Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)(66)

“No, I want to know what the increase is for. We’ve had things locked down for years. If anything, the numbers should be decreasing.”

Lucian decided to let the banter go as well. “You could look in your own backyard for that. Someone at SCI should know.”

“I’m sure someone does, but they aren’t telling me.” The best he’d received was a lot of meaningless “surplus budget” and “extra openings” mumbling—but nothing concrete. Cornelia had blown him off, and he didn’t have the access or good graces to badger anyone higher than her. “Someone in Internal Security—or more importantly, a senator with friends there—might be willing to tell a promising young senator who’s running for consul. It’d be a great way to curry favor.”

“I see.” Lucian’s lips quirked. “It’d be a weird request, though.”

Inspiration struck Justin. “Would it? You’ve got religious-freedom lobbyists sending you gifts. Inquiring about the servitor’s office would be very reasonable.”

“You think of everything, don’t you?” Lucian didn’t make it sound like a compliment. “Did you think of a clever reason for why I should do it for you?”

“Because we’re friends. And maybe you’ll need a good servitor on your side if those lobbyists turn on you. Or, hell, just do it for old times’ sake.”

“You mean my girlfriend?”

“Ex,” Justin reminded him.

“Fine. For old times’ sake.” Lucian turned to Mae, who had been watching the exchange with a mix of astonishment and fascination. “But now I have a favor to ask. I have a fund-raising party in a couple of weeks. I don’t suppose you’d want to go with me? If you can tear yourself away from Justin, that is.”

It apparently was a day of firsts with Mae. It had started with that radiant smile and had now moved on to her becoming flustered. That discomfiture only lasted a few moments, though. She rewarded Lucian with a polite and—Justin was certain—ever-so-slightly superior smile. That was castal upbringing. Debutantes were taught to eat men alive.

“That’s very flattering,” she said. “But I don’t think my commitments will allow it.”

Lucian was unfazed. “Well, check on them, and if they change, just let me know. I don’t plan on going with anyone else. They’d just be a disappointment now.”

Do something about this, snapped Magnus.

“Mae’s great at parties,” said Justin. He gave Lucian a pointed look. “She’s a Nordic patrician, though I’m sure you already noticed that.”

Lucian’s eyes said he understood what Justin wasn’t explicitly saying. No matter how high Lucian’s star was right now, no matter how much class tension had eased in recent years…any hint of romance with a patrician would be political suicide. Lucian’s fellow senators were the ones who cast the votes, and their patrician constituents would raise holy hell at the thought of a plebeian defiling some pure patrician woman—especially if her score came out.

Lucian was too noble to fully backpedal, though his pitch lightened. “Well, just let me know.”

Mae didn’t speak to Justin again until they were en route to the airport, free of flirting senators and distracting pr?torians. “What,” she said, “was that all about?”

“It was me tapping inexplicable political connections to get answers that my department won’t give me.”

She shot him a sidelong glare. “You know what I mean. The presumption back there was off the charts.”

“I know,” he said, nodding solemnly. “Lucian doesn’t know his limits sometimes.”

“Not him! You, with all your ‘she goes with me everywhere’ insinuations.”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? And how was that worse than his trying to trade my favor for a date with you? I defended your honor, you know. He was objectifying you.”

“He was just asking me out.” Mae’s face turned speculative. “He seems like a nice guy.”

“You aren’t…you aren’t seriously thinking about that, are you? And what happened to you not lowering yourself to associate with plebeians? Or do you make an exception for glamorous and powerful men?” The thought of her in Lucian’s arms, her face flushed with the afterglow, made Justin feel ill. Over and over, he told himself he couldn’t have her, but he didn’t want anyone else to either.

She stared out the car’s window as it pulled up to the airport’s front entrance. “It’s my business if I do.”

“You don’t want anything to do with a guy like that. It’s his job to say things to lure people in.”

Mae returned her gaze to him. “Tell me exactly how he’s any different from you. Aside from the fact that when he says he holds a post in the government, he’s actually telling the truth.”

Yes, said Horatio. Please, go ahead and tell us.

A lot of answers came to Justin’s mind, but “I’m more fun at parties” might not have helped his case after the overdose in Windsor. Instead, he simply said, “I had that smile first.”

That was apparently the wrong answer, because all Mae said before getting out of the car was, “Point proven.”