“Borrow or steal?”
“To-may-to, to-mah-to,” Katia said with a wave of her hand.
“And it never occurred to you that I might have had a reason for not giving you a key?”
Katia widened her eyes, pretending to be innocent. “No. What could that be? Do you have a secret life, Sonia, or a dark secret you don’t want me to unveil?”
“Of course not.” Sonia crossed the studio apartment and bent over her sister. “I just don’t want you to show up here, uninvited.”
“You never invite me.”
“I don’t want you to let yourself in. I don’t want you to surprise me like you did tonight.”
“You just want to hide, like you always did.”
“With you as a twin sister, who could blame me?”
Katia laughed. “Without me as a twin sister, your life would be boring.” She drew out the o.
“I like boring.”
“Nobody likes boring.”
“I like routine. I like keeping my word. I like having a rhythm to my days. Not everyone thrives on chaos and drama.”
“Bullshit,” Katia said, poking at Sonia’s Kindle. She had a habit of poking through everything and leaving it askew so there was no chance of missing the fact that she’d poked through everything. “Whatcha reading?”
“It doesn’t matter!” Sonia reclaimed the Kindle and tucked it under her pillow. “What do you want anyway?”
“Who says I want anything?”
“You always want something. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
Katia took her time lighting another cigarette. “I guess if anyone in the world would understand me, it should be you.”
“What?” Sonia repeated, folding her arms across her chest. “I have to get dressed for a party so spill it already. Then I can refuse, you can leave and I can get back to the routine of pretending you don’t exist.”
Katia shook her head and blew smoke. She frowned at the rising stream. “How do people blow smoke rings? I always wanted to send them spinning around, like Gandalf, and change the colors at will.”
“You spend too much time with Tobias,” Sonia said, referring to their high school friend who had become a famous fantasy author. Even though he lived in Manhattan, Sonia never saw him—unless one of the papers ran a feature on him, usually around the time he had a new book release. Sonia didn’t see much of her twin either.
Katia worked for Tobias and had to have the oddest job in the world. Tobias de Wynter said Katia was the inspiration for his popular steampunk heroine, who had adventured through forty-seven graphic novels of derring-do that continued to sell in astonishing quantities. There had been movies in the works for years, but not one in production yet. Katia travelled with Tobias, dressed up as her alter-ego, and made appearances at fan conventions by his side. She lived in a flat that was part of his huge apartment in Soho. Katia and Sonia had known Tobias since high school, when he’d just been Tommy White.
Katia pointed the cigarette at her. “And that is the issue, in a nutshell.”
“What does that mean? And what does it have to do with me?”
“It means that Tobias is surrounded by people who play Dungeons & Dragons all the time, many of whom live in fantasy worlds of their own design.”
“But you like disguises. I’d think that role-playing would be just your thing.”
“I’m tired of it,” Katia admitted. “I want the reality, not the fantasy.”
“I don’t understand,” Sonia said, holding up her phone and pointing at the time. She knew that Katia was telling her only half, or maybe a third, of the story, but she didn’t have time to drag it all out of her twin. The details probably had very little to do with her anyway.
“You work in a fitness club,” Katia explained patiently. “You’re surrounded all day by prime physical specimens of the male gender. I want some of that.”
“So, watch the club’s social media streams.”
“I do.”
“Then join the club.”
Katia made a face. “But then I’d have to exercise.” She spat the word like it was toxic waste on her tongue.
“Better yet, join a different fitness club and leave me out of it.” Sonia propped her hands on her hips. “You have to go now.”
“I’m not going until you agree to take my place at Tobias’ masquerade party tonight.”
“I have plans tonight!”
“That’s astonishing in itself, but it’s not a problem.” Katia butted out the second cigarette and pulled out a shopping bag from behind the chair. “Here’s my costume. We’ll just trade. I’ll go to your party and find myself a hunk, and you can go to Tobias’ party. No one will ever know the difference.”
“Anyone with eyes in their head can tell the difference between us.”
“Not so many people as that.” Katia shook her finger. “Especially men, when they’re getting lucky. They see blond and not much else. Trust me.”
“I’m not going to get lucky tonight.”
“Too bad for you. How far is it from here to Flatiron Five Fitness? I’m wondering whether I could have two for the price of one.”
“You’re not using my place to have sex!” Sonia cried, flinging out her hands. Eliza, the tenant above her, pounded on the floor—or maybe it was the ghost that was supposed to haunt her apartment. Sonia could only assume that Celeste, the building busybody who lived opposite Eliza with a prime view of the street, was listening avidly in the hall.
“You already said that you’re not going to be using it,” Katia said, her tone reasonable. “There’s no reason to waste clean sheets.” She opened her eyes wide. “You can use my room. It’s close enough to Tobias’ party that you could get lucky three or even four times.”
“No,” Sonia said. “No, no, and no. I don’t agree. You have to leave now.”
Instead, Katia reached into the bag and pulled out a glittering length of something black and slinky. She stood up, holding the dress before herself. Sonia stared. It was a gorgeous beaded sheath, slit high up each side, with a broad gold collar. There was an eagle on the collar,
