Fair Coin by E.C. Myers

Author:E.C. Myers [Myers, E.C.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2012-03-05T18:30:00+00:00

Jena made Ephraim sit behind the desk until he calmed down. He waited for her to check out books for a few patrons, growing increasingly impatient and uneasy. He kept his attention on the sliding glass doors at the entrance. Though he doubted Nathan would confront them at the library in the middle of the day, he still jumped every time someone came in.

Jena finally came back from assisting an elderly woman with a computer and sat beside Ephraim.

“What happened?” she said. “You're a mess.”

“I just spoke to Nathan,” he said.

“And?”

“He says he isn't hitting Shelley. He loves her.”

Jena frowned. “Do you believe him?”

“No. But I actually think we have a bigger problem right now. Jena, he asked me about the coin.”

“That's strange,” Jena said. “I thought he forgot about it because you weren't in contact with him during that wish?”

“He did. He couldn't have been pretending all this time. So what made him suddenly remember it?”

“Whatever the reason, isn't this a good thing? That means he's your friend again, right?”

“He might remember our friendship, but he's definitely not normal. Not the way he used to be. I've never seen him like that,” Ephraim said.

He had never been afraid of his friend before. It was disturbing to see him so different…so angry. Nathan's reckless movements and body language seemed to hint at barely controlled violence, and had Ephraim worried for him. What had happened to Nathan? Ephraim was less afraid of Nathan hurting him than he was of what Nathan might do to Jena if he didn't get what he wanted.

“He gave me this,” Ephraim said. He handed Jena the folded picture of his body in the morgue. She stared at it for a long time, her eyes wide. Then she put it on the counter face down and slid it away from them.

“So it really happened like you said,” she said. “I mean, I believed you before, but now we know there was another you.”

He nodded.

“Is this picture a threat?” she asked.

“What else could it be? But that's not what worries me. He threatened you, too. I'm sorry to drag you into this, Jena. I won't let him hurt you.”

She took a deep breath. “I appreciate the protectiveness, but don't you worry about me. He's just trying to get to you because he knows you have a hero complex. What's he after, anyway?”

“The coin,” Ephraim said.

“Didn't you tell him you wished it away?”

“He thinks I'm lying. He said I'd never get rid of it because…” He looked at her. “Because it was the only way I could get you to like me.”

“See? He doesn't know what he's talking about,” she said. “Getting rid of it was the only way to get me to like you.” Jena smiled. And just like that, Ephraim felt a little better already.

“Even so, I think we should be careful for now. There's really no telling what he might do.”

“He's a coward, Ephraim. That picture is the worst he can do to you, and he knows that.

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