Just then, someone barked a howling laugh in the hallway.
“What was that?” I asked, turning to look through the window.
“It’s Chan,” Freddie said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh like that before.”
“Me neither,” I muttered, squinting suspiciously at the back of his hoverchair.
“Who’s he talking to?” Tig’s pink brows pinched together as we all tried to catch a glimpse of the mystery being hidden behind Chan’s chair.
Finally, Chan drifted to the side, sliding away to reveal?—
“That’s her,” Tig shouted. “She’s the wizard who fixed the pool.”
The female chatting with Chan was Delphinian, but instead of the black-and-red robes her fellow wizards had been wearing, she wore a pair of skinny blue jeans, a simple black T-shirt, and strappy black flats. Her heart-shaped face framed a clever smile. Her long black braids were gathered into a ponytail that swayed past her hips. And somehow, impossibly, she started laughing too.
“Is Chan making a female laugh?” I asked. “That is laughter, right? Not tears?”
“Is that odd or something?” Freddie asked.
I spun back around in my chair. “Super odd. Look, Chan is the warmest and most genuine being I have ever met. But he has absolutely no game.”
“It’s so bad,” Tig agreed. “He’s, like, a chemistry black hole.”
“He can’t bethatbad.” Freddie frowned. “Can he?”
“He’s catastrophic,” I said. “A few years ago, I informed him that some females liked being complimented on their shoes. And the very next female he took on a date filed a report with LunaCorp HR accusing him of being a ‘creepy foot fetishist.’”
Tilting his head to peek past us through the glass,Freddie said, “I don’t know. Looks like he’s holding his own to me.”
I turned back to the window just as Chan said something else to the Delphinian that,stars above, made her laugh again. She flipped the few braids that had escaped her ponytail back off her shoulder in a move that was unmistakableI am into youbody language for every species that had hair.
“Remarkable,” I whispered, staring in pure amazement until Rax and Morgath stomped down the hall, grumbling past Chan and the Delphinian.
“What’s everyone staring at?” Rax grunted while he took one of the chairs next to Freddie. Morgath thudded down onto the other so that the twins flanked him like intimidating bookends.
“We’re staring at Chan,” Tig said. “Because he’s out there, somehow not blowing it with that Delphinian.”
“For real?” Morgath asked skeptically.
“Yes,” I whispered, watching Chan wave an exuberant goodbye to the Delphinian before cruising toward the staff room. “But don’t say a word. This is a monumental achievement for Chan, and I don’t want to embarrass him.”
Everyone nodded. But it didn’t matter. Because not two seconds after Chan entered the staff room, Elanie strode in behind him, staring over her shoulder at the Delphinian who’d already made her way back down the hall. “Who’s that?” Elanie asked at full volume. “She was laughing, Chan.Laughing. Did you actually make a female laugh?”
“Never mind,” I muttered as Chan stammered a stream-of-consciousness explanation about the Fire Ball and logistics and magic shows and how everything was “completely professional.” The poor man’s entire head had turned as red as Martian sand, but when he started in on the difficulties oforganizing appropriate living arrangements for Dave the goat, I decided to step in.
“What are our assignments for the evening?” I asked, pushing my voice louder than the muffled snorts around the table.
Composing himself, even though he was still red-faced, Chan gave us our duties for the Fire Ball. Elanie would manage the Delphinians—and Dave the goat. Freddie and I would be stationed on the floor to keep the peace. Rax and Morgath would work security at the doors. And Tig—not a huge fan of crowds—would run the music, lighting, and effects from the master control booth above the main deck ballroom.
After the meeting adjourned, I gave myself three side assignments for the ball: 1. Learn everything I could about the Delphinian Chan had been speaking with. 2. Make sure the night didn’t end before Garran spun Kasa around the dance floor as flawlessly as he’d spun our serving drone. And 3. Avoid staring at Freddie all night like all I wanted to do was sleep in his suit jacket, preferably while he still wore it.
9
“I forgot to tell you,”Elanie said, walking in step beside me back to our pods. “Raphael is on his way. He’ll arrive in an hour.”
Stumbling over a bit of nothing on the carpet, I said, “What?”
“You know, Raphael. Tall, dark, dreamy.” She made a show of studying her nails. “Your semi-annual ‘fuck buddy.’ He’ll be here for the Fire Ball.”
