Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5) (7 page)

Worse, she was wrong.

"No, you didn't
ask
. That's true. You
killed
me, and forced me into your body.
Totally
different. The thing is, it
is
your body. I have no doubt that you could take over, if you really tried. I'm the one squatting here. The possessing ghost, I guess. I
know
that. So, we need to make sure that doesn't happen. I
won't
let you kill people. There's no way for that to be any clearer, is there?" It made sense. To her anyway.

Katherine snorted. She did it really well, too. Hitting a tone of disdain that Gwen had never managed in this body. Not her own, either. She'd simply lacked the range for it. The woman was a master of being herself, it seemed. That was her point though. Kate could take over, because she knew the hardware of this body better than some other person ever could. It
was
her. The other girl matched herself at a level that Gwen never could. Heck, she felt awkward and unsteady, most of the time. It didn't show too much on the outside, but she always felt just a tiny bit off. Wrong.

The voice that spoke then was hard and properly British, even though that wasn't truly a thing in this world. The islands off of Europa had held out for a long time, but they'd eventually become part of the Mongol empire.

"I
could
. You're a frightening and awful person, Miss Farris, but you aren't wrong. This is my body. But your skills aren't
mine
. You know how to produce forces and how to teletransport.
My
skills always set closer to the telepathic. I can no more do that, than you can arrange a color scheme for your wedding. Which, after you find the person responsible for sending those most unwelcome assassins at my mother, should be what you set your mind to. You have
only
a year until the day. Less than that now, and you haven't been working on it in the slightest. I'd think you were being lazy, but I know you to be incapable of that. Do you know what goes into a state wedding?"

Talking to herself could have been fun, she decided, if Katherine hadn't been evil. Almost like having a friend that was snooty, and abused her. Once that probably would have been enough for her, but now she had Beth to hold up as an example. She wasn't perfect, but she meant well, most of the time.

"Well, if we don't leave the room, we don't have a problem, do we?"

The ceiling was in view then, as her eyes rolled against her will.

"That's my focus here, Gwen. You seem to think that
you
learning something gives me skills in those areas. It simply isn't the case. If
I
want to fly, I'd need to rent an airship, or perhaps book passage. Maybe get you to levitate us? Not that I wish any of that. I hate flying. The point is, I can't do it. If you need ceremonial magic done, then I could do that, perhaps? If it isn't too complicated. I don't know why you can't see it. I could no more Teletransport than I could... I don't know, fight like a man? Dress myself in fashions that are three years old? Let my cuticles get into the horrid shape you let them reach?"

"Hey, funny. I hope that's actually the case, Kate. How do I test it though? How can I know that you
haven't
learned to rift? You've been right there the whole time."

She made a loud, rather miffed sound.

"First, I
haven't
. How could you even imagine that I would? I hid from the pain you were in while you learned, like a sensible person. You see Gwen, I'm not insane, like
some
people. Second, all you have to do is get your friend Bethy to read my mind. I don't really know why you haven't yet. Afraid that you'll have to kill us? She could tell that kind of thing, you just have to ask the right questions. You know what? Let's go do that now. Then you can stop acting like a madwoman all the time. Not that you will, but you could do that, if you wished."

Gwen started to move then, collecting a set of clothing, which was a jumpsuit, but a new one that was all in blue. Gwen hadn't even worn it yet, and had figured that getting into a dress would be more Katherine's style, but the woman didn't comment on it. Then, as if she were riding along instead of making the choice to do anything in particular, they moved off to the shower. That was in a joining room, which was nice.

Gwen's old house, in her own world, didn't have that, even for the master bedroom. She
did
have two rooms though. It still felt small and poor, by comparison to Park Street. This place was a palace. Close to literally being one, lacking only the nobility to live there to give it that designation. They had their own ballroom, for instance. A great expanse of polished wood that was larger than the high school gym that she'd never been allowed to really use back in the day.

Oddly enough, Katherine didn't mock her for that lack, even when Gwen thought about it. She just moved them into place, taking control of the whole thing. Easily, even as there was a bit of struggle from her passenger over the whole thing.

Gwen got that one. It was clear on a level that nearly stung across her mind as it happened. She was doing it to prove she
could
. To show Gwen that, if she wanted, whenever she chose to bother, Kate Vernor was the one that would live her life.

That really wasn't impossible, Gwen knew. She'd known that since in the cave, to be honest about it. At the time she'd hoped that it had been a trick and had even gotten herself to believe it for a while. That it had only been about Erin Debussey having added magical power to the whole thing. That was part of it, but not the whole picture. Kate was showing that so clearly in the moment that it wasn't funny.
So
not humorous that Gwen decided to kill herself as soon as she could. Acting suddenly, and without warning.

Some people had to be controlled, and a certain heiress was always going to be one of them.

After they showered, the warm water falling in a curtain over the body they shared, there would be a trip back to the room. Once there, Gwen would be able to get to her wardrobe, and then...

Kate sighed, arching her back as the warm water fell, caressing her body.

"This shower head of yours is
brilliant
. You should set up James and his wife, Eline, into making them. No one else holds the right to do it, and they'd
sell
. I know that you told them that you'd front them some lucre for anything they wanted, but if you don't push them, they won't press in. The underclass never does, which is what keeps them down, as often as not. As it is his lady is probably going to wonder if you're sucking his cock when he's supposed to be taking you places. I know I always did." There was a
tone
to her words. A snarky, naughty thing meant to get to her, Gwen thought.

Gwen was
good
at telling when people were screwing with her. Not that Katherine was hiding it all that much.

She shrugged, and was shocked when the body moved to actually do it. Even more so when she could actually speak. So either Kate wasn't as in charge as she was acting, or she was sharing with Gwen now.

