Diana smiled. “Make some trouble.”
“Come on, Alia!” Nim shouted at the closed bathroom door. “You have to pick one, and we all know it’s going to be the black dress with the long sleeves so you can schoolmarm it up—”
The door opened, and Nim’s jaw dropped.
“She didn’t pick the black one,” Diana observed.
“No shit,” breathed Nim.
Alia wore a dress of shimmering gold scales that moved like light glinting off water—no, like the sun off a warrior’s helm.
“Did you hit your head in Turkey?” Nim said in disbelief.
Alia grinned at Diana and cocked her hip. “Armor.”
They were more than a little late. Nim pinned up half of Alia’s braids in a crown and wove a gold chain through them, then chose a garnet-colored jumpsuit for herself that she paired with terrifyingly high heels. She picked a strapless, midnight-blue gown for Diana. The fabric was of a fine quality, but it felt stiff around the waist and hugged her hips too tightly, as if it had been constructed with little thought to comfort.
“It looks good,” said Alia. “Elegant.”
Diana frowned. “I wish it had another slit up the side.”
“One is classy, two is trashy,” said Nim.
“One is pointless,” replied Diana, wondering what refuse had to do with it. “Two would make it easier to run in.”
“Pretty sure there’s no red-carpet obstacle course,” Alia said as Nim tossed Diana a slim silver bag.
“I’m going to need something larger.”
“Why?” said Nim. “That clutch is perfect.”
Diana removed the lasso from the plastic bag. “I need something for my things.” Meyers and Perez would transfer the rest of their belongings, including her leathers, to the jet, but there was no way Diana was parting with her mother’s lasso or the heartstone.
“What is that?” Nim said, reaching for the golden coils. “What is it made out of?”
Diana hesitated, then let Nim run her fingers over the glimmering fibers. “It’s kind of an heirloom.”
“I mean, it’s gorgeous, but you can’t carry it around like you’re going to hog-tie the DJ.”
“It will definitely attract attention,” said Alia.
“Wait,” Nim said. “Give me that.”
Diana frowned, hesitant. “What are you going to do?”
“Eat it,” Nim said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not going to hurt it; just trust me.” She laid the rope on the desk and turned her back to them, making little humming noises as she worked. A moment later, she hopped onto the desk chair and held up an open-work capelet of shimmering knots. It was somewhere between a shawl and a shrug. “Turn around, you magnificent tree.”
Diana let Nim help her into the glittering creation and looked at herself in the mirror on the back of Alia’s closet door. The lasso felt cool against her skin, its weight light over her shoulders, but it glinted like gold when she moved, as if her arms had hooked a field of falling stars.
“Perfect,” said Nim with a happy sigh.
And it was. Bolder and more whimsical than anything she’d ever worn before. It was fun. She had always let her mother dictate what she wore, let her desire to belong, the wish to look like an Amazon make her choices. But tonight she could look like anything she wanted. A laugh rose in her throat, and she spun in a circle, arms out, watching the gold flash at the corner of her eye. She felt transformed.
“Nim,” said Diana happily. “You’re a genius.”
“Guilty as charged. But the hair is going up. This look needs more neck.”
Nim pinned Diana’s hair into a twist, and then they were racing down the stairs.
Meyers and Perez were waiting to escort them to the car and rode in the backseat with them the short distance to the museum.
“There it is,” Alia said, pointing through the dark glass.
Diana glimpsed the outlines of windows, high and arched, glowing with light in the gathering dusk.
Dez continued on, and Diana realized he was circling the building so they could enter away from the main doors. When they stopped, Meyers and Perez spoke briefly into their sleeves. It took a moment for Diana to understand they were wearing communication devices. They exited the car first, and Diana saw more guards at the door, but she kept close to Alia anyway. She wasn’t about to trust these men just because Jason did.
They entered a shadowy, high-ceilinged hall. In the distance, Diana could hear voices, the swell of music. She remembered being a little girl in the palace, falling asleep as the sounds of Amazon revels continued in the courtyard below. The museum felt a bit like that now, as if the adults were having a party while the rest of the building had been put to bed.
