“There is nothing complicated about this.” Anne was obviously running out of patience. “You pick up the monkey’s paw, you win. Which part are you not following?”
“The part where that thing eats anyone who tries to use it,” Luna said. “Every time I say that, you just brush me off.”
“I told you, I’ll handle it.”
“Handle it how? It’s done the same thing to the last thousand people who picked it up, why would I want to be number one thousand and one?”
“The monkey’s paw isn’t the only thing around here with a jinn.”
“And what if the other one doesn’t cooperate?” Luna asked. “You keep talking as if you own it.”
“Okay, I’m getting really tired of this,” Anne said. She swivelled. “Karyos.”
Karyos inclined her head. “Lifeweaver.”
“Sorry I wasn’t there when you hatched,” Anne said. “You know how it is. How about I make it up to you?”
“In what way?”
“Jinn don’t have to partner with humans,” Anne said. “They prefer them, but nonhumans work too. What do you say? You’ve been at the mercy of mages long enough. How about turning the tables?”
“I thank you for your offer,” Karyos said. Her manner was grave and formal, at odds with her young face. “But I regret that I must decline.”
“Why?” Anne demanded. “Mages have been after you for centuries, haven’t they? They invaded the Hollow, burnt your old tree. Are you just going to sit there and take it?”
“The path you offer would lead to the burning of every tree in my grove until the Hollow was nothing but ash.” Karyos’s voice was clear. “You look at me through the eyes of a human girl, but I know you for what you are, ancient one. I will not be a soldier in your war.”
“Don’t call me that,” Anne said sharply.
Karyos looked back at her in silence.
“Hermes,” Anne called. “How about you come with me at least?”
Hermes stayed crouched. His tail curled between his legs.
“Seriously?” Anger flashed across Anne’s face. “I was there when we pulled you out of Sagash’s shadow realm, you ungrateful little—!” With an effort Anne cut herself off.
Hermes sank a little lower to the ground, eyes glinting.
“Well.” Anne turned to me. “So that’s how it is.” She gave me a too-bright smile. “I’m losing all the kids in the divorce, huh?”
“They’re not buying what you’re selling, Anne,” I said. “Though I’m not sure I should be calling you ‘Anne’ anymore.”
“That’s who I am.”
“I’m not talking about your other self,” I said. “I don’t think either of you is in the driver’s seat right now.” Anne was about to speak, but I kept talking. “What are you trying to recruit all these people for? You’re putting together an army, right? What are you going to do once you’ve got it?”
“Whatever I have to.”
“And what’s the endgame?” I said. “Rule the world? Kill anyone who gets in your way? Or just keep fighting until someone stops you?”
Anne looked back at me angrily.
“Think, Anne,” I said softly. “Think about all the time we spent together. Living with us in the shop in Camden. Living alone in your flat above that little nature reserve in Honor Oak. You never wanted this. Not even when I was talking with you in Elsewhere. You wanted to be powerful, wanted to get your own back . . . all of that, yes. But you weren’t a megalomaniac.”
“It’s not . . .” Anne hesitated. “Okay, look, I might have had to make some . . . compromises. You don’t get anything for free, right?”
“This is beyond compromises,” I said. “The jinn’s taking you over. This isn’t you.”
“I don’t . . .” Anne trailed off. She shook her head, and all of a sudden she looked vulnerable, afraid. “Look, I need this. Can’t you guys help? Don’t you owe me that much?”
It was Luna who answered. “I owe you more than this much,” Luna said. “I’ll do whatever I can for you and I always will. But it has to be for you. Not some creature wearing your body.”
“We can sort that out later.” Anne held a hand out towards Luna. “Just come with me. Please?”
Luna looked back at her, and very slowly, shook her head.
The futures danced, but not towards a choice. One by one, the possibilities heading in a certain direction winked out. Multiple branches were left, but now they were all pointing the same way.
Anne’s face darkened. “So it’s going to be like this?”
Uh-oh. I reached out through the dreamstone. Luna—
I know! Stop distracting me.
“I’ve been there for all of you over and over again,” Anne said. “The whole reason you’re alive is because of me. Now that I really need it, you can’t do this one thing?”
“It’s not about—” Luna began.
“No,” Anne said. “I’m sick of hearing you say the same things. I’ve really been trying to be nice, but you are just not listening.”
“She is listening.” I kept my voice calm, but I could feel things slipping away. “But you’re not doing much to reassure us here.”
“I’m not here to reassure you. I’m here to call in some favours, which you don’t seem very keen on doing.”
“Look,” I said. “We don’t have to—”
“No, I think I’m done talking,” Anne said. “This is what you always do, isn’t it? You spin stories and you make it sound oh so reasonable. And all the time you’re setting them up for a fall. You’ve done it with everyone else, now you’re trying it with me, right?”
“I’m not trying anything with you,” I said. But it was hopeless and I knew it. Already I was planning out which way to move.
“Sure you’re not.” Anne raised a hand and snapped her fingers.
Movement stirred from around us. Slender shadows appeared from all around the clearing, slipping between the trees. Cold eyes stared at Luna and at Karyos and at me. They were jann, and this time there were more of them. A lot more.
“Okay,” Anne said again. She made no signal that I could see, but one of the jann to her left stepped forward into the clearing. It held out something in its claws, a lacquered tube of blue and white. The monkey’s paw.
“Maybe you might have forgotten,” Anne said, “but I helped build this place. I know how to get through the gate wards. And I know where you keep your stuff.” She looked at Luna. “Now I’m done asking nicely. You are coming with me and then you’re going to see I’m right. Only question is, are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?”
Luna stood very straight. “I don’t belong to you.”
The jann moved. Claws flexed; slender bodies slipped forward. They were all around me and closing in from every direction; already I could barely see anyone else through the ring of shadowy figures and cold, flat eyes. Yet only half of the jann were surrounding me; the rest were around Luna.
I’d kept up the mental link, and through it I could hear Luna’s thoughts, tense but calm. Alex, if you’ve got any ideas, now would be a really good time.
I felt a weird tug of déjà vu. I’d been in this position before, in Sagash’s castle, an army of magical creatures around with no way out. Except back then Anne had been the one at my side. We’d come full circle.
Try to make it to my cottage, I told Luna. It’s you she’s after.
And the fifty jann in the way?
I’ll do what I can.