"Ella.
Not
Eline. I don't think so anyway. Also, James couldn't
stand
you. I don't know if he'd let
me
do that with him or not, but I'm nearly certain he wouldn't let
your
teeth that close to a sensitive spot on his body." She kept herself from yelling
take that
, mainly because she wasn't totally certain what she'd said was right.

Gwen was a scary, body stealing, invader from another world. More than that, she didn't know how everything functioned there yet, especially in social situations. It could be that Kate, who knew how things worked, and
wasn't
an alien, might have a better shot of getting that kind of thing done than she would have.

There was soaping then, the other girl spending a lot more time on the process than Gwen ever had. She scrubbed, but this was almost a creepy self petting thing, compared to what she did every morning. Except that it was most likely what most people did in the shower. She'd made a concerted point of shutting off anything dealing with sex, back when she was about fourteen and it became clear to her that no amount of surgery was ever going to fix her enough for that to be a real option. Not even booze and pills could have gotten a man stoned enough for it to work.

Kate giggled. At first it seemed like it was about what Gwen had been thinking, but then she spoke, explaining herself.

"Oh, I'm just teasing. I didn't even know their names until you came along. You're a better person than I am, that way. Learning the names of all the underlings, and help, like you do. It makes it seem like you almost think of them as people. Poor form, of course, for people in our circle, but it seems to be working for you, so far." More snoot infected the words.

It was enough that Gwen jerked control back, annoyed.

"How in the
fuck
did you manage to become such a self-centered cunt? The entire time I've been here I've wondered that. Ethyl and Robert are good people. Okay, rich, but other than that, they aren't bad at all. Your Uncle Thomas is a great guy, hard working and everything, and Cousin Reggie is practically a Saint. He let himself be publically tortured to show people what we've been doing to the Westmorlands. You're-" Well, she's already said what she thought there. It wasn't lost on the girl.

There was a hand going up, a single one, the palm flipping up, under the water.

"I'm a realist. That's all it is. People simply aren't created in an even fashion, and they don't all have the same privileges or skills that we do. That makes us better than they are. That's all it is. I'm smart. I know that you don't think so, but consider the idea for a moment; when I learned that the world was going to be taken over by the Elder Gods, I made certain to be on the winning side. If you hadn't come here, if we'd picked someone else to sacrifice from your world, or another, then I'd still be me right now, because I picked correctly. Even now, I'm still
here
. Stuck being hidden most of the time, and doing that dreadful running all the time, and fighting, but it took
skill
to make it happen. Discipline that no one ever considered me to have."

Gwen washed them then, doing it a good bit faster than her body-buddy had been. They got clean, but that was all. She didn't speak when she was done, just walking out of the room as soon as she was dried and dressed, not thinking about what she had planned. That way it could be a little surprise for Kate. After a bit Gwen was dressed, but could use a hat, she decided, so got back to her room and headed to the wardrobe.

The magical and wonderful thing that held all her gear.

The door swung open smoothly. The hinges were made of copper, but hidden inside the nearly black colored wood. The outside had fine hand carved design on it, made to look like diamonds in different sizes. There
was
a rough patch inside, which probably showed it wasn't as high quality as a lot of things around the place, but she didn't mind that. Katherine took over then, and patted the spot on the back of the door on the right, which was about twice the size of her hand.

"This is a
very
old piece. I think my great aunt had owned it when she was a girl. I used to see it, up in the attic. You know, when I used to sneak away up there with Reggie? I do wonder what a Saint is." She made a noise, which seemed strange. It was different than the kind of things that Gwen was used to hearing from anyone. Then, as if she were going to select a new pair of shoes, she reached in and took out the copper colored crin that Gwen had been intending to kill herself with. "I... Don't truly know how to use this. I've seen you doing it, but haven't done it myself yet. I just need to squeeze the hand brace?"

That was what they called the spongy, rounded portion that acted like a trigger.

Gwen felt a trickle of fear then, since she was being possessed by a crazy woman holding what amounted to a gun. Then again, that had been her plan, and as long as she wasn't going after anyone else, there was no real harm to it.

"Yep. It's a bit awkward, but if you stick the business end there in your mouth, it will do the trick. It probably won't even hurt. I don't suppose you're planning to help with that? It would be a great time for you to become suddenly useful." Gwen tried then, to take control of the body, but failed. Totally. She could speak, but there was no movement generated by her then. It meant something to her that she hadn't realized before. When she wanted to, Kate Vernor couldn't just take control, she could do it with total skill. Picking and choosing what she wanted Gwen to be allowed to do.

"How about this, Gwen Farris. We go and find your girlfriend Beth, and your lovely doppelganger, Heather. If they don't clear me, tell you at least that I
don't
have your skills, I'll come back here and kill us. I won't argue or whine about it, even if I don't want to die. But... And this is the important part, when I'm proved to not be a threat, I
want
something from you. I mean, regardless of how you feel about it, this is
my
body. I should get
something
, don't you believe?"

What that would be, she couldn't guess. More to the point she didn't really want to. The
obvious
thing would be control of the body, so Gwen sighed. Even if the girl wasn't able to rift just because Gwen could, even if that was proved, that didn't mean letting her run all over the place causing trouble was a good idea. The girl had other skills, even if she was a bit of a waste of space. If nothing else she knew how to control minds on a level that was dangerous. Erin Debussey had learned to use operant conditioning with magic to basically force people to do anything she wanted.

Kate had been her lover, for a time. The odds that she didn't know how to do that sort of thing were pretty small.

"There isn't a lot of point to me letting you have free run of things, is there? I have work to do, in case you haven't noticed, and if I can't get it done, then, there's no reason for me to live."