Carolyn Crane - Double Cross (The Disillusionists Trilogy: Book 2)

Advance praise for DOUBLE CROSS

Double Cross sucked me in from the start and I couldnt put it down until the last page. I want the next onenow.

S HILOH W ALKER,
nationally bestselling author of Veil of Shadows

Praise for MIND GAMES

Mind Games is a violent U-turn in a fresh direction, signaling the dynamic and welcome arrival of both Carolyn Crane and the most unique urban fantasy heroine Ive seen on the page in a long while, Justine Jones. And like Justine, Midcity is brightly imagined, beautifully dangerous, and perfectly flawed. Flashy and stylish, this is urban fantasys new shot in the arm.

V ICKI P ETTERSSON, New York Times
bestselling author of Cheat the Grave

Carolyn Crane writes with deft and evocative flair, creating a fantasy-noir world touched with comic book cool. With a twisty plot, a unique heroine, memorable supporting characters, and an amazingly fresh premise, debut novel Mind Games is a delicious, unforgettable delight. I cant wait for the next book!

A NN A GUIRRE ,
national bestselling author of Blue Diablo

With a twisty, edgy storyline, a unique premise, and a fascinating heroine, Mind Games jumpstarts a smart and original urban fantasy trilogy. A fabulous debut!

M ELJEAN B ROOK,
author of The Guardians series

Masterful worldbuilding, sly humor, and fantastically quirky characters. I cant say enough good things about this book. I loved, loved, loved it. A+

J ILL S ORENSON ,
author of Set the Dark on Fire

A wonderful start to a new series.

EllzReadz

Wow! Cranes writing style brings to mind old-school noir, with the compelling attitude of superheroes from a graphic novel. A masterful blend of dark and light, good and bad, and all the grays in between, it will draw readers thoroughly into her tale, as they root for the good guyswhile trying to figure out just who the good guys are. The ending promises more adventures, and that is a very good thing.

Romantic Times (four stars)

Carolyn Cranes debut novel is a brilliant original in every way. Just when I think that urban fantasy heroines are becoming too clichd and predictable, Mind Games blows me out of the water with its unique premise. Justine does not wield a katana, or ride a Harley, or kick like a ninja. Instead she fights with her mind, and speaking as a nerd myself, I find that concept oh so sexy.

dirtysexybooks.com

Mind Games is a fast-paced book from start to finish, you never know whats going to happen next! It is completely different from any other urban fantasy.

Wicked Little Pixie

B Y C AROLYN C RANE

Double Cross
Mind Games

Double Cross is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

A Spectra Mass Market Original

Copyright 2010 by Carolyn Crooke

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Spectra, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

S PECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed s are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

eISBN: 978-0-345-52272-6

www.ballantinebooks.com

v3.1

There are so many people I want to thank for Double Cross!

First of all, I am endlessly, lavishly grateful to my critique partner, Joanna Chambers (a.k.a. Tumperkin), who has been such a brilliant and important co-creator of this book. I feel so lucky we took a chance on each other! And also my husband, Mark, the most amazing brainstormer, draft reader, and sentence-punch-up guy ever, and an extraordinary writer in his own right. Im grateful also to early readers Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, Marcia Peck, and Teresa Whitman, who brought insight to the beginning. And to Jessica Miller, who came through with a late-draft read and some key thinking that greatly improved things.

Warmest thanks to Cameron McClureyou continue to be a treasured ally, giving me hard, smart, creative input on my work, and being a great agent in every other way. And Im hugely grateful to my wonderful editor, Anne Groell, as well as David Pomerico and all the other hard-working people at Spectra.

Also, I owe a tremendous debt to so many book bloggersyour support of the series, your friendship, and all of our creative interaction has meant so much to me. And I should specifically thank Sarah (Sharrow) and Rachael Dimond, who both gave me specific earworm song ideas in a contest ages agosongs I ended up using on these pages.

Finally, so many authors have reached out to me in so many ways: Ann Aguirre, Meljean Brook, LB Gregg, Vicki Pettersson, Jill Sorenson, Shiloh Walker, Penny Watson, and others. Thank you! And I especially want to thank the talented, generous authors in the League of Reluctant AdultsI feel so lucky and happy to have the benefit of your kindness and insight, and to be in on your mayhem.

E Z THE COAT CHECK GIRL , a.k.a. the Stationmaster, draws her face right up close to the glass window of her little booth and fixes me with a piercing gaze. Her fine features and short blonde hair lend her a certain elfin beauty; its hard to believe shes a mass murderer. Honestly, how does a dream invader even kill people? People have bad dreams all the time. Theyre just dreams. I should have asked when Packard assigned me her case.

Do you get a lot of patients coming to your clinic with, you know, Morgan-Brooksteens parasites colonizing their organs? she asks.

Oh, yes. I run my finger along the semicircular hole at the bottom of the window. The coat check booth is situated along a kind of balcony overlooking the glamorous piano bar below. They call this place the Sapphire Sunset. Soft music and voices rise up through the air, punctuated by occasional hoots of laughter.

What happens to them?

Well, once a persons organs are colonized I shake my head.

But I thought there were promising new medications on the horizon!

Promising may be overstating it. Just between us, we dont want people scared if they have symptoms.

Ez stiffens. People should be scared if they have symptoms?

No, I said we dont want them to be scared.

Which implies they should be scared! The conversation winds on like this for a while. Its easy to frighten a hypochondriac once you understand that its just an adult version of monsters in the closet.

I study the booth as she describes her symptoms. Stationmaster Ez is separated from the world by two panes of glass; tokens are passed back and forth along a metal gully under the semicircular holes. To the left is a coat carousel, like a revolving door for coats. Patrons hang them on hooks and Ez spins the coats to her side. She slides a token across the gully for each coat, and then she hangs it up and rollers off lint. Youd never know its been her prison for three years. The curtain behind her probably hides where she sleeps and bathes.