WnW 5.9

My upper arm throbbed where I’d been hit. The bone spike, half-buried, was the size of a finger. Blood trickled from the wound, the spike stemming most of the flow. I remained kneeling, trying to come up with a plan.

Everyone looked hostile. Sullivan eyed me distastefully. The three old men that were playing cards at the side table were shooting me dirty looks. Spike was glaring like usual, but I felt like it might truly be anger this time, instead of him just concentrating. It was difficult to tell. Graham looked terribly uncomfortable with the situation, half-risen out of his seat, mouth open without saying anything.

Sullivan picked up his glass and swirled the clear liquor around. “I was going to invite you to sit, Nick. But now I think it would be best if you remained over there.”

Helen was watching me smugly and she winked before turning back to Sullivan. Any rational thoughts in my head were swept away by a storm of anger, battering against the walls of my skull. The spike melted into my body without me even willing it.

“Aren’t you curious, Sullivan? Why would I suddenly appear here, without guards, my well-kept secret identity revealed?”

Sullivan turned his cool gaze to her. “I don’t care to guess. Now that you are present, we have a few things to discuss before I allow you your piece.”

Helen gave him a disarming smile. “But I came here for-”

“It will wait,” Sullivan cut her off. Helen blinked, her face drawing together in annoyance.

Sullivan took a sip of his drink before setting the glass down. “You have been supplying Dice to dealers in Sillwood for some time. Since the schism of the Ring, perhaps even before that. I am aware that I’m a new face to you, but the audacity you had to deal in my territory, despite me making my stance on the matter violently clear, it’s astounding. Why should I not have you gunned down where you sit?”

His men around the room gripped their guns as he said that.

“Or perhaps tortured for the origin of this chaos-sowing drug? You have been a thorn in my side for so long, I would find great relief in plucking you out.”

Helen ran a finger along the edge of her glass. If she was bothered by the threat, she didn’t let it show. “Sullivan, is this really the time to be threatening me? You have plenty of other enemies planning your Ring’s demise as we speak. Why not make a friend of one?”

“I’m aware of the coup in process,” Sullivan responded dismissively. “I have made allies of my own and have a response primed and ready. The Jiezhi and the Fedyaev’s are too accustomed to throwing around their weight in other countries, they don’t realize how much damage I can do through means other than direct violence. I will turn the city into a witch hunt, if you forgive my turn of phrase.”

Helen giggled. “None taken, darling. But unfortunately, it seems you are mistaken on what the playing field will look like when their plan kicks off.”

Sullivan frowned.

“There won’t be anywhere to retreat to. Your connections will fail to assist you as they will be too caught up in their own problems to answer yours. And you are woefully underequipped to deal with the enemy on your own. You’re outmanned and outgunned.”

I had seen what Nell could do to a room full of people. Helen was entirely in control of this situation and I had this horrible feeling that it was too late to do anything about it. Like we were flies caught up in a spider’s web without realizing it. The trap had already been laid and she was merely taking her time, savoring the catch.

Sullivan didn’t react to her taunt. “Make your offer before I have you killed.”

Helen raised her chin. “An alliance, similar to their’s. Your enemies may have the numbers advantage and the ability to arm each one of them with a flimsy gun, but I can give you something they don’t. Full and free access to Dice, to create an army of Shapers who will have all manner of ways of turning the tides on your enemies.”

Sullivan curled his lip, his fingers twitched on the table like he considered throwing his drink. “Is that it? You gravely misvalue your offer. Turn my loyal, capable crew, who I’ve handpicked to follow my orders, into some unpredictable rabble of less-than-humans? You offer unpredictability. Chaos. Exactly what I do not want.”

“The power of Shaping is the key to getting everything you want.”

“To a fool it may seem so. The kind that goes into a casino with big dreams and no plan. Graham, take her down to the shop. I’m done with this charade.”

Graham rose gravely and moved around the table to seize Helen. The moment he reached out to grab her, he froze and lowered his hand, a shocked look on his face. 

“Emily?” he asked doubtfully, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but there was a hint of hopefulness.

Helen ignored him.  “I am not the fool, Sullivan,” she said sweetly. “You are, for letting me into the heart of your operation. Now I must demonstrate how wrong you are about this new world we find ourselves in.”

Graham slowly sank to his knees, staring at Helen. My insides twisted as I saw tears begin to well up in his eyes. “Emily, I… I thought you were gone. But it’s really you.”

