Had he? Arthur frowned, but the barber was toweling him off, dabbing at the nick with a damp towel, and the pain was already gone.
Arthur’s chair was rightened a second later, and there he was in the mirror. He turned his face from side to side to see his perfectly shaved jaw, no blood in sight.
He looked past his own reflection to the space behind him, but the barber had vanished.
A different man was stepping up to Arthur’s chair. “La coupe de cheveux?” he asked, holding up scissors.
Arthur’s gaze went back to himself, in the mirror. The sizzle of Rory’s magic was fading; in another moment it would be gone. Arthur felt normal, he looked normal.
The man in the mirror didn’t look like a man whose aura was shredding.
With another quiet sigh, he sat back in the chair for his haircut.
Rory glanced around the cabaret’s dark lobby, with its black-painted walls and purple furniture and oversize posters of performers, including one of Stella in a sequined gown. He smiled faintly; he still couldn’t believe she’d sung “Happy Birthday”for him. “Bet she filled every seat in this joint too,” he said to Jade, as he stuck a finger in his shirt collar and tugged it away from his skin.
“She did,” Jade said, with a big sister’s pride. “And Benson used to help Carmen run this place. His wife Anita loved it here too; they may find their way here again.” She eyed Rory with a knowing smile. “Not a fan of the ruffles?”
Rory found a grudging smile back for her. She looked like she belonged on a poster too, in a form-fitting man’s tuxedo with long tails, with one of Carmen’s tiny top hats on top of her bob. Zhang, the only one dressed in his usual clothes, was sitting on the stool next to her, and seemed to be having trouble looking anywhere else.
“Collar’s too tight,” said Rory.
“I’m wearing a cape. Stop whining.” Ellis leaned against the wall. He wore his own tuxedo well, looking the part of a magician’s assistant with a cape and white gloves. But he couldn’t keep up with Gwen, pretty as a movie star in a flouncy red dress and long black gloves, her curls pinned up and tucked under a feathered headband.
Rory, on the other hand, looked ridiculous. He was wearing all white, including wide-legged pants and a ruffled collar, with a black skullcap over his curls and his eyes with their kohl liner behind the glasses. “I look stupid,” he protested. “And I’ve never seen a clown wear glasses.”
“You look exactly as you’re supposed to look,” said Gwen. “Have a little faith in me.”
She said it distractedly, as she rooted through her beaded handbag, like she hadn’t thought about what she was saying.
Rory pursed his lips.
Did he have any faith in Gwen, or in Ellis?
Shouldhe?
Pale evening light suddenly spilled into the club’s lobby, and Gwen looked up. Grief flashed over her face, so quickly Rory almost missed it.
He looked over to see Arthur walking into the lobby, black tuxedo and white tie, the afternoon sun haloing him compared to the darkness inside.
“Aw, damn,” Rory’s mouth said, without his permission, as he forgot everything but the sight of Arthur. “I could be with you a thousand years and never get used to how handsome you are.”
Arthur smiled at that, as Gwen looked at Ellis. “He is capable of being charming, I’ll give him that.”
Arthur was still smiling as he gestured at Rory’s Pierrot getup. “I like this.”
“You better not,” Rory warned him, which turned Arthur’s smile to a grin.
Jade hopped down off her stool onto high-heel boots and grabbed Zhang by the hand. “Come on. The show must go on, after all.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Rory’s irritation with his outfit had vanished by the time their taxi had inched its way through crowded streets to drop them off near a giant building with a glass-domed roof. The clown facade felt a lot more like protection now that they were here; he really wasn’t a great actor, and the others really had picked a costume for him that let him hide behind them and keep his mouth shut.
As they piled onto the sidewalk, Zhang’s astral projection materialized in front of them. His physical form was at a nearby cafe, where he’d be able to respond if there was an emergency. “The performance is in an auditorium that usually shows ballets, operas, and plays. There’s a back door into the building that leads to the performers’ greenroom. There’s also a special room off the coat check; door is locked and covered in a thick coat of lead-based paint.Freshpaint, two days old at most.”
Jade raised an eyebrow. “So you can’t get in.”
“Exactly,” said Zhang.
