Adah didn’t have much time after the airing of the first episode before it would be time to film the next, and she wanted to formulate as much of a plan as she could given the surprise nature of the challenges. Ciel couldn’t have had any more info about the show than Adah had, yet she’d arrived on set already with an idea of how she wanted to handle all three phases of the episode. Planning your moves was easier when most of the cast was on your side, but that didn’t mean Adah shouldn’t try to match Ciel’s schemes.
Besides, she didn’t intend to fly solo through the second episode. Last week had shown that Ren was open to teaming up with Adah. This week, Adah needed to use her potential ally to her advantage from the moment the cameras started rolling. No, maybe even before that. Ren had her eyes set on Ciel, and that meant she and Adah were allies, even if it was only the result of happenstance.
The quick turnaround from one episode to the next meant Adah only had one day to take what she’d learned from yesterday’s episode and apply it to next week’s plan. Sunday was supposed to be her day off, but she couldn’t afford to spend it relaxing. She was going to figure out a way to steal the spotlight from Ciel, win the next challenge in spite of the sabotage surely heading her way, and introduce Twilight Heartbreak to a whole new legion of fans.
Anything less would be an insult to all the people who had cheered her on thus far.
However, right when Adah was about to settle in for some brainstorming in the agency lobby, an unexpected phone call from an even more unexpected caller rang Grace’s phone. Normally whoever called her manager’s cell phone would be none of Adah’s business, but this particular caller caught her attention.
After all, the call was so unusual that even Grace’s eyes lit up.
“Hello?” Ketzia’s voice came through Grace’s phone, somewhat muffled by static. “Can — hear me?”
Hearing Ketzia’s voice, all of Adah’s teammates also broke away from whatever tasks occupied them this morning and crowded around Grace and her phone.
“Sort of,” Grace said. “You’re cutting out a little.”
“Let — fly — try again.”
A garbled sound like wind brushing against her phone came out of Grace’s speaker for a few seconds, then Ketzia’s voice returned clearer than before.
“What about now?” she asked. “Good?”
“I think so,” Grace said.
“All these years and the service still sucks out here,” Ketzia said. “Gotta fly around ‘til I find a spot that works.”
Grace smiled and said, “When you first moved there, you said you liked that. No more spam calls.”
“Trade-offs, I guess,” Ketzia said. “Anyway, I know you’re busy so I won’t waste your time. I got a favor to ask you.”
Grace’s eyes shifted to look at Adah and her teammates. “Just so you know, I’m with the girls, and you’re on speaker.”
“Even better,” Ketzia said. “It’s them I need the favor from anyway. You see, I got — so I’ll — down there soon.”
A more masculine voice repeatedly talked over Ketzia’s. Whether due to the service or the way the cell phone picked up sound, Adah could only hear one of their voices at a time. Whenever the deeper voice cut in, Ketzia’s disappeared. Grace opened her mouth to explain how hard it was to hear anything, but then Ketzia’s voice burst through the receiver clear as crystal.
“Shut up!” she yelled. “If you got something you wanna say to her, teleport your bony ass down there and tell her in person!
“You would go crazy with no one here to keep you company,” the other voice said. Hearing that steady cadence and slight condescension it carried, Adah recognized it as Lesh’s. As if the “bony ass” wasn’t enough of a hint.
“Couldn’t get any crazier than you make me,” Ketzia said.
“You two okay over there?” Grace asked.
“Fine, except I got a piece of buffalo chicken on my shoulder that’s yapping so much I can’t hear myself think. Anyway, about this favor. I gotta head down to Padoux next week to see that new Secretary, so I need someone to watch the woods while I’m gone. Deal with any Cruelties that show up, make sure the cabin doesn’t burn down, that sort of stuff. I was hoping the girls could do it.”
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“Elise wants to see you?” Adah said loud enough for Grace’s phone to pick up. “What does she want from you?”
“Oh, hey there, Captain,” Ketzia said. “You even found a way to sound all raspy over the phone—ain’t that impressive? Well, a busybody like you must have heard I volunteered for that group the Secretary’s putting together to deal with the humanoids.”
Right, Adah had seen Ketzia’s name—or Ardent Aletta’s, anyway—on that roster Elise had put together. She’d meant to ask Ketzia about it the next time they spoke, but now Ketzia had brought it up herself.
“So, I guess I gotta get trained on a few things,” Ketzia continued. “Caught up to speed and all that. She wants to know what I’ve learned, too, being that I’ve probably seen more of those things than anyone else. I figured it’d be easiest to head to the capital for a day or two and knock everything out at once. Been a while since I’ve left this place anyway.”
