Unlike most of the narrow galley kitchens Nora had seen in New York City apartments, the one at Sam Loh’s place had a little window that looked out on a small courtyard. It had always seemed a bit magical to her, that quiet space behind the building in an otherwise relatively typical, anonymous sort of New York neighborhood. The courtyard was walled in by apartment buildings that cast their shadows, one upon the other, and so sunlight only fell through that small window for a brief period each morning. Even so, on the windowsill stood a little plastic hula girl with a bright pink hula skirt, ticking side to side like a metronome, powered by the sun. The opposite of Indigo, really. Yet today, Nora felt more energized by the morning and the sunlight than she had ever felt by the shadows.
She touched the stone that hung from a string around her neck—the ombrikos, once warm but now just smooth and cold and dormant. Nothing but jewelry now, and a dreadful reminder of the malevolent power that could be brought to bear upon the world—the reason she had to remain forever vigilant.
The dusty Keurig on the counter finished trickling Sam’s coffee into a chipped NYChronicle mug, and she added cream, then picked up her own mug and carried them both out into the living room. Unlike her own cramped studio, Sam’s apartment had two closet-size bedrooms, a bathroom with an antique claw-foot tub she’d always figured must be haunted, and a living room that seemed large only because he used the second tiny bedroom as a home office, which meant no desk jammed in with the sofa, chairs, and the little dinette setup where meals were eaten when Sam had company. Any meals he ate when he didn’t have company, she knew, were taken exactly where he was now … sprawled out on the sofa in front of the television set. Nora had made him shut the TV off when she’d arrived this morning, and now he had music playing from his laptop, the elegant, jaunty sort of classical music that he’d tried to interest her in when they’d officially been dating. She’d never tell him, but she’d listened at home more than once. The music had a soothing quality unlike almost anything else, and she needed soothing more than most.
“I’ve never noticed that little hula girl by the window,” she said as she crossed toward him. “Is she new?”
Sam groaned as he shifted to a sitting position on the sofa. He knitted his brows, obviously uncomfortable as hell, but still managed to seem bemused by the question.
“Sort of. I used to have another one there, but with a green skirt. Her battery died, but I like seeing her there. Makes me smile. I ordered another one online. You really can find just about anything for sale.”
Nora frowned. How many other things in her life had she never noticed? How much had she missed?
“Drink your coffee,” she said, settling onto the sofa beside him. She tucked one leg beneath her, close to him, and aware of that closeness. “Doctor’s orders.”
Sam took a sip and sighed. “My name is Sam Loh, and I am a caffeine addict.”
“Welcome, Sam. You’re among friends.”
For a short time they sat like that, with the music and their coffee and a chilly breeze dancing in through the slightly open living-room window, and the bright autumn day outside, the way only real friends did. Sam had always been good company, no matter what Nora’s mood might be.
“All right. Shall we get to work?” he asked.
“All work and no play makes Sam a dull boy.” Nora smiled.
Sam shifted on the sofa and winced. The hospital had sent him home and he’d been eager to go, but he still had healing to do.
“It may be a while before I’m up to playing.”
Nora arched a suggestive eyebrow. “And then?”
Sam sipped his coffee, arching an eyebrow to mirror her own. “Why, then I imagine I’ll get up to some mischief.”
“I’m in favor of mischief.”
“Oh, I’m well aware.”
Nora gave a quiet laugh and took a gulp of her coffee before setting the mug down. “So, are you going to tell me what you learned from the files I brought you from Bogdani’s place?”
Sam grimaced. He looked a bit paler than she liked, and Nora wondered if he’d been taking the painkillers he’d been prescribed. It would be so like Sam to try to tough it out to avoid taking the drugs.
“I’m still pretty tired and it’s hard for me to focus. Y’know, concussion and all. But from what I’ve looked at so far, the information in there is pretty explosive. Captain Mueller intended to blow the whole thing wide-open. If Bogdani were still alive, there’d be an indictment for sure. Federal. Human trafficking is not something the FBI or local authorities can ignore. Once I can focus on all of this, I’ll start quietly looking into how many of the people in these files are even still alive—”
“Not many.” Nora didn’t add that she’d killed some of them herself. Sam knew that, and she didn’t feel like reminding him.
“—and then I’ll bring in some state and federal contacts. Not only is this story going to be big, it’s going to lead to a ton of arrests and save lives.” Sam coughed and winced at the pain it caused him. “Are you … I mean, this story is really yours, Nora. You sure you want to give me all of this?”
She dragged a blanket off the arm of the sofa and draped it over her legs. “You take the parts that you were already investigating. I’ll cover the cult and the core story about the kids they murdered. I owe that to those kids—to Maidali Ortiz and the others. If I’d gotten my memories untangled sooner…”
Averting her eyes from him, she leaned over and picked up her coffee mug again. The open window let in the crisp, refreshing air of fall, and the chill felt cozy and good, but still she wanted the warmth of the coffee and the blanket and being here with Sam. Maybe she didn’t deserve it, but she wanted it nevertheless.
“You did all you could,” Sam said quietly. He nudged her with his elbow so that she would meet his gaze, then he held her with his frown. “Don’t be like that, Nora. You went deeper into darkness than anyone ever has, and you found light there. You’ve done so much good.”
She let the gaze linger a moment longer than was comfortable, even for them, then she looked away.
“Good news about Symes,” she said.
“Yeah? The dash-cam video exonerated him?”
“That and street-surveillance video. The footage clearly shows him being attacked by Angela Mayhew and having to fight back to protect himself and a civilian—”
“Who is you—”
“Who is me, yes. Fortunately anything that looks particularly … shadowy … has been blurred so much you can’t tell what’s going on there.”
Sam raised his coffee mug in a toast. “Here’s to Indigo, then. How’d you pull that off?”
