A Farewell to Charms (7 page)

T
he room erupted into chaos. Men in black suits spilled into the studio, circling around each royal and rushing us out. Janin kept her hands firmly on my wheelchair, insisting that she push me through the smoke-filled hallways. We coughed our way through corridor after corridor, following the set escape route. The grand front hall was a mass of people—military, police, paramedics, and more men in black suits. So many people crowded in to “help” that the end result was disorder.

Janin leaned down and whispered, “I know an easier way out to the garden that’ll be safer.”

She took a quick right down another hall and then another, until I could hardly hear the sirens. At first, I was grateful just to be away from the crowd—my leg had been bumped twice already. But after the fourth turn, I was starting to get worried. “This doesn’t look like there’s an exit,” I said. “Maybe we should go back.”

“Don’t worry, Desi, Your job is just about done.”

I turned around in the chair as much as I could. Desi? HOW DID JANIN KNOW MY NAME? “What are you talking…Who are you?”

Janin stopped at a door and knocked four times. She wheeled me into the darkened space. I tried to stand up, but she pushed me back down in my seat.

“Took you long enough,” said a voice that was obviously trying to sound deeper than it was. A flashlight went on, right in my face, so I couldn’t see who was shining it. What I did see, though, was the shiner’s pants. Black, tight. A cat-suit just like the one Sora had on earlier.

Traitor.

“Did she put the makeup on yet?”

“Didn’t have time,” Janin said. “We’re lucky I got her away from security.”

“I think she’ll change on her own now that I’m here,” the voice said again.

“Did you get the jewels?” Janin asked.

“They’re in my backpack.”

“Sora!” I shouted. “This is illegal! I command you to, uh, unhand me. Take me back to my parents before they arrest you.”

There was laughter. Eerily familiar laughter. The lights flicked on to reveal a messy office, perhaps belonging to someone on the staff. There was a futon to my right and a mini-fridge. Sitting on the desk was a girl in a catsuit, and she looked nothing like Sora.

The girl looked like Vanna. Sort of. She was a little taller, her nose a little pointier, her hair shorter…It’s like someone took each of Vanna’s features and smudged them with a rubber eraser.

The girl smiled. “Sorry to drop in like this, but when you twisted your ankle, it kind of put a damper on things.”

“Who are you?”

“Vanna.”

“No,” I said. “
I’m
Vanna.”

“No, Desi.” She let out a patient sigh. “You’re my sub.”

“How did you…What’s going on here?” Maybe this was Vanna’s cousin, or a body double. When royals left their real life for the Façade Resort, they took on the identity of old celebrities so they wouldn’t be recognized. Vanna should look like some dead actress, not an altered version of herself. “Vanna is supposed to be vacationing on a remote island.”

“I’m going to go release another smoke bomb in the hallway,” Janin said. “In case we were followed.”

“Good idea.” Vanna, or whoever this girl was, beamed at me as Janin stepped out of the room. “Why are you still looking at me like that?”

“If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll run…I’ll wheel out there and find security.”

“I needed a decoy. When I told your agency that I didn’t want to use their celebrity makeup line, they offered a new product. Image shifting. The makeup altered my appearance enough that I could still pull off this…Well, it’s kind of an audition for a new job.”

“So you’ve been here the whole time? Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”

“I couldn’t risk you telling anyone—” The lights shut off again. Someone knocked Vanna to the floor. I wheeled my chair back and was just able to reach the light switch. Now there were
two
girls in catsuits on the ground.

“Sora, it’s me!” Vanna cried. “It’s Vanna.”

“That’s Vanna!” Sora pointed at me, but when she looked at me, her expression hardened. I must have transformed back to Desi already. “Wait, who are you? What did you do with the princess?”

I usually had a few minutes once the princess returned before the rouge wore off and I was back to looking like me. Those few minutes were up. Vanna stood, finally looking like herself. “That’s my sub. I needed her to finish my assignment.”

“What’s a sub? Where did you find a look-alike?” Sora stared at me with suspicion. “What is going on here? Your assignment isn’t for another two weeks. And why are you standing on your injured ankle?”

“This girl is my decoy,” Vanna said. “I knew you would say I wasn’t ready to take on an assignment.”

Sora knocked on Vanna’s forehead. “Hello? You
weren’t
ready. We still have to go through infiltration, interrogation, hypnosis, and advanced weaponry.”

“Sora, I’m golden. I stole the jewels. Look, they’re in my pack.” Vanna disappeared under the desk. She frowned when she hoisted up the bag. “Wait.” She rummaged inside and looked up with wide eyes. “The jewels were in my backpack.”

Sora pointed at me. “Did your body double take them?”

I held up my hands. “I can’t even stand right now. I’ve been in this chair the whole time.”

“Janin,” Vanna said.

“Janin?” Sora’s voice rose. “You let
Janin
in on your assignment and not me?”

“I needed someone to bring my sub to me.” Vanna shot me a look. “By the way, twisting your ankle really messed things up.”

“I don’t think I’m your problem right now,” I said.

