Young Writers Society

That pain was exactly why I had decided to stick in Nathaniel's body instead of my own. I would have smugly told Nathaniel that, but that would have meant admitting our little secret to everyone else here right now. I'd point that out later instead.

"Lead the way," I said with a smile that bordered on a smirk. The only reason it didn't become one was that Nathaniel was fighting it.

I nodded and started walking. Saturn and Hev stayed by my side. The three of us had become quite close back in France. Between the late nights trying to figure out a way to get the French Prime Minister on their side and the looks of shared incredulity over the way he acted over dinner they became incredibly close. Saturn and Hev especially, which was a level of sweetness I had trouble describing. I remembered first meeting Hev. He was barely recognizable now.

I turned to our new companion. “So, Nathaniel. What’s your friend’s name?”

"Skull," I offered, and I really would have given a smirk then if a certain former magician wasn't restricting how much my mouth could move.

"It's an unnecessarily dramatic name," Nathaniel said, taking back control for just a moment.

I frowned.

"But I think it's great," I said, as if I really was Nathaniel and not just myself. Nathaniel kept the frown, then, despite it not fitting my reply at all. He knew he couldn't say anything else about my name without it coming across as strange.

I watched the man go back and forth regarding his friend’s name. It reminded them of Cyra, almost. Except Cyra’s final statement would be an insult and a scowl, as if any sign of fondness was some sort of moral failing.

She smiled. Cyra really was special.

She shook her head. Nope. Her thoughts would not stray right into Cyra’s arms. “Skull. It’s certainly a unique name. Clearly his own. There’s power in that.”

She could imagine Malvis’ smile at that. She had picked her own name, and had a special fondness for anyone else who did as well. She’ll probably enjoy Skull’s eccentricity.

She shook her head again. The two lovers really needed to stay out of her thoughts.

The smirk finally broke through then. Nathaniel couldn't fight my smugness at the compliment.

"There is," I agreed. "Names have power."

At that, I could just feel Nathaniel wanting to make a retort about how that was a very Bartimaeus thing to say. A briefly disgusted look flickered across my face at the thought of the spirit everyone confused me for. Then the look was gone, hidden back behind my smirk as I casually continued to walk with this group.

I took a deep breath. “So. The Mist. I do have to ask. You’re not some officer of the law or government, right?”

Saturn gave me a deadpan look. “It’s a little too late for that question. He’s already coming us. And if he was, I think I’d already have a bullet wound somewhere.”

Hev’s smile disappeared at that. “Estella Fay wouldn’t let that happen.”

Saturn patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. It didn’t happen. It won’t happen.”

Hev didn’t smile again, but he did pull Saturn closer.

Nathaniel came to a full stop then.

I hadn't wanted to. I had tried to keep walking, but he had suddenly regained control of his legs then. Maybe he had never really lost it, and had just been letting me do all of the hard work of walking around.

Nathaniel wasn't in any kind of government now. He might have been before. He hadn't outright denied it, but he hadn't ever fully confirmed it, either. It was just something I had picked up from conversations with some of our usual batch of enemies.

But even Nathaniel had to know how suspicious it was to suddenly stop when asked if he was part of the government.

"We aren't," I said, fighting to get control of his mouth. It came out far more strained than it would have. If Nathaniel had been the one completely in control, his mouth would have been a thin, tense line then. "We being my friend and I."

Now if only Nathaniel would walk.

I frowned. “Is… is everything alright?”

Saturn’s hands suddenly rested on his hips, where I knew his two revolvers stayed tucked away. Hev’s rings sparked to life, two wedding-band shapes of fire around his middle fingers.

Maybe I wasn’t as good at this as I thought.

Pushing that thought to the side, I drew to my full height. All six feet and eight inches. “Did mentioning the government… disturb you in some way?”

"Everything's fine," I said, putting emphasis on the fine and giving a very very strained smile. It was mentally taxing, trying to take control of Natty boy's lips long enough for me to make said lips into a smile. "My friend and I-"

At this point, I would have given Nathaniel a very pointed look that mimicked the type Asmira and Nathaniel always gave me, but that was a little hard to get across when we were sharing the same body.

"-very much aren't fans of the government."

Of course, the whole thing would have sounded a lot more convincing if I wasn't still trying to make Nathaniel walk.

I relaxed slightly at that. “Good. You’ll be right at home in The Mist, then.”

Saturn didn’t look convinced, his eyes still narrowed. “You’re both human, aren’t you?”

Hev frowns slightly. “Saturn, dear-“

He shook his head. “I got it. Don’t worry.”

Hev fell silent, but Saturn and I both knew that probably meant he hadn’t listened.

Nathaniel finally stopped being so stiff, but at that point a different one of us had accidentally come under fire. Nathaniel was human. I technically was, too, but not in the same way he was. Death was in life, life was in death, and I was proof of it all.

Not that they could easily tell that. Theoretically, if you looked at my blood in just the right away or with the right instruments, you could see bits of ectoplasm floating around in it.

Unlike Nathaniel, though, I knew how to lie better.

"We both are," I said.

Saturn hummed. “And pray tell, what do two humans have against this government?”

I froze. “Saturn.”

He frowned. “What? It’s a little suspicious.”

“Malvis is human, Saturn.”

“She’s a Mister! She barely counts to most.”

I fish-mouthed for a moment. “Saturn. Please.”

“Estella Fay, do I have to remind you how many Anti-Revolutionaries are currently looking for us?”

I snorted.

Nathaniel immediately tensed up when I did, but I found the whole thing hilarious. I didn't have a problem with governments because I was a ghost. I had a problem with them when I was alive, too, even though I was more concerned with surviving back then.

"My friend was a street urchin," I said. "He's had a change of luck since then, but the government never did him any favors when he was out on the streets. You think he'd like the government after that?"

I paused.

"As for me," I said, because someone had to cover for Nathaniel and he wasn't going to do it himself, "I just think they're pricks."

I gave Saturn a triumphant look. “Is that good enough?”

He sighed. “Fine.” He turned to our companions. “Apologies for that, we’re currently wanted by the law, so I found it a necessary precaution.”

“Most wanted, really.” Hev’s voice was still smooth and neutral, like he was speaking about something simple like the weather. “The Prime Minister knows our faces and would love to see us hunted for sport.”

Saturn patted him on the shoulder because he knew how much saying that made Hev internally panic.

"Fun," I said. Natty boy and I knew a thing or two about being hunted for sport. My unconscious body was proof of that. Nathaniel and I, of course, weren't being hunted by anyone here, so I couldn't say anything about that now. I knew how to keep a role going.

"I would be cautious, too," Nathaniel said, finally stealing back control of his mouth, "if I was being hunted by the government."

There was a tone clash between the things we said: my tone was bitter and sarcastic, and Nathaniel's was far more reserved and serious. I wondered what this group had to think of the person that was supposedly Nathaniel.