Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices 1)

"But you do have strawberries on the menu," said Mark. "And I have seen plates being carried to and fro. So it stands to reason that the strawberries could be placed upon a plate and brought to me."

Jean stared.

"He has a point," said Ty. "Strawberries are offered as a topping on several dishes. Surely you could separate them out."

"A plate of strawberries," Jean repeated.

"I would take them in a bowl," said Mark with a winning gaze. "It has been many years since I have eaten freely at my choice, fair one, and a plate of strawberries is all that I desire."

Jean looked dazed. "Right," she said, and disappeared with the menus.

"Mark," said Julian. "Was that necessary?"

"Was what necessary?"

"You don't have to sound like a medieval faerie poem," Julian said. "You sound perfectly normal half the time. Maybe we should discuss keeping a low profile."

"I cannot help it," Mark said with a small smile. "It's something about mundanes. . . ."

"You need to act more like a normal human being," said Jules. "When we're out in public."

"He doesn't need to act normal," said Ty sharply.

"He bumped into a pay phone and said, 'Excuse me, miss,' on our way in," said Julian.

"It's polite to apologize," said Mark with the same small smile.

"Not to inanimate objects."

"All right, enough," said Emma. She filled them in quickly on the events at Stanley Wells's house, including Ava's body and the mysterious figure on the roof.

"So she was dead, but it was nothing like the other murders?" Livvy asked with a frown. "It seems unrelated--no markings, body dumped in a pool outside her own house, not at a ley line. . . ."

"What about the guy on the roof?" Cristina said. "Do you think he's the killer?"

"Doubt it," said Emma. "He had a crossbow, and none of them have been killed with crossbows. But he hurt Jules, so when we track him down, I'm going to chop him up and feed him to my fish."

"You don't have fish," Julian said.

"Well, I'm going to buy some," said Emma. "I'm going to buy goldfish and feed them blood until they acquire a taste for human flesh."

"That's disgusting," said Livvy. "Does this mean we still need to return to Wells's house and search it?"

"As long as we check the roof first," said Emma.

"We can't," Ty said. He held up his phone. "I was looking at the news. Someone called in the body. The mundane police are crawling all over the place. We won't be able to get anywhere near it for a few days at least."

Emma blew out an exasperated breath. "Well," she said, "at least we have this," and she reached behind her to grab Ava's bag. She upended it on the table and the contents rattled out: wallet, makeup case, lip balm, mirror, hairbrush, and something flat, golden, and shiny.

"No phone," Ty observed, a line of annoyance gathering between his brows. Emma didn't blame him. He could have done a lot with the phone. Too bad; it was at the bottom of Wells's pool.

"What's this?" Livvy picked up the shining square. It was blank.

"Not sure." Emma flicked through the wallet. Credit cards, driver's license, about eleven dollars in cash that made her feel a little queasy. Taking evidence was one thing; taking cash was another.

Not that they could have returned it to Ava.

"No photos or anything?" Julian asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I don't think people keep photos in their wallets except in movies," Emma said. "Not since iPhones."

"Speaking of movies." Livvy furrowed her brow, looking briefly--as she did sometimes--like Ty. "This thing looks like the Golden Ticket. You know, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." She waved the shining piece of laminated paper.

"Let me see it." Cristina held out her hand. Livvy gave it to her as the waitress returned with their food: grilled cheese for Ty, a turkey sandwich for Cristina, a BLT for Julian, waffles for Emma and Livvy, and Mark's plate of strawberries.

Cristina took out her stele and scribbled, humming, on a corner of the gold paper. Mark, looking beatific, took the dispenser of maple syrup off the table and upended it over his strawberries. He picked one up and put it in his mouth, stem and all. Julian stared at him.

"What?" Mark said. "This is a perfectly normal thing to eat."

"Sure it is," said Julian. "If you're a hummingbird."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Look," Cristina said, and pushed the golden

paper toward the middle of the table. It was no longer blank. Instead it featured the shimmering photo of a building, and beside it words in block letters.

THE FOLLOWERS OF THE GUARDIAN

INVITE YOU TO THE LOTTERY

THIS MONTH'S PERFORMANCE: AUGUST 11, 7 P.M.

THE MIDNIGHT THEATER

This ticket admits one group. Semiformal attire.

"The Lottery?" Julian echoed. "That's the name of a famous horror story. Did they make it into a play or something?"

"It doesn't sound like a play," said Livvy. "It sounds creepy."

"It could be a creepy play," said Ty.

"It was a creepy story." Julian picked up the ticket. There was paint under his fingernails, shimmering small crescents of blue. "And the creepiest thing about this is that this theater is shut down. I know the place; it's up past Highland Park. It's been been shut down for years."

"Sixteen years," said Ty. He had mastered the art of using his phone one-handed and was squinting at the screen. "Shut down after a fire and never rebuilt."

"I've driven past it," Emma said. "It's all boarded up, isn't it?"

Julian nodded. "I painted it once. I was painting abandoned buildings, places like the Murphy Ranch, closed businesses. I remember that one. It had a ghostly feel."

"It's interesting," Mark said. "But does it have anything to do with the investigation? The murders?"

Everyone looked mildly surprised that Mark had asked something so practical. "I think it might," Emma said. "I was at the Shadow Market last week--"

"I wish you'd quit going to the Shadow Market," Julian muttered. "It's dangerous there--"

"Oh, NO," Emma said. "Not danger, Mr. I-Just-Almost-Bled-Out-in-My-Car."

Julian sighed and reached for his soda. "I can't believe I ever complained about 'Jules' as a nickname."

"Maybe we should talk about the Shadow Market," said Cristina hastily. "It is where Emma first heard information about the murders."

"Well, you can imagine how happy the Marketers were to see me and Cameron--"

"You went with Cameron?" Julian said.

Livvy held up a hand. "In Emma's defense, Cameron's annoying, but he's hot." Julian gave her a look. "I mean, if you like guys who look like a redheaded Captain America, which I . . . don't?"

"Captain America is definitely the most handsome Avenger," said Cristina. "But I like the Hulk. I would like to heal his broken heart."