All Good Things

by Emma Newman

  Sam shrugged. “I don’t know about any golden age. I’d say to them…pay some bloody taxes for a change.”

  Cathy laughed as she unwrapped the mugs and carried them through to the kitchen. When she came back into the front room, another man was being interviewed, grey-haired and jowly, standing outside the Houses of Parliament. “We’re very concerned, of course we are. Rumours of the ‘Letterboxer’ alone have caused a crash across all postal company shares. Free, instantaneous postage? It’s…it’s appalling. I mean unregulated. And dangerous. I’d urge the public to avoid any offers to be taught this dark art. How can we stop bombs being posted directly into an office with magic? I can’t believe we even have to have this conversation.”

  It cut abruptly to a government minister running the gamut into Downing Street. “A full statement will be made shortly,” she said. “I cannot confirm or deny the rumours that weapons have been turned into poppies in areas of active engagement.”

  A cluster of advisors were being ushered through with her and Cathy barely registered their faces until one leaped out from the crowd.

  Surely she’d imagined it?

  Cathy scrabbled around the clumps of discarded newspaper looking for the remote. With a shaking hand, she rewound the footage.

  “…in areas of active engagement.”

  There. Standing mere paces away from the foreign secretary, was Nathaniel Reticulata-Iris, dressed in a smart modern suit, behaving like he had every right to be there. Sickened, she watched him move into Downing Street, only to notice Will following at the back.

  “Fuck.”

  She turned off the TV and chucked the remote onto the sofa. She was shaking, just at the sight of them. “Okay, breathe,” she whispered. “He’s not here. He won’t do anything to me.”

  The buzzer rang, making her jump. She had to clamber over boxes to reach the entry phone and its screen in her hallway. There was a courier on the doorstep. “Hello?”

  He pressed the intercom button. “Delivery for Catherine Papaver.”

  “I’ll be right down.”

  “It’s heavy, love, buzz me in and I’ll bring it up to you.” Cathy released the intercom button, resting her head against the wall next to it as she shivered. Was this Will, starting a new round of harassment? Or Lord Poppy, sending her something awful to remind her of his affection?

  “Hello?”

  She jumped at the sound of the courier’s voice. “I’ll buzz you in,” she said, and pressed the button.

  Fidgeting with nervous energy as she waited for him to come up to her floor, Cathy fretted over whether she’d made the right decision. But she refused to be ruled by fear. She had to move on.

  And she had to add wards to the building entrances.

  The knock on her flat’s door made her jolt. She looked through the spy hole. It wasn’t Poppy. She put on the chain and opened it as far as it would go. There was a large flat parcel resting against the wall, the courier catching his breath beside it. “Miss Papaver?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can you sign for it?”

  He passed the handheld device through and she scribbled her signature with the stylus before passing it back. He smiled and jogged down the corridor to the lift.

  Once she was sure he’d gone, she undid the security chain and looked at the parcel’s address label. Sam Ferran was listed as the sender.

  She laughed with relief, feeling like a paranoid fool as she dragged it into the flat and locked the door.

  A framed picture was inside, covered with bubble wrap, which she peeled off in excitement. It was one of the promotional pictures of Ripley from Aliens, standing in her khaki jumpsuit, arms folded, rifle slung over her shoulder. There was an envelope taped to it with Cathy written in Sam’s handwriting.

  I’m here if you need anything. Here’s to the future, whatever it may bring.

  Sam xxx

  Grinning, Cathy found her phone and shot him a text. OMG love it! Thanks so much. She can watch over my stuff and remind me to not take any shit from anyone.

  A moment later she got a reply. Glad you like it. Wanna meet up tonight? Missing you.

  Cathy tapped the phone against her lips, feeling torn. She’d planned to not see him for a few days, to make sure she was fully settled first. How about a housewarming drink? Bring some booze, I’ve only got tea!

  The reply was swift: I’ll bring booze and pizza xx.

