Page 68 of Fang Fiction

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said to John Betherton. “Is there a line?”

“There is,” he said curtly—but when he turned and saw Octavia, his manner softened considerably. “Would you like to wait with me? It’d be a delight to pass the time together.”

It took all of Joni’s self-restraint not to roll her eyes, but she kept her cool and stepped into line with John and Octavia. He was in his fifties, with the trim physique of someone who probably had insufferable opinions about macro-grains and the oily smile of a guy who regularly cheated on his wife. It lessened Joni’s opinion of August Lirio somewhat to know they’d chosen a man like this to represent them. But Octavia was looking at him with a mix of shock and delight.

“Oh my god.” She gasped. “John? John Betherton, is that you?!”

“It is.” He smiled with confusion. “I can’t believe I’m saying this given a face like yours, but I can’t place how I know you?”

“It was one of these tedious dinners, who knows how long ago.” Octavia waved her hand dismissively. “I introduced myself because I’m such an admirer, but you had to duck out before we could chat.”

“I’m certain no dinner spent with you could be described as tedious.” He smiled. “Are you in the literary world, Ms…. ?”

“Parker.” Octavia smiled. “Julia Parker. And actually, it’s funny you should ask, because I’ve just accepted a position with The Paris Review. I wonder…you wouldn’t be interested in a profile, would you?”

“You’re not serious?”

“Dead serious.” She grinned. “In fact—could we discuss it right now? Maybe somewhere a little more private? My friend can grab our drinks.”

John looked over at Joni as if realizing for the first time that a third person was standing in their group. “If you don’t mind? Scotch, rocks.”

But he didn’t wait to see whether Joni actually did mind before he and Octavia walked off.

Joni wasn’t sure what to do next. She supposed it was a good thing that Octavia didn’t need her at all for their little mission (other than as a placeholder in a drink line), but she wished she’d had a chance to be more useful. She was still several places from the front of the line; she guessed she’d just wait around until Octavia came back. Might as well get herself a cocktail.

“What do you think they’re up to?”

Joni looked up to see a reedy woman with a dark pixie cut and a tailored black pantsuit; she didn’t look familiar to Joni in the slightest.

“I’m sorry?” Joni tilted her head.

“Your boss just walked out with my boss.”

Joni tried to suppress the sudden leaps her heart was doing. This woman worked for Betherton!

“I’m Fern,” she said, extending a hand to shake.

“Hey, I’m Joni. You work for John?”

“Yeah, I’m an assistant at his agency,” Fern said with an exasperated exhale. “I was so excited to work for him because I love Blood Feud so much, but he’s kind of a nightmare.”

Joni’s pulse sped up even more—there was no way she could make herself be cool, so she decided to lean in to the fact that she wasn’t.

“No fucking way, the Blood Feud books are my favorite,” Joni effused. She could have sworn she saw Fern sneer in response—but a millisecond later, Fern was smiling again. “And my boss is a nightmare too. I’m her personal assistant, just dealing with all her bullshit so I can help pay for grad school.”

“Pretty nice dress for a personal assistant,” Fern observed.

“One of my boss’s cast-offs, obvi,” Joni said conspiratorially. “Anyway! So Betherton’s a jerk, huh? I’m really sorry. Do you at least get to read Lirio’s new stuff before everyone else? Do you know if another Blood Feud book is happening?!”

“I can’t say for sure”—Fern dropped her voice—“but John went to Lirio’s townhouse downtown a couple of months ago, and it definitely wasn’t a social call. I kind of get the sense that Lirio hates him?”

“I knew it,” Joni muttered, and Fern laughed. “Sorry—I just couldn’t believe August Lirio would hire a guy like that. Or whatever Lirio’s real name is. Oh my god, do you know who Lirio really is?! And wait—they have a place in New York?! Aaaahhhh, your job is so cool!!”

Joni hoped she was selling her part as a random fangirl and not as someone asking really pointed and specific questions. The intel that Lirio had a townhouse in Manhattan was already a huge win—maybe that combined with whatever Octavia had learned would be enough to get them a real lead.

“I wish I knew their name. Or anything about them—John keeps all that under lock and key.”

“Understandably.” Joni sighed. They’d reached the front of the line, so Joni ordered two glasses of champagne and a scotch.