“YESSS, MY QUEEEEEN? ” ONE OF THE SHADOWS HISSED.
“Need us for mischief?” rasped another. There was a glimmer of furtive, darting eyes. The Scath were humanoid, possessing a head, torso, limbs, but they were also fluid: pouring, spilling, and swirling like liquid darkness. They could move like cats or spiders or bats, whatever type of locomotion suited the moment, and their voices slithered with a raspy, stumbling cadence.
“Growing weary of taunting this one.”
“Little left of the fleshling but a shell.”
“We’ve done as you asked.”
“Might we go free?”
Kara leered at the Scath. “Be patient,” she said. “I’ll have errands for you soon. Now, hide yourselves away for now. I wish to speak to Rigby . . . alone.”
The Scath hissed but obeyed. They whirled between Rigby’s legs, around his torso, his neck . . . and then departed. Rigby stood in the threshold of the chamber. He smiled, but his shoulders drooped, and very dark circles hung beneath his bloodshot eyes. Slowly, with chains jangling, Rigby lifted his top hat and placed it upon his head.
“Why don’t you just get rid of me?” Rigby said, his English accent not so charming with such a weak, raspy voice. “Those beastly Scath won’t let me sleep.”
“Awww,” Kara said. “Poor Rigby. Maybe you’d sleep better with some reading material.” She reached into her coat and removed the courier’s mailing tube. “Here.” She tossed it in the air, and then willed it to Rigby’s hands.
“What’s this, then?” he asked, popping the cap off of the tube and shaking it until the document slid out. “Your last will and testament, I ’ope?”
“Last will?” Kara laughed. “No, Rigby, I’ve only just begun to will things into being.”
“What is it then?”
“Open it.”
Rigby sighed. He tore open the envelope and removed the document within. With a flaming glance at Kara, he began to read. His grip on the document tightened, and tiny streaks of red lightning flickered around his eyes. “You revolting, backstabbing letch! You’ve stolen the company!”
“Stolen is hardly the appropriate word, Rigby,” she said. “This is business. Call it a hostile takeover.”
“You can’t do this,” Rigby growled. “I founded Dream Inc. Without me, there is no company. Frederick will—”
“Frederick helped me put this document together,” Kara replied curtly. “And it’s a done deal, I’m afraid. You’re out. I’m in.”
Rigby let the documents fall from his hands and, for a moment, Kara thought he might try once more to use his mental will. After all, he had been a formidable Dream Walker once upon a time. But Rigby tried no such thing. Pain from the cobalt manacles made for a pretty intense teacher. He’d learned, apparently. A shame,she thought.
When Rigby spoke, his words were quiet, reserved. “Why’d you do it?” he asked. “Why, Kara? We ’ad a good thing going. We ’ad plans.”
Kara shot up from the throne, her eyes ablaze. “Wehad a good thing going?” she spat. “You wouldn’t even let me sit in your chair! You were always about yourself . . . you and your beloved Uncle Scovy. And, after the Rift was complete, I suppose you and your uncle wouldn’t have just cut me right out?”
“Of course not,” Rigby shot back. “I knew I needed you. I knew we’d need each other to ’elp the world adjust . . . to a new reality.”
“You were always an awful liar, Rigby Thames,” Kara said dismissively. “Turns out, helping the world adjust isn’t so terribly hard. I’ve already done it.”
“What exactly ’ave you done?”
“The Harlequin Veil.”
Rigby straightened so abruptly that his top hat fell off. “The . . . the Veil?” he scoffed. “It never worked. That’s why we dubbed it the ’arlequinVeil—a fool’s veil, right? It was a nice theory, but a broken one.”
“Not so broken,” she said, once more taking her seat. “The Harlequin Veil works. It’s working right now as a matter of fact. The entire world believes it has awakened from the worst nightmare, awakened to find life far better than they ever dreamed it could be.”
