A Farewell to Charms by Lindsey Leavitt Page B

crutches. Her face looked scary. She was smiling—like, grinning —and she had these lines…laugh lines? Wow. This was Meredith. Happy. “Darling! You’re here. Almost in one piece.”
    “Accident in Kamigano.”
    “Yes, do stop and see Ferdinand about that before you go. He has a special first-aid kit that should help. And be more careful!”
    I shifted my weight. “This saved me a sub spotting, if you must know.”
    “Oh, let’s not talk about that now.” Meredith dropped her arm and stood up on her tippy toes, taking in the growing mass of people. “Can you believe you got an invite?”
    “No, I can’t. Is this your doing?”
    “I suggested you, yes, but Genevieve said she already had you in mind. She specifically said she wanted you to see me advance. Isn’t she lovely?”
    “Lovely.” Something told me Genevieve wanted me here for other reasons. Maybe to keep her eye on me, or to remind me how powerful Façade was. She was a nice person, yes, and I was glad she was the head of Façade. But you don’t get where she is without being a little conniving, too. “But I’m still not exactly sure what this invite is for.”
    Meredith lowered her voice. “Well, the first part is my promotion, of course, although no one else knows that’s happening. And the open discussion forum, well, I probably shouldn’t tell you too much, but they’re introducing a program where appointed Level Three subs will have a direct voice during select council meetings.”
    “A voice? Like, we can give our opinions?” If this was true, then I didn’t need to worry about recruiting Reed anymore, or using my new special spy skills here at Façade. I didn’t need to worry about anything. If we had a voice in the agency, we could discuss sub sanitization and magic stealing. Write a petition! And maybe brainstorm ways to better prepare subs for jobs and how to fully realize their MP. Oh, maybe they could start a sort of mentor program, so girls aren’t just thrown into jobs. Or job shadowing, like take-your-sub-hopeful-to-work day.
    I shook my head. There were so many questions to ask, I couldn’t even settle on one thing. “I can’t even…This is just…”
    “I know. You’re a lucky girl, Desi.” Her smile faltered, and her voice took on its usual businesslike nature. “Now, when we’re in this meeting, please wait until it is your turn to talk. You’re still my client, and thus a reflection of me, and with my new promotion I would really appreciate it—”
    “—If I didn’t mess this up. I got it.”
    “We’ll see about that.”
    “Yoo-hoo! Meredith!” Lilith pushed through the throngs of people, her lavender hair bouncing along with the rest of her. “Oh, and Desi. Lovely wardrobe choice, especially your T-shirt. on a roll? So very…down home.”
    “Lilith, I’m so glad you’re here,” Meredith said.
    “Yes, well, I must say I’m surprised to see you two showed. Did you come to mingle until the invited guests entered? I can let you know how the meeting goes, if you like. All this administrative business might bore you, of course, but—”
    “Don’t worry about us.” Meredith’s grin was back at full throttle. “Desi and I received our invitations ages ago.”
    Lilith’s eyes bugged out. “Surely you don’t mean you’re attending the council meeting.”
    “Oh, we’re doing more than attending. Meredith is about to—” Meredith grabbed my arm to shut me up. I guess she wanted Lilith to learn the news when everyone else did.
    A loud boom filled the hall, and we all turned around. The doors to the conference room opened. Genevieve stood in the doorway, dressed in a slim black skirt and bright red blouse, her rainbow-colored hair arranged in a neat coif. She gave a slight nod, and a handful of people followed her into the room. That’s power. No words needed—one nod.
    “Well, this should be quick,” Lilith said. “I have it on good authority that Genevieve isn’t retiring, and so