Sid rubbed the nape of her neck, studying me. Then she stuffed her hands into her pockets, hunching her shoulders. Quietly, she said, “You are my favorite impossible person.”

“Me,” I said, uncertain.

“You are the only one I want to be with.”

“Tonight.” I didn’t know what was worse: that she had seen my jealousy, that she was trying to soothe it, or that I knew—just as Lillin or any woman Sid had ever been with should have known—that nothing Sid said or did would last.

“Any night.” She offered her arm like a man would. “Will you come inside with me?”

I took her arm. The fabric of her jacket brushed my skin. I wanted to turn in to her, to press my face against her neck. I said, “We’ll look like a couple.”

“Do you want that?”

Truth can demand so much bravery. I did not feel brave. I would not have been brave, if her question hadn’t sounded a little hopeful. Yes, I wanted everyone to think she belonged with me, that I belonged with her. Yes, even if it was only for one night. My voice was small. “I do.”

Her mouth twitched with surprise, then curled with inquisitive pleasure that I loved to see. Maybe this was a game to her, but it felt so good to be her game. “Nirrim,” she said, “I am really sorry that I am not late. May I tell you all the things I will do to make you forgive me?”

I smiled as we went inside.

38

THE FOYER WAS OVERGROWN with branches. They twisted around oil lamps with green flames blazing in their glass cases. The ground was soft with dirt. I realized that the house wasn’t covered with vegetation: the branches and flowers and leaves were the house. “Someone grew this?” I said. “Who?”

“No one knows. It grew overnight.” We turned down a hallway paved with acorns. “It will wither and fade soon enough. The magic always does.”

“So you do think it’s magic.”

“I think ‘magic’ is convenient shorthand for a mystery we haven’t solved.”

“Why were you not late to the party?”

“I couldn’t get into the Keepers Hall. It was too heavily guarded and, somehow, my ample charms weren’t working on anyone. So that didn’t take as long as planned. But Lillin’s brother is a councilman, and she thinks she can get me maps of the hall. You see why I had to be friendly with her.”

“Do I?”

Sid smiled. “Not too friendly, of course.”