Anne glowered at me but didn’t speak. ‘Four weeks,’ I said. ‘Four weeks! That’s how long it took you to end up here. You know what’s really ironic? When I first met you, you were a prisoner in this tower. You finally get your freedom, and it takes you less than one month to end up stuck right back inside the same prison you were trying to get away from!’
‘I’ve noticed, okay?’ Anne snapped. ‘Is that all you came for? To say “I told you so”?’
‘The only reason? No. But now I’m here I’m going to do it, because I am really pissed off. I expect this shit from the Council. They don’t trust me and they don’t know whose side I’m on. But you knew damn well I was giving you that warning because I loved you. I’m one of the foremost experts in the British Isles when it comes to possession and imbued items, I know a fair amount about jinn, and I can see the future. I am one of the best people in the entire country to give advice on not getting possessed. And your response was to do literally the exact opposite of what I told you!’
Anne stared at me, then suddenly broke into a grin. ‘Aww, you still love me? That’s cute.’
I threw up my hands. ‘Damn it!’
‘All right, all right, cool it.’ Anne leant back in her chair, but her back was straighter and she seemed more alive all of a sudden. ‘Fine, I might have made a few mistakes. No need to make a big deal over it.’
I drew in a breath to explode, then stopped myself. I was fairly sure she was just baiting me at this point.
‘So,’ Anne said. ‘You going to help?’
‘I’ve wanted that jinn out of your head from the beginning. Why the hell else do you think I’m here?’
‘Works for me.’ Anne jumped to her feet. ‘Let’s do it.’
‘Do what?’
Anne nodded towards the window.
‘Wait,’ I said. ‘Your plan is . . . what? Fight it?’
‘Yep.’
I stared. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Uh, yeah?’
‘Anne, you just went up against this thing last night,’ I said. ‘It kicked your arse. And if I had to bet, it probably wasn’t even trying.’
Dark Anne scowled. Something I’d learned about Anne’s shadow – she really hated looking weak. ‘It caught me by surprise, okay? I figure we can manage with the two of us. Are we doing this or what?’
I looked at Anne for a second. Then I pulled out the spare chair, sat down and covered my face with both hands. ‘Oh my God, you’re an idiot.’
‘Hey,’ Dark Anne said. ‘I gave that thing a hell of a fight. Yeah, it pushed me back here, but it didn’t have an easy time of it.’
I took a deep breath, took my hands away. ‘Anne. The reason it had trouble pushing you back is because it had to work really, really hard to do it without killing you.’
‘No, it didn’t.’
‘You saw that thing.’ I pointed towards the north wall. ‘You seriously think you are going to beat that in a contest of strength?’
‘She did it.’ Dark Anne never uses her other half’s name. ‘And I’m stronger than she is.’
‘Okay, number one,’ I said. ‘She fought back instantly. Possessing entities gain power the more you rely on them, and she didn’t. As soon as I woke her up, she went for the jinn all-out, with everything she had. No compromise, no hesitation. You’ve been letting the jinn act through you for weeks. You lost your chance a long time ago.’ Anne started to speak and I held up two fingers. ‘Number two. One of the last pieces of advice that Arachne gave me was that if I went into your Elsewhere and tried that same trick again, it wouldn’t work. The jinn will swat me like a mosquito.’
Dark Anne put her hands on her hips. ‘You got a better plan?’
‘As a matter of fact, yes.’
‘What is it?’
I just looked at her.
‘I’m not hearing anything.’
‘I’ve told you enough times.’
‘Told . . . ?’ Anne trailed off and her face darkened. ‘Oh no.’
‘You knew this was coming.’
‘No.’
‘There is exactly one way you’re going to have a chance against that jinn,’ I said. ‘And that’s to stop flying with one wing.’
‘No.’
‘Even your other half wouldn’t be able to do it on her own any more.’
Dark Anne’s face was set. ‘No.’
‘Come on, Anne!’ I rose to my feet, started pacing. ‘What’s your endgame here? Even if we could get rid of the jinn with just the two of us – which we can’t – you seriously think you and your other self can keep on living with some supercharged magical version of multiple personality disorder?’
‘Worked so far.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘It hasn’t. The whole damn reason the jinn could possess you in the first place was by wedging itself into the crack between the two of you. You were going to fall apart anyway, Dr Shirland was pretty clear about that. The jinn just sped things up.’
‘So you want me to do what, kiss and make up? Screw that.’
‘Listen—’
‘No, you listen.’ Dark Anne pointed across the table at me. ‘That bitch kept me locked up for years. Shut away from light and feeling and . . . everything! She got everything! The only reason you’re even here is because of her. You don’t care about me.’
‘Anne—’
‘Screw you. I’m not giving her anything.’
‘You can’t manage on your own! Neither of you can! She can’t handle violence or confrontation and deals with problems by pretending they don’t exist. And you’re a violent criminal with the impulse control of a rabid wombat.’
‘Yeah, well, I’d rather be me than her.’
‘You’re going to end up dead, enslaved, or worse.’
Dark Anne shrugged.
I threw up my hands. ‘What does it take to get through to you?’
‘You think you’re so clever, you figure out some way to fix things,’ Dark Anne said. ‘Something that doesn’t involve her.’
‘There isn’t one!’
‘Well, then I guess you’re out of luck.’
I stared at her. ‘You really are this short-sighted, aren’t you? If you were on a plane that needed two people to fly it, you’d let it crash rather than work together.’
‘Sounds good to me.’
Frustration boiled up inside me. How could anyone be so stupid as to . . . ?
. . . except I already knew the answer, didn’t I? I’d said it myself. Because she was violent and short-sighted with no impulse control. Trying to reason with Dark Anne was like arguing with a hungry tiger. There was a damn good reason the other Anne had kept her locked up.
I wasn’t going to solve this by talking.
Light Anne had to be in this tower. If I could find her . . .
‘You try and break her out,’ Dark Anne said, ‘and I’ll fight you with everything I’ve got.’
That’s the trouble with being close to someone. They can read you too. ‘It’s the only way you’re getting out of this.’
‘Bullshit.’ Dark Anne’s face was set. ‘You just want your girlfriend back.’
We stared at each other across the table. I knew she wasn’t bluffing. I’m far more skilled than Anne in Elsewhere, but this was her Elsewhere and she was on home ground. If it came to a fight then I might be able to get past her, force my way down to the basement, where Light Anne was trapped . . .
. . . but there was no way I could do it without drawing the attention of the jinn. It’d come down on us both like a hurricane.
‘Fine,’ I said, and straightened. ‘You win. You get to stay here, just the way you are. Enjoy it.’