“Just the way it is. There are surveillance cameras all over this city. Indigo never shows up as anything more than a dark blur or a bit of smoke.”
“I’m sure that’s come in handy more than once.”
Nora nodded slowly. “The important thing is that Symes will get off. There will be questions for me, no doubt. Symes tells me one of the investigators is already trying to tie me to Indigo, since I was in the car, but we’ve got our story together. Indigo saved me, whisked me away through the shadows, the same way she brought him to the hospital.”
“It’s weird that you keep talking about her like she’s not you. I mean, you told me already. Why keep doing that third-person thing?”
Nora glanced out the window, smiling softly. “It’s a beautiful, sunny day, Sam. Peaceful. Your hula girl’s dancing in the kitchen window. There’s a time for me to be Indigo, but this isn’t it, and when I put her away, I like her to stay there, at least for a while.”
“Fair enough. But speaking of putting things away…”
She held her coffee mug in front of her like a shield. Took a sip. Stared at him over the rim. “You want to talk about Damastes.”
“We don’t have to.”
“I don’t mind, I guess. Not much to say. I put him in a box and hid him away where he won’t be found, and I feel lighter for it.”
The coffee seemed to have revived Sam a bit. He shifted on the sofa and didn’t look quite so pained this time. “So you put the genie back in his bottle, but how long does that last?”
“Forever, if I can help it. And I think I can.”
“And while he’s there, you still have access to his power.”
Nora nodded. “To the darkness, yeah. I’m still Indigo. Stronger and more controlled than ever, learning new skills, understanding how all of this magic works. Xanthe is helping.”
Sam studied her thoughtfully, then reached out for her hand. Nora held her coffee mug in one hand so that she could take the comfort he offered. Their fingers laced together, solid and familiar.
She didn’t tell him that sometimes she could still feel Damastes in the shadows within her. Why worry him unnecessarily? Nora didn’t want to tell Sam because then she would have had to explain. She couldn’t hear Damastes voice, and it wasn’t as if he might influence her or break free, only that she could sense him there. What she sensed was his fury. Fury and despair. And it made her smile.
Sam tugged gently on her hand. “Hey. So, I’m in pain and it hurts if I move a lot, but otherwise I’d be putting the moves on you right now. Y’know, turning up the charm, blasting that seduction wattage.”
“Excuse me, ‘seduction wattage’?”
“Oh, yeah. Fifty thousand volts.”
Nora snickered. “And somehow electricity metaphors are sexy?”
“Wait, they’re not?” Sam looked stricken.
Nora finished the last of her coffee. She moved to put the mug back onto the coffee table, but Sam didn’t let go of her hand. Nora felt her heart quicken a bit and turned to look at him.
“What I’m saying, in my incredibly sexy way, is that if you promised to be careful not to hurt me any more than necessary, I might be persuaded to let you kiss me.”
Nora’s mouth had gone dry. She wetted her lips, lifted his hand, and kissed the big bruise on the back of it. Then she extricated herself from his grasp and pushed aside the blanket, stood and faced the sofa.
“That’s not really what I—”
“Sam, stop.”
He blinked, giving her an uncertain smile. “Okay.”
Nora exhaled and turned away, pacing a moment, trying to figure out what words ought to be coming out of her mouth. Finally she faced him again.
“You weren’t talking to me in a ‘friends with benefits’ way just now.” Sam started to deny it, but Nora waved the protest away. “No, it’s okay. It’s … it’s good, in fact.”
“Which is weird, because it doesn’t seem like you think it’s good.”
She perched on the end of the coffee table but did not reach out to him. Instead, she fixed her gaze upon his. “It’s only been a few days. You’re still recovering. Maybe your brain’s addled by painkillers or your concussion, and I want to know that you’ve thought this through.”
“I have, Nora,” Sam said in that business-y tone she’d always thought of as his grown-up-people-talking voice. “I have.”
For a few seconds they sat looking at each other. Then she nodded once and stood up again. “I’ve got to go.”
“Nora…”
“No, really. I’m not ditching you because of this. There’s something I need to do, something I’ve got to do or I’ll never feel right again.”
She picked up her coffee mug and walked it into the kitchen, rinsed it in the sink, and put it in the drainer, then made her way back into the living room, where Sam still sat with his own coffee, watching her the way she imagined novice lion tamers watched their charges the first time in the big cage.
“Nora?”
“I’ll be back later to look in on you,” she promised, “but we’re tabling this discussion until the doctor gives you an all clear. No way I’m letting myself get involved with you right now.”
“Define right now.”
Nora pointed a finger at him. “I’m not kissing you until I know you’re no longer concussed.”
Sam grinned.
Nora wrapped the autumn shadows around her, stepped into them, and vanished.
* * *
When Indigo stepped from the darkness, it was into the apartment two floors above Nora’s. The space remained empty. The fall sunlight beyond the windows barely seemed to reach into that dusty space, which only days before had been filled with light and laughter, with furniture, and with the kindness of a woman who had fast become her best friend … all of which had existed only because Indigo had summoned it into being.
All of which had existed because Nora had wished it. Needed it. She had created an imaginary friend for herself, but that light and laughter and warmth, that friend, had become real and true. Of all the things she had done wrong, all of the things the darkness had taken, it had given her one true thing in return.
Indigo let the shadows go. She needed to be Nora right now.
Nora opened her hands and closed her eyes. She searched her memory for the lamp in the corner, for the big plush chair with the chocolate stain on the arm, for the spider plant hanging by the window.
With her eyes still closed, she heard a familiar laugh, and she grinned as an unfamiliar joy filled her.
“Woman,” she heard, “you look like hell swallowed you down and then spat you out.”
Nora opened her eyes, her smile growing. “Shelby. Welcome home.”