The Dark Glamour (666 Park Avenue 2)

checked her disguise, out of habit.
We could – we
should –
be working together.
But caution born of experience argued otherwise: she hadn’t ever been entirely correct about the Romanians’ agenda up until now, and it would be insane to imagine that she really understood how they would react to her information.
    She stepped out of the bathroom and back into the softer light of the party, and resumed the infuriating task of counting witches.
    At long last, she found herself standing beside Anne, not too far from the back stairs and with a little breathing room around them. ‘Anne,’ she whispered, and the girl’s dark-gold head snapped towards her. Anne’s dark eyes were unfathomable, and Jane had no idea at all how she felt about her new family or fabulous party.
Just as well she doesn’t look thrilled to be here,
she decided, since ‘here’ wasn’t at all a safe place for Anne to be. ‘I need to talk to you – please come.’
    Anne’s face remained impassive, so Jane beckoned encouragingly as she backed towards the door of the small service staircase. After a moment, to her immense relief, Anne followed her. Jane tripped quickly down one flight and then entered the seventh-floor hallway. The door of the billiard room was just a few yards away, and Jane ducked into it, closing the door behind Anne after she followed suit.
    Halfway out of breath, Jane was so relieved to have got this far that she impulsively stepped forward to hug Anne. ‘I’m so glad I got to you,’ she whispered. Anne’s body resisted the hug, and Jane stepped back awkwardly. Anne’s face was completely immobile, and Jane reached for her hands instead. ‘Look, I know this is going to sound—’
    ‘You bitch,’ Anne snarled, and then something hard struck the back of Jane’s head. Her vision swam and she fell down and away from Anne, who advanced menacingly on her. ‘My mother told me everything.’
    I doubt it,
Jane thought, but as she opened her mouth to speak, a pool cue lanced through the air towards her head. She rolled away and it struck her shoulder instead, tearing the seam of her dress and, she was sure, leaving a bruise that would show up the next day.
If I make it to then,
she thought desperately, magically deflecting a pool-ball-turned-missile that came dangerously close to breaking her ribs.
    ‘It wasn’t bad enough that your family kidnapped me; you decided you had to cash in, too?’ Anne snarled, her entire face distorted with her fury.
    ‘It’s not like that,’ Jane gasped, dodging a lamp and backing away again. The image of Celine Boyle and her Romanian allies standing over Annette’s limp body flashed briefly in her mind’s eye.
Okay, it’s kind of like that, but. . .
    ‘Shut up,’ Anne all but screamed. ‘Your grandmother ruined my life, and then you used me again to hurt my mother even more!’ She turned towards one of the heavy marble busts that lined the billiard room’s walls, trying to lift it with her hands before sending it flying with magic. Jane ducked, but the bust flew wide of her by several feet.
    ‘We can talk about this,’ Jane pleaded, holding up her empty hands. Anne narrowed her eyes, and Jane felt a searing pain on her palms. Blood trickled down her forearms, and she stared at Anne in horror. A potted plant flew at her while she hesitated, the rim of the pot catching her directly on the temple.
    ‘You’ve talked enough,’ Anne’s voice snarled from somewhere, and Jane flinched back.
    She was dazed from the blows to her head, but she felt almost sure that she smelled smoke. She shook her head violently, sending an explosion of stars across her vision. ‘Please,’ she choked, ‘Lynne’s not—’
    ‘She’s the only one I can trust,’ Anne cut her off, magically overturning an entire billiard table.
    Jane moved back again, but not quickly enough, and it caught her just above the ankle. She heard a dull snap, and blinding pain shot up her leg as she fell.
She’s going to kill me,
she realized dully. There was a piercing ringing in her ears that made it hard to think at all.
Lynne set me up, and Anne’s going to finish me off.
    The girl moved towards her again, a blur of white and gold that Jane couldn’t hope to ward off. Jane watched Anne raise her arms. She could actually see the deadly magic gathered in them. Even without the massive table lying across her leg, there was no way Jane could escape it. She closed her eyes and tried to steel herself for the