ONE HUNDRED TWENTY

Party Animals

“Alden…what in Apex did you just pull out of your bag?” Lute asked, blinking at the object in Alden’s hand as the four roommates approached the alleyway where Benjamin Velra’s birthday party was being held.

It was six o’clock in the evening, and they were in an Apex neighborhood Alden had never been to before. It was known for its nightlife, according to the others, but it was too early for there to be much evidence of that.

“It’s a present.” Alden held up a box covered in ryeh-b’t wrapping paper. “Aren’t we supposed to bring gifts? It’s a birthday party, and we invited ourselves.”

“Benjamin’s turning seventy,” said Lute.

“Adults still get birthday presents, don’t they?”

“I didn’t bring anything,” Lexi said. “But you should have, Lute. He’s your uncle.”

“Seriously?”

“Look! He made the bow out of origami paper,” said Haoyu.

“What do you even get for a seventy-year-old millionaire you’ve never met?” Lexi asked.

“It’s a sleep mask. I bought three different ones to try, and I haven’t used this one yet.”

[Lute: I guess it fits in with your persona, Cottontail.]

Alden bit back a sigh.

Lute’s goals for the night were simple enough. First, he wanted to make a reappearance in front of his family in the least suspicious way possible. “Which means pretending I want something from them,” he’d said, “since none of them would believe it if I just started longing for their company after all this time.”

To this end, he would be dropping hints about wanting to show Libra off to his roommates. Ideally, this would eventually lead to them all being invited to the megayacht, which was high on the list of locations Lute wanted to search for evidence of his grandmother’s criminality.

Secondly, he wanted to cozy up to some cousins who had complaints about Aulia and see if they dropped any interesting information.

“If it was the kind of party where the mocktails weren’t so mock, we’d probably have more luck,” he explained as they walked. “But Uncle Benjamin is a person who feels like he’s done something wild when he orders more than one thing from a dessert menu. It’ll be a good starter event for you, Lexi.”

“Why are you mentioning me specifically?” Lexi asked in a suspicious voice.

“You seem like you need easing into your role more than the other two, Hushin’ Russian.”

“No.”

“That’s the eleventh codename you’ve refused. Cottontail has accepted his with grace, and Foe Cooker made up a good one all by himself.”

Alden, Haoyu, and Lexi were supposed to be their normal selves “if your selves were more normal” according to Lute. Apparently, he had little faith in their acting abilities, so he’d spent his time in class today making character sheets for each of them.

[Lute: Remember, Cottontail, you’re…]

[Alden: Not a fan of socializing, but grateful that Aulia gave me a bunch of money and flattered that she’s been sending me emails. Instead of weirded out and wary.]

Lute nodded. [I’ve been told that normal people like it when my grandmother wants to shower them with attention and gifts.]

[Alden: I’m not sure you’re right about those people being normal, but I’ll go with it.]

[Haoyu: I’m a typical teenager who has come to this party because parties are awesome, and I’m finally old enough to do whatever I want! I’m a party animal who definitely doesn’t want to run over Aulia Velra with a car!]

“And I just came along because I have nothing better to do with my life on a Tuesday night than make sure you three don’t stay out too late and get in trouble,” Lexi said sarcastically. “I—”

“There’s the place,” Lute interrupted, gesturing toward a curtain of glimmering stars that obscured the entrance to the alleyway from view. He stopped to adjust the eye patch he was wearing—a plain black one today.

He kept on adjusting it for longer than was normal.

“You know,” Alden said, “if this thing sucks we can leave anytime.”

“True,” said Haoyu. “As a party animal, I only animal at the best parties. So if this one isn’t the best…”

“We all have homework we should be doing,” Lexi added.

Lute stopped fiddling around with the eye patch. “Come, my entourage,” he said. “I’m going to get myself a yacht trip.”

[Lute: And by yacht trip, I mean justice.]

Haoyu glanced at Alden. [Do you think this is a bad idea?] he asked via private message.

[I can’t actually tell,] Alden admitted. [I think it might be the kind of thing where if he takes a stab at it once or twice, he’ll feel better even if it goes nowhere. And all I have to do is mingle with some people who will probably annoy me. How bad can it really be?]

******

The decorations at the party were impressive enough that even Lexi and Haoyu—who were much more used to having magic around them for special events than Alden was—stopped for a moment after they entered the alley to admire the location.

Haoyu whistled.

“Are those dumpsters oozing something that looks like molten gold?” Lexi asked.

