“I have no idea what you just said. A cuckoo? You mean she’s crazy?”
Alex managed to sit up. He didn’t know why, but he felt that was a moral victory.
“You really are dumb. You had better take a close look at that girl before you get too excited, boy. You can’t think so much with your balls, or every woman you meet is going to lead you around by them. Of course, you won’t have a chance to use the advice,” Edward gloated.
“That’s a shame,” Katya opinioned, giving Alex a friendly pat on the back that startled him. “It was such good advice, too.”
Edward howled and clutched at his face and neck, batting at invisible insects, fending off a private fire.
“I’ve perforated a number of cerebral arteries, and caused hemorrhaging all through your brain,” Katya said unhappily, as if Edward were a profound disappointment to her. “You really should have the common courtesy to die. What are you, exactly?”
“This was Edward. He died, but now I think he’s become some sort of lightning-zombie,” Alex explained, gradually picking himself up off the ground.
“What kind of school is this?” Edward hissed, his face hidden behind his hands. “Don’t they teach you brats anything?”
Edward raised his hand skyward, but there was no lightning, instead he shrieked again and clutched the arm. It took Alex a moment to work out that the flashes of silver he kept seeing were a handful of long, thin needles that had run through Edward’s arm in several different places. Alex shuddered when he put it together.
“Tell me the truth,” Katya said, advancing with a handful of long needles. “Are you a student here? Because I don’t want to get in trouble for killing another student…”
Alex didn’t bother to try to stand up, even though he thought he might be capable of it. He didn’t think trying to punch Edward would do any good. However, that didn’t mean he was going to sit there and watch Katya fight, either. It wasn’t as easy this time, opening the Black Door, not with Edward’s words buzzing in his head, but he pushed them aside with an effort, and reached for the frost-covered handle in the back of his mind. There was no finesse this time around, no careful siphoning of energies. Instead, he tore blindly at the fabric that separated the world and the Ether, creating breaches all around what used to be Edward, opening him and the world around him to the void. Edward examined the sheen of frost that covered him in disbelief, and then turned his jet eyes to Alex.
This time, Alex had a perfect view of her protocol in action. Katya didn’t throw the needles. She opened her hand as if she was letting the wind take seeds and the needles were gone, lodged in of Edward as suddenly as they had disappeared. One of them pierced him like a gag shop arrow, running from temple to temple, while the remaining two crossed each other, perforating his chest through the solar plexus. Edward stumbled backwards and coughed wretchedly.
“Would you mind telling me where you keep your vitals?” Katya asked, circling away while she dug another handful of smaller needles from the lining of her blue surplus coat. “I’m all out of the acupuncture needles, but I still have a whole bunch of sewing needles. If you don’t speak up, I’ll keep on trying till I figure it out.”
Alex decided he preferred not to watch. This thought was followed by a series of ghastly squishing noises that reinforced his decision to look away. A moment later, Katya made a dissatisfied noise and then the sounds repeated themselves. Alex found, to his relief that the holes he’d torn to the Ether mended quickly enough when the Black Door closed.
“You are such a baby,” Katya said contemptuously. “I saved you, already. Are you ever going to stand up?”
“And you are a terrible bodyguard,” Alex countered angrily. “Where were you when the dead guy showed up? He could have killed me, like, three times before you got here!”
Against all expectation, Katya reddened and turned away.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” she muttered. “I wasn’t really watching all that closely, to be honest.”
“You were watching us?” Alex asked in disbelief.
“I already told you,” Katya shouted, “that I wasn’t! I left as soon as you guys starting making out, okay? I didn’t want to watch that shit. I only came back when I saw the flash.”
Alex levered himself slowly to his feet, inspecting the burn marks on his t-shirt and the melted sole on his shoe grimly.
“You really suck, you know that?” Alex said, his hands shaking furiously. “Not only did you watch us from the bushes, but then you show up late to bail me out? At least have the decency to save me immediately if you insist on stalking me!”
Katya swore, crossed her arms, and then looked away.
“You told me to stay away,” Katya said sternly, staring off in the opposite direction. “Anastasia told me to watch you. Who do you expect me to listen to? You’re right — I suck at this. I don’t know fuck-all about protecting people, but you aren’t exactly making it easy. I didn’t want to watch you make out with your stupid girlfriend. I tried not to intrude.”
“Don’t think I’m ungrateful for your help. I’m… well, uh, I guess I’m not sure. I guess I’m ungrateful, actually.”
“Seems that way,” Katya confirmed. “I did save you, you know.”
“Are you sure he’s dead?” Alex asked, leaning against a nearby tree for support, his legs wobbly and unreliable. “I thought he was when the Weir dragged him off in San Francisco, but then he showed up here…”
“Oh, he’s dead,” Katya assured him. “Whatever possessed him, it had to use his automatic nervous system, right? And that is full of sewing needles.”
“Good to know,” Alex said, sickened at the thought.
“Would have been nice to know about five minutes ago, smart ass. Say, was that you, with the mild chill a minute ago? Was that some sort of attempt to defend yourself? Or were you just sitting there looking pretty?”
“No,” Alex said slowly. “No, that was me.”
“Very helpful,” Katya sniffed, tossing her hair. “What a useless protocol. You couldn’t fight your way out of a paper bag if they gave you the month lead-up you need to use that thing. No wonder Anastasia thinks you need a babysitter.”
Alex opened his mouth to reply, probably to say some more things he would end up regretting later. Instead, he found himself standing there with his mouth open, staring. It would have been embarrassing, and possibly have inspired another hostile observation from Katya, but she was doing the same thing. At the other end of the clearing, Rebecca stood, leaning on one of the trees, gasping, panting, and so red in the face that Alex wondered if she was having some sort of attack.
“Don’t tell me that I ran all this way,” Rebecca wheezed, “for nothing.”
9
“Now you’ve got Katya following you around wherever you go?”
“I guess so,” Alex said, sipping from the bottle, making a face at the taste, and then handing it along to Vivik. “I barely ever see her, but I assume she’s around. I can’t blame her, really. Anastasia told her to do it.”
“Nothing you can do about that,” Renton said his voice full of sympathy. “She’s probably watching us from the bushes right now.”
“Look at the bright side,” Li offered, lighting a cigarette. “She could have assigned Renton to follow you around. That would be creepy.”
They all laughed, and Vivik handed the half-full bottle back to Renton. He took a long pull from it, drinking bad whiskey without even wincing.
“Shit,” Renton said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’ve got no idea.”
Everyone laughed again, but this time, it was more tentative and uncomfortable.
“Speaking of which, Renton,” Vivik chimed in. “Are you going to fail again this year?”
“Absolutely,” Renton said, nodding.
“What?” Alex asked, looking from one to the other in confusion.
“Renton and I are both in the final class,” Li explained mischievously, “but Renton’s already been there for
