Then he stood there chatting with the woman. She wasn’t much of a small-talker, so the conversation was a bit stilted. Maybe she just had trouble keeping up her end because she was so busy staring at me like I was a prize steer.

Cordus finally moved on from the tiny woman. Instead of greeting another guest, he steered me to a dark corner, where a large someone in all black was standing. It was Williams. Great.

“Miss Ryder needs to rest,” Cordus said to him. “Keep her company.”

Cordus smiled briefly at me — Good girl, I imagined him saying — and moved back off into the crowd. I was left standing there awkwardly.

Well, whatever. At least Williams was human. Sort of.

“Do you know who that small black-haired woman is?” I asked him.

“Lady Innin.”

Shit. The one Koji had mentioned.

“Is she someone important?”

“A great power. Controls the Caribbean and the Gulf — Florida, eastern Mexico, Central America, northern South America.”

Wow. I wondered if she was stronger than Cordus. I felt chilled.

“She just offered to trade Florida for me.”

Williams turned and looked at me. Perhaps I’d actually surprised him. Or maybe not. After a few seconds, he shrugged and said, “Florida’s gonna be underwater in fifty years, anyway.”

No doubt he was trying to be an asshole, but it struck me as funny. Or maybe laughter was just my response to stress. Whatever the reason, I had to clap my hands over my mouth and turn to the wall until I got a handle on myself.

Not much happened for the remainder of the evening. Kara found her way back to me, and we hung out quietly near Williams. Gwen and Zion both drifted by, drinks in hand. Just to be sure, I asked Kara if Graham were there.

“Are you kidding? That sonovabitch is in a world of hurt. No way is Lord Cordus letting him out to play.”

I saw the memory of our elevator conversation flit across her face.

She frowned. “Ratfink bastard.”

I stifled the impulse to defend him. What did I know? Maybe he’d been negligent not to realize I didn’t start seeing full workings along with halfings.

After another hour or so, guests began to leave. Eventually, only Cordus and his people were left. Cordus headed into his study to make some calls, and the rest of us hung out in the living room while our cars were brought around.

I got to put names to some new faces. In addition to Hank, there were two other bartenders, Hortensia and Bud. Kristin, James, and Rafiki had been circulating with drinks and hors d’oeuvre. Mary and Valerie had been working in the kitchen. The bruisers taking coats were Andy and Theo.

Looking around at everyone, I started to get a sense of how things worked. Nolanders with less strength or power, or whatever you called it, did lower-status jobs: the waiters, caterers, and bartenders were all wearing all black. Koji and the doorman, who was named Grant, had been too. I’d bet Cordus’s estate staff were in the same category.