I lowered my voice. “How are things?”
“Horribly awkward. Also confusing. I used to have to keep track of when he bathed and ate. Now he’s patrolling the grounds. We discussed your father last night. Christopher may be the smartest man I’ve ever spoken to.”
“And that’s bad how?”
Barabas heaved a sigh. “It’s complicated.”
“I thought you found intelligence attractive.”
“I do. As I said, complicated.”
I stepped outside the office and waved at Christopher on the beam.
He dropped down. His wings snapped open at the last moment and he landed gently on the floor.
“Show-off,” Barabas muttered.
“I’m going to the Casino,” I said. “I’m going to try to convince them to fight on our side.”
Christopher frowned. “It will be difficult.”
“The alternative is for them to reinforce Roland.”
“You could kill them.” He studied me.
“Yes, that would be the smart thing to do, but I’m not going to kill them. If I fail, I will let them leave the city.”
“Why?”
“Because there is a difference between war and murder. Killing them would be murder.”
“Do you want my help?”
“Yes. No pressure. I understand if you say no.”
Christopher looked down at his bare feet, worn-out jeans, and white T-shirt.
“I’ll need different clothes. A suit.”
“We can get that.”
“Okay,” he said, and started toward the exit.
I leaned into Barabas’s office. “Do you want to come help pick out a suit for Christopher?”
“No,” Barabas said firmly, tapping a stack of papers against his desk to even it out.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t need to see him in a suit.”
Curran walked over to me. “Parks came back from the Casino. He says they are refusing customers.”
They had been given the order to evacuate. We had to get to them now.
• • •
I SAT IN the passenger seat of our car and watched Julie walk toward the Casino. The beautiful white palace all but floated above the parking lot. She strode between the long stretches of rectangular fountains carrying the green and blue standard.
Next to me Curran sat quietly, watching Julie. He reached over and covered my hand with his.
“Nervous, ass kicker?”
“No. I don’t want to kill them.” I would if I had to. I wished I didn’t have to. The technology was up. If I went in there during magic, I could’ve used it to impress the navigators.
“You can do this. You will walk in there like you own the place and you will kick ass. Don’t let them think and don’t give them any reason to doubt. Walk in and hit them with everything you’ve got.”
In my head, I kept going through the People’s leadership. The lineup had changed over the years. Currently, there were eight Masters of the Dead. First, Ghastek and Rowena. Orlando Beasley, a trim, short black man with smart eyes and a quiet, cultured voice. Constance Hyde, an older woman with a platinum head of hair who always looked mildly displeased. Ryan Kelly, tall, well-built and well-groomed, every inch a CEO, except for his purple Mohawk. Filipa, a Hispanic woman, about my age, who wore glasses with a red rim and never said anything in my presence. Toakasu Kakau, a dark-eyed woman of Tongan ancestry, in her forties, with a white smile and the kind of no-nonsense gaze that stopped you in your tracks. Dennis Pillman, a tall, thin man with a two-thousand-dollar haircut, whose suits were always a size too large.
Julie walked through the gates into the Casino.
“It’s time,” my aunt said in my ear.
I stepped out of the car and followed Julie. Curran walked next to me. Adora shadowed me on the right. She’d changed back into her sahanu outfit, but instead of purple she’d now added a green-and-blue scarf. I didn’t want to touch that with a ten-foot pole.
Christopher Steed walked on Curran’s left. Barabas had no idea what he was missing. The coal-black suit combined with Christopher’s nearly white hair made a killer impression. The seamstress in the shop had actually stammered while cutting and sewing the slits for his wings. Time was short, but the suit was a necessity. The Masters of the Dead had to recognize him.
“Feel the land,” Erra said in my ear. “Feel it breathe.”
It felt odd after last night. Before, the land was an ocean, and I stood within it, distinct and separate, like a rock. Now the ocean and I had melded. I was no longer a rock. I was . . . I didn’t know what the hell I was. A tangle of seaweed, a current, something that stretched to the farthest reaches of my land. Still distinct, but no longer separate. And I couldn’t touch any of that magic with the technology up. Not even a drop. My aunt had been clear on that.
“This is your land,” Erra said. “You protect it. Your blood waters it. You’ve bonded with it for months. Reach deep inside you and sacrifice for its sake.”
The Casino loomed, the vampires within it a constellation of bright red lights in my mind. The two men guarding the entrance saw us coming and stared straight ahead, determined not to notice us. Denial was the better part of valor.
I needed to convince Ghastek and the Masters of the Dead. Once they committed themselves, the rest would follow. I had to get them to see me not as Kate Daniels, but as my father’s daughter.
I walked onto the Casino’s main floor. Usually the din of slots hung above the floor, but today the casino was completely silent. Journeymen moved back and forth, carrying boxes. Julie stood in the middle of the open space, holding her standard. My standard. The journeymen ignored her.