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“What in the world?” I asked. “That’s impossible. My name wasn’t even on the ballot.”
“Exactly.” Emmy’s eyes shone as she looked at me. “You won because everybody chose to vote for you regardless. Trixie—do you realize what this means? You’re a member of The Circle.”
“But—”
“There’s no going back now.” Emmy leapt up. “I’m going to grab the bubbly. About time we get someone in power who isn’t a greedy jerk.”
Emmy disappeared to the kitchen, and I turned shakily to Dom. “I think I need a minute. Breath of fresh air. Wait here for me, please?”
Dom gave a nod and squeezed my leg reassuringly.
I headed for the small balcony off my bedroom. I took a deep breath, gripped the railing, and looked out over the city that I was now supposed to help guide via a political career I’d never asked for.
My phone rang, and I saw Grandma Betty’s number. I silenced it. I’d call her back later, once I knew what I was going to say. I had to see if I could turn the job down, if there was a loophole that would let me out of serving in The Circle. I wasn’t cut out for it.
“Mind if I join you?”
Dom’s voice was soft, gentle. The sun was starting to set, and I hadn’t realized I’d been lingering on the deck for the better part of half an hour, my mind spiraling as I’d eventually silenced my phone because of all the messages and calls coming through to congratulate me on my appointment as wildcard.
“Yeah, of course,” I said, gesturing for him to join me. “Sorry. I got lost in thought.”
“Easy to do,” Dom said. “What’s on your mind?”
“I never asked for this.”
“I know, but before you start spiraling and looking for loopholes to get out of serving on The Circle—”
“Too late for that,” I muttered bitterly.
Dom barked a laugh. “I figured. Hear me out.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll do my best.”
“From a practical standpoint, maybe accepting this new role could be a good thing.” Dom’s voice was low, soothing, like he was suggesting we try a new restaurant for lunch, not a life-changing appointment. “The time commitment to being a member of The Circle is less per month than your job as a taxi driver.”
“Sure.”
“They only meet twice a month regularly. They have emergency meetings when needed, of course,” Dom said. “In between that time, there’s work to be done, but from what I understand you get to choose a lot of where you put your focus.”
“I’m following you. Painfully.”
“The pay isn’t half bad. You make peanuts as a cab driver,” he said. “This would afford you a salary that would allow you to live more comfortably. You could get a new car...” Dom looked sideways at me. “You wouldn’t have to be out in the middle of the night delivering hooligans to their destinations.”
“Hooligans,” I repeated. “You forget, I was your driver. You hooligan.”
“You could positively impact change. You’d get the opportunity to explore your magic in a new way with great resources at your fingertips,” he said. “You could choose to fight corruption, or get more funding for people like Emmy who are researching important stuff. Not to mention, you’d get a lifetime access pass to Le Jardín. You could visit anytime you wanted, help out behind the scenes, probably study with the gardeners.”
“In theory, it all sounds nice. But it’s still a political role in the public eye.”
“Yes and no. You’re not wrong, but really, once this all settles down, it’s just a job. How much did you care about what The Circle was doing when it wasn’t election season?”
“Zero percent,” I admitted.
“Right. And most people feel that way, so it’s not like you’ll be doing interviews daily. It’ll just become a normal way of life for you. A job where you can effect big change in the magical world.”
“You make it sound like rainbows and puppies.”
“I’m sure it’s not all good, but neither is your job as a cab driver. You wanted something bigger, Trixie. This is big.”
