Red-Headed Stepchild

Page 26

He didn’t hesitate. “Meet me at the Fog City Hotel.”
A while later, I pulled the minivan into the portecochere of the hotel. The valet guy opened my door. He jumped back in surprise when the hairless cat jumped out ahead of me.
“Sorry, he needs a potty break,” I said.
The guy took the keys without a word and handed me a ticket. I chased Giguhl over to a small patch of monkey grass.
“I can’t take you anywhere,” I said under my breath.
“Bite me.”
“Keep up the backtalk and I just might.”
The hotel wasn’t what one would term five-star. But it wasn’t shabby either. Adam’s room was on the