Before Grace could ask any questions about the logistics of Ketzia’s request, Adah raised her voice again to ask what was on her mind. She’d been wondering something since seeing Ketzia’s name on that list.
“Why did you volunteer?” she asked. “I thought you were basically retired?”
Adah always got the impression that the only reason Ketzia agreed to be warden of all that wilderness up north was so that she could live someplace isolated from the rest of the world. Her cabin and the privilege of being Untethered had been her price for continuing to deal with Cruelties. After their conversation the last time she’d visited the cabin, Adah had gotten the sense that even that responsibility was becoming a burden for Ketzia.
The truth must have been as complicated as it seemed to Adah, as Ketzia took a few seconds to reply.
“Some brat said some stuff to me that got me thinking,” Ketzia said after the pause. “I don’t wanna become some old person who asks the next generation to change my diapers after I’ve spent my whole life doing nothing for them. When the time comes that I’m too worn out to help myself, I need something to hold over the youth—ya know what I mean? Like, don’t say I never did nothing for you.”
Ketzia paused again, and the sound of the wind ruffled against the receiver.
“Forget about all that, though,” she said. “Can you girls handle the woods for a couple of days? Madam Secretary said there probably won’t be anything scarier than a B-Rank up here for a while. She said anything stronger wouldn’t make sense. Something about the return on investment or whatever.”
This time it was Ami who cut Grace’s answer off, yelling into the phone, “Hell yeah!”
So as to avoid any further interruptions, Grace snatched up her phone and took a step away from the group of magical girls.
“What days would they need to be up there?” Grace asked. “All the girls are on a tight schedule, but Adah especially.”
“Figured I might as well get it over with,” Ketzia said, “so I told the Secretary I’d be there on Monday. Depending on how things go, I might be down there most of Tuesday, too.”
“Monday is an issue,” Grace said, glancing toward Adah. “Adah will be busy all day filming, and that’s not something that can be rescheduled.”
“Oh yeah, you’re on that show now,” Ketzia said. “I caught yesterday’s episode. God, you sucked.”
Adah leaned in toward Grace and said, “Thanks.”
“Where the hell was the Adah I know? Hey, last time you were up here, you were talking trash to me like you really wanted to fight. A little pipsqueak like you! Now you’re telling me you’re scared of those wannabe divas? Don’t make me regret thinking you were cool.”
“Trust me, my own team made enough fun of me already,” Adah said. “But you tune into the next episode, and I’ll show you something so cool you call back to apologize.”
Ketzia chuckled, though with her shoddy service, the noise cut in and out depending on how loud her laughs were.
“All right,” she said, “now you sound as mad as you ought to be. Show me what you can do then, kid. I’ll be watching.”
Grace squeezed the bridge of her nose, her mind no doubt plagued by thoughts of what trouble Adah might cause now that she’d been egged on by her mentor. That was at least a better reaction than the murky boredom on everyone’s faces yesterday. Adah could apologize for any headaches she caused after the fact.
“Let’s get back to the issue of subbing in for you,” Grace said. “Is it really the best idea for the girls to go if they’re missing a member? They’re going to be isolated if anything goes wrong up there.”
“If Adah can’t make it, then bring those friends of yours,” Ketzia suggested. “A couple of you can sleep in my room if you need the space. That bed’s too big for one person anyway.”
Rika and the twins shared a look. Since Adah wouldn’t be helping out either way, she stayed quiet and let them decide what they were comfortable with.
“We could have one of DreamRise and Fifty Flip come with us and the other handle any jobs down here,” Rika said.
“If it’s between the two of them,” Ami said, “I know who I’m asking.”
“Sounds like it’s settled then,” Ketzia’s voice came through the phone, still with a layer of static over it. “I’ll make sure the place is stocked for you, so if you have any requests, let me know. Oh, and Grace—when I’m down there, let’s grab a drink. Bring that good-for-nothing guy with you. Booze always tastes better when a handsome man pays for it.”
Grace’s fingers moved from the bridge of her nose to her temples as she let out a sigh that even her phone could have picked up. Perhaps Ketzia would be the more intense source of Grace’s stress next week. Adah was off the hook.
After everyone said their goodbyes, Grace hung up the call and began to retie her ponytail. No matter how tight or loose she made it, she always looked unsatisfied.
“Are you guys going to be okay without me?” Adah asked her teammates.
“Okay?” Ami repeated with a laugh.
“When the cat is away,” Emi said, “the mice will play.”
The twins gave each other a wicked smile while Rika avoided making eye contact with Adah. Seliah, the only member who hadn’t visited Ketzia’s cabin yet, looked between all of her new teammates in confusion.
In that moment, Adah understood Grace better than she ever had before.