Rigby shook his head. “I don’t for a minute believe you’ve pulled it off, Kara,” he said. “But even if by some miracle you did manage to get the Veil up and running, it wouldn’t last. People would see through it eventually. The intelligent ones would, anyway. Our species is far too analytical. They won’t accept it. It—it’ll be like the body rejecting a transplanted organ.”
“I’ve already got that covered,” Kara said, nibbling on her pinky nail. “As we speak, under Frederick’s supervision, Dream Inc. clinics will be opening all over the world. Five thousand clinics so far, and then double that in three months.”
“Clinics?” Rigby chuckled. “Clinics for what?”
“Reorientation,” she replied. “For people who don’t accept the new reality. Dream Inc. will help them adjust.”
“Impossible,” Rigby replied. “That’s why Uncle Scovy and I gave up on the Veil concept.”
“You gave up on it because you lacked the resources to see it through,” she said. “But I’ve learned from the Masters Bindings. You forget; I spent quite a bit of time with the Nightmare Lord. He taught me a thing or two as well.”
Rigby bent down to retrieve his top hat. He didn’t put it on, but stared inside.
“Thinking you’ll pull a rabbit out of your hat?” Kara jeered. “It won’t work. Those manacles won’t let you use your will.”
If Kara’s dig had stricken a nerve, Rigby didn’t show it by his expression. He shook his head, and when he looked up, he wore a hint of a smile. “What ’ave you done with the Masters Bindings?” he asked. “They used to be ’ere in the chamber with the Scath.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she mused. “I can only imagine how much you must be longing to get another peek at them. Pity you didn’t think to make yourself copies.”
“I did think of it, Kara,” he growled. “I’m not an idiot. The Masters Bindings cannot be copied. No amount of mental will can do it.”
“You’re certain?” she asked coyly. “Even a superior mental will?”
“There’s no world in which you ’ave an intellect superior to mine,” Rigby hissed.
“And yet how easily I caught you,” she said, absently examining her fingernails once more. “It was foolish of you to go after Kaylie in that way. No good could come from extinguishing her extraordinary power.”
“Well, she’s got to be accounted for,” he replied. “You’ll see. And if you mess with ’er, you’ll ’ave to deal with Keaton—”
“Archer is out of the picture,” Kara said. “By the time he’s back in, it’ll be too late.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Archer’s past has caught up with him. A terrible shame, really.” Kara began to laugh quietly. “In many ways, you and Archer have taken a similar path . . . and share a similar fate.”
“Enjoy your miserable riddles.” Rigby sneered, shaking his top hat at her and jangling his chains. “Enjoy it while you can. It’s all going to come down, Kara. It’s going to burn down and take you with it.”
“Oh, Rigby, don’t be so bleak.” Kara waved her hand dismissively. She stood from the throne and approached her captive, stopping just out of Rigby’s reach. She crossed her arms and studied him for a few moments.
“You might beat Keaton,” Rigby said. “Might.” His expression showed that outcome to be very much in doubt. He smirked and continued, “If ’e doesn’t get to you in time, you might even manage to fool most of the world. But you’ll never fool my uncle for long. Scovy has research you know nothing about. Don’t you think the inventor of the Veil concept will figure out the Veil . . . and your schemes? And when ’e does, ’e’ll come for me.”
“I’ll deal with your uncle when the time comes,” Kara said. “But he’d better come soon.”
“Or what? You’ll sic the Scath on me? You’ve already done that. What else can you do, kill me?”
“No, I’m not going to kill you, Rigby,” she quipped. “If I did, where would I get my entertainment? You’re like my own private puppet show.”
Rigby strained against his chains. “You—”
“Good-bye for now, Rigby,” she said, reaching for the Shadow Key. She gave it a twist, and the slab doors began to close.
“Wait, what did you mean?” Rigby demanded. “What did you mean by ’e ’ad better come soon? What’s the time component?”
Kara grinned as the doors slid slowly, like some giant arachnid’s mouth. “Isn’t it obvious, Rigby?” she quipped. “No? Put it this way. If your uncle takes too long, I’ll release you into his custody and wish you both well. In a matter of days, neither of you will care anymore.”