“Not that well,” the young man admitted. “And all the weapons—”
“Act like small anchors, don’t they?” Roy commiserated.
“They really do.” He looked at me. “Please, lady, we have orders—”
“From Jonas?”
He nodded. “We’re supposed to be here. And you need us—”
“Didn’t need you this morning,” Pink Hair said, her eyes still on the flushing mage.
“And you’re here . . . because?” I asked, not wanting to offend, but also not being all that comfortable with a reporter hanging around the suite.
Not that there appeared to be too many people to report on, since most of my court was still missing.
She shot me a grin. “Presents.”
“What?”
“All of us, from the covens.” She gestured around at the three tough-looking women. “After this morning, they decided you needed some competent help.”
“Competent!” the red-faced mage exploded. “As if the covens would know the meaning—”
“At least we get to a fight on time.”
“Yes, suspiciously so! Almost as if you knew—”
“That’s it,” one of the other women said, pulling a wand just as the mage made a gesture. That was thankfully blocked by his own man.
“Have a care,” the grizzled mage hissed. “Assault the bitch and you know damn well—”
“Call me bitch again, old man, and see what happens,” the witch warned.
“All right, out!” I said. “All of you! Except you, Jiao,” I added, because he was still looking freaked.
“This is not an issue for the Pythian Court. This is a Circle matter,” Red Face protested, as if I hadn’t spoken. “That boy was doing illegal magic—”
“Five.”
“Five? Five what?”
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“Four.”
“Oh, shit,” Jug Ears said, and started pushing for the door.
“Three.”
“This is ridiculous!” Red Face spluttered. “You’re harboring illegal children alongside Pythian initiates—”
“What is ridiculous is that we are in a war,” I said, low and furious. “The war, because if we lose it there won’t be another. And this”—I gestured at the goddamn chicken—“is what you focus on?”
The man started to say something, but his older companion cut him off. “Do what she says. Take it outside.”
“Damn. And I wanted to see what happened when you reached one,” Roy said.
I shot him a look and he disappeared, too, taking the wide-eyed initiates with him. Jiao stayed where he was, but the chicken suddenly keeled over, landing back against the pan, propped up on its wings like its little feet hurt. I knew the feeling.