They traveled separately, at Julian’s insistence that he managed to make look like Rafi’s insistence. Rafi half-expected Uncle Eddie to be hiding behind a potted plant when they arrived, waiting to ambush them in the hotel foyer, but he was nowhere in sight. Of course, he could easily be inside the ballroom. Approaching the doors, Rafi could only make out shifting blue-and-purple light, and movement building on a dance floor, where a DJ on a dais ruled over all. Thumping music leaked incongruously into the bright and tasteful corridor.
Perhaps Uncle Eddie wasn’t here yet, but someone else was—someone Rafi would not have expected in a thousand years.
“Cory!”
“Rafi!” Incredibly, Cory actually looked happy to see him, if a little gobsmacked. “Oh my goodness! How are you doing?” He spread h
