Free djinn wars 02 - taken by Christine Pope Page B

nodded. “That’s a good color on you. And your hair doesn’t look quite so much like home-fried crap now that you’ve brushed it.”
    “Gee, thanks,” I said.
    One corner of her mouth quirked slightly, but she just handed me a tube of lipstick. “Try this one. It’s nice and festive.”
    I took it from her but looked down at it dubiously. To say I wasn’t a lipstick kind of girl was an understatement. Lately, all I’d been wearing was colored lip balm, and even when I used to get dressed up, I always went for gloss. Lipstick felt sort of old lady-ish to me, unless you were going for Evony’s clearly intentional retro look.
    But since she obviously wanted me to put it on, and I just wanted to get done with the primping so I could get some food in my stomach, I spread a light coating over my lips. It looked garish against my pale skin, but Evony gave a satisfied nod.
    “Much better. Don’t suppose you packed any mascara?”
    “No,” I replied. Lip balm and deodorant and a toothbrush and toothpaste, yes. Makeup had been pretty far down on my list of priorities.
    “Too bad.” She squinted at me and then shrugged. “Good thing you have nice eyelashes anyway. I know people who would’ve killed for those.”
    I actually always had been proud of my lashes — a feature I’d inherited from my mother — but for obvious reasons, I hadn’t been paying much attention to them lately. At least at the moment they’d save me from having to put on mascara, though.
    “It’s all in the genes, I guess,” I said lightly. “Are you ready?” I figured she must be, since she looked like she was about to go out on a hot date instead of have Christmas dinner with a bunch of strangers.
    “Yes.” Despite her reply, she looked a little uneasy. Maybe it was just the prospect of having to face a room full of people she didn’t know, but in my short acquaintance with her, Evony hadn’t exactly struck me as the sort of person who was lacking in confidence.
    Or maybe it was having to go meet a group of Chosen, and know that your own djinn partner was in captivity miles and miles away. I could relate to that feeling.
    But I’d told Lauren I would go. Anyway, I was hungry, and I guessed that Evony must be starving, too, since she hadn’t eaten much more on the drive here than I had.
    I patted Dutchie on the head, told her I’d be back soon, and then closed the door behind me and went to the hall, where Evony had been waiting for me while I attended to the dog. We were both quiet as we walked back toward the more public areas of the resort, following the signs to the restaurant.
    Which was already full when we got there. Evony and I both hung back a little, watching as people moved to and from an enormous buffet that had been set up on a series of long tables off to one side. Christmas music played in the background, and everyone seemed to be laughing and chatting and generally having a good time.
    After so many months of only being around Jace, of hearing very little music — the real estate developer’s music collection hadn’t been much to my taste — the assortment of sounds seemed almost deafening. My first instinct was to duck back toward the lobby and hide in my room, and it seemed as if Evony was feeling about the same way.
    But then Lauren approached us, smiling, and said, “I’ve been saving seats for you two. Let me take you over to my table.”
    Oh, thank God. Hers was the only halfway familiar face I’d seen so far, and, with any luck, her table would be somewhere tucked away to one side where we could mostly escape notice.
    No such luck. It was out in the middle of the dining room, and I could feel everyone watching as Evony and I made our way over to it and took the chairs Lauren indicated. Not wanting to be obvious about staring, I’d only gathered scattered impressions of the people in attendance, but it seemed to me that the Chosen were all in their twenties and extremely good-looking. There didn’t