Ring. Sister. Piano (Book 4 of The Powder Trail)

Chapter Forty Four: The Epiphany

He found Robin at the lodging-house on Headington Hill. His room there looked a bit like a monk's cell – narrow and sparse, with a small window, and a crucifix nailed to the wall. But Robin seemed right at home. More than at home. He had a way of spreading out to fill all the available space in a room. He was doing it now, sprawling in his chair, with his legs wide apart, trying to look as languid and offensive as possible.

Jack usually found it infuriating, but not today. He was still so numb and distant. He felt as though his mind was working through some conundrum without telling him what it was. He wasn't even sure he'd know about it when the solution was reached. He certainly wouldn't know how he'd got there.

Robin gave him that slow, spreading smile, as if he was getting funnier and funnier the longer he stood there. Finally, he said, "I'd like to think you worked it out before Danvers finished the head-count. But too late for it to do you any good, of course."

"Mary Stryde," said Jack tonelessly.

"It's better than you think. I knew her in London, when Ellie and I were living as a married couple in Lambeth. She sent me reports about the master's activities, ensured his spies were always on the wrong track. Ellie never knew she was being hunted."

For some reason, Jack could only look at the sparkling pattern of raindrops on the windowpane. Water was leaking in and pooling on the sill. "And you told her to come to the Academy?" he prompted.

"Only after you invited her. I thought it was too good an opportunity to miss."

"It's a shame," said Jack. "I liked her."

"Don't take it to heart, golden boy. Many a nicer girl has fallen under my spell. Besides, she was strapped for cash."

Now the water was spilling off the windowsill and onto the floor, with an arrhythmical drip-drip. It seemed very loud to Jack. He wondered that Robin wasn't looking at it. "Someone could have been killed," he ventured.

Robin smirked. "It wouldn't've been my Ellie. I taught her too well. Of course, she made me suffer a bit. For a while, I really thought she was going to let her love for the girls overcome her survival instincts. And there's always the suspicion, when she's being beaten up, that she's secretly enjoying it. But I knew she'd come out on top. She always does, these days."

He seemed to put a lot of stress on those last two words. But Jack was feeling too distant to be provoked. "Did you do all this just to get rid of Elliott?" he demanded. "Or was it to hurt her? She was your only friend in the entire world – you know that, don't you?"

Robin's jaw tightened. "Friend? What's that? You know what that word has come down to for me, golden boy? You know what 'friend' means to me now? It means 'someone who will tolerate me'."

"But you're so intolerable!" Jack protested. "You don't realize how impressive that is!"

"I do realize!" he said, raising his voice for the first time since Jack had entered the room. "I just want more. Is that so hard to understand? You and I were raised to be ambitious. I want to be like a normal person-"

"Then start acting like one!" Jack shouted.

For a moment, they stared at each other. Then Robin raised a hand to his forehead and gave him that new smile – so close to the old one, but so different. Full of mockery and self-hatred.

"It's too late," he said. "You know that, don't you? You and I will never be like normal people. In any case, I wanted her to more than tolerate me. Didn't care if it was love or hatred. I just wanted a reaction from her."