Sullivan looked in alarm at Graham.

“Sullivan!” I shouted. “She’s a Witch! Don’t believe what you see!”

Sullivan didn’t react. His eyes lingered on Helen.

Helen laughed, high-pitched and cruel. When she turned her head towards me she was wearing the face of the old woman I’d had a conversation with on the subway. “It’s no use, Nick. They can’t hear anything I don’t want them to. It’s so funny. They all think they’re still on the top of the food chain. Every Ring thinks they’ll be the one to come out on top. But in reality, none of them will be!” she exclaimed, laughing again. “Fucking puppets. They’re slaves to their role. They’ve been wearing their masks for so long they’ve fused onto their faces. It’s gonna hurt real bad when I rip them off.”

I wanted to scream. To smash holes in the walls. I had nowhere to place this restless anger. “Where is Nell?” I asked quietly, neck taut with tension.

She smiled slyly. “What do you mean? I brought her with me.” A well-manicured nail extended to point across the room.

My eyes followed it. There she was, standing across the table from me. Nell. She wore the same clothes as she had that morning, her shirt slightly ripped at the neck where she had struggled. Her wide eyes watched me with fear. “Nick,” she said quietly. “You shouldn’t have come.”

I fought back the rage. “A trick,” I said, confidently ignoring her. “You can fool my senses, but you can’t fool our connection.”

Nell’s face screwed up in distress and it was so real looking. The way her lower lip dropped as her wide eyes started to tear up. She spoke quickly, stumbling over her words, “They drugged me with something. I can’t feel you either, but it’s really me, Nick! Really.”

“Liar!” I shouted as if volume could dispel the illusion.

Nell walked around the table, coming towards me. I shook as I took a step backwards. I could still run. I could leave and find the real Nell.

A hurt look crossed her face, like she’d felt that thought. “Nick. I know it’s you. Helen’s powers don’t work on me, remember? Witches are immune to other Witches. How can I prove to you it’s really me?”

I glanced at Helen who seemed content to watch. “I… I don’t know.”

Nell’s face lit up. “Remember the dandelion? Or the ruined church at Cathrow? Helen couldn’t know those things. She wouldn’t know about the mouse girl who lives with the Outcasts. You remember her name? Starts with an F.”

“Fia,” I said, a lump forming in my throat. “I- I panicked when you disappeared. I showed my Shape in public in a bad way.”

She came close. I could see all the minute details of her face. The freckle on her chin. The cowlick that she could never fully comb out. “That’s okay. We’ll figure it out.” She grinned hesitantly and I felt stricken. Why did this feel so different? Just because we weren’t sharing emotions?

“I feel lost,” I mumbled.

Nell nodded and touched my arm. “Me too.”

My arm was wrenched painfully behind my back. Another hand grabbed the back of my head and shoved it towards the floor. I struggled but found that Nell’s strength was greater. 

I managed to look out of the corner of my eye at who it was. Spike, his eyes wide with fury.

“Spike-”

“Shut the fuck up!” he spat. “Not another word about Jess.”

Jess? His girlfriend? I hadn’t said anything about Jessie.

I looked towards the table. It was if I’d fallen asleep for a moment and things had changed. Graham was on his hands and knees. He was whispering something softly.

Then there was Sullivan. Sweat glistened on his brow. His hair was disheveled from him running his hand through it. He had spilled his drink onto the table, the glass rocking on its side, but no one was moving to clean it up. His eyes… he’d seen something, a vision particular to him from Helen.

Helen was in the middle of saying something to him, “So there really is no negotiation to be had. That’s why I had to loosen your mask. You can see properly now, right? I have that power. You could too.”

Sullivan twitched, attempting to regain some control. “You ask that I bet everything on black when I have accrued my power over years and years of calculated moves. It’s preposterous. It goes against every bone in my body.”

Helen tutted. “I’ve made it clear, Sullivan. Sometimes, the house wins. No matter how hard you want it to be different, this is reality.” She leaned forward, mouth hanging avidly open. “So what will you do, Sully? What do you do when you can’t win? Start playing a different game.”

Sullivan sank back in his chair. “What are your terms?”

Helen sat back as well, satisfied. “I knew you’d see it my way eventually! This is where the deal is too good. I only need one thing from you.” She turned to me. Her manicured thumb drew a line across her neck as she stuck out her tongue in glee. “Kill Nick.”