me again. “You could have been much harder on him.”
“I haven’t any energy left to be that petty. I could sense his shame the minute he walked in, and besides, he doesn’t know it, but I already promised an exclusive interview to a rival publication when Levi arrives in Washington. JP will be furious, but it will make us even as far as I’m concerned.”
I closed my eyes again, this time feeling weary as I thought back to JP’s video and the damage it had caused.
“Let me take you home, love,” William said, pulling me close. “You look exhausted.”
I was completely spent, and serious fatigue was creeping into the corners of my body now that the adrenaline had finally receded.
“Let me say goodbye and then we can leave,” I agreed, making my way through the crowd. On my way out, I promised to meet Gabriel and our small inner circle for dinner the following evening. I scanned the room, waving to a few acquaintances and noted with pleasure that Josef and Lily were out on the dance floor, dancing cheek to cheek.
“Does he know she is a fairy?” I asked William as we were leaving.
“Yes,” he said. “Everything is always more complicated when you mix species, but they’ll be fine. They both live very openly in the human world, so it probably gives them something in common.”
“Is he giving her a lift home?”
“Don’t worry, darlin,” William said. “All of your baby chicks will get back to the nest safely.”
“I’m a worrier, I know,” I said, smiling. “I’ll stand down for the evening.”
As we departed, I turned back, savoring the image of celebration. Victory was finally mine again. I had overcome my demons, helped a good man win a seat in the United States Congress, and I had recovered my sense of identity along the way. I leaned into William, as I peered through the glass, enjoying the sensation of a partner at my side.
“Not a bad day’s work, darlin,” William said. “What’s next? The Senate? Maybe the presidency?”
“For now…Paris,” I said, feeling content. “I’ve been thinking about places we should visit,” I continued. “Maybe we can take a trip to Normandy, see the coastline. I’d like to visit the memorials and maybe visit your father’s grave.”
I continued rattling off potential destinations, blissfully unaware that Stoner Halbert was approaching. It was only when William gave my hand a painful squeeze and I looked up to chide him, that I noticed the teetering figure coming toward us. Halbert was drunk, almost to the point of incapacitation. Fifteen points is a bitter loss to swallow, especially when you’re supposed to have the advantage. William made a noise next to me that sounded almost like a growl.
“Halbert,” I said. “What brings you here? Did you come to congratulate me?”
“You would like that, wouldn’t you,” he slurred. “Shall I get down on my knees and tell you how magnificent you are? You’re all the same—not happy until the man has been ruined and humiliated.”
“I think you have the wrong person,” William said. “Olivia has never done a thing to you.”
“She’s never done a thing for me,” he said, almost incoherently.
“Halbert, what is this about? First you steal my clients, then you try to ruin my reputation as a consultant, and now you’re here to what…hurl insults at me? You need to call a cab and go home. It’s one election, sleep it off and get a life.”
“You made an ass out of me,” he said, coming to stand directly in front of me. “Lacy threw me out of her campaign office.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You did that all by yourself. Now go home.”
Halbert swayed back and forth, clearly trying to formulate a response, but no words escaped his lips.
Finally, after a few awkward seconds, I turned my back on Halbert, grabbed William’s hand and walked away.
For a moment, I felt sorry for him. The pain and disappointment of his life hung about him like a cloak. It permeated the air, giving him a rank and bitter scent. This, I mused, was an example of human betrayal left festering, and I felt some compassion for the man whose life had been so disturbed by his wife’s ambitions and dishonesty.
And yet, everything that transpired from that moment on had been his choice. He chose to align himself with the darkest of paths, but had no better angel to come to his aide. Now, he was left with nothing but his own reproach, a reprobate saddled