Page 71 of Better in Black
“Oh, I didn’t believe that,” said Arabella, airily. “I still desired her, you see.”
Ari snorted in an unladylike way. “I don’t need you to tell me you desire Anna; I could tell from the fact that you have made a squadron of her.”
“Well,” said Arabella, “not me, specifically. I had to call in a favor or two. But my uncle is—”
“The Knight of All Storms, yes, I’ve heard,” said Ari. “Well, now you’ve got all the false Annas you could want. Why bother with the real Anna?”
“It’s not the same,” Arabella said. “They’re only shades, capable of imitation up to a certain point. And also,” she added in a slightly less brash tone, “I didn’t intend there to be so many. I only meant for there to be one. My uncle went too far; he usually does. I was going to send the extras back, but then I had a better idea.”
“Kidnapping us.”
Arabella again ignored her. “The idea that you and Anna have some unique extraordinary love is quite silly. If you know Anna at all, you must realize she can feel no differently about you than she has about anyone else she’s invited back to her flat.”
“Anna and I have been through more together than you could imagine,” Ari said. “The Anna you knew is not the Anna who exists now, the Anna I love, refined by her sorrow, her compassion, her capacity to change.” She looked at Arabella with real pity. “You might as well make a lover out of one of those emptyshells of Anna, for they are closer to the Anna you are fantasizing about than the real Anna is.”
“You insult me,” Arabella said coldly. “I may kill you for that.”
Ari took a step backward. “Well, that would be a waste,” she said, “after you’ve worked so very cleverly to get me here.”
“I have been clever, haven’t I?” Arabella said thoughtfully. “I always see my plans through, and my plan to rid myself of you has been no different. I set my sister to spy on you and learn your movements. I planned to create a phantom Anna, place her where you’d see her, make you suspicious. You would confront Anna, argue, lose faith in her—a faith that was misplaced all along. As surely you always feared.”
Of course, Ari thought, Arabella had placed the false Anna in the park deliberately, to make Ari suspicious. But how had she known when Ari was patrolling? “Who was your spy?” Ari demanded.
“My sister, Claribella. She is a mermaid as well, obviously, but she’s the other way round. Fish part on top, you know. We used veils to conceal her face.”
The widow in the rocking chair,Ari thought. “You don’t know me at all. I trust Anna.”
“Mm,” Arabella said. “I did wonder whether the kissing on the front step was too far. Ah well, it doesn’t matter now.” She gestured at the dozen Annas, who still sat mostly inert in their seats. “I thought we could play a little game.
“Hidden among this lot is the real Anna. They have all been heavily enspelled; they cannot see or hear us. The real Anna believes she is locked in an empty room, awaiting my return. My challenge to you is to pick the real woman out from among the shades.”
“And why would I ever cooperate with this—this charade?”
“If you can pick the correct Anna,” Arabella said, eyes flashing, “I will let both of you go, without further consequence, and I will leave you both alone forever after. I am a faerie and cannot lie; I have spoken directly so that you know I intend no tricks.”
Ari narrowed her eyes. “Why would you make such an offer?” She paused. “What if I choose the wrong Anna?”
“Then the spell will be broken, and you may leave,” Arabella said serenely, “in perfect safety, with no danger. But the real Anna will remain here. It is a faerie trial I offer you, Bridgestock. Prove that you know Anna as you say you do, that you know her heart and soul. If you do not, well…” She waved a slightly webbed hand. “You do not deserve her.”
Ari wanted to scream, wanted to drag Arabella out of the pool and set about her with her whip. But unless she killed Arabella—which seemed an act that would anger some very important fey—Arabella would return, and trouble them again. But if Ari could choose the true Anna, then she and Anna would forever be free of this madness.
Ari turned away from Arabella and walked slowly toward the lounge area. The Annas did not look at her, but as she drew close, she could see their faces. Their expressions were identically blank.
Slowly, Ari began to circle the lounge area. Each Anna had a face just like her beloved Anna: the same sharp jawline, blue eyes that were wide and darkly fringed, the same curved, lush mouth. Even Anna’s scars, the memory of old Marks, had been exactly reproduced.
Ari searched for something wrong with any of the Annas’ clothes or their hair or their height, but there seemed nothing. She went up to the Anna closest to her and traced the Voyance rune onthe back of her hand with her finger, willing it to reveal the truth past magic.
“Get as close as you like,” Arabella called out. “You can touch them if you want, too. They don’t mind.”
Ari closed her eyes and took a breath. She couldn’t allow Arabella to get to her. She resumed her search, walking slowly among the fourteen Annas, taking her time. She could feel the weight of fourteen pairs of blue eyes, even though they weren’t looking at her—
Ari paused. Blue eyes.
Ah.
She looked around once more, and decided. She stopped next to one of the Annas, who’d been seated at a card table with three other Annas, Ari assumed because it had amused Arabella to arrange them like dolls. She felt another wave of distaste for Arabella surge through her.
“This one,” she called out, resting her hand on Anna’s shoulder; it was warm beneath her touch. “This is the real Anna.”
