along with my proposal, have I? Here’s a reason: your parents are dead.”
“What?” The word is half-gasp. Leigh can picture the look on the girl’s face. The horror, the anger, the fear, all mixed together in a delicious cocktail of pain. She wishes she could actually see it, but hearing it is almost as good.
“Your parents. They’re dead. I killed them, in case you were hoping this was about a car crash or something of the sort. You see, I couldn’t find you anywhere—and I’ve been looking ever so hard. I assume you’ve been twisting time around yourself to muddy the trail. That’s not very nice of you, you know. You’ve been denying me. I don’t like to be denied, so I took a little trip to the address where Reed placed you.”
Dodger finds she can’t breathe.
“I rang the doorbell. Your mother answered. She was wearing a pink robe with blue satin trim. Very out-of-date. It soaked up the blood nicely when I stabbed her.” The blade sliding between her ribs, slicing flesh and organs indiscriminately. Her lung had deflated like an old balloon, no longer capable of holding air or sustaining a body. It was a simple move, and one Leigh had practiced many times, on many bodies. “Did Erin ever tell you how she killed your little Indian girl after you and Roger were stupid enough to request a DNA test? She learned that move from me, and I showed it to your mother tonight. She didn’t even have a chance to scream before she was on the floor. You’ll be happy to know that her body’s going to be donated to science. My science. I always need more parts.”
“You’re lying.” It’s the whisper of a wounded child. There are voices behind it, loud ones, raised in exclamation and dismay.
Leigh leans back farther in the chair, letting the weathered leather wrap around her like a lover’s arms, and closes her eyes. It’s a good chair. A pity about the bloodstains, but all things must come to an end in this world. “Am I? Or do you simply not want to listen to the truth? I admit, it’s a painful truth, but it’s the one we have, and it’s not negotiable for people like you and me. Your brother, he can argue with the truth, within reason . . . but he can’t raise the dead. Only a very good alchemist can do that, and believe me when I say you wouldn’t appreciate the results. They’re rarely pretty. Even when they are, there’s always a cost. Everything costs.”
“You’re lying.”
“Your mother answered the door, and when she didn’t go back up the stairs, your father came down. I shot him. Men get so aggressive when they see their wives dead, and his hands are intact. You’ll never see me coming. Do you believe me now? Or do I need to walk through your childhood home, describing everything I see to make you understand that I’m not a liar? Because I’ll be honest, Dodger. I’m getting tired of you calling me names I haven’t earned.”
A soft squeaking sound, and then silence. Leigh opens her eyes.
“Come home,” she says. “Leave them, or bring them with you. Try to take me by force, try to ambush me, come for revenge, I don’t care, just come home. Come close enough for me to give you what I’ve promised. The people who took you in, raised you, and claimed you as their daughter are dead, little cuckoo, and all because you wanted to see the Impossible City. You could have spared them. You could have spared so many people. Come home, and leave the rest of the people you care about among the living. Because I assure you, it doesn’t end here.”
“I can’t . . .”
“Your mother’s blood tasted like candy, little girl. Don’t fuck with me. Come home.”
Leigh hangs up the phone and stands. The nameless alchemist is standing in the hallway, his construct a dark shape behind him. She looks at the pair with narrowed eyes. “Well?”
“I have them both laid out in the dining room like you asked.”
“Good.” Her smile has nothing to do with happiness. “Let’s arm ourselves, shall we?”
Back in the diner, Dodger drops the phone. She stares at it, eyes huge in her pale face, and for a long moment, no one says anything. Finally, Roger reaches for her, and flinches when she pulls away.
Her head snaps up, attention zeroing in on Erin. “Was she lying?” she asks. Her