Alban fell silent, chiding himself for not anticipating the question, then lifted a shoulder and let it fall in a heavy shrug. 'To find out what secrets you and Margrit have shared behind closed doors, I suppose. To wonder how those secrets affect the rest of us.' He spoke carefully, too aware of Detective Pulcella within easy earshot, though they did nothing to indicate he was listening in.
Kaimana pushed his lips into a thick purse. 'You know we’re looking for legitimacy. She supports us.'
'She would.' Humor tinged Alban’s answer. 'She’s drawn to those who need a champion.'
'Just as well for you, I understand.'
He nodded without speaking. Kaaiai waited a moment, then went on. 'And what about you? You’ve needed a champion. Are you willing to be one now?'
'Alban is more of a watchdog, I should think.' Daisani came through the crowd, taking up a position in front of them. Alban glanced over his shoulder to gauge Tony’s reaction, unsurprised to find the detective had subtly tensed. 'Safeguarding the old ways from new-fangled corruption.'
Alban murmured, 'Someone must,' and Kaaiai stiffened as slightly as Tony had. Ruefulness almost sent Alban back a step or two. Negotiating was not, as Margrit gladly pointed out, a gift of his, and it was easier to draw lines in stone than he meant for it to be.
Amusement flashed over Daisani’s face and he turned to examine the ballroom. 'We’re all here,' he said. 'Alban, have you decided to stand for your…family?'
Alban opened his hand and closed it again in a wordless agreement. Daisani nodded and drew himself up, full of purposeful, commanding attention despite his slight form. Halfway across the room, Janx glanced toward them, then stepped gracefully off the dance floor, Margrit’s hand captured in his own. She lifted an eyebrow curiously, looking where he had, then fell into step as though they’d walked together a thousand times.
Alban’s shoulders tightened and he refused to allow himself another glance toward Tony. Neither of them had a rival in Janx, but Alban doubted the detective could make himself fully believe that any more than he could himself.
Malik brushed past Tony and stepped up between Kaimana and Alban, their heights making the djinn seem petite. 'What’s happening?'
At the sound of his voice, Daisani relaxed marginally, letting go the commanding air that had drawn Old Races eyes to him. When Margrit and Janx joined them he said, 'We are all here, with no plans to replace anyone. Why wait three days, when we can have this game done with tonight?' His focus sharpened on Janx, whose expression changed to a snarl and relaxed again so quickly Alban was half unsure he’d seen it happen.
'To whose end?' Janx hissed. Margrit, to Alban’s shock, put a hand on the dragonlord’s arm, as if staying him. Daisani saw it as well, his eyebrows shooting up.
'To all of ours, I should think. Chaos surrounds us at every side. We would all be better pleased with order restored. Am I wrong?' The last words were cut from ice, falling amongst the gathered group in frozen shards. Tony Pulcella shifted forward, hands knotted into fists. Alban caught a glimpse of agonized sympathy on Margrit’s face as she saw him move.
'Whether we have it done or not, this isn’t the place to discuss it.' Her voice was inexpressibly soft, drawing the attention of six men, all but one of whom understood her point. 'Gentlemen, I believe we should retire upstairs. We can come back to the party when this is settled.' She made a small gesture toward the ballroom stairs, and to Alban’s astonishment, the motley quorum moved at her command.
So did Tony Pulcella. Margrit touched his arm, drawing him aside, and seeking out Alban’s gaze as she did. Alban paused, and she gave the tiniest shake of her head and an even briefer smile that sent reassurance burning through him. He nodded, then turned to follow the other representatives of the Old Races to the balcony above. Without, this time, showing off; like the others, he took the stairs, and found a faint thrill of amusement that he even considered doing anything else.
'It was Daisani, wasn’t it.' Tony turned on Margrit and spoke through his teeth. 'Your link between Russell Lomax and Janx was Daisani. Lomax was in his pocket. What’re they doing together here? Why’d you lie to me, Grit? What the hell’s going on? Why didn’t you call me?'