“I thought you said your uncle had boring taste?” Alden examined the graffiti on the wall beside him. It looked like ordinary spray paint, but every time he blinked, it changed. A Happy Birthday message disappeared to be replaced by a long green tongue wrapping around a lollipop. “If this is boring, I’m concerned about what you think of me.”

“He does have boring taste. But some of his kids planned this thing. So they included stuff they thought was cool. According to Aimi the theme is ‘Glitter and Grunge.’” Lute reached up to shove an opalescent, basketball-sized bubble away from his face, but as soon as his fingers touched it, it burst. A cloud of metallic confetti flew outward, showering them all, and a sparkling choker hit the pavement.

“That is costume jewelry, isn’t it?” Lexi asked, staring down at the necklace.

The answer came not from Lute, but from a boy who’d just stepped through the star curtain behind them. “If you find a set of earrings or a watch, those are real. Everything else is just rhinestones. Hello, Lute.”

“Hi, Roman,” Lute said in a guarded tone.

“What are you doing here?” Roman asked. He had dark, slightly curly hair and magnetic deep-set eyes. His voice was ear-catching and enjoyable in a way that Alden had learned to recognize as a feature of some peoples’ high Appeal. “Are you coming to get your eye back?”

But even the Appeal can’t make something like that sound less disturbing.

Alden, Haoyu, and Lexi were all frozen.

Lute’s expression blanked. “You do know it’s not on a shelf in Grandma’s closet, don’t you? It got sliced and diced. It was the exploded remnants of an eyeball. Medical waste. I can’t get it back.”

[so bad bad so soon! very awkwardness how do I party animal now?] Haoyu’s hands were in his pockets, so it was a pure mental texting effort. He’d sent it to both Alden and Lexi.

[You’re pretty good at that,] Alden replied. [You should do mental more.]

As for the answer to Haoyu’s question…he had no idea.

“I feel bad for you though,” said Roman. “I keep thinking, ‘What if it was my eye?’ It almost could’ve been. And everyone says you won’t get a new one because you’re just being stubborn to hurt Aunt Jessica’s feel—”

“Hi, I’m Alden!” He thrust his hand toward Lute’s cousin. “I’m a Rabbit, too. We must have so much in common. As Rabbits.”

He tried to cover his wince with a smile. What the heck, brain? You couldn’t think of anything else to say to interrupt the conversation?

Before Roman could shake his hand, Haoyu stuck his own out. “I’m Haoyu. You can think of me as a party badger!”

Lexi crossed his arms over his chest. “Is it all right if we hit the bubbles with Meister weapons?”

Roman Velra squinted at all three of them, then turned to Lute with a questioning look.

“These are my roommates,” said Lute. “If they were normal, they would have introduced themselves as my roommates.”

“I’m his roommate,” said Alden.

“Me too,” Haoyu said.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“We’re also his friends,” Haoyu added.

“Yeah we don’t just live with him,” said Alden “We actually like him.”

They both turned to Lexi.

“He hogs the bathtub.”

“All right!” Lute said, clapping his hands together once. “Roommates introduced. It was all very normal. Why don’t you three go eat something? Roman, do you know where Aulia is right now?”

As they left Lute to his relatives, Haoyu said, “Did he tell us to go eat just so that our mouths would be full and we couldn’t talk to anyone?”

“Probably. What’s a party badger?” Alden asked.

“I was trying to figure out what kind of party animal I should be. I didn’t mean to say it out loud.”

Another confetti explosion hit them, and they looked over to see Lexi picking up a rhinestone tiara.

“I didn’t use Writher,” he said defensively.

“We weren’t judging you,” Haoyu said.

“I’m going to pop every single one of those things that drifts near me,” Alden agreed.

******

They clung together for the first twenty minutes of the party, as more Velras and friends of Velras arrived. Alden intended to keep clinging to the people he knew were safe, but when he took a moment to set his present down on a table that held a large chocolate cake, he found himself abandoned. Lexi was weaving through party guests, stalking a particularly large confetti bubble with an intense look on his face that would suit him well if he was ever trying to strike fear into the heart of…well, anyone. And Haoyu had been caught up in conversation by a girl who might be Lute’s cousin Miyo.

He was about to text to ask Haoyu if he wanted to be rescued, when a pair of hands landed on his shoulders from behind. “Salutations! Long time no see.”

Uneven. The gremlin was so petulant when it conveyed the idea, too. It was convinced Alden was currently attending a party full of sinners.

