Pia was incredulous when she heard the news. Her head was under her pillow—her own pillow in her very own bed, rapture, joy, joy—and Dragos had just lifted up a corner of it to whisper good-bye to her. She grunted and lifted her head to peer at him, her rapture rudely interrupted.
He was showered, shaved and dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt, and he looked so tired. He never looked tired. Their bedside clock read 6:42 A.M. She hooked her fingers into a belt loop of his jeans.
“Really?” she whined. “Nooo. I mean, really? Why?”
“Because when shit happens, it doesn’t take a day off,” he said. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her back. “The relentless pace of the Games is as much a part of the weeding process as anything else. If someone doesn’t like that, it’s better that they back out now before they run into real trouble as a sentinel, trouble that won’t slow down or go easy on them just because they’re having a bad day.”
Heh, yeah, she got that, but she didn’t have to like it. “They didn’t almost die,” she whispered. “You did.”
He bent his head and played with her fingers. She looked at the short black curl of his eyelashes against his cheeks, loving him so much that it twisted her into a pretzel. He said quietly, “That’s all the more reason for me to be present.”
She took in a quick breath, and suddenly she was wide-awake.
Because the problem is that people do talk.
As the Wyr had returned to New York throughout the night, word of Dragos’s fall would have gotten around. It must have been clear to everyone that he had been critically injured. Not only did the Wyr demesne need to see proof that he was all right, but so did the other demesnes and countries throughout the world.
Hell, for that matter, so did Wall Street investors.
Remorse twinged. She sat up and said, “I’m sorry.”
He gave her a hard hug. “Don’t be,” he said. “It’s been a hellish goddamn week. After the Games are over tomorrow, you and I are spending the weekend in bed. In the meantime, you should eat and rest.”
She smiled, a wry twist of the lips. “See you later.”
He gave her a swift kiss and left.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, she had showered and dressed in jeans and a sweater. She had also put on makeup and eaten so many buckwheat pancakes that her stomach was full to bursting.
When she called for a driver, Eva and Hugh appeared. At her look of surprise, Eva gave her a small grin and told her, “Imma just keep turning up now like a bad penny.”
Penny.
Pia doubled over and laughed uproariously, while the other two watched her with puzzled expressions. “I’ll explain it someday,” Pia told them. She cocked her head and smiled at Hugh. “It’s good to see you. Are you here for the reason I hope you are?”
He returned her smile, his plain bony features creased with good humor. “Got my hat in hand and I’m looking for a job, if you’ll have me.”
“I’m delighted to have you,” she told him. Not only did she genuinely like Hugh, but he and Eva already knew how to work together. It was a good start.
Eva told her, “This kind of gig was too big a change of pace for the others, but no surprise there. Johnny’s been waiting to have a word with you, though, if you can spare him a few minutes.”
“All right,” she said, resigned. “I need to get to the Garden, but I can take a few minutes right now.”
“He’s downstairs,” Eva said. “I told him to grab a coffee at Starbucks.” At her questioning look, the other woman added telepathically, He don’t know nuthin’ about nuthin’, Tink, but he’s got questions.
She nodded grimly and rode the elevator with Hugh and Eva down to the ground floor. Once they stepped into the Tower’s main lobby, Eva said to Hugh, “Get a car and meet us out front.”
“You got it,” Hugh said. He disappeared, winding through the crowd at a deceptively sleepy pace.
Pia and Eva walked into Starbucks where Johnny sat at the window counter with an empty coffee cup in front of him. He hunched over his computer game. He looked up as Eva tapped him on the shoulder, then he switched off the game and shoved it into his back pocket as he stood.
Pia clasped her hands behind her back, twisting her fingers together hard as she gave him a smile. “Hey there,” she said. “Thanks for everything you did on the trip. I’ll want to tell the others in person later, myself, but for now, would you pass on my thanks to them too?”
“Sure, I’ll tell them,” Johnny said. It saddened her that he seemed ill at ease and uncertain. “Look, about that night? You know, when the shit hit the fan, and we were at the passageway where the Elves were fighting.”