Trail of Lightning

When Kai and Maggie enter the Shalimar, Maggie realizes that it is a night club. A bouncer at the door asks for their identification, which they provide in the form of their first two clans. Maggie asks the bouncer if he knows Mósí, but he says that Mósí is unavailable. Inside the Shalimar, which defies the laws of physics, Kai’s paint allows Maggie to see the club’s guests stripped of their illusions of normalcy, their clan characteristics showing clearly through. Maggie asks Kai if she looks different. She thinks, “I need to know if stripped of illusion, Kai can see the real me. And if he can, is it monstrous? Is the evil there, like the taint Neizghání warned me about?” (211). He says she looks the same, but to Maggie Kai seems to be even more beautiful than normal. Despite Maggie’s protests, Kai leaves to search for Mósí on her own, and Clive approaches Maggie. They discuss Maggie’s reputation, which he describes as “violent and antisocial” but not psychopathic (214). Clive also mentions overhearing that there is to be a big fight at the Shalimar this evening where Mósí will be the bookmaker.