Page 87

I take a deep breath. “It’s my friend, Felix. Now that he’s back in the city, it doesn’t sit right with me to hide parts of my life from him. He’s like a brother to me. But the things you’ve shown me aren’t really mine to share.”

“You want to tell him about us,” Syril surmises.

“He’s a good person — loyal, kind, generous. I’ll vouch for him.” I hesitate. It hurts to even think of leaving Lysander behind. But in truth, Lysander has the whole community around him, and Fitzie only has me. “If that’s not okay with you, I’ll need to turn in my amulet.”

“You won’t have to do that,” Syril says gently. “The purpose of bringing on a human ambassador was to blend our worlds, and we can’t do that without opening our doors to more humans.”

I squeeze my fingers together. “I still don’t really understand…why me? Outside of Fitzie, that’s sort ofitwhen it comes to opening doors. I burned bridges with a bunch of people, not that you’d want them anyway, and I don’t really have anyone else. I haven’t done much in this world besides make friends.”

And a little more than friends.

Syril hums. “Making friends is half the duty of an ambassador, wouldn’t you say? Besides, Owyn Maddox recommended you, and I trust him — as scatterbrained as he might be, he’s rarely wrong. Your friend will step up to whatever Fate has in store for him, too. I foresee many changes for monster kind, but I’m not worried, and neither should you be.”

I leave Syril’s office more confused than when I entered, which I’m starting to figure out is just the way of things.

“Can Syril see the future or something?” I ask Orion when I get back to the bar.

He bursts out laughing. “What? No, dude. They’re just a dryad.”

I groan. “Everyone keeps talking about magic, so I figured it was reasonable they could have some, you know, special abilities.”

“Like X-Men?” Orion smirks. “People say therearemonsters who can see the future, but Syril’s not one of them. Magic is just an innate thing for most of us. Only witches can really do anything with it, but I don’t fuck with witches and neither should you.” His shadows give a little shiver. “They give me the heebie-jeebies. By the way, you staying here tonight?”

I check my phone. Normally I’d be down for a movie, but since Fitzie is around, I don’t feel right abandoning him all the time.

I shake my head. “I’m heading home. You on shift tomorrow?”

“Sunday.” Orion shuts the register.

Who’s less scary to meet for the first time, him or Plato? I feel guilty even thinking it — Orion’s a good guy and a good friend, he’s just made of shadows and he has four flaming eyes.

On the other hand, Fitzie’s way better at handling shit than me.

“I’m off Sunday, but I’m gonna bring my buddy around,” I tell him, trying to stay casual. “He’s cool — you’ll like him.”

Orion grins through sharp teeth. “Oh, you have friends, huh? I was starting to think you’d sprung fully formed from Zeus’s leg four months ago.”

“Fuck you.” I flip him off good-naturedly. His laugh follows me out the door.

Fitzie doesn’t get nervous, but he’s uncharacteristically quiet on the drive to The Sanctum. I can’t stop tapping the steering wheel, my own nerves jumping.

“It’s gonna be fine,” I tell him. “They’ll love you.”

“I know,” he says, smoothing his curls.

“Everyone is really welcoming. You’ll fit right in.”

“Ez!” he huffs. “They’re your coworkers, not a cult.”

“Yeah,” I mutter.

Fitzie gets quieter and quieter when we actually get to the club. His eyes dart across the big, open floor, taking everything in. I try to remember what it was like the first time I came here. It looked like a normal club, right? A normal club that was intimidatingly posh.

I bring him to the staff room, the two amulets burning a hole in my pocket.

Plato lifts a hand in greeting. “Hey, Ez.”

He and Lilian are settled on the couch playing Call of Duty, and she waves shyly to me. Behind them, Larch, the cook, is folding dish towels on the table. It’s weird seeing them all in their human disguises, and it makes me realize I haven’t walked around here without wearing the amulet since Syril gave it to me. It’s just become second nature.