Sister Cities

Part 70: Ekko

I am waiting for something to go wrong

I am waiting for familiar resolve

I am waiting for you to flee the scene

As if you held in your hand the smoking gun

And on the floor lay the one you said you loved

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We walk down the block until we find the hoverboard Vi left. Caitlyn gets Jinx's old one. I hold her hand since Vi doesn't have any free, but she doesn't look too worried about falling anymore in the first place.

At Caitlyn's house, half the lights are on, the guards are at attention, and her parents are waiting in the entryway. Caitlyn tells me and Vi to take off our shoes on the doorstep, then walk inside and keep walking. She wrangles them while we trek upstairs and into the room where Jinx stayed last time she was here. It's dark, illuminated only with the wedge of light coming in from the hall, and we don't turn the lamp on.

"Powder?" Vi says. Jinx doesn't respond. "Powder. Let me put you down."

I stand at a distance with my arms crossed, but I toss her a monotone "She's asleep" when she gets nothing again. She looks down at Jinx in surprise, then tugs on one of her arms. Once her fingers unlock from each other, she comes loose.

Vi lays her down gently on the bed. She's smudged with ash and drenched in smoke, but she appears to be out cold, snoring lightly. It makes sense— she's probably been up all night.

Not that she's actually out cold. After a million collective sleepover hours spent pretending to be in bed so whoever was in charge of us would leave us unattended, I know what fake sleep looks like on her. I don't know what her goal is, but if she wants to do this, Vi's not gonna convince her out of it, and there's no point in making her worry.

Vi takes the half of the blanket Jinx isn't laying on and folds it over her. Caitlyn's parents won't be happy to see her back here, especially this filthy. Vi's also filthy, so when she looks like she's gonna sit down, I say, "Go take a bath."

She snorts. "If that's what you desire, Councilor." She looks down at Jinx again and hesitates.

"I'll stay with her."

Vi raises her eyebrow— I said it almost like a threat or an insult. "Tell her where I am if she wakes up," she says. "If she wants to track me down, just go with it."

I nod. She walks out. I chase her into the hall.

Halfway to Caitlyn's room, she stops and turns around. "What's wrong?"

"I wouldn't have actually wanted you to leave her," I say. It also sounds like a threat or an insult.

Vi shakes her head like she's dazed. She just jumped off a building, so she probably is. "What?"

"When you said you were gonna go on the roof and get her down, I said you shouldn't. You should leave her." My hand slips automatically into the one holster I put on tonight, but I draw it out fast. "I didn't mean it. I didn't want you to leave her."

Vi squints. "I know. Of course you didn't."

"I don't know why I said it. We're not on very good terms, but I wouldn't want that."

"I know, Ekko. You think I don't know you care about her?"

It's supposed to be comforting, but it makes my back prickle. "I don't— it's complicated."

"Well, I'm not gonna think your conscience disappeared just because you said something screwed up when I was about to run into a fire. I trust you with her."