But I did look at him, curious to see if the doppelganger was enjoying himself, to see if I’d guessed right and this was something he would like. Doppelgangers do not work the same way real human beings do, everybody says. They do not have souls of their own, because there is nothing of light about them. Could doppelgangers even like things the way we did?
I could not tell. Carwyn’s mouth was in a shape that was not quite a flat line or a smirk. When I glanced toward him, he responded by using the bracelet of light to turn me toward him as well, into the pull of his gravity, so we turned around each other in a slow circle.
He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “How well does this girl know Ethan?”
“Not well,” I whispered back.
He murmured, “Are you sure about that?”
“Of course I’m sure,” I said more loudly.
He didn’t argue with me. He leaned away, shrugged, and kept dancing. The light did not illuminate him as it did Nadiya; his eyes remained dark and watchful, but the arm against mine was less tense than it had been all night. I could not exactly read his expression, but I did think he was having a good time. I smiled up at him as the shadows bled away into light and the light ebbed back again.
He put his free hand, fingers curled, on my waist. Still circling, I looked up at him for a cue to the next dance move. Light painted a shining pattern, bright and brief as a firework, silently against the line of his cheek and jaw. The music went throbbing on, and the light died another little death.
In that moment of darkness, Carwyn leaned forward and captured my mouth with his. It was a sudden, warm attempt at possession: his fingers light but sure, tilting up my chin. I had nowhere else to go but into the deep, intent kiss. I shut my eyes, and there were brush strokes of light, even on the inside of my eyelids. The world grew brighter and brighter, until I opened my eyes to find light shining crystal clear all around us, and his warm mouth still on mine.
It lasted only an instant longer, then Carwyn leaned away and said, his voice low, “When I first—”
“Hey,” I said to Nadiya, dropping her a slightly embarrassed smile, “could you excuse us? Just . . . just for a minute.”
She gave me an understanding thumbs-up and let the crowd sway her away. I used the link to drag Carwyn where I wanted him, into the next room, and then I got a better hold on him, grabbed his shirt, and used the purchase I had to throw him up against the wall.
“Very funny,” I said. “You knew I couldn’t protest in front of my friend, because she thinks you’re Ethan, she thinks that’s something I’d want instead of”—a betrayal—“nothing I’d ever want. Not with you. Why did you do it?”
My heart was pounding louder than the music, violently in my ears.
“Oh well,” Carwyn answered, breathless with spite. “Because it was funny. And because I could.”
“You can’t,” I hissed. “Not ever again. I’ll collar you. I’ll do it right now. And then I’ll hurt you.”
My rings spat sparks of burning light as my fists clenched in the material of his shirt. Carwyn was smirking again, that terrible darkness-spreading smile, and he did not seem cowed in the least by the threat. His whole body was vibrating with eagerness to lash back.
That was when the real lights came on, fluorescent and scalding white, making me blink hard. I heard the sounds of footsteps—serious steps, not the tottering of party heels or rush of sneakers—on those concrete stairs.
I did not let go or even relax my grip on Carwyn, but my hold on him changed all the same. Suddenly I was clinging. We both knew that out of everybody in the club, we were the ones in the most danger in a raid. Someone found with dust would only be put in jail.
If Carwyn was found, the Strykers’ secret was out. If he was found uncollared, with the evidence that I had done it a suddenly heavy weight in my back pocket, we were both dead. I could see from one look at Carwyn that he knew all that as well as I did.
“Come on,” I said to his sharp, intent face, like that of a hunted fox ready to bite. “This way!”
We went running through the crowd, elbowing the panicked mob aside. I thought we knocked a few people over as we went, but it didn’t matter. I could hear loud voices in the first room and bodies hitting the floor, and I barreled toward my target destination.
“The men’s bathroom?” Carwyn demanded. “You’re a very surprising person, Lucie.”
“You’re a very irritating person, Carwyn. Nadiya’s brother’s friend, he used to have dust on him sometimes when the place was raided. I heard him say there was a window you could get out of.”
It was a slim chance. But it was our only chance, and I was grabbing it.
We hurtled through the grubby bathroom door, paint splitting as if the wood beneath was trying to get out. A boy was at a urinal, doing up his fly. He looked at us, eyes wide and startled. His mouth hung wide too; he closed it and then opened it again, as if making the decision about whether to call out.
I knew that a guard could come through the door at any moment.
I threw a flash of Light magic at him, knocking him back for a precious instant.