?” Marya said, shrugging. “The seat belongs to Dimitri—or, at least, it will with your support. And once he holds it, we can give you evidence against both Koschei and Yaga. Enough to bring them down several times over.”

“And all I have to do is…” Jonathan stared at the ledger. The book. He glanced between them, dismayed. “Whatexactlydo you want me to do?”

“Vote your conscience,” Dimitri assured him easily.

“Your consciencedoestell you corruption in the Witches’ Boroughs is wrong, doesn’t it?” Marya prompted. “And only one candidate can help you end it.”

“And you can really do this,” Jonathan said slowly, “together, with no… guilt? No remorse, even? I thought you both hated each other.”

Dimitri and Marya exchanged a glance.

“Hate is a strong word,” Dimitri said to her. “Don’t you think, Masha?”

“Oh, of course, Dima,” Marya agreed, “though vengeance is somewhat stronger.”

They smiled at each other.

Then they turned back to Jonathan.

“We’ll bring down Koschei and Yaga,” Dimitri concluded. “Don’t you worry about our consciences, Moronoe, only yours. All you have to do is vote for me,” he explained again, “and convince the rest of your Borough’s witches to do the same. That’s all we ask.”

“No strings?” Jonathan asked tentatively.

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