“Couldn’t possibly start without you, Emily, wouldn’t be the same without your lovely carping when I clean you out.”
A hand reached down into the circle from behind Emily and handed her a diet Coke. “You’re going to want this.”
“Thanks, Rivka . . .”
Nita smiled, turned away from what was sure to be another bloodbath. “Where’s Mehrnaz?”
“Taking some personal time. She’s had . . . an interesting day so far.” Dairine glanced around and noticed the group sitting in the corner for the first time. “Wait, what are they up to over there?”
Oh no. Nita was all too aware of where Dairine had been getting a significant portion of her pocket money since she was in about fourth grade. “Dair . . .”
“What? Why shouldn’t I sit in?”
Nita could think of any number of reasons. “Dairine. They’re our cousins. Be merciful to them.”
Dairine cracked her knuckles. “No prisoners,” she said.
Oh God, Nita thought, glancing out the windows toward the lake as the dusk settled in, she’s going to own them all by the time the night is out. “I’d still like to talk to Mehrnaz . . . there’s hardly been any time.”
“She’ll be around later. I’ll tell her you were asking.” And Dairine was off, heading toward the poker game.
Nita sighed and sauntered off with what was left of her smoothie, and made her way around the dance floor. Benches and conversation pits were built into the walls on the side, and on one of the benches she spotted Penn taking a breather.
She wandered over to him. “How’re you holding up?” Nita said. “Feeling better?”
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous gesture. “Thanks. It’s just that . . .” He shook his head. “There are times when, I don’t know, crowds get to me.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I’d have thought that would’ve been more of a problem for you in the first round. That place was really crammed.”
“I think at first I was too buzzed. Later in the day, it did start to get to me, and I kind of pushed through it . . .”
“Maybe it’s cumulative.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He looked up at Nita. “Because somehow, this morning when I went in there, I started seeing all those eyes looking at me. It felt like they were going to see something. Maybe something I didn’t want them to know.”
“I’ve had that,” Nita admitted. “Especially with the really powerful wizards, the Senior ones . . . Sometimes you get this feeling that they can climb inside your head. Or that they’ve done it already.” She laughed. “Doesn’t help that in some cases, they can . . .”
“Well, anyway,” Penn said, “thanks. You were terrific this morning.”
She was touched. “Thank you” was not something anyone heard often from Penn. “You’re welcome.”
And he grinned at her. “Maybe even as terrific as me!”
Nita narrowed her eyes at him, but still managed to find this funny. “Knew it couldn’t last. There’s the Penn we know . . .”
Too late she realized the opening she’d left him. “—and loooove?”
“All done now, Penn,” she said, waved airily, and walked away.
She went off to get herself yet another smoothie—I’m going to be so healthy this week, once this is over and I dump all the stress—and ran into Matt on the way back through the crowd. It was so surprising to see him not in the poker game that she laughed. “Bathroom break?”
“I wish! Your sister, not to name any names, cleaned me out.”
Nita shook her head. “She’s not safe to be around, Matt,” she said. “Ask the Lone One.”
“Don’t need to! Doki warned me when he saw her getting dealt in.”
Nita laughed. As good a time as any to deal with this. “Matt, I feel like a real idiot.”
“Why? Unless it’s too much hanging around with Bonzo Boy there. That’d do it for sure.”
He was looking back across the room at Penn, who was out on the dance floor again. “Not that,” said Nita. “It’s . . . well . . . I didn’t even realize you had a boyfriend!”
Matt laughed at her. “Don’t see why it should’ve jumped out at you! Last time you saw me, I was kinda busy saving that long gonzer’s life.” He jerked his chin at Ronan, who was just sitting down in the poker game, while Dairine favored him with a pleased and predatory look. “And then I buggered straight off. Didn’t have time to say ‘Hi I’m here to fix the hole in your chest caused by a magic spear and by the way I’m gay!’” And he started laughing harder. “I should get a T-shirt. Save a ton of time.”
“This would be the part of the evening where I die of embarrassment,” Nita said.
“Absolutely no reason,” Matt said. “He’d like you. You should come chat when you have time. But right now I think you’re probably busy keeping an eye on Bonzo.”
“He’s on my mind,” Nita said.
“How much?” Matt said, giving her a thoughtful look.
“What?”
“Wouldn’t want to worry some people,” Matt said.
Nita blinked. “What?” she said again. “Wait. You mean—you mean Kit? Worry about Penn?” She laughed at Matt. “Not the slightest chance.”
“Okay,” Matt said. “Just checking.” And he patted her on the arm and headed off.
Nita stood there for a moment, confused, and then went off to look for Kit.
Dairine had no intention of staying in the poker game very long . . . only long enough to distract herself from the stress of the previous hours. Mehrnaz’s distress had hit her hard.
It’s funny, she thought as she went over to the nearest food and drink table, where she acquired another iced coffee and a chicken salad sandwich. There she is, with her family so wealthy that she has to think about whether she’s rich or not. And all the times at home when Dad’s been short of money, and I’d think, If we just had a lot of money, everything would be okay. Except that all of a sudden it’s obvious that you can have lots and lots of money, but if your family’s not on your side . . .
Dairine sat down and disposed of the sandwich in about two minutes. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. My meals have been all over the place the last couple weeks, she thought. And when this is over I may need to take a vacation from onion bhajis for a while.
“I think this is maybe the first time I’ve seen you sitting down since this started,” said a voice above her.
Dairine looked up to see Irina standing there looking down at her, wearing a long, casual sundress in a bright floral print, and the usual baby-sling. The yellow parakeet was sitting on her shoulder, gazing around with vague interest. “Oh,” she said. “Yeah, everything has been kind of busy . . .”
“I just wanted to have a quick word with you about the Farrahi business earlier,” Irina said.
“She and her people are really not good to Mehrnaz, Irina,” Dairine said. “They’re putting her through all kinds of crap, and it’s not right.”
“They’re also, unfortunately, fairly influential in that part of the world,” Irina said. She let out a long, annoyed-sounding breath. “You need to understand that what happens at an Invitational can be seen as sanctioned by the supervisory structure . . . And if what happens is embarrassing to a wizard or group of wizards who have significant influence over others, that can in turn affect who works with whom on what interventions, or who’s willing to cooperate or volunteer when there’s a problem. It can make a difference, regrettably, to the way the world works.”