Page 78 of Better in Black
“Emma.” Jules touched her face with a shaking hand. “I’m so sorry. I knew it was her, I knew I should have texted you, but I wanted to deal with it—”
“On your own. I know.” Emma leaned her face against his palm, which was cool against her throbbing cheek. “It’s her, isn’t it?ThatEmma.”
Julian nodded grimly. “It’s Endarkened Emma. The one from Thule. And I have no idea how she got here.”
—
They were on the move, both Emma and Julian glamoured now. Thanks to a healing rune, quickly applied, Emma was no longer bleeding, and her dizziness was gone. Now she wasfurious.
“What on earth is she doing here?” she demanded, as she and Jules circled the dance floor, looking for a sign that would tell them in which direction Thule Emma had fled.
Thule Emma. Emma who in another world and reality had lost her soul to the Infernal Cup, and her will to Sebastian Morgenstern. Who Emma had last seen collapsed over the dead body of Thule Julian. Thule Julian had been killed by Emma’s own Julian, right before he and Emma escaped.
“I don’t know,” Julian said grimly, as they dodged someone dressed as a glittery polar bear. “But she’s evil, so I’m going to guess she’s not here on a humanitarian mission.”
Revenge,Emma thought.That’s what she wants.She kept the thought to herself; it scared her a little. Not the idea of revenge, but the fact that she understood why Thule Emma would want it. They’d killed the Julian in her world. And Emma knew exactly what she’d do if someone hurt Julian in this one.
She’d end them.
“How did thishappen?” Emma whispered to Julian as they passed the bar, where watered-down drinks in pastel colors were being handed out to wristbanded club-goers.
“I was on my way to get that paint when I got a text message,” Julian said. “It was from a number I didn’t know, but it said to come to Psychopomp.”
“And you just…went?”
“They sent a photo, too, of you, on the dance floor here. Well, I thought it was you, but now of course I know it washer.At first I thought it might be some sort of prank—but I knew you would never come here voluntarily. Not after…what we saw. I was afraid you were in trouble. I was afraid you needed help.”
He slowed his pace, frowning. They were back in thebeer-smelling corner, having circled the dance floor without a glimpse of Endarkened Emma.Where would I go?Emma asked herself.If it were me. Which…it kind of is?
She narrowed her eyes. There, along the wall, was a heavy pink velvet curtain. She’d thought it was just decoration, but…
She motioned to Julian to come with her. He did so without asking why, and watched silently as Emma tugged the pink curtain aside, revealing a dark warren of corridors beyond.
Emma took out her witchlight rune-stone, letting it flicker to life in her hand. “What did Bad Emma say when you got here? Did she tell you who she really was?”
Julian flushed, visible even under the wheeling colored lights. “Of course not,” he said. “But I knew. Immediately. Her eyes—they’re flat, dead. That’s why I said she was evil. She’snothinglike you.”
He spoke the last sentence so venomously Emma almost flinched. “But you felt like you had to go along with it?”
He nodded as they edged into the darkness beyond the curtain. The witchlight illuminated a maze of hallways, most of them water-stained, the paint flaking off the walls. Long pipes ran the length of the floors. The whole thing seemed like a probable building code violation.
“And you had to kiss her?” Emma said, her voice low. She hated herself for asking, a little bit. But still.
“I didn’t want to tip her off that I knew,” Julian said hoarsely. “I wanted to keep her talking, see if I could find anything out about Livvy.”
Emma’s heart winced inside her chest. She wanted to hug Jules, to tell him she understood why he wanted so desperately to hear about the version of his sister who was still alive. Desperately enoughto play along with someone who was little better than a demon. “Did she tell you anything about Thule?”
He shook his head, clearly frustrated, as they walked past two werewolves in leather pants industriously making out against a grimy bathroom door that saidemployees only.“She kept talking in riddles. Like someone who’s spent time in the faerie courts. Or like someone stalling for time.”
Well, that’s ominous,Emma thought. “Do you think she’s here alone?”
“I didn’t get the sense she was with anyone else. But it’s hard to get a read on her.” They’d reached the end of the main corridor, which terminated in a fire exit. Julian cursed under his breath. “This place is a maze,” he said. “If she’s in here, we’ll never find her. If she’s outside, she’s gone. In the wind.”
“I don’t think she’s outside,” Emma said, and when Julian shot her a curious look, she added, “It’s not what I’d do. I’d look for a place to hide. Regroup.”
“Ah.” Julian’s voice was neutral, but she could tell by his expression that he was feeling much the same way she was. There was something awful about the idea that Emma could understand Endarkened Emma, that they were similar enough that she could look inside her own mind and match the pattern of her thoughts to the thoughts of someone so evil. And yet—“Do you have any guesses where she’d hide?” he asked.
She took his arm. “Come with me.”
