“Unidentified. In the summoned star category.”
Cale blinked. “Oh. Right. How do you want to dress?”
“Comfortable?”
Ambera chuckled. “She will be at Stovos’s party.”
“I will be performing. I am going to be wearing silk and leather.”
“What about after your set?” Ambera smiled. “Delphine has room at her table.”
“Um, I will be tired and sweaty.”
“Tough. It’s a party, and there are people there who can protect you from the warlocks.”
“Like who?”
“The master warlock, for one?”
“Oh. Um, I don’t have...”
Ambera stepped in front of her and frowned. “This is my treat, remember. Delphine was making money before she left the house. She’s invested and saved it all over the city and around the world. She dumps it on me, so I want to spend some of it now and then. She has presented me with a lovely target. That would be you.”
“Ah. Right. I am wishing our third was closer to draw your fire.”
Cale blinked. “Third?”
“We were all pulled together. Landed in bodies on the same night. Grew up at the same time in different places, different ways.”
Cale nodded and started measuring. “I will make outfits that can go from normal to expanded.”
There was a jingle in the front of the shop and some quiet words.
The assistant came to the back with starstruck eyes. “Miss Halla is here.”
Ambera paused. “Halla? Elf Halla?”
The assistant nodded slowly. “She has some orders that she’s picking up.”
Ambera looked to Bethany. “Excuse me. She’s my ex’s sister. Also, an excellent friend.”
Ambera darted into the front room and squealed. There was a low laugh and a lot of high-speed speech, and then Ambera was hauling an elf through the doorway.
The woman had a riot of black curls with gold bands studded through them and walnut-coloured skin. She wasn’t the airy elf that Bethany thought of. This woman was designed to run through forests and speak to creatures.
“Halla, this is Bethany. She’s a friend of Delphine’s.”
The elf extended her hand with a smile. “Pleased to meet you.”
When Bethany’s hand touched hers, the elf grinned, and her eyes flicked black.
Bethany gasped. “How old are you?”
Ambera said, “Halla is one hundred and seventy-five.”
Halla smiled. “The day before the breakup with Ambera and my brother, there was an accident. She came to my side, and he found that unforgivable. He found a new mistress, and Ambera was there when I woke up, still friends after everything.”
Ambera nodded. “She was in a helluva accident. Her car was crushed, and she had sword wounds running through her, but she recovered well after they got her back.”