We’ve talked about this so many times. Wordchains get paid back. It’s not like all of these Velras have reneged on half a dozen sacred contracts since this morning. They’re just carrying debt.

He turned around to face the person who’d grabbed him. “Aimi,” he said warily. “Hello.”

She was wearing a red minidress, a lot of costume jewelry, and a broad smile.

“You lived,” she said. “Good job.”

Well that’s one way to acknowledge what happened without making it too gloomy. “Thank you.”

“You used my hot tub! And you came to a family party with Lute! You’re one of my cousins now!”

“Nope.”

“Did you bring a present?” She was looking around him to see the package on the table. “That’s great! We said no gifts on the invitations, because that’s what we did last year and the year before that and the year before that. But then I think Dad was sad about it this year because seventy is a round number…or something. I’ll take this to him!”

That was painless enough, thought Alden as she swept off with the gift. One Velra successfully interacted with. Now, where did the guys—

The mood of the crowd in the alleyway shifted. It wasn’t dramatic, but Alden still noticed. The chatter of voices stopped drowning out the music. Someone standing at a wooden spool table nearby spilled their drink. A couple of tiny drones whirred up into the air at their owners’ commands, and a few too many heads turned at once toward the entrance.

Alden followed their gazes and caught his first real-life glimpse of Aulia Velra. She looks better than in pictures.

He’d assumed she would; powerful superhumans were like that. Their moreness came across clearer in person than on film. He just hadn’t expected her to look different in quite the way she did.

Stately and intimidating—that was what he’d imagined she would be like at first, because she was old and political and rich. Then he’d heard Lute’s story, and he’d known that wasn’t right. But he still hadn’t quite reached the conclusion he drew now, within seconds of seeing her walk into the party. Her arms were spread wide to greet a very young boy—no doubt one of her many grandchildren—who ran toward her excitedly.

Aulia squeezed the little boy in a hug, kissed him on the forehead, and then pointed up at the highest of the flying bubbles. He nodded, and she winked at him. An instant later, the elastic band holding her brownish blond hair up in a very perky ponytail was in her hand. As her hair spilled down her back, she looped one end of the band around her thumb and drew the other taut. Then she shot it at the bubble.

A second later, confetti rained down and the boy dashed toward the falling prize. And Aulia was already moving through the party, altering it around her with every step she took. She pointed at someone’s cup and asked a question, and they offered her a sip of their drink. After she swallowed it, she smiled, then she gestured to a man passing by wearing a giant necklace. She called out a joke.

He blinked, then guffawed.

Aulia tossed her head back and laughed with him.

She moved on, shaking a hand here, stealing a bacon-wrapped jalapeño from a partygoer’s plate there. Fully on theme, she was wearing workboots and coveralls artfully smeared with gold paint and what looked like oil.

Even knowing the things he knew, Alden couldn’t overcome the impression that Aulia Velra was one of the most alive people he’d ever seen. She was vibrant, and even though people were parting to get out of her way or trailing along in her wake in hopes of gaining her notice, it didn’t feel like she was controlling them. It looked like she belonged there. Right at the heart of things.

Alden had wondered how she could keep winning elections when she apparently had so many enemies.

Now I know.

He was so focused on her that it took him a minute to take in the people who’d arrived with her. They were afterthoughts, decorative backdrop for the star of the show.

Lute’s mother was there. Jessica Velra’s appearance was so noteworthy and so fresh in Alden’s mind that she was the first one he saw after Aulia. She was just a step behind, her white blond braid hanging over her shoulder. She was in a shredded skirt and blouse that looked more like a zombie apocalypse costume than anything else, and her eyes were flitting between one of her smart watches and her cell phone.

If there’s one person at this party I have to avoid at all costs it’s her.

He was less worried about her recognizing him from their brief encounter the other night than he was about the fact that he had no idea how to talk to her. It was like Haoyu had said; Lute was angry with Jessica, but it seemed like a really conflicted sort of anger.

Alden understood that he was supposed to say hello to Aulia, be polite and dull, make sure she didn’t know he was freaked out by the fact that she believed they were fated to interact—that kind of thing.

But he’d been given zero advice for how to deal with Jessica. And he hadn’t asked because he didn’t know how to ask.

Hey, Lute. Your mom betrayed your trust and stole your choices about your future. She’s scary and pitiable at the same time. She’s your mom. You love her. Am I supposed to be nice to her or yell at her for you?

