I looked at Devon and Felix, then jerked my head in Deah’s direction. They nodded and grabbed their plates. Together, the three of us, plus Poppy, sat down with Deah and Seleste in a silent show of support. That got some folks to turn away and focus on their food again, especially since I glared at them just as harshly as they had been staring at Deah and Seleste.
“Lila! Darling!” Seleste said, leaning over, putting her arm around my shoulder, and hugging me tight. “So nice to see you up and about this morning. Nasty things, those copper crushers.”
I thought of those ruby-red eyes creeping closer and closer to me. I couldn’t hold back a shudder. “You have no idea.”
Seleste arched her eyebrows.
“Well, I guess you do, since you probably had a vision of it. Thanks for telling my friends where to find me.”
She fluttered her hand at me. “Don’t be silly, darling. That’s what family is for.”
I nodded and looked across the table at Deah, who was staring back at me. When she realized that I was really all right, some of the tension in her face eased.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Deah said.
She hesitated, then leaned over, reached out, and squeezed my hand. I nodded at her and squeezed back.
Felix opened his mouth to start talking, the way he normally did, but my stomach let out a loud rumble, drowning him out before he could get started.
He looked at me, an amused grin on his face. “Hungry much?”
“You have no idea,” I said, reaching for the first strip of bacon on my plate.
While I shoveled food into my mouth, my friends told me about finding me outside the old apartment building last night.
“You should have seen yourself,” Felix said. “You were just leaning up against the side of the building and staring off into the distance, mumbling like you were talking to someone who was sitting right next to you. It was actually kind of funny.”
Devon, Poppy, and Deah all shot him warning looks.
Felix shrugged. “Well, it was, even if Lila was poisoned with copper crusher venom at the time. I kind of wish I had recorded it on my phone for blackmail purposes.”
He winked at me. I rolled my eyes and shoved another piece of bacon into my mouth.
The others kept talking while I ate and then made several trips back over to the buffet table to refill my plate, especially my bacon supply. I had just polished off the last of my pancakes and my final strip of bacon when Claudia rose to her feet and moved to the front of the dining hall, along with Roberto Salazar and Hiroshi Ito. Everyone slowly quieted down and turned to face the heads of their respective Families.
“Everyone knows the horrors of the past few days,” Hiroshi said. “You all know that Victor has attacked us, all of us, and that he will keep right on attacking until either he is defeated or we are.”
Uneasy murmurs rippled through the dining hall, and once again, several folks turned and gave Deah and Seleste harsh glares. Deah squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and glared right back at them, not scared of anyone, while Seleste smiled and waved her hand, as though she was reconnecting with old friends. At least that got some folks to look at her with puzzled expressions instead of angry ones.
“Victor has proposed a truce, of sorts, along with a meeting,” Hiroshi continued. “During the day, all the Families will stand down and go about their normal routines. All the guards and workers are to return to their regular stations on the Midway, and all businesses are to be open as usual, so as not to alarm or alert the tourists to the problems we’re having.”
I snorted. Victor might want all the other Families defeated and under his thumb, but he loved money almost as much as he did magic. Of course he would want all the businesses to be open during the day in order to get as much cash from the tourist rubes as he could.
“Victor might have called a truce, but I want everyone to be extra careful,” Roberto Salazar chimed in. “No one goes anywhere alone and I want at least one guard with every worker. Understood?”
Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement.
“As to the meeting,” Hiroshi said. “I’ll let Claudia address that.”
Claudia nodded at him, then stepped forward, her hands clasped in front of her, staring out over the sea of faces. “Victor has demanded that I fight him in a duel, or he will order his men to attack everyone associated with the other Families—guards, workers, even pixies.” Her mouth hardened and anger flared in her eyes. “I have chosen to accept his challenge. The duel will take place tonight, and the winner will take control of both of our Families.”
Shocked gasps rang out through the crowd, and worry and tension tightened more than one person’s face, including my own. In an instant, people started shouting, each one trying to be heard over the other.
“No way!”
“You can’t do that!”
“He’ll kill you!”
More and more shocked gasps and murmurs sounded, but Claudia held up a hand, asking for quiet.