She saw two men approaching and shifted her stance so she could block their path to Alia.
“I said eight o’clock,” said Jason’s voice as he stepped into a well of light. “You—” His voice broke off abruptly as his eyes locked on Diana. There was that strange look she’d seen on male faces all morning: gaze stunned, mouth slightly ajar.
“What did I tell you?” murmured Nim. “I know what I’m doing.”
Jason had changed since they’d seen him that afternoon. He still wore a suit, but it was sleek and black, and its lapels looked almost like burnished metal. He seemed to remember himself. A scowl broke over his face. “You’re late.”
Nim shrugged. “It takes time to look this good.”
“You can work as hard as you want,” said Jason’s companion, a gangly boy with dark brown skin and hair that stood up from his crown in exuberant twists. “You’ll never be as fine as me.”
“What a surprise,” said Nim. “Theo is with Jason. It’s almost like he doesn’t have something better to do with his time.”
“Can we not start this tonight?” said Alia.
“That’s right, Nim,” Theo scolded. “Show some maturity. I don’t want you poisoning the new girl’s mind against me. Hi, New Girl.”
“Theo,” Jason said warningly.
“I just said hi! Not even hello! I kept it to one innocent syllable.”
Theo Santos was a little shorter than Jason, and far leaner. He wore a snug suit of dark-green fabric with a showy sheen, and an open expression that made him look far younger than his friend.
“I stand corrected,” Theo said, jamming his hands into the pockets of his trousers and rocking back on the heels of his pointy-toed shoes. “You guys are almost as gorgeous as I am.”
“Weak,” said Nim. “We’re going to need a higher caliber of compliment.”
“If I must,” Theo said as they started toward the noise of the party bracketed by Meyers and Perez. “Nim, you look like a delicious confection, a walking, talking—probably poisonous—petit four.”
“In that case,” said Nim, “bite me.”
“And you—” he said, looking at Diana. “You look like a star-spangled slice of hell yeah. Who are you, anyway?”
“She’s one of Alia’s friends, so leave her alone,” said Jason.
“Don’t mind him,” said Theo. “He’s just bitter because he got stuck with me as his date.”
“I’d think he would be pleased to escort the most gorgeous among us,” said Diana.
Theo barked a laugh. “Oh, I like her plenty.”
“What about Alia?” said Nim.
“Shut up, Nim,” Alia said under her breath.
Theo glanced over his shoulder and gave a cheerful thumbs-up. “Alia looks really nice, too!”
“Gosh, thanks,” Alia muttered.
They entered a vast room teeming with people and echoing with sound. It was an extraordinary chamber. The far wall tilted at an angle like the side of a pyramid and was comprised entirely of windows that showed night falling over the park beyond. Partygoers sat at the edge of a rectangular reflecting pool bordered in slate stone, and others clustered around tables set with white orchids and glimmering candles. But the focus of the room was what Diana realized wer
e ruins: a vast stone gate that she suspected had once led to a courtyard and the columned temple itself, covered in hieroglyphs.
My mother is older than these stones, she thought as they joined the swarm of guests. In the mortal world, my people are the stuff of museums and myth. Legends. Artifacts. Hippolyta and the first Amazons had vanished from the world long before this temple had been built. Diana looked at the partygoers, drinking, laughing, lifting glasses of wine to their lips. Lives like the wing beat of a moth. There and then gone.
“This room was designed to mimic the place where the temple was originally located,” said Nim, eyes sparkling, as they made their way to one of the tall tables. Heads were already turning at the sight of Jason and Alia, hands lifted in greeting, beckoning them over. “The pool represents the Nile, and the windowed wall echoes the cliffs.”
“You know what no one asked for?” Theo said. “Trivia.”
Jason glanced at Theo. “Go find yourself some champagne.”
Theo saluted. “That’s my kind of ultimatum.”
