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tight in a French twist with a fleur-de-lis inked on her neck.
    Cal whispers in my ear. “Here comes Nancy Robinson, my attorney. Don’t let her manners fool you. Nancy is a shark, and the whole board listens to her opinions.”
    “Cal, darling!” Nancy gushes. “I’ve been dying to come as soon as I got the invitation.” She holds out her hand to be kissed, which Cal does, graciously.
    “Nancy, I’d like you to meet my new daughter, Blanca.”
    “Daughter?” Nancy’s tattooed eyebrows arch. “Is that what you’re calling her?”
    “Yes,” Cal answers.
    “How … unexpected,” Nancy says. There’s an uncomfortable pause. Other guests join the circle, hungry for information.
    I want to tell Cal he doesn’t have to say anything. His private business is just that— private. But Cal’s not a Vestal, so he keeps talking. “My wife, Sophia, was fascinated by the Vestals.”
    Nancy’s jaw sets into a fake smile, and her teeth glisten. “Sophia was a wonderful person,” she says. “A true genius.”
    I feel Cal’s arm flex right below my elbow.
    “You’ll get no arguments from me. My wife was the most brilliant anthropologist Stanford ever had. And she was mesmerized by the Vestals. Sophia wrote her dissertation on Barbelo Nemo.”
    “That quack,” Nancy says, her face flat and shiny.
    “He’s not a quack!” I say.
    “She speaks!” somebody from the back of the crowd pipes up.
    Cal places a hand on my arm, already linked with his, and gives a little pat. “Sophia was inspired by Barbelo Nemo,” he says. “She was amazed that he could create something so powerful in forty-five years.”
    “Fifty, now,” I correct.
    “Whatever happened to Barbelo Nemo?” Nancy asks. Her gray silk skirt swishes around her.
    “That’s private,” I answer. Barbelo has retreated to Plemora now, his estate at an unknown location. But that’s nobody’s business either.
    “You mean you don’t know or you can’t say?” Nancy asks.
    Heat prickles up my spine as I feel everyone watch me. I know these strangers are hungry for information, but there’s no way I’ll betray my Brethren. So I offer a placid smile, straight from Ms. Corina’s lessons in charm and deportment.
    Cal clears his throat. “The mystery enchanted Sophia. She wanted to know the unknowable. Vestal secrets fascinated her. That’s why I knew Sophia would have been concerned about that picture of Blanca gathering unfavorable attention before her Harvest. She would have felt responsible. She would have wanted to do something.”
    “Because it was Seth who took the picture?” somebody says.
    “So it’s true then?” another guest asks. “Veritas Rex is Seth?”
    “Oh, please.” Nancy swats the air with her hand. “Everyone’s known that for ages.”
    “Yes,” Cal admits. “That’s not exactly privileged information.”
    “Seth’s picture really caused chaos,” Nancy says. “He stirred things up.”
    Cal nods. “I couldn’t let Seth ruin a young Vestal’s life. Sophia wouldn’t have wanted that.”
    Inwardly, I flinch. My life wouldn’t have been ruined, no matter what Cal thinks! There are many paths a Vestal can take, and they all have honor.
    Nancy looks right at me. “The news feed said there were several men after you.” I feel my skin turn clammy. “That man from Korea with the plastic surgery, a time-share billionaire from Florida, and the senator who got in trouble a few years ago with his intern.”
    I see delight in Nancy’s eyes as she witnesses the effect her words have on me. I fight harder to stay composed.
    “So happily for all, I get a new daughter instead,” Cal says, a little too brightly.
    The other party guests aren’t looking at me anymore. Their eyes are on Nancy, waiting to see how she responds. The wait seems endless.
    “Excellent,” Nancy says at last. “I’m so happy for you both.” Then Nancy throws her arms around me, and her earrings tangle in my hair. “Welcome to the McNeal Solar