“This just shows you weren’t ready,” Sora said. “If you’d done your research, you would have known that Janin has a criminal record under another identity. Being your tutor was a cover so I could investigate Janin.”

“I thought being a maid was your cover,” I said.

“Double cover,” Vanna and Sora said at the same time.

Vanna shook her head. “That woman knows every room in this palace. It was her idea to meet in the butler’s office.”

“She’s been dating the butler for two months now!” Sora said.

Vanna paused. “Really? She’s, like, twenty years older than him. But I guess she’s in good shape…”

“FOCUS,” Sora said. “I’ll cover the hall.”

“And I’ll get the west wing,” Vanna said. “Of course she waited until after our identities switched.”

“Hey!” I waved my arms. “Stop.”

Vanna and Sora stared down at me. For being spies, they really took a roundabout way to solve a simple problem. Vanna might hope to work for an elite government agency, but I happened to have access to a magical agency that knew every single thing the royals did. When I’d tried on the tiaras, Ferdinand told me that Façade tracked royal valuables. The crown jewels would have to be in that system. I fumbled around for my manual and held it up. “There’s a Façade application that traces all the royals’ valuables. If I show it to you, you have to promise not to tell anyone. I’m not sure you’re supposed to know.”

Vanna lunged for the manual. I hid it behind my back. “Not yet,” I said. “When you do your Princess Progress Report, say I’m the best sub you’ve ever had, that I’m totally trustworthy and have great instincts, and, let’s see, that I should be able to do whatever I want at the agency.”

Sora gave me an appraising look. “I don’t know what agency you work for, but I’d love to hire you.”

“Yes! Deal,” Vanna said. “Now hurry.”

I clicked around on the manual until I found the application. There was a long list of items, but one click in the search engine and the Kamigano crown jewels popped right up. A satellite shot of the palace with a blinking red dot showed the jewels were out in the garden, stationary.

“They aren’t moving,” I said.

“Not yet, at least. She’s probably figuring out her getaway,” Sora said.

Vanna growled. “I know you’re antiviolence, Sora, but right now I could—”

“Take it,” I said, holding out my manual to Vanna. “You and Sora can use the radar to keep tabs on Janin. Just…please please please don’t drop it. Or tell anyone I let you use my manual. I could lose my job.” And if I was going to lose my job, I hoped it would be for a nobler cause than chasing after Janin.

Vanna and Sora bolted out of the office, leaving me alone, in a wheelchair, with no idea where I was or what I was supposed to do. I couldn’t summon my bubble without my manual. I couldn’t leave without my manual, either. So I did what any normal teenager would do in my situation.

I raided the mini-fridge. And glory hallelujah! The butler had a sweet tooth. I found a candy bar—the brand was foreign, but these people knew their nougat—and set my feet up on the desk. It wasn’t quite as relaxing as Vanna’s bed, but it was still a lot better than wheeling around with a jewel thief. Plus, I was following Ferdinand’s advice. You didn’t have to make a big wave to start a ripple. I just handed over my manual and let the princess do the work. Delegation.

Vanna returned in ten minutes, panting. “We got Janin. Just barely. She’d made a deal with my father’s helicopter pilot—he already had clearance, and in the confusion, no one seemed to notice that there wasn’t a royal in there. But Sora jumped onto the landing skid just as they were taking off and punched the pilot and handcuffed Janin…I think at the same time. So anyway, the jewels are safe, but this agency I’ve been trying to get into thinks I need more time. Obviously, I failed.”

“I’ve thought I failed a million times, and things usually end up working out for the best. Get some more training from Sora—she’s the real deal—and you’ll make it.”

Vanna drummed her fingers against the door. “I hope. And when I do, I might need to call you in as a decoy again. After I give you the greatest PPR of all time, of course.” She tossed me my manual. “Thanks for that. I guess I’ll go find my parents now and explain how my ankle miraculously recovered.”

“Hey, Vanna?” I said. “You should tell your parents that you want to work for the government.”

She rolled her eyes. “So they can tell me no? If they even listen in the first place. No, thanks.”

“But they
might
say yes. And being a royal doesn’t have to hurt you—it can help you. Look at what you were able to do today with a sub. You might be able to find a role with your government that no one else can fill but you. Think about it.”

“I will.” Vanna snapped her fingers. “Oh, and you got a text or something on that manual thing while I was using it. I hope I didn’t accidentally erase it.”

When Vanna left, I took an extra minute to finish off the candy bar and decompress. This had been the most action-packed sub job yet, and I loved it. Being on the job made it hard to think about what I could lose if I crossed Façade. What if I could find a way to keep my job and still make changes? Wouldn’t that be awesome? I’d love to see what other spy training Vanna had in store.

I brushed my hands on my jeans and opened the new e-mail. It was not a message I’d been expecting.

Awesome. Maybe that’s what Meredith had been doing at Façade—pulling strings to get me an official invitation to her promotion. I scrolled through my manual to my bubble app, and my personal magical orb poured right out. I lifted myself out of the wheelchair and hopped inside.