“Good riddance,” Nim said as he loped off. “I don’t know what it is about that guy, but I constantly want to shove him down a flight of stairs.”
“I have a pretty good guess,” murmured Alia.
“And he couldn’t even be bothered to pay you a proper compliment,” said Nim, her glare tracking Theo as he wended his way through the crowd.
“It’s fine,” said Alia, but Diana didn’t think that was true.
“I appreciate that you made an effort,” Jason said stiffly. His gaze touched briefly on Diana. “You look nice. All of you.”
“Very smooth,” said Nim. “You’re lucky you’re rich, or you’d never get any action at all.”
Diana waited for Jason’s sharp retort, but instead that broad grin reappeared, his dimple flashing. “You’re forgetting how good-looking I am.”
Alia rolled her eyes. “Can we just get this over with before I have to find a potted plant to throw up in?”
Jason straightened his cuffs, his sober demeanor returning as quickly as it had vanished. “Yes. But that’s the last eye roll for the next hour, deal?”
“Wait, I need one more. You can’t just cut me off like that.” Alia rolled her eyes theatrically. “Okay, I’m good.”
Jason’s mouth pulled up at one corner, as if he was fighting not to grin again. “I expect smiles and an attempt to look like you’re happy to be here.”
“That wasn’t part of the deal.”
“Alia—”
Alia threw her shoulders back and pasted a cheerful smile on her face. “Better?”
“Slightly terrifying, but yes.”
“Hold on,” said Nim. “You need powder.”
As Nim touched up Alia’s makeup, Diana took the opportunity to murmur to Jason, “I saw the armed guards posted at the eastern and southern doors, as well as the entry.”
“But—”
“They’re spaced too evenly against the wall.”
“I’m not a fool,” said Jason. “There are members of the security team dressed as partygoers as well.”
“Two by the buffet, one by the musicians, and at least three near the western perimeter.”
Jason started, his surprise evident. “How the hell did you spot them?”
Diana frowned. It was obvious, wasn’t it? “I can tell they’re carrying weapons by the way their clothes hang. And they hold themselves differently than the other guests.” Jason’s eyes scanned the crowd, and she wondered if even he could tell where his people were. “Just stay alert,” Diana said. “If I can spot them, our enemies may be able to as well.”
She was prepared for a rebuke, but Jason simply nodded.
“Um, and you guys may want to keep moving,” Diana said as a nearby waiter shoved another waiter, knocking his tray of food to the floor. “Don’t stay in any one spot for too long.”
She still didn’t understand the limits of Alia’s power or how it worked. It could reach across worlds, but proximity did seem to matter.
“Understood,” said Jason.
“Are we doing this?” said Alia. “ ’Cause I’m thinking about drowning you in the punch bowl and just making a break for it.”
Jason nodded and offered her his arm. Under his breath, he said to Diana, “Keep us in your sights.”
“I’ll try not to get in your way,” she murmured.
He stiffened and then she saw the corner of his mouth twitch again. Still an imperious bully, but at least he could laugh at himself—and maybe he’d begun to realize she was an asset. She didn’t want to fight him every step of their journey to the spring.
Diana spent the next half hour drifting through the partygoers with Nim, making sure to keep Alia and Jason within view. It wasn’t easy. The room was crowded, and the way voices bounced off the stone set Diana’s teeth on edge. She also felt like she was trying to read too many signals at once. She’d successfully picked out most of Jason’s security team, but the party itself felt unwieldy.
On the surface, it didn’t look radically different from the celebrations on Themyscira. Though the clothes might be cut differently, it was still a collection of people in silks and satins, glasses in hand, some bored, others eager. But there was something odd about the way the crowd separated and then re-formed. The men would step forward to greet each other as their female companions hung back, then a moment later the women would engage, shake hands, possibly embrace. Power moved in its own way here, driven by unseen currents, and it eddied and flowed primarily around the men.