  Still grinning, she went back into the living room and turned the television back on. The news had finished and the weather forecast was on. Rain for Manchester. No surprise there.

  Cathy went back to the window and looked out on the street again, then up to the sky heavy with rainclouds. She’d get the living room straight, then go for a walk in the rain. The days stretched ahead of her, filled with half-formed plans, fears, and worries, but above all else, hope. Everything was changing. At long last, the cloying stagnancy of the Nether was gone. She had destroyed it. She had fulfilled her potential, in Poppy’s eyes.

  “Nah,” Cathy said to herself, reaching for her tea. She hadn’t reached her potential yet. She was just getting started.

  Acknowledgements

  This Split Worlds novel was written after the Masked Ball LARP that took place in Bath on May 7th, 2016, and I want to thank each and every player and member of the immensely wonderful crew—and of course Katie Logan who was in charge of them and who basically made it all happen—for bringing this world to life in a way I never believed possible. I also want to thank you all for being so vibrant in my mind as I wrote the majority of the characters in this book, and for being so very supportive since the ball. I feel so blessed and so lucky to have you all in my life.

  I also want to say sorry to a few players who might have felt…emotional when reading this! (Sorry not sorry, of course. Love you!)

  But seriously, I want to draw attention to Amy Green and Russell Smith in particular, who played Lucy Rhoeas-Papaver and Edwin Californica-Papaver at the Masked Ball LARP (and played them perfectly, I might add!), for the solution to the problem of how to impress Lord Poppy at a ball. This challenge was presented to them that night and the solution they cooked up, with help from Hannah Earnshaw, is the one you have read in this novel. I hope I did it justice! Russell, I will never forget the sight of you in that dress, reading those words, nor the look on Lord Poppy’s face as you did so!

  There were so many amazing moments from that night that I was desperate to put into this novel, but there simply wasn’t room. But each and every one of you made writing this book even more exciting and enjoyable, so thank you.

  Moving away from the ball, I’d like to thank my agent Jennifer Udden and my editor Jaime Levine for helping me to make this book better. I won’t lie, it was hard wrapping up a long series like this, but you both had my back, and I am grateful.

  Big thanks, of course, to my husband, Peter, for all the chats, the knot untangling, the hours of listening to me reading the first draft aloud. I couldn’t have done this without you.

  A hearty thanks to you, the reader, and all the people who have showered love upon this series. I’d also like to thank Arran Dutton and Dave Perry for all the help when recording the audiobook versions of this series. I love working with you guys!

  I realise now that these are the last words I am writing for this series, and it feels right that they be given to Kate. I have been haunted by the memory of a visit, years ago, when I read some of the first novels in the series to her. We were saying our goodbyes in the hallway of her flat and she hugged me fiercely and said, “Don’t die before you have finished this series! I need to know what happens at the end!” and I promised her faithfully that not only would I not die, but I would also finish the series.

  Sadly, Kate passed away before the fourth book was written and it still breaks my heart that she didn’t get to hear the end of the story. But every moment I wrote these last two books she was in my thoughts, the memory of her yelling at Will and laughing at the gargoyle s
o bright in my mind. So here you are, darling, I finished the series for you and now I am releasing it into the world with love and gratitude for the time we had together. I think of you every day. I love you. Always.

  About the Author

  Emma Newman writes dark short stories and science fiction and urban fantasy novels. She won the British Fantasy Society Best Short Story Award 2016 and Between Two Thorns, the first book in Emma’s Split Worlds urban fantasy series, was shortlisted for the BFS Best Novel and Best Newcomer 2014 awards. Emma is an audiobook narrator and also co-writes and hosts the Hugo-nominated podcast “Tea and Jeopardy” which involves tea, cake, mild peril, and singing chickens. Her hobbies include dressmaking and playing RPGs. She blogs at www.enewman.co.uk and can be found as @emapocalyptic on Twitter.

  If you want to go deeper into the Split Worlds, go to www.splitwords.com where you can sign up to a newsletter and find over fifty short stories set in the Split Worlds!

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