“Hello, Desi,” Daisy chirped. “Your destination is set at home.”

There were crutches conveniently perched next to my fluffy red chair. Daisy was the best. Too bad she hadn’t thrown in an energy bar to follow up that chocolate I’d swiped. I was going to need the extra jolt before this meeting.

“Change my destination to Façade, Daisy. I need to go back to Façade.”

I
did a little research while Daisy whisked me over to Façade. The exclusive guest list included a sprinkling of agents and only a very select number of Level Threes. In fact, subs had never been invited to a restructuring event. There was a thread going on in the chat room, filled with speculation about why we were invited. The theories ranged from promotions to a new agency branch, but no one seemed to know for sure. The big mystery was the open discussion forum. They hadn’t held such a meeting in decades. And I was barely a Level Three. Was this all Meredith’s doing, or did Genevieve want me there for another reason?

Daisy dropped me off smack in the crowded dining area of Dorshire Hall. Nearly every one of the dozens of onlookers had multicolored hair, a sign that they were agents or council members. Or another department, I guess. I didn’t know which employees were granted Hair-Dye Rights. There were more men then I’d ever seen here as well—some council members I recognized from my trial with the Court of Royal Appeals, but others were undoubtedly agents who worked for Specter.

In the sea of rainbow dos, I spotted Reed’s dark hair and tall frame. He looked dazed as he peered up at the gallery of Façade historical portraits sloping up the vaulted ceiling. I’m sure I looked the same way when I saw those paintings the first time Genevieve shared some of Façade’s history with me. But looking at the pictures now, I couldn’t help but be cynical. Which one of those employees invented sub-sanitation? Who decided that subs shouldn’t be friends? Why was magic only accessible to royals?

Reed spotted me and gave a quick nod. Now would actually be a perfect time for us to finish our talk—it was not like anyone would pay attention to our conversation with so much going on.

But before I could make my way over to Reed, Meredith sidled up to me and threw an arm over my shoulder. I swayed a little, catching myself on my 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 there won’t be anyone moving up to council head. No changes, no promotions. This meeting is just to dispel rumors.”

“If that’s what you want to believe,” I said. Meredith elbowed me again. Why was she being so quiet? She should rub her promotion right in Lilith’s face.

Lilith scowled. “You two are just…so…common.”

“I guess we’ll find out what’s happening together.” Meredith wiggled her fingers at Lilith. “Ta-ta, darling.”

Lilith shot us one more cutting look and charged for the doors. I gave Meredith’s hand a quick squeeze. “Save me a seat. I’ll be there in a second. Good luck.”

“One thing I’ve learned in this business, it’s not about luck.” She squared her shoulders and marched through the doorway.

Only a small percentage of the congregation actually walked into the conference room. Reed waited for me at the entrance. “Hey, what happened to your ankle?”

“Had a run-in with a bridge, and the bridge won. Have you been at Façade the whole time?”

“Yeah, Sergei finally gave me the grand tour. Can you believe this place?” Reed’s eyes shone. “It’s the perfect opportunity to visit Façade. Specter has a conference center, but Dorshire Hall is the stuff of legend. My parents are going to be blown away.
They
weren’t even invited to this meeting. Do you know how elite this is?”

“Yeah, yeah. The royal treatment,” I said, then added under my breath, “once again.”

Of course he didn’t mention the big news I’d dumped on him. He was under the spell of Façade’s beauty. And what did that all matter now? We were about to meet with the council to discuss the framework of the agency. Anything that was wrong before could be fixed with a mature, diplomatic discussion.

The doors to the conference room were closing. “We better hurry,” I said. “I want some time to think about what I’m going to say to the council.”

Reed’s forehead wrinkled. “But nothing about what you said to me earlier, right?”

I paused. “What if I did?”

“I just mean…this is our first meeting. You might not want to, you know, get too involved.”

Sometimes, Reed’s cuteness made me forget his annoying quirks. Like his know-it-all-ness. Too involved? I was already sinking in magical quicksand. This meeting was the stick that would pull me out. “You can be really clueless, you know that, Reed?”

“I am not the one who’s acting clueless.”

“What are you saying?”

“Nothing, just…I’m trying to look out for you. I’m sure you believe what you said, but I’m saying this because I really care—”

“Desi! Over here!” Meredith waved at us from across the vast room. Sergei was next to her, his arm casually draped around her chair. I hurried over to them, Reed on my heels. How could Reed be so bossy one minute and say that he cared the next? What a mix of emotions. I would just have to show him that I was right about Façade when I addressed the council—and the fifty other people in the room.

It was a long march across the conference room to Meredith. You could fit the population of a small country around the table alone.

Within a minute, the room went quiet, like someone had gradually turned down the volume on a radio dial. Genevieve rose from her seat. She nodded at the silver-haired man on her left, who stood and nodded to the next person, and the next, until the twelve council members formed a silent wall in front of the large congregation.

“Everyone may be seated.” Genevieve smiled. “I would officially like to call this meeting to order.”