Bright Blaze of Magic (Black Blade, #3)(15)
“Spend more money,” I said in unison with him.
He winked at me. “You got it, kid.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Mo had a bit of an obsession with interior decorating. He was always painting, cleaning, arranging, and rearranging the merchandise at his pawnshop in hopes of luring more customers inside and then getting them to buy more stuff while they were there.
He nudged the paint swatches a little closer to me. “So which color do you like?”
Before I could answer him, Claudia strolled into the dining hall, followed by two men. The older man had snow-white hair and was wearing a black tweed suit. William Reginald, the Family butler, responsible for overseeing the mansion and everyone inside it. The other man had wavy black hair and bronze skin and sported a far more casual look with his black polo shirt and khakis. Angelo Morales, Felix’s dad and the Family chemist, who grew and harvested the stitch-sting bushes and other magical plants in the greenlab.
At first, I thought the three of them were just here for breakfast, like everyone else. Then I noticed the hard set of Claudia’s lips and the worry that darkened her eyes. Devon noticed it too.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Not that she’s told me.”
Claudia strolled into the middle of the dining hall and stopped, clasping her hands in front of her. Slowly, everyone quieted down and turned to face her. Claudia looked out over the pixies, guards, and other workers who made up the Sinclair Family. She stared at me for a second, but her gaze darted past mine before I could use my soulsight to see what she was really feeling.
“I just wanted to remind everyone that tonight is the dinner for all the Families,” she called out. “As usual, several of you will be attending the actual dinner itself, along with me and the other senior members of the Family, while the rest of the pixies, guards, and workers will either remain here or man their usual stations down on the Midway. Given all the recent tensions with the other Families, I want everyone to be especially sharp and on guard tonight. Is that understood?”
Everyone nodded back at her, their faces suddenly serious.
Claudia scanned the crowd again. “Good. That is all. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast.”
She nodded to everyone, then turned on her heel and left the dining hall. Reginald and Angelo stayed behind, both of them going over to talk to the pixies, guards, and workers about their duties for the day. Mo got up and went over to the other two men. Slowly, everyone else turned back around and focused on their food and conversations again.
“What was that about?” Felix asked.
Devon shrugged. “You know the dinner for the Families is always a tense time. She’s probably just worried about that. After all, things didn’t go so well at the last dinner.”
“You mean Grant kidnapping and almost killing you and Lila?” Felix snorted. “Yeah, I’d say that didn’t go so well is a total understatement. But Grant got turned into lochness food, thanks to Lila, so at least you don’t have to worry about him tonight.”
Grant Sanderson had been the Sinclair Family broker, but he’d wanted more magic and more power within the Family, and he’d tried to kill Devon and me to get it. I’d turned the tables on Grant instead, and he was the one who’d ended up dead, just like Felix had said.
Devon shrugged again. “According to my mom, there’s always something to worry about during the dinner.”
Felix shook his head. “Well, you would think that your mom would relax a little, now that we have all of Victor’s black blades.”
“Most of Victor’s black blades,” I corrected. “We had to leave some behind, remember?”
Felix rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I was there too, remember? But what could he possibly do with the few weapons we left behind?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “I just don’t know.”
But Claudia was obviously worried about it, and so was I.
Despite Claudia’s warning, the morning passed by quietly. Devon helped his mom with some Family business, while Felix and I went down to the training room. Felix had healing magic, and he was definitely more of a flirt than a fighter, but he was determined to improve his skills, something I was helping him with.
The two of us sparred for a couple of hours, then got lunch together in the dining hall before going our separate ways for the rest of the day. Felix headed up to the greenlab to help his dad harvest some stitch-sting bushes. Me? I went to my room and took a nap, trying to catch up on some of the sleep that I’d missed last night when I’d been skulking through the woods. All this thieving was wearing me out.
At six o’clock that evening, I was back in the library, wearing a black pantsuit that was almost a mirror image of Claudia’s, although I’d opted for a pair of black sneakers, instead of the stilettoes she wore. Devon, Felix, Angelo, and Reginald all sported black suits and shirts as well. So did Mo, although he’d paired his suit jacket with a black Hawaiian shirt patterned with white hibiscus flowers. The same splashy pattern also adorned his shiny wingtips.
My jacket was unbuttoned, revealing my black camisole underneath, but I was far more interested in the wide, black leather belt cinched around my waist. Three stars were hooked to the belt, but they were far more than the pretty decorations they appeared to be. Several quarters were also tucked into one of the hidden slots in the belt, and I ran my fingers all the way around the leather, making sure that everything was secure.