Page 20 of The Tribes of Magic
“I can’t wait to see all the amazing things you’ll accomplish.”
A flush of embarrassment warmed my cheeks. “Amazing things? That’s certainly a lot of pressure.”
“I know you can handle it.” Kato set his hand on my arm for the briefest of moments before letting go. He took a single steptoward the ballroom, then paused. “Well, I suppose I can’t put this off any longer.”
I moved to his side.
“Where do you think you’re going?” There was an amused tilt to his mouth, and I liked it. It meant I’d succeeded in cheering him up—at least a little.
“You told Ainsley you needed me for half an hour. And I still have another ten minutes left. So I’m coming with you. For moral support.”
I used my hands to smooth out the wrinkles in my shirt and pants.
“You’re volunteering to be in the same room as the General?” His brows arched. “Really?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
“For one, because the General basically embodies everything you think is wrong with the world.”
“He’s a soldier. He’s kind of preprogrammed to think of the world in black and white, in enemies and allies.”
We entered the ballroom to zero fanfare, just as I liked it.
“Though I’d say people are more complicated than that. Even you, Kato. I had to remind myself of that a lot this morning.” I winked at him.
He looked out across the ballroom—and away from me. “I was hard on you this morning.”
“That is a major understatement.”
“I don’t regret it.”
“Oh, I know you don’t.”
We both knew why he was being so hard on me: I needed to master my magic so I could defend myself from all the crazies in the Many Realms. And there were a lot more of them than I’d ever imagined.
“Ok, so maybe I did tell myself once or twice this morning that you were pure evil,” I admitted. “But I swear those thoughtsfaded out once the frostbite had healed and the memory of electrocution was nothing more than a distant, muted buzz in my fingertips.”
Kato’s laughter died before it even had a chance to live. The General was marching across the ballroom toward us. And from the way he had me caught in his crosshairs, he was the total opposite of pleased to see me.
“Miss Winters, I do not recall assigning you to the ballroom.” He spoke in slicing tones, his words chiseling away at my already-precarious good mood.
I countered with a smile. I knew that would annoy him more than if I cried. “Well, I guess your memory isn’t what it used to be.”
Seven!Kato’s voice objected in my mind.
Sorry, I couldn’t help it. He just walked right into that one.
The General’s smile was as tight as an overstuffed balloon. “I see you are as charming as ever, Miss Winters.”
Charming. Right. That’s the sort of magic I was supposed to be working on today. Well, this was as good a time as any.
“General, how about you give Kato the rest of the day off?” I spoke smoothly, trying to mimic the exact tone and voice Ainsley had used earlier to put the Apprentices under her spell.
The General’s eyes didn’t grow glassy or unfocused. Instead, they hardened into tiny hard balls. “You do not give me orders, Miss Winters.” His mouth was hardly moving.
Kato looked like he would have totally done a face-palm right then and there if only tons of people weren’t watching.
Hmm. I guess it didn’t work,I told him.
