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“But they won’t forget about you for long,” Ginger assured me. “So get back to work.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said.
She strode away with major hip action. While the spirits were distracted, I left the ballroom on speedy feet. Veronica was just coming out of the bathroom with swollen red eyes. She stopped when she saw me, and her jaw trembled. I would have guessed her to be the confrontational type in a situation like this, ready to march right up and tell both of them off. The idea of her in tears tore at my heart. I went to her, checking over my shoulder and finding no spirits in sight. I fought the urge to hug her.
“I’m not going back in there,” she said to me. “I want to go home.”
“But...” Under normal circumstances I would get us out of there right away.
Behind her, a giant-winged being soared down at us, and I sucked in a short breath. It planted its gargoyle mug inches from mine. I tried not to cringe. If they’d had real bodies, their flesh and breath would no doubt smell rancid, like death. I focused through its misty form on Veronica.
“Take my car,” I offered, disinterest in my voice. She sniffled and looked confused. “I need to stay and deal with some things here, but you can drive home and I’ll get a ride.”
The spirit, if it was possible, got even closer, and I found myself tilting my stance to lean away from it. “Why do you show concern for this girl?”
I did some quick thinking and mentally sent a message back to it. “The damage has been done and I need her to think we’re friends so I can keep working on her at school.”
That seemed to appease the demon, but my heart was thumping way too hard. I had to be more careful.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I told Veronica. She sniffed again and took my keys. I was glad to see her getting away from here. I just wished her heart didn’t have to be broken for it to happen.
Now I had to tell Jay I might need a ride home. Back in the ballroom, it took longer to get to the deejay booth because it was a full house now. I checked behind me; one demon followed. I let out a lungful of air as I came to the ledge where Jay was working, his eyes glazed by daydreams and thoughts.
“Hey!” I hollered up at him. When he saw me he froze and looked around.
“Where’s Roni?” he asked.
“She took my car and went home. I need a ride from you.” His face fell and his emotions became a tangled jumble. The spirit rose up beside me to get a better look at Jay. I spun on my heels to leave.
“Anna, wait!”
“I’ll talk to you later,” I yelled over my shoulder, putting some distance between us.
He probably thought I was mad at him, but I didn’t want that whisperer near him. He was fragile enough as it was.
Halfway to the bar I heard Jay call my name again, much closer this time, and then he grabbed my elbow. Fear for him almost made me bite his head off, but the look of anguish on his face stopped me. I crossed my arms instead.
“Why did she leave?” he asked. His expectant expression told me he knew the answer.
“She saw, Jay.”
He shut his eyes, stricken. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. Marna is, like, way out of my league, you know? I never expected... I just wasn’t thinking.” He rubbed his forehead.
Everyone cheated, according to Ginger. She’d even prophesied that Jay would.
“We’re not even going out, officially,” Jay responded to my silent thoughts. “I’m still single!”
“We’ll talk later,” I repeated, and nodded toward the deejay booth, signaling him to get back to work. I left him standing there. It was the coldest I’d ever been to him.
If the beginning of the night was this bad, I didn’t want to see the end of it.
The spirit jumped ahead of me, knowing I was going to the bar. I stopped, struck with an idea, and the demon came back to me. I wasn’t supposed to know I was being watched tonight. Maybe I could play dumb with the thing and get some information. According to the other Neph, the whisperers could be cunning and ruthless in their jobs, but they were ultimately self-serving. They followed orders from the Dukes halfheartedly and couldn’t care less about what the Neph were up to. They were slippery suckers who couldn’t be trusted.
I sent my thought to the spirit. “Why are you following me? I’m trying to work and you keep distracting me. Did my father send you?”
The sound of its cackle rattled my soul. “I don’t have to answer to you,” it said in such a juvenile way that a tiny bit of my fear toward it dissipated. I realized then that the second demon spy had gone.
“I see the other spirit abandoned you,” I goaded. “It’s probably out doing something fun now. Without you. What will it take to make you leave me alone and let me get back to work?”
The smile that stretched across its face was a nasty one. I expected to see maggots climbing out of that cadaverous crack.
“Give me a show,” the demon demanded. My heart boomed.
“You’re on.”
I moved with purpose through the crowd, craning my neck as I searched the crowd. Raucous cheering struck me on the right, where a crowd had circled around something. I went toward it, wondering if maybe Blake was showing off some new gizmo. I got to the edge of the group and stuck my head between two guys.
Kopano was at a table with several humans, playing cards, and a sizable pile of dough sat in front of him. He’d taken off his chocolate-colored suit jacket, loosened his gold-flecked tie, and rolled his white sleeves to his elbows. So Kope was a gambling man?