Chapter 29

Lunch with Faith was fun. I didn’t even have to say anything, really. One question sent her off on a bewildering story of how everyone was so nice, and everything was so great. Then she started telling me about her co-workers. I didn’t pay close attention, only really listening out for key phrases that might cause problems for her.

I did notice that though there were a few guys she mentioned, none of them apparently rated high enough on Faith’s chart to deserve more than a name and quick description of what they do. Something, somewhere deep inside of me purred happily at that realization, like I wouldn’t have to find any of those men and eviscerate them for catching Faith’s eye or something.

After we finished eating, Faith had to race me back to my apartment and drop me off, else she would be late to work.

I looked around and noticed that Chloe’s car and both SUV’s were present, but no one was standing outside my apartment waiting for me. I walked up to my apartment and tested the handle. It was unlocked.

I looked around again, but didn’t see any vehicles I didn’t recognize. I could only hope that there wasn’t a trap waiting for me inside. I cast my shield, opened the door, and walked in.

Lawson was sitting on the same stool in the kitchen as before with his feet propped up on the island and leaning back a bit. He held a bag in his hand and smelt of alcohol. Apparently, the vodka malt drinks hadn’t been enough for him.

Chloe, Ella, Michael, and Greta were all sitting in my living room. Everyone looked my way. Chloe stood up, looking as miffed as a raging bull and stomped over to me. “Where have you been?”

“I went with Faith to eat,” I said. “She wanted to celebrate her first day of her new job.”

Chloe’s frown deepened. “Who’s Faith?”

“My step sister,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t leave a note or anything, but I didn’t even know when any of you would be back.” Then I dropped my shield and pushed the door closed.

Chloe cooled down and watched the door close. “Next time, use our bond to let me or one of your Stirpi know what’s going on.”

“You mean like, send you a mental message?” I asked.

She nodded.

I nodded and thumbed at the door. “We should go. I don’t want to waste any time looking for the spell to track down Jordan.”

“You’re not going to wear your formal suit for House Cerenkov?” Chloe asked. “I doubt Dana would have ordered all three suits if you weren’t going to need them.”

I nodded, but I knew what the last suit looked like. “I’ll save that one for Halloween.”

Michael and Greta shared a look. Ella frowned at me. Lawson burped and set down a bottle wrapped in a paper bag.

Irritations aside, I felt that someone had something to say and didn’t want to say it. “What?” I asked the room in general.

“Chloe has a point,” Michael said. “Dana rarely has anything like that custom ordered and ready to use if she doesn’t believe it’ll be needed.”

“So, everyone believes that even though I’m not looking for another Stirpe, I’ll still need the suit?” I asked.

Everyone except Lawson nodded.

I didn’t want to wear that suit. Not only would it make me look like some kind of throwback from an old B-rate Ali Baba movie, but the pants weren’t really pants. They were more like leotards. Skintight from the waist down. Sure I’d be wearing boots and the jacket would fall just below my waist, but whether or not I was ‘wearing’ the pants correctly, everyone would see everything I was packing. It was the most humiliating thing I could think to wear.

No, wait. There was one other thing that would be more humiliating – Nothing.

Maybe if I explained to them? No. They were all Magi. They weren’t humiliated by anything they wore, were they? Maybe I could replace the pants with jeans or a pair of my dress slacks. Maybe that would be okay. I’d still look like a movie extra, but without the humiliation factor.

“Fine,” I said and looked at Chloe. “Do you know where the suit is?”

She blinked and shook her head. “No. I don’t. I think Dana still has it.”

I felt like someone should hold a sign over my head that said, “Moron.” How was I supposed to go visit House Cerenkov while wearing the respective yet humiliating suit if the suit wasn’t even here for me to put on?

Someone’s phone rang. Chloe opened her clutch purse and pulled out her phone. “Yes?” She looked at me. “Yes, he’s right here, Dana.” And she held out the phone to me.

I took the phone and sighed. I should have known better. I put the phone to my ear. “Hello, Dana.”

“You finished sooner than I expected,” she said. “How do you feel?”

“A bit frustrated at the moment,” I said and went and sat on one of my stools. “Do I have to wear that suit for this visit?”

“You’re looking for help,” she said. “I know what the consensus is about what could happen should you end the Lockdown. I agree that you need a spell to help you locate Jordan, that way everyone knows where Valory will be. To ease tensions, I highly suggest you wear the suit.”

I nodded. “Which you have.”

“You’re about to,” she said and I heard a horn both outside and through the phone. “I just arrived.”

“You didn’t want me to leave without putting on the suit first?” I asked.

“Exactly,” she said and then hung up.

I handed the phone back to Chloe and went and opened my front door. Dana was just getting out of her car. I watched her come up the walk and through my doorway. I closed the door. Dana held the suit out to me while looking Ella over. “Welcome to House Ursae,” Dana said.

Ella nodded and looked at me. “Is he usually this difficult?”

“I think everyone will understand his reluctance better once you see him in the suit,” Dana said.

I took the suit and went to my bedroom. I closed the door and thought furiously about what to do. I was the House Lord. Why should I geas to their demands? They’re supposed to follow me. But this wasn’t about my House. This was about me going to another House to ask for help. This was about doing what was necessary to ease any tension they may feel toward me by showing that I respected their customs, if not their choices in formal attire.

I opened the suit bag and pulled the suit out. A suit? Really? No, not really. It was a costume, nothing more. I held up the jacket and examined it. It was black with designs embroidered into the front panels, over the shoulders, and down the back. It didn’t have lapels like a modern suit jacket, but a long soft collar that followed the length of the front of the jacket. There were no buttons, but there were a few belt loops. I found the belt in the suit bag. It was black leather with a simple buckle.

I set the jacket and belt aside. Next I pulled out the pants and shirt. The shirt was a simple muscle-shirt or ‘wife-beater’. It was white and offered no protection against the cold whatsoever. Then again, this wasn’t really meant to be worn in the cold, was it? The Arabian design suggested a summer or desert climate. The pants were tiny, like something only a doll could wear. I understood that they stretched. They better stretch or this was going to end before it even began.

The last thing in the suit bag was a hat of sorts. It was meant to look like a turban, but since I didn’t know how to put on a real turban, I was left with this fake. It was made of a dull gold material, which glittered in the light and was close to the color of the embroidery on the jacket. I set the hat aside and looked in the bag again. Where were the boots?

I went to the door and opened it. Dana stood there holding up a pair of black knee-high leather boots. She smiled at me. “You’re not getting out of it that easy.”