He mentally drew a big X over Jessica and promised himself he’d run away if she came toward him regardless of how it would look.

See. A plan. I can handle Velras. I…and there’s Hazel.

It wasn’t like Alden was surprised to see her, but he was sure a frown crossed his face when he did.

Maybe I should have taken the wordchain from Lute after all.

Lute had offered to dole out the wordchain that Alden was currently learning. Self-mastery, Gracefulness, My Body Becomes My Servant—whatever they wanted to call it, there were some nice uses for it in social contexts. Alden had refused on the grounds that a party sounded both boring and full of annoyances, which was a bad combo with the heightened bodily awareness. Lute did fine with it, but Lute had had a lot of practice.

It would be good to have conscious control over all of my facial expressions. But it’s probably better to make a funny face or two instead of bottling up a bunch of discomfort behind a placid smile until I set my clothes on fire and yell at people for talking loudly.

Hazel was near the back of the group that had arrived with Aulia. She was wearing a tight, shiny silver dress and a matching flapper headband. Instead of adding something grimy to her own look, she had brought along a boy to be the grunge to her glitter.

He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and he was smeared with what appeared to be plain old dirt. Like he’d found a fresh flowerbed to roll in right before he arrived.

Alden couldn’t criticize. He was in chinos and a button-down because Lute either hadn’t known or hadn’t seen fit to tell anyone that people would be in costume for this thing. Haoyu, who had decided a party animal would take advantage of all aspects of the party, was attaching costume jewelry to himself every time a bubble popped near him, and he’d pinned an ugly rhinestone brooch to Alden’s shirt.

Hazel’s boyfriend looks familiar.

He assumed that was who the dirt-smeared boy was anyway. She beckoned him with a finger when he trailed too far behind her, though, and it seemed weirdly commanding. So who knew?

Corin Velra was hovering around Aulia as well. A man and woman Alden was guessing were probably Hugh and Cady, based on Lute’s descriptions, were near her, too.

And…

[Alden: Lute, your grandma just spotted you.]

He saw Haoyu peering over Miyo’s shoulder to check out the situation. Lexi, so far down the alley now that he looked like he was trying to escape from the party altogether, turned around to see. The warning wasn’t necessary for Lute, though.

A moment ago, he’d been talking to a woman who was sitting at a table by herself. Now, he was standing at the end of the buffet that had been set up in the middle of the passage, with his back straight and his arms loose at his sides.

His eye was fixed on Aulia. And her eyes were fixed on him. Both of their faces were suddenly opaque.

[Haoyu: It’s like a Western.]

It wasn’t the most obvious comparison, but Alden got what he meant. If Aulia and Lute had been wearing cowboy hats, he would have expected them to draw pistols on each other.

“That’s him,” a man leaning against a wall nearby muttered under his breath to the woman beside him. “The newest Velra S-rank.”

Guess he’s not a family member?

The moment stretched, and a tension that Alden didn’t think he was imagining filled the alley. Then Aulia smiled. She waved at Lute like they were friends encountering each other casually on the street, and almost everything went back to the way it had been. Chatter, music, confetti raining down.

Almost everything.

Jessica wasn’t moving through the crowd with Aulia anymore. She was just standing there, staring at her son. Lute watched her for a second, then turned his back and snatched a plate from the buffet.

“Let’s go back him up.” Haoyu was suddenly at Alden’s shoulder, wearing a pair of oversized rhinestone studded glasses and a determined expression. “Foe Cooker and Cottontail are on duty.”

“If we’re not careful, those names are going to spread and stick.”

“No. Not mine anyway. If a name like Foe Cooker ever started to gain public traction for me, my parents’ agents would damage control it out of existence. Too comedic, violent, and confusing.”

He headed toward Lute, and Alden joined him.

“Grab a plate,” Lute said lightly. “There’s paper and china to choose from.”

“The china can be weaponized more easily in an emergency, so I’m taking one of those,” Haoyu said.

Alden had been reaching for paper, but he changed his mind.

“You’re planning to throw plates at people?” Lute asked.

“It’s not a plan. More of a precaution.”

Lute was spooning caviar onto his plate beside a mound of potato chips.“Where’d Lexi go?”

Alden glanced around. “It looks like he was making his way over to us, but Roman caught him.”

“That should be interesting. Roman’s not sure if he’s forgiven my grandmother or not yet—his resolve is weak—but he wants to discuss how he feels about it all apparently. And Lexi’s so good at talking about feelings.”

