Redeemed (House of Night #12)(29)

“Will do,” Zoey told her.

“We’ll follow you, Detective Marx,” Thanatos said.

Marx drew a deep breath and totally turned off his sanity switch. “All right. Let’s do this.”

Lynette

“Lynette, I do adore a surprise…” Neferet hesitated before continuing, lifting one slender finger, “if the surprise is pleasant. If it is not, then a surprise is nothing more than an irritating interruption. I loathe interruptions almost as much as I loathe being irritated.” Her gaze left Lynette’s, and she glanced at what appeared to be her bare legs. “Speaking of irritations—why are you milling aimlessly about? I am perfectly safe, and you have all been perfectly satiated. Go amuse yourselves elsewhere and cease tugging at me. Go on now, shoo!” Neferet fluttered her fingers dismissively before turning her attention back to Lynette.

Lynette didn’t see the snake-things, but she could feel the cold brush of something slithering past her. She suppressed a shudder of revulsion.

“Dear Lynette, where were we? Ah, yes, I remember. You announced that you have planned a little surprise for me. Please continue to explain yourself.”

Lynette met the Goddess’s gaze without flinching. The panic that was gathered somewhere under her breastbone shivered and shied, but she tightened the mental reins she’d tethered it with and let only the joy of planning a spectacular event fill her mind. Lynette’s smile was full of confidence, as was her voice. “Goddess, I am very good at my job. Even though I was working under unusual circumstances with limited means, I absolutely believe you will find my surprise pleasant.”

“Limited means—that sounds so tawdry, so cheap.” Neferet frowned. “I certainly never meant for you to feel as if your Goddess is miserly.”

“Oh, I don’t feel that at all!” Lynette assured her, hoping she hadn’t tripped Neferet’s crazy trigger. “I put myself under a time and means constraint because I wanted to prove my worth to you. But of course this is just a small sample of the events I could plan for you daily—had I more time and money with which to work.”

Neferet’s brow unfurled. “You are a wise woman, Lynette. Show me what you have concocted for me. If it pleases me, you may be assured that you will be allowed to move forward with limitless means, though I cannot promise I will be patiently allotting you too much time. I waited far too long to begin my reign. I am restless for the worship of my supplicants.”

“That is very understandable, Goddess,” Lynette said. “I have never been as concerned about time as I have money when it comes to event planning.”

Neferet studied her.

Lynette concentrated on business. She excelled at business. She was confident about business. Business did not terrify or repulse her.

Neferet smiled. “You are being absolutely honest. Your business and the acquisition of money have long been your main concern. Lead on, my supplicant! Reveal my surprise.”

Lynette curtsied and led Neferet from the penthouse suite to the elevator, stopping it on the mezzanine. “Please wait just a moment, Goddess.”

Neferet smiled and made a gesture of acquiescence. Lynette punched the hold button on the elevator and then tapped the almost invisible earbud, speaking quickly and quietly. “Kylee, wait ten seconds and then cue the quartet to begin.”

“Yes, Lynette,” came Kylee’s robotic response.

Lynette glanced to her right and made a come-here gesture. Judson, the handsome bellman, stepped from the shadows. He was dressed impeccably in a freshly pressed uniform, and he was carrying a shining silver platter on which rested one perfect crystal flute filled with bubbling pink champagne. He bowed perfectly, mechanically, to Neferet and said, “May I offer you champagne, Goddess?”

“Why, yes. Thank you, Judson.”

The music began the instant Neferet lifted the flute from the tray. Lynette was pleased to see a smile lift the corners of the Goddess’s lips.

“Strauss’s ‘Blue Danube’—one of my favorite waltzes. Ah, Vienna—it was so lovely and decadent in the past.”

“Please, follow me, Goddess,” Lynette said formally, leading Neferet around the mezzanine to the spot she’d had her temporary throne moved to—just above the landing from which she’d addressed her new “supplicants” a mere three hours before, and where, now, the string quartet from last night’s wedding was nervously, but beautifully, playing.

Neferet sat gracefully, peering down at the quartet. “They play well, though I would prefer a full orchestra.”

“Time and means,” Lynette said with a wry smile.

The Goddess’s lips twitched. “I am taking note of that.”

Lynette bowed her head to Neferet and surreptitiously tapped her earpiece again. “Send them at the beginning of the next six count.” Then she held her breath and hoped the twelve performers managed to keep themselves together.

The heavy velvet drapes that enclosed the ballroom below parted, and from opposite sides of the room, six couples moved quickly to the center of the marble floor. The women were all wearing dresses that were as close to the same shade of scarlet as Lynette could find. The men were in tuxedos she’d managed to piece together from whatever was left over from the wedding, was clean enough, and could be made to fit.

Fit! That had been only part of this wretched event’s problems. It had been a horrendous job to find six men and six women from what Lynette had already silently named the prisoner pool, who were relatively attractive, relatively graceful, and relatively able to learn and perform the simple steps of a basic waltz. Yes, she could have used all of the snake-infested staff members—they’d certainly obey anything she told them to do as long as she didn’t try to escape the Mayo. But Lynette’s instinct had told her that people already under her control going through a performance by rote wouldn’t impress Neferet.