I don’t belong here. The thought echoed loudly through her head, but she wasn’t sure if it was her voice or the Oracle’s that spoke with such conviction. She shoved the thought away. In an hour, she’d be on her way to Greece. By this time tomorrow, they’d have reached the spring and her quest would be at its end. For these few moments, she could let herself enjoy the newness of this place.
She noticed Nim murmuring names under her breath. “Do you know everyone here?”
“No, but I know who they’re wearing.” She reeled off a series of Italian-sounding names.
“More trivia?”
“Information. Design is all about conveying information. This whole room was built to convey messages you don’t even know you’re receiving. The sightlines, the way the tiles are laid into the floor.”
“You see the world differently.”
“Seeing is easy. The hard part is being seen. It’s why I’m always trying to get Alia to go out more.” Nim plucked a skewered shrimp from a passing server. “When I started at Bennett, it felt like everywhere I went people weren’t seeing me. I mean, they saw me. Boy, did they see me. But I was just the short, fat Indian kid who brought weird food for lunch.”
“What changed?” asked Diana.
“Alia. She was the first person to look at my designs and tell me they were good. She even wore one of the first dresses I made to a dance. It was truly hideous.” Diana had to laugh, but that did seem like something Alia would do. “She’s always been the one to prop me up,” said Nim, “and make me stick with designing.”
“What about your family?”
“Please. They have to tell me I’m a good designer. That’s their job.”
Diana thought of her mother saying, I didn’t expect you to win. “Not necessarily.”
“Oh man, do you have one of those tough-love families? I just don’t buy into that.”
“Why not?” Diana asked cautiously.
“Because the whole world loves to tell us what we can’t do, that we aren’t good enough. The people in your own house should be on your side. It’s the people who never learn the word impossible who make history, because they’re the ones who keep trying.”
The very air seemed to crackle around her as she spoke. Diana considered telling Nim she’d make a great general, but opted for “Alia is lucky to have you as a friend.”
“Yeah, well, we’re both lucky. I don’t know many people who would put up with me.�
�
Alia caught sight of them by the reflecting pool and separated herself from the couple she and Jason were speaking to, scurrying over to them as if afraid Jason would snatch her back.
“Please kill me,” she moaned. “My cheeks ache from smiling, and my toes are throbbing in these shoes. I swear this is the longest hour of my life.”
“Boohoo. Big party where everyone wants to meet you,” said Nim. “And don’t you dare speak ill of those shoes. They’re perfection.”
“I can’t tell if your brother is pleased,” Diana said, glancing over at Jason, who was listening intently to someone and nodding his agreement. He seemed at ease, his posture relaxed, but Diana could see the tension in his shoulders. He held himself as if on guard, unsure of where the attack might come from, but certain it would come nonetheless. “He doesn’t like these parties, either, does he?”
“You noticed?” Alia said, scanning the crowd. “I hate who he becomes at these things. It’s like he’s an actor in a play. He smiles and chatters, but I know he hates every minute of it.”
“Speaking of hating every minute,” Nim said, her expression turning sour. Theo was headed their way. “I cannot take his nonsense right now. I’m going to go ask Gemma Rutledge to dance.”
“Is she gay?” asked Alia.
“Who cares? She’s wearing Badgley Mischka. I just want a better look at the dress.”
“Aw,” said Theo as he approached with two full flutes of champagne, “I chased Nim off. Such a shame. I swear that girl gets worse and worse.”
Alia pursed her lips. “Leave Nim alone.”
“Will do. All alone.”
“And what are you doing with champagne? None of us are old enough to drink.”
Theo took a big gulp from one of the glasses. “Don’t tell me you’re going to send me packing, too.”
Diana followed Theo’s gaze to where Jason had moved on to a group of young men, all of them with summer tans and artfully shaggy hair. Their raucous laughter, the way they took up the space around them, reminded her of the businessmen on the train. And there was something in the way they surveyed their surroundings….“They look at the room as if they own it.”
“You don’t say,” said Theo.
Wonder Woman: Warbringer Page 17