Page 131 of One For my Enemy

“Funny, coming from you,” Lev said over his pad thai, taking a sip of his beer. He’d tried the Yaga tablets once himself out of curiosity and re-lived his night with Sasha, moment by moment, over and over for what had felt like a thousand crushing days. He later discovered it had been about two hours. “You think your parents are proud of what you’ve accomplished?”

“Mine don’t give a shit.” Eric smiled faintly. “Nobody does.”

“A tragic backstory doesn’t make you sympathetic,” Lev said.

“Nope,” Eric agreed. “Some people are just shitty, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Lev said, thinking that at least shitty people still did the dishes and didn’t eat his leftovers, and Eric turned his head slowly, eyeing the bright white face of his phone.

“Got a caller,” he said, gesturing to it. “Want to take that?”

“I thought you were opposed to me handling your business,” Lev said through another sip of Sapporo, and Eric shrugged.

“Whatever,” he said, which about summed it up.

Lev reached over, eyeing the face of it.

DO NOT CALL HER,the screen said.

He hit answer.

“Hello?” he said.

A hitch on the other end. “Eric?”

He froze.

“No,” Lev managed. “But close enough.”

A pause.

“Who is this?” The voice was hard and mean. “This isn’t funny.”

Lev sat up slowly.

“No,” he agreed. “This isn’t funny at all.”

Silence.

“You’re supposed to be dead,” she said.

He blinked.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “As are you.”

He heard the sound of a throat clearing.

“I suppose this is what I get for fucking with Roma,” she said flatly. “Now I’m being haunted, too.”

“Too?” he echoed.

“Never mind.” A pause. “I think I’m dreaming.”

“Yeah,” Lev said. “Yeah, probably.”

“I’m…” Hesitation. “I’m going to hang up now. And maybe…” A swallow. “I’m going to call back in the morning, I think. To prove this was a dream.”

Lev’s hand tightened around the phone.

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