Free Holly Black by Geektastic (v5)

before I handed it to you. And that’s why I haven’t drunk any since.”
    I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.
    “That’s why your head’s muzzy,” Lexia went on. “And that dizziness creeping up on you? A precursor of worse things.”
    I swallowed again, glaring at the bottle. The view was shooting past at top speed now, but the ride felt as smooth as if we’d stopped moving, the train resting on the track like a turntable needle on a spinning disk.
    “Maybe the slightest hint of disassociation?” she said, leaning closer. “As if none of this is real?”
    I shook the bottle. “What the fuck did you put in here?”
    “Sucker!” Lexia leaned back, laughing. “You feel dizzy, T-Moon, because we’re drinking eighty-proof liquor on an empty stomach in a speeding train. And you feel disassociated because you’re a frakking geek, and we
always
feel disassociated.”
    I clenched the bottle neck as tight as a club, then sighed. “Don’t
do
that shit, Lexia.” My mouth was insanely dry, so I took another drink. “I might shoot you.”
    “You need to relax.” She held out her hand. “I’ll make you a deal. One more swig each, then we’ll go get microwave pizzas from the café car.”
    I gave her the bottle, and Lexia held it steady for a moment, marking the level with one finger. Then she drank hard and measured it for me again—she’d knocked half an inch off. She handed it back. “Come on, wimp.”
    “Okay. But pizza next.” I drank deeply.
    When I was done, I capped the bottle and put it on the floor. The rattle of the train had settled into me, melding into my dizziness. I could feel the vodka in my veins, taking the edge off everything. Suddenly the briefcase full of cash under my feet didn’t seem so unnerving—it was just an object I had to take somewhere—and Lexia didn’t seem so dangerous.
    I breathed out a slow sigh.
    But she was staring at me.
    “What?”
    “That should be enough to put you down,” she said quietly.
    I rolled my eyes. “Didn’t we already play this game?”
    She stared out the window. “Yes, but I cheated last year. This time we both drank the same poison.”
    “Fuck off,” I said. But her words were making my head spin again. I needed pizza.
    She kept talking. “I put the roofies in there the moment the ConCom called. Figured you’d join me for a drink sooner or later.”
    The train lurched, and both of us grabbed our armrests. Shit, I really
was
feeling disassociated now. But only because Lexia was fucking with me.
    “You drank a lot more than I did,” I insisted. “Plus, I outweigh you by ten pounds.”
    “Yeah, but I use those things to get to sleep these days.” She yawned. “So I have at least an even chance of waking up first.”
    I shook my head, trying to clear it. But red spots were drifting into the roomette now, hovering at the edges of my vision.
    Shit. She’d really done it.
    I reached for my Walther. “You won’t wake up if I shoot you.”
    Lexia laughed. “But you’re about to pass out, T-Moon. Not a good time to commit murder.”
    The roomette was really spinning now. I gritted my teeth and pulled the pistol out. “Maybe, but if you’re dead you can’t take the money.”
    She stared down the barrel and smiled. “And when my conductor pal finds my body in here, that briefcase full of cash just might be considered evidence. The ConCom’s screwed, even if they eventually prove it’s theirs.”
    I blinked away spots, trying to think. But the rattle of the train was tangling the situation. How had I been so
stupid
. Poisoned twice by the same woman!
    Finally the gears in my brain caught, and I waved the Walther at her. “Your handcuffs, put them on.”
    “Ah, yes, the handcuffs.” She shook her head, her words slurring now. “I have other plans for those.”
    “Get them out or I’ll shoot you!”
    “We already covered that.” She settled back into her seat. “Why not take a fifty-fifty chance of waking up before me? You