Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1)(56)

“In that case,” said Nim, “bite me.”

“And you—” he said, looking at Diana. “You look like a star-spangled slice of hell yeah. Who are you, anyway?”

“She’s one of Alia’s friends, so leave her alone,” said Jason.

“Don’t mind him,” said Theo. “He’s just bitter because he got stuck with me as his date.”

“I’d think he would be pleased to escort the most gorgeous among us,” said Diana.

Theo barked a laugh. “Oh, I like her plenty.”

“What about Alia?” said Nim.

“Shut up, Nim,” Alia said under her breath.

Theo glanced over his shoulder and gave a cheerful thumbs-up. “Alia looks really nice, too!”

“Gosh, thanks,” Alia muttered.

They entered a vast room teeming with people and echoing with sound. It was an extraordinary chamber. The far wall tilted at an angle like the side of a pyramid and was comprised entirely of windows that showed night falling over the park beyond. Partygoers sat at the edge of a rectangular reflecting pool bordered in slate stone, and others clustered around tables set with white orchids and glimmering candles. But the focus of the room was what Diana realized were ruins: a vast stone gate that she suspected had once led to a courtyard and the columned temple itself, covered in hieroglyphs.

My mother is older than these stones, she thought as they joined the swarm of guests. In the mortal world, my people are the stuff of museums and myth. Legends. Artifacts. Hippolyta and the first Amazons had vanished from the world long before this temple had been built. Diana looked at the partygoers, drinking, laughing, lifting glasses of wine to their lips. Lives like the wing beat of a moth. There and then gone.

“This room was designed to mimic the place where the temple was originally located,” said Nim, eyes sparkling, as they made their way to one of the tall tables. Heads were already turning at the sight of Jason and Alia, hands lifted in greeting, beckoning them over. “The pool represents the Nile, and the windowed wall echoes the cliffs.”

“You know what no one asked for?” Theo said. “Trivia.”

Jason glanced at Theo. “Go find yourself some champagne.”

Theo saluted. “That’s my kind of ultimatum.”

“Good riddance,” Nim said as he loped off. “I don’t know what it is about that guy, but I constantly want to shove him down a flight of stairs.”

“I have a pretty good guess,” murmured Alia.

“And he couldn’t even be bothered to pay you a proper compliment,” said Nim, her glare tracking Theo as he wended his way through the crowd.

“It’s fine,” said Alia, but Diana didn’t think that was true.

“I appreciate that you made an effort,” Jason said stiffly. His gaze touched briefly on Diana. “You look nice. All of you.”

“Very smooth,” said Nim. “You’re lucky you’re rich, or you’d never get any action at all.”

Diana waited for Jason’s sharp retort, but instead that broad grin reappeared, his dimple flashing. “You’re forgetting how good-looking I am.”

Alia rolled her eyes. “Can we just get this over with before I have to find a potted plant to throw up in?”

Jason straightened his cuffs, his sober demeanor returning as quickly as it had vanished. “Yes. But that’s the last eye roll for the next hour, deal?”

“Wait, I need one more. You can’t just cut me off like that.” Alia rolled her eyes theatrically. “Okay, I’m good.”

Jason’s mouth pulled up at one corner, as if he was fighting not to grin again. “I expect smiles and an attempt to look like you’re happy to be here.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Alia—”

Alia threw her shoulders back and pasted a cheerful smile on her face. “Better?”

“Slightly terrifying, but yes.”

“Hold on,” said Nim. “You need powder.”

As Nim touched up Alia’s makeup, Diana took the opportunity to murmur to Jason, “I saw the armed guards posted at the eastern and southern doors, as well as the entry.”

“But—”

“They’re spaced too evenly against the wall.”

“I’m not a fool,” said Jason. “There are members of the security team dressed as partygoers as well.”

“Two by the buffet, one by the musicians, and at least three near the western perimeter.”

Jason started, his surprise evident. “How the hell did you spot them?”

Diana frowned. It was obvious, wasn’t it? “I can tell they’re carrying weapons by the way their clothes hang. And they hold themselves differently than the other guests.” Jason’s eyes scanned the crowd, and she wondered if even he could tell where his people were. “Just stay alert,” Diana said. “If I can spot them, our enemies may be able to as well.”

She was prepared for a rebuke, but Jason simply nodded.

“Um, and you guys may want to keep moving,” Diana said as a nearby waiter shoved another waiter, knocking his tray of food to the floor. “Don’t stay in any one spot for too long.”

She still didn’t understand the limits of Alia’s power or how it worked. It could reach across worlds, but proximity did seem to matter.