to get in front of Elliot was by winning these games. If I didn’t take Elliot out, he could capture me at will, and when I refused to work with him, if that was what he wanted, he’d probably kill me and my people. Even if he let me leave, he’d continue to mess with me until I finally gave him whatever he wanted.
I didn’t have much of a choice.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m in.”
Eighteen
“Okay, then.” Elliot gave me a little smile. “We have our contestants. A schedule will be delivered to your rooms tomorrow. We’ll waste no time. I suggest you get your beauty sleep.”
He waved his hands, and the holograms of the others blinked out, leaving only the Elliot hologram, Austin, and me at the table.
“You can make them disappear?” I blurted.
“My ward can keep them out, or toss them out. The power is mine. Speaking of which, I suggest you erect one outside of your door. A tripwire won’t stop these mages from having a look around.”
The server took my plate, and I lifted my napkin, getting ready to go.
“No dessert?” Cyra asked, disappointed.
“Of course dessert. What do you take me for?” Elliot flicked his hand, and the server bustled away with the dirty plates. “Now, down to business. Let me see this watch of yours, Mr. Steele. You are clearly showing off.”
Austin pushed his chair back gracefully and walked toward the hologram, sticking out his wrist.
“Yes, I knew it.” Elliot laughed and shook his head. “Who did you steal that from? Because that is not a collector’s item anyone would willingly sell.”
“I took it from my father, a long time ago.”
“He didn’t ask for it back?”
“He didn’t know I’d stolen it until it was too late. By then, he had too many of his own problems to get it back. Problems that took him to an early grave.”
“Hmm.” Elliot looked me over. “It seems Miss Ironheart didn’t like the gifts she received.”
“How do you know that name?” I asked.
“I know many things about you, Jessie. I do my homework. Rest assured, you’ll do well in the games. I wouldn’t have made them a requirement if I’d thought you’d suffer.”
“Wouldn’t you? Hmm.” I leaned back as the server came back with three dessert glasses filled with chocolate mousse and topped off with puffs of whipped cream sprinkled with chocolate shavings. Apparently, Cyra was now free to join us.
“We’ve had our differences, Jessie,” Elliot said as Cyra sampled our dishes and then started in on hers. “But we don’t have to be enemies. There is room in the magical world for the demon and the angel to coexist.”
“Not happily,” I replied.
“Well. That remains to be seen.” Elliot stood, and I noted that he didn’t have to push his chair back to do it. “Please, bring in your people and use the room for as long as you would like. No one will bother you here.” He stepped away from his place. “You’ll be going first, by the way. I’ll pair you with that fool Noah. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.”
And then he was gone, disappearing on the spot.
The breath went out of me and I sagged over my dessert. “So this is really happening.”
“That man is confident about regaining his status in the magical world,” Austin said, still standing after playing show and tell with his watch.
“He called in some power, too,” Cyra said through a mouthful. Her dessert was nearly done. “A couple of those mages seem like heavy hitters. Elliot Graves would do well to team up with either of them. Too bad he’ll be dead.”
“Shh!” I wrapped a protective soundproof bubble around us. “He might be gone, but that doesn’t mean he’s not listening somehow.”
Cyra shrugged. “He’s not stupid. He knows why you’re here. Do you think he’s afraid of the others? Not a chance. They want to use him, not kill him. He knows you’re different. He knows you’ll hit him with a kill strike the second he’s in view.”
“She’s right.” Austin put out his hand for me. “Would you care to dance?”
I felt my eyebrows climb. The string quartet was still playing, and the room was empty but for the two of us and Cyra. Still…it was enemy territory.
“Ahhmm…” I took his hand gingerly.
Austin helped me out of the chair and led me around the table to the dance floor in front of the string quartet. A balding man with a round nose and thick glasses smiled at me as he played his violin.
“You