Haoyu paused in the act of reaching for some of the chips. “It’ll be fine…”

He didn’t have a lot of confidence in his voice.

Alden was too busy keeping one eye on Aulia, who was approaching them slowly but surely, to pay attention to what he filled his own plate with. By the time Lute’s grandmother reached the buffet table, he looked down to realize he’d grabbed nothing he could actually eat except for a large number of radishes from the crudité platter.

I am a normal guy who has not been avoiding her like the plague since I made it back to Earth. A simple radish enjoyer who is much less interesting than she thinks.

“Lute!” Aulia said, smiling charmingly at him as she bypassed the plates and grabbed a sesame bonbon. “How are you, dear? It’s been months!”

“I’ve been worse,” Lute said.

Alden had wondered how exactly Lute would interact with her. Apparently he was going for a neutral tone. I guess he thought warmth would be fake and hostility wouldn’t fit with his supposed reason for being here.

“And I heard a little rumor that you’d moved back onto campus at Celena North.”

“Yes.” Lute gestured toward Alden and Haoyu. “These are my roommates. Guys, this is my grandmother, Aulia.”

“No need for introductions! I think we all recognize each other.” She stepped forward and patted Haoyu on the arm. “Haoyu, it’s wonderful to meet you. I hardly ever get the chance to have a real conversation with your parents, but every time I run into them, they mention you!”

“Thank you,” said Haoyu, smiling like he hadn’t ever had a single unkind thought about her. “They like me a lot.”

“As it should be!”

Next, she turned to Alden. “Alden, I’m so glad you’ve joined us. And you’re in school with my grandson! I couldn’t be happier about that. How are you settling into life here on our little Avowed oasis?”

He decided at the last minute not to try for a smile. Haoyu was too good at faking. He’d suffer in comparison. “I’m doing pretty well,” he said. “I’m glad to be in school again, and learning my way around Anesidora has been fun. But it’s been an overwhelming year.”

Aulia shook her head sympathetically. “I can’t even imagine. Listen, if you need anything at all, call me. Your messages will come right through. After what you’ve been through…you have a friend here. More than one! I feel we Velras have a bit of a connection with you. Isn’t that right?”

The entourage was nodding.

“I know Hugh and I are personally so grateful to you,” the curvy brunette woman said, reaching out with a hand to shake Alden’s. “Hazel is, too.”

She is Cady, then. She was also less than subtle. The Velras weren’t supposed to mention that he’d given Hazel Chainer in front of Haoyu. They didn’t know he knew.

Hugh and Corin were nodding. Alden shook hands with them.

Quick. Painless. This is going well. Do I shake hands with Hazel?

They’d already met. He didn’t want to. He aimed for her probable boyfriend first, so he could think about it a second longer, only for the other teenager to take a couple of steps back.

Alden looked at his own hand in bewilderment. It’s not dirty or anything.

He switched to a wave. “Nice to meet you.”

The boy looked embarrassed, so maybe he hadn’t meant to retreat.

“We’ve met,” he said. “I mean not really, but I know who you are anyway. I’m Jacob.”

Alden blinked. No Anesidoran accent, plus his age, plus vaguely familiar equaled… “Were we in intake together?”

“Jacob is a C-rank globie,” Hazel said.

That seemed like an odd way to introduce your boyfriend, but Alden was too busy trying to figure out where and when he might actually have seen this person to worry about it. There were thousands of teenagers in intake at any given time, so it wasn’t like he’d gotten to know even a small fraction of them.

“He’s a Wright,” Hazel added.

Ohhh…he’s the runaway.

Alden hadn’t met Jacob. But the boy had been pointed out by others on more than one occasion as a curiosity—the guy who kept stealing boats and getting dragged back. Everyone had thought he was going to be put in secure housing, but he’d supposedly calmed down enough that it hadn’t been necessary.

How did someone like that end up going to parties with Hazel Velra?

Alden felt someone target him.

He was in a small crowd. It could’ve been anyone for any number of reasons, most of them harmless. But his eyes automatically met Hazel’s brown ones.

She wasn’t wearing the smile she’d had at the funeral or that day when she’d called in his Peace of Mind. She looked annoyed and unhappy.

If that’s you, good luck screwing me over again, thought Alden. I’m debt free right now.

She glanced away from him.

It’s partially your fault I had to go through an hours-long fear session about Kibby’s future, followed by an emotional breakdown in front of Boe. I would probably have had my Peace of Mind ready to spend that day if not for you. I wouldn’t have had to cast it again. Or, at least, I wouldn’t have had to pay the bad half back right away if I wasn’t worried about you sniping me with your skill when I was out in public. You suck, Hazel.

