The gathering was the kind that happened at the end of a formal week — not a meeting, not a reception with an official agenda, but the social aftermath of both: Vault representatives and Alpha delegations and Witch Elder observers all occupying the same building at the same time, the work done, the room given over to the particular quality of people who had been professional at each other all week and were now being professional at each other with wine.
Neva arrived with the Ember delegation. She found the room's shape quickly — exits, density, the political geography of who was standing where and why. Dacre was already positioned at the east window, the same window he had occupied at every event in this building, his corner, his habitual position. She noted it and moved to the opposite s
