Dark Heart of Magic (Black Blade #2)(32)
But the curious looks and constant talking, smiling, and nodding politely got to be too much, so I downed the rest of my lemonade, grabbed my glass and plate, and headed over to the buffet for some refills.
The pixies had set out another delectable spread of sandwiches and summer salads, along with fresh fruit and several different kinds of cookies. I poured myself some more lemonade, then grabbed three chocolate chip cookies, along with some strawberries to take back up to my room to Tiny.
“I see you’re looking no worse for wear,” a voice called out. “Especially not when it comes to your appetite.”
Vance swaggered up to the table, elbowed me out of the way, and started heaping triangles of toasted club sandwiches onto his plate. “Got to get some of these beauties before you steal them all.”
My hand tightened around my plate, but I didn’t respond, and Vance glanced over at me.
“What’s the matter? Monster got your tongue?” He clucked his own tongue, mocking me. “Then again, I suppose you did have a scare today. Maybe next time you won’t be so lucky, Lila.”
My eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat?”
He dropped his gaze and grabbed another sandwich off the tray, so I couldn’t use my soulsight to see what he was really feeling.
“Nah,” Vance finally said. “I’m going to win the tournament, and that’s all there is to it. In a couple of days, everybody will be gathered around my table. Not yours. So enjoy the attention while it lasts.”
He smirked again, shouldered past me, and went back over to where his friends were sitting. Vance took a seat, smiling, joking, and laughing with the other guards.
But my feet felt glued to the floor, and all I could do was stand there, frozen in place, wondering if there had been a far more sinister meaning to Vance’s words than what he’d actually said.
I wasn’t hungry anymore, and Devon and Felix were still busy talking, so I slipped out of the dining hall and went up to my room.
Oscar was still eating and gossiping with everyone else, so he wasn’t around to see me get ready for my night of skulking, much less ask awkward questions about where I was going and what I was doing. Tiny was in his corral, but the tortoise wasn’t going to tell anyone anything, especially since I dropped several strawberries onto the grass in front of him. Tiny nodded his green head in approval at my buying his silence, lumbered over to the berries, and started eating them.
Oscar had insisted that I wear nice clothes to dinner again, but I stripped them off in favor of a pale blue T-shirt, gray cargo pants, and gray sneakers. The soft, muted colors would be perfect for blending in with the shadows. My hair was already in its usual ponytail, with my chopstick lock picks stuck through it, so I moved on to the next things I needed.
Weapons.
I buckled my sword and scabbard to my black leather belt, which was studded with three stars. At first glance, the metal pieces looked like pretty decorations, but they were actually throwing stars made out of the same bloodiron as my sword. If things went according to plan, no one would see me enter or leave the Draconi compound, but I wanted to be prepared in case I had to fight my way out.
I also grabbed a long, sapphire-blue trench coat from where it was hanging on one of the knobs on the four-poster bed. The spidersilk coat had belonged to my mom, along with the ironmesh gloves sticking out of one of the pockets. Despite its rich, vibrant color, the coat would also help me blend into the shadows, since spidersilk had the unusual property of melting into the landscape around it—sort of like the way people walked straight into spider webs without even realizing they were there.
I stuck my hands into the coat pockets, making sure I had the rest of my usual supplies, which included dark chocolate bars, several quarters, and a couple of locks of my own black hair tied up with different colored ribbons. Just in case I ran into some monsters and had to pay a toll or two. It would be rather humiliating to make it in and out of the Draconi compound undetected, only to get eaten by a copper crusher or some other creature on the way home.
When I was fully attired for the night, I opened one of the doors, stepped out onto the balcony, and looked out over the stone wall. It was after eight now, and the long summer day was finally dimming to a twilight dusk that would soon give way to full night. Down in the valley far, far below, the neon lights of the Midway formed a solid circle, with the shopping squares branching off in all directions, like the carts on a Ferris wheel. The lights flared, flickered, and flashed in every color of the rainbow, gleaming like a carpet of electrified jewels that had been scattered in the middle of the dark, rugged mountains.
I pulled on my ironmesh gloves, then took hold of the drainpipe attached to one side of the balcony. The drainpipe was part of the stone of the mansion, so I didn’t have to worry about it coming loose from the wall, unlike the tournament rope ladder. So I stepped out into the open air and let myself free-fall, enjoying the rush of the wind against my body. Sure, I could have used the stairs that snaked from one level of the mansion to the other, but this was faster—and way more fun. It was so much fun that I laughed, although the wind tore the soft, happy sound away from my lips and sent it spinning up into the humid night air.
Just before I hit the ground, I tightened my grip on the drainpipe, causing a bit of smoke to waft up from my gloves. Ironmesh was another special metal, one that was thin, flexible, and protective all at the same time. If I’d tried to free-fall down the drainpipe with my bare hands, I would have burned and bloodied my palms, at the very least, or laid them open to the bone, at the very worst. But the inherent grip in the ironmesh would help me climb up or slide down practically any surface, including this glass-smooth stone.