Page 181 of Weird Magic
Ulmer’s face went back to its habitual annoyance.“It’s a mark of honor!How many of these meetings have you been to?”
“One, and it was a little...fraught.”
He rolled his eyes.“Just put the damned thing on.”
And then he bustled out, fighting to get through the crowd in the hallway outside.I put the damned thing on.And then put a hand on Jace’s shoulder.
“You okay?”I asked, bending closer.
“Yeah.”
“Sure?”
He shot me a look.“You know, after the last couple weeks, the council doesn’t look so scary anymore.”
“Heard that,” Chayton said.
“They’re lucky we even bothered to show up to their little party after last time,” Luis added.
I peered out of the hall to where hundreds upon hundreds of people, many of them still bearing the signs of battle, but done up in their new finery, were patiently waiting.They had their sashes on, and I saw one woman fingering it with an expression of awe on her face.Others stood a little taller and smiled a little easier than I’d ever seen them do.
Nobody looked even slightly nervous, and why the hell should they?
They were the biggest badasses in this place.
“The Fireborn,” the herald’s magically enhanced voice rang out.
“Shall we?”Cyrus said, extending his arm.
I took it.And together, we swept into Dante’s biggest ballroom, along with all eight hundred clan members.And into our future.