'You have no idea how much I wish I could tell you.' Margrit felt as though the fight had drained out of her. 'It’s business. I did think Daisani was the link, yeah. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t call because it didn’t pan out. Janx said he didn’t have anything to do with Russell’s death, and I believe him.'
'I don’t. I don’t know what the hell’s going on with you, Grit, but whatever it is, you need to get out of it fast. Those guys are dangerous. Janx, Malik-shit, Daisani, too, for that matter. People with that kind of money just fuck you over, and I don’t want to see you go down for whatever they’re mixed up with.' Concern warred with anger in Tony’s voice and face. 'Whatever’s going on, you can’t go up there with them.'
'I have to. What I’m dealing with isn’t illegal, Tony, and that’s all I can tell you.' Her quiet resolve sounded implacable to her own ears. 'But I do need to deal with it, and it’s something you can’t help with.'
'This is the same shit that’s been going on since January, isn’t it?'
Margrit pressed her lips together, then nodded. 'Yeah. Yeah, it is. And you have no idea how sorry I am it means I’ve been cutting you out of my life.'
'You’re not.' Concern faded, leaving anger and hurt. 'You’re not sorry, Margrit. Whatever the hell it is, it’s more exciting to you than we are. More interesting. I’d love to be wrong, but I’m not. I’ll tell you this, though. Whatever it is, I’m gonna find out, and if it’s as dirty as I think it is, and you’re tangled up in it, you’re going down with them. You understand me? Whatever’s happening, I’m not protecting you.'
Margrit took a deep breath, an ache crawling through her entire body. 'I know.' She barely whispered the response, and with the whisper, stepped backward, toward the stairs the others had taken. 'I know, Tony, and I don’t blame you. I really am sorry it’s happening this way, but I have to go.' She hesitated, then, helplessly, said, 'Goodbye.'
Angry color flooded Tony’s cheeks and he turned on his heel as abruptly as she’d ever seen him move. Margrit bit her lip, then climbed the ballroom stairs, stopping at the top to look back one last time.
The party carried on, the revelers all but unmindful of the handful of men and the solitary woman who slipped away. Only one face lifted to the balcony, unerringly seeking Margrit’s gaze out of hundreds. An expression so subtle she couldn’t read it crossed his face: pleasure, perhaps, or anticipation. Margrit shivered and turned away, wondering why his name lingered so heavily in her mind.
Biali.
CHAPTER 26
Kaimana had already left the gathering when she joined them on the balcony. The others waited on Margrit, holding back until she took the lead, as though it was agreed among them that the least important should go first, and take some of the problem of ranking away.
Bemused at the idea, Margrit led them from the balcony to the elevator banks that lay above and beyond the ballroom. For all that there was more than enough room for the five of them, the air in the elevator bristled, making it crowded with expectation. Margrit felt more than her own weight bearing down on her feet. The temptation to catch Alban’s hand and hold on tight had passed as she’d realized that walking alone would carry greater impact than coming with the gargoyle. To walk with him displayed her loyalties too clearly, not that she-or anyone else-doubted where they lay. It was more a show of independence, of humans coming to the Old Races’ counsel meeting as equals, than anything else. Janx and Daisani would find it laughable, but she did it to shore up her own courage, not cater to them.
The boardroom table in Daisani’s conference room had been replaced. Margrit nearly laughed, swallowing the sound only through awareness of the occasion’s importance. But Daisani had clearly intended to call the quorum together that night, rather than wait two more days. The table Kaimana sat at was round, and while he’d chosen the space farthest from the door, so he could watch people enter, it had no absolute head. He waited with an equanimity that gave lie to his peoples’ fate resting on the evening’s proceedings, and nodded in greeting as Margrit passed through the door. Unwilling to break the silence, she echoed his gesture.
Malik walked in a few steps behind her, making her uncomfortable. She’d known he was there, but discovering him so close to her made her want to run, as if she’d somehow become his unsuspecting prey.