An elbow nudged him, and he snapped out of it to see Haoyu giving him a questioning look.

Great. I was glaring.

[Alden: Sorry. I don’t like her.]

[Haoyu: Big shocking to me. Such a friendly face you were wear.] He rolled his eyes for emphasis.

Alden wished more people would boldly attempt mental texting before they’d mastered it. The messages were fun to read.

[Lexi: Someone come here and make this Roman person leave me alone.]

[Alden: It hasn’t even been five minutes. Can’t you handle him for five minutes?]

[Lexi: I’d rather let Writher handle him.]

Haoyu’s eyes widened. “Wow, the snacks are so good!” he said. “Let me take some to my friend.”

Alden was going to follow him, but before he could, Aulia popped the last bite of the bonbon in her mouth, brushed off her hands, and said, “You know, Alden, Hazel will be starting university at Celena North in a couple of months. Maybe you two could get together and explore the campus sometime. Give her the full tour once you’ve learned your way around!”

“That would be so lovely! Wouldn’t it, Hazel?” Cady said encouragingly.

“I think so, I think so,” said Corin.

“Our Hazel’s very accomplished,” said Hugh. “She’s spent so much time on the Triplanets. I’m sure you two would have a lot in common.”

Except for Jessica, who was still staring at Lute from over by the brick wall of the alleyway, and Jacob, who was inching away from the group little by little, like he was hoping he could make it over to the nearest dumpster to hide, the whole entourage was looking at Hazel now.

She hitched a smile onto her face and nodded at Alden. “I would love that!”

The foreboding was so heavy it was almost crushing. One little campus tour wouldn’t kill him, but if he said yes, all of these people might think sending Hazel in as Alden’s very own Velra family outreach person was the way to go forevermore.

Aulia probably assumes it’s totally natural. Lute’s a loose cannon in her mind, and here’s Hazel being the right age and…wait. What if she doesn’t just think I’m important to the Velra family in general? What if she thinks I’m important to Hazel specifically since I brought her Chainer?

Hazel had already popped up in a very unwelcome fashion once. Alden didn’t want that to become a regular thing.

He turned to Lute, pleading for help with his eyes, and Lute coughed. “Don’t matchmake my roommate with a random family member within two minutes of meeting him. It’s weird.”

Hazel looked at him like he was a bug. Cady and Hugh looked at him like he was the devil. Corin sputtered something about nonsense, and Aulia chuckled and shook her head fondly.

“Oh dear! Don’t let our Lute scare you off, Alden. I was just suggesting a friendly arrangement. I’d ask him to give his cousin a little tour, but…” she lowered her voice in a conspiratorial whisper, “…they haven’t always gotten along. One too many childish insults exchanged over the years. They’ll laugh about it one day when they’re as old as I am!”

Lute’s mouth tightened, and his cheeks reddened.

It wasn’t much. Alden couldn’t tell if he was angry to have his conflict with his cousin reduced to “childish insults” or if he was just flustered to have his grandmother lightly disparage him in front of a friend. Whatever the case, he got a handle on himself quickly, his face turning bored as he scooped caviar up with one of his chips.

He’s going to let it go.

There was no reason not to. It was the tiniest of digs if it could even be considered a dig at all. Aulia wasn’t saying it to hurt anyone. She was using it to smooth over their current conversation. And probably to make a polite excuse to cover for anything Lute might have told me about Hazel. The easy thing to do is let it go.

“It’s fine,” said Alden. “Lute’s only trying to help me out. The thing is…”

He hesitated. Breaking social norms intentionally wasn’t something he did. It hadn’t occurred to him to do it until right this second, and he hadn’t thought it through well. All the Velras were staring at him with varying degrees of interest. Aulia’s smile was so warm and inviting it was practically begging for him to take her into his confidence.

She probably didn’t mean for it to result in this.

“The thing is I don’t want to be around you, Hazel.” Alden heard himself deliver the words bluntly. “I don’t feel comfortable with you near me. A few weeks ago when you were trying to get my attention, a wordchain that would have made me more open to talking to you came due before it should have. And it’s not like I can prove it was you, but I do think it was. I’m sorry if I’m falsely accusing you, but…I’m really not okay with a stranger deciding on a whim that I should take a dose of a mood alterer for her convenience.”

Except for what sounded like Lute choking to death on his chips behind Alden, there was silence from the little group. And Keiko Velra, who’d been walking by with a slice of cake as Alden had started speaking, had stopped to stare at them all.

Hugh, Cady, and Corin looked utterly aghast.

Hazel’s face had frozen so completely that Alden had no idea what she was feeling other than shock.

Aulia’s expression had gone just as opaque as it had upon first spotting Lute.

“I’m sorry,” Alden said to Aulia. “I’m grateful to you…and to you, Keiko.”

Remember, Lute’s character sheet for more-normal Alden says I am grateful and flattered.

He looked over to the Chainer superhero, who gave him a confused nod.

“I bought a coat that probably saved my life with the money you guys gave me for the class trade. Even if it is the thing that got me in trouble in the first place, it was still really useful. And Aimi seems…fun. And Lute’s been an amazing roommate.”

The amazing roommate was still choking. Did he need help back there?

“So I hope I’m not offending anybody here,” Alden continued. “But I’m going to pass on hanging out with Hazel.”

“You can’t prove anything!” Hazel’s mother said wildly.

“Young man!” Corin exclaimed. “To accuse my granddaughter of such a—”

“I’m not trying to prove anything.” Alden felt surprisingly calm in the face of Hazel’s family being so upset. “I don’t have to. I don’t even want to. I’m just saying that an unwelcome wordchain-related thing happened right as I ran into one of the only Chainers in the universe. It’s made me suspicious of that person.”

Hazel’s mother started to say something else, but Hazel interrupted her. “I’m very sorry you would assume something so awful about me.”

Her words were steady, but at her sides, her hands were clenched in the crinkly silver fabric of her dress. “Obviously I can’t do anything to defend myself. We Chainers don’t make our profiles public, so I can’t even show you my skill. It doesn’t do anything like what you’re suggesting.”

For a second, Alden felt a stab of doubt. It would be mortifying if I was totally wrong about her doing it. There are multiple flashing signs pointing to her, and Lute all but confirmed it, but…

“Perhaps if you can’t trust me, you can consider my qualifications,” Hazel said, standing taller. “I have been formally recognized for my responsible chaining by the Artonans themselves. You know I’m an authorized witness. I have been since before I was even an Avowed. Do you really think they just hand something like that out to untrustworthy people?”

“Most of the Chainers in the family are authorized witnesses, Hazel,” Lute chimed in. “It doesn’t come with a halo.”

She glared at him. “You—”

“Hazel,” Aulia said in a sharp voice, “I’m very embarrassed by you right now. Apologize to Alden.”

Alden blinked.

The entourage seemed to be holding their breath all of a sudden.

Hazel stared at her grandmother in shock. “Why would I apologize when there’s no proof I did any—?”

Aulia silenced her with a look. “No proof? We all know what your skill does. Do you expect the whole family to stand here behind you and back you up while you lie to someone about one of your misjudgments?”

Hugh made a sound of protest, but it was so soft Aulia didn’t even bother to acknowledge it. Instead, she looked back at Alden.

“I’m so sorry, dear. As Hazel says, the family doesn’t share their profiles. Unfortunately, conducting Chainer business to the best of our abilities demands a certain amount of discretion from us.” She said it as if the need for secrecy was an inconvenience to her, too, rather than an idea she’d cooked up on her own. “But under these circumstances, I can’t imagine leaving you in the dark. Hazel’s skill does in fact do what you suspect.”

[Lute: !!! Ohmyshit. Yes!]

“It’s a simple ability that…how shall I put it? It gently ushers a chain toward its debtor.”

“Grandma, you can’t just—!” Hazel looked stricken.

“It seems my granddaughter has been almost unforgivably selfish. Of course it will never happen again. What wordchain was it?”

Alden was thrown off-guard. Not having planned this all out, he didn’t know what he would have expected Aulia Velra’s reaction to be to his accusation if he’d had time to consider it. But it wasn’t this. And Hazel, Hugh, and Corin’s faces said they were way more horrified by this outcome than seemed normal.

“It was Peace of Mind,” he said slowly.

“I see,” said Aulia. “A wonderful chain. One of the most popular ones in the universe in fact.”

Corin and Hugh blanched. Cady was wringing her hands. From the corner of his eye, Alden noted that Keiko had a sort of ready-to-pounce look about her. Like if something went too horribly wrong she was prepared to break it up.

Popular is bad…because the chain is super healthy? he guessed. So there’s even less reason for her to usher the debt toward me than there would have been otherwise?

He assumed Hazel’s ushering initiated a wordchain’s debt repayment in a way that was less costly to the chain than the usual automatic snap back that came if you just went too long without saying the other half. It might make sense for the Palace of Unbreaking to create a skill like that.

“Lute,” Aulia was saying now, “if you knew about this you should have told me right away.”

“Should I have?”

“Of course. Do you think I would have let this situation stand for a single moment?”

Lute didn’t answer.

“Hazel,” said Aulia, “apologize.”

Her expression looked like it had the power to pin people to walls.

The entourage certainly wasn’t moving; even Jessica and Jacob were locked in place. And the effect expanded outward as more people at the party realized a drama of some kind was unfolding. A few guests who’d started to approach the buffet for food had changed their minds.

Hazel, though, didn’t look pinned. Her face was flushed, and her hands were shaking. And it didn’t look like embarrassment.

She looks really pissed off.

“You just announced my skill!” she cried. “It’s supposed to be private. You just told him.”

“You kind of told him first,” Lute muttered.

Hazel didn’t seem to hear him. Her attention was all on Aulia now. “It’s supposed to be a secret. It’s supposed to be mine! How could you do this to me?!”

Aulia tapped her own chin with a slender finger and looked up in mock thoughtfulness. “Someone who wants to keep her talents a secret should perhaps consider not using them against our family friends.”

“I am your granddaughter!” Hazel shouted. “I am your protégée. I’ve done everything you ever asked me to, and you gave my S to that whiny, lazy little whiff the second he was selected!”

“Hazel!” Corin said in alarm.

Hugh was reaching out to calm her. Cady’s hands were over her own mouth.

“I’ve been working for this family for years,” Hazel said, slapping her father’s hand away. “Every day. All day. I’ve been studying for you and impressing people for you and doing the things only I can do for you, and Lute casts one little wordchain right and you choose him? Him!?” She switched to Artonan. <<He hates you. He hates Anesidora. He can’t even talk.>>

“Are you almost through with this little fit?” Aulia asked in an icy voice.

Hazel pointed at Alden, who raised his plate protectively in front of himself. Radishes rolled off the edge and hit the pavement. As the music filling the alley changed to a song that started with a screechy electric guitar solo, Hazel said, “I was just trying to get to know him for you because the same stupid superstition that makes you think Lute is special makes you think this boy matters. Do you think I want to spend time with someone like him for myself?”

So the feeling’s mutual.

“He could have had any class he wanted, and he begged to be a maid!”

Hey, thought Alden.

“Hey!” shouted a voice that sounded like Roman’s.

“Hazel, please sweetie,” her mother said. “You’ve had a bad day. Why don’t we—”

“He’s just some rude globie who got lucky and got Chainer, and now what?” The beaded tassel on her flapper headband was trembling like it was enraged, too. “We have to have him at all the family events? I have to go on tours of campuses I’ve already seen with him?”

She jabbed the finger she was pointing at Alden through the air again.

“I’ve been nothing but nice to you and you’re the worst person I’ve ever met.”

Alden kept his mouth shut.

“You left me to affix alone. You almost sideswiped me with a bicycle and you didn’t even stop to apologize. You…you…make accusations you don’t have any proof about!”

Alden was going to keep keeping his mouth shut.

The Operation Odin’s Revenge group chat was getting odd. Haoyu and Lute were both trying and failing to mental text, and he was receiving nothing but random words and punctuation marks.

“I am the only person in the world who can do what I do. My rank doesn’t matter. I do. I matter. I’m valuable on this planet and on <<the Mother>>. You should’ve been grateful someone like me reached out to you instead of complaining about a little…it was nothing! What I did made you feel good. It didn’t hurt you! Why would you make a big deal out of that and humiliate me in front of everyone here?”

So it was her. Having it come out of her own mouth so that he could set aside every last shred of doubt once and for all was such a relief.

“If having your own behavior described in public makes you feel humiliated,” said Alden, “maybe you should behave differently.”

Hazel seemed to have run out of words to say. She was breathing hard. Her face was shifting from anger to something more alarmed, and her eyes were darting back and forth like she was looking for the exit. Her relatives were either gaping at her or avoiding her gaze.

Aulia looked her up and down just once, then she turned away and reached for another bonbon. “I don’t think we should entertain Hazel’s drama for a second longer,” she said in a ringing voice. “Alden, have you tried the bruschetta? It’s to die for.”