Page 31 of Magic for Nothing

“Bit of a culture shock, hmm?” he asked, sipping his juice. “There was a . . . project on yesterday. Had most of our people out in the field, and then Grandfather asked those who came home to keep to their quarters and to the areas you’re not cleared to enter yet, to give you a bit of time to settle.”

A project. That, coupled with Chloe’s attitude the day before, could only mean one thing. “They were hunting?” I asked, trying to project curiosity, hoping it would cover my disapproval.

It must have worked, because Leo nodded, and said, “Yes. A bit of nasty cropped up over in Bristol. I can’t tell you much about it—you’re not even an initiate yet—but I can tell you the city is safe, and the mothers can sleep easy, knowing that nothing will come up through the sewers to steal their sleeping children away.”

There were so many things it could have been, with the data point of “up through the sewers,” and it wouldn’t do me any good at all to dwell on them. I couldn’t raise the dead. I could only try to make sure there would be fewer casualties in the future—and that started with me. I forced a smile.

“Good,” I said. The line moved. I moved with it. “Is it usually so crowded around here?”

“No—like I said, there was a project yesterday. Some folks came in from their usual postings for that. Everyone loves a guaranteed win. Others are here to discuss, well, you. You’re a special one, Annie. We don’t get that many recruits seeking us out. Usually, we have to go and find them. Add the carnival background, and well. You could open a lot of doors for us, if we handle things correctly.”

“Carnivals are important?” I asked.

“You probably don’t realize, since your family’s human, but a lot of monsters hide in traveling shows. It’s easier to be a freak when there’s a banner to convince people that you’re faking it. If you can infiltrate those places, you can be an enormous asset.”

“Whatever it takes to avenge my family,” I said firmly.

Leo grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

The buffet was surprisingly varied, as long as what you liked for breakfast involved butter, frying, more butter, more frying, and possibly a soft-boiled egg. I stared in dismay until Leo took the plate from my hand.

“Let me,” he said, and led me down the length of the serving table, dishing up portions of various things. He handed the plate back when it was full. I transferred my dismayed stare to its contents.

“Is this a joke?” I asked. Mushrooms have no place on a breakfast plate. Neither do baked beans, or fried tomato, or whatever that slice of squishy black stuff was. There was bacon, but it was outsized and soggy-looking, and there was a dismaying absence of potatoes.

“No, this is a celebratory breakfast for our brave warriors, and half of these things won’t be here tomorrow, when we go back to eating normally, so you ought to tuck in now.” Leo smiled encouragingly. “It’s all right. I promise, nothing’s poisoned. You’re special, but you’re not worth killing half the field agents in England to take down.”

“You sure know how to flatter a girl,” I said, and followed him obediently back to a table. Reginald wasn’t there. Chloe was, and she looked mildly dismayed to see me. I offered her my sunniest smile. “Morning, Chloe. Thanks for letting me sleep in. Hey, did anybody ever tell you that you snore? You should maybe get that looked into.”

Chloe’s jaw dropped. “What?” she demanded. “How dare you—”

“Relax, Chloe; everyone knows you snore,” said Leo, settling into a seat. “It’s why there’s always an open bed in your room, even when the rest of us are sleeping two to a bunk. Honestly, I’m surprised she’s that nice about it. Or looks that well rested.”

“Carnivals can be noisy,” I said. “I just had to tell myself it was the noise from the road, and I was fine.” That wasn’t quite true—sleep had involved a lot more sticking my head under my pillow and praying—but it sounded good, and sounding good was key.

Chloe sulked. Actually sulked, sticking her lower lip out like a toddler and slouching in her chair. “It’s not fair,” she said. “Everyone else got to go chasing beasts through Bristol, and we had to sit here and babysit your little American girl. If she’d shown up just two days later, I’d have already been in the field.”

“But she didn’t, and I wouldn’t have been in the field anyway,” said Leo. He glanced to me, and explained, “I’m a researcher, sworn to the pen and the page. I prefer to keep my hands and my cuffs clean, and support the Covenant in other ways.”

“He means he can’t hit the broad side of a barracks,” said a new voice, immediately followed by a woman with auburn hair sliding into one of the free spaces at our table. She had a plate of food, a cup of tea, and a face I could have picked out of any crowd in the world, because I’d grown up surrounded by variations on the same theme.

Margaret Healy looked at me, polite indifference writ across her features. For the first time, I was grateful to be the odd man out in my family’s genetic party game, because judging by the total lack of recognition in her eyes, she didn’t take me for a Healy. But give her a dye job, and she could have been my older sister.

“You must be the new American recruit,” she said. “Have they started putting you through your paces yet?”

“I did, um, some assessment yesterday,” I said. “I don’t really know what comes next.”

“Annie, this is Maggie Healy, one of our field specialists,” said Leo. “She’s on assignment to Penton right now, to help with the training process. She’ll be working with you on your marksmanship and general fitness.”

“Oh,” I said. So that was the punishment for blowing a field assignment: demotion to P.E. teacher for the new kids. I couldn’t decide whether that was unconscionably cruel, or just cruel enough.

Then I remembered Mork, and the way he’d looked at me, like he’d never been allowed in the presence of a Priestess before. Margaret’s punishment was nowhere near cruel enough. It never could have been.

“I’m sure we’ll get on fine,” said Margaret, apparently taking my shortness for worry. “Just do everything I say without question or complaint, and I’ll have you ready for the field in no time.”

“What if I’m not suited for fieldwork?” I blurted the question before I had time to think about it, and it was all I could do not to wince. I forced a weak smile, and amended, “I mean, Leo did the training, and Chloe says he can’t do it, and I just . . . I want to know that I’m doing some good. My family deserves that.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes, like she didn’t believe my hasty cover-up. Leo shook his head.