She shook her head.“That’shardly your fault.”
“I was the one who made Alexander pull you into this,” he hissed, all but out of whisper territory now.
“Oh, and I suppose you think I had absolutely nothing to do with it?”
They scowled at each other, his face getting redder by the second. Still—better than colorless lethargy.
“What do you believe would have happened,” she said, “if we hadn’t gone after the Organization? All of us?”
“You would be fine,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Iamfine! I’m alive! I’d be great if you weren’t such a”—she struggled to remember what Hartgrave had called him—“such anAnfallspinsel!”
He paused, mouth open, making a strange gurgling sound.
“Are you all right?” She leaned toward him, trying to remember what a stroke looked like.
“Anfallspinsel?”He choked the word out. “You think I am a, a ‘seizure paintbrush’?”
“But ... Hartgrave—in your restaurant ...”
He laughed so hard it took him a moment to answer.“Einfaltspinsel. Nincompoop.”
“Anfallspinsel,Einfaltspinsel... Sounds the same to me,” she said, sure her cheeks were now as red as his.
He shrugged, getting ahold of himself. “Revenge, justice.”
“No, those aren’t the same. And killing a man to stop him from taking someone else’s life isn’t murder.”
“You are the someone. Of course you would say that.”
“And of course you feel terrible,” she said, throwing up her arms. “You’re a decent human being—youare—and decent human beings abhor death. I’m sorry, Willi,” she added. “None of what happened to you is fair. You deserve the peace you wanted.”
He considered her. “I am tiring you. You must rest.”
“You’re just looking for an excuse to get away so you don’t have to admit I’m right.”
He smiled. It was a miracle.
“I will visit you again, Emily.” He took her hand in both of his as he stood, with no ill effects. “I am sorry I did not come until you asked for me.”
“Willi,” she said, hanging on to keep him from dematerializing. “Wait—I have to know: Why is Hartgrave avoiding me?”
“Ah.” His smile faded. He paused. “For the same reason I did, I am thinking.”
What? Oh, no, no,no. She’d forced her way inside Hartgrave’s room. She’d worked hard to discover his secrets. She’d insisted on a role in the adventure. With the exception of withholding the whole truth, what part of this did he think washisdoing?
Willi avoided her eyes again. “Should I tell him he is anEinfaltspinsel?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “And that he’s hurting me.”
“I will,” he said and shimmered away to nothing.
24
Entrance and Exit
She woke in the dark with a cry, heart racing, skin covered in the clammy sweat of nightmares. Gunshots, knives, suffocation—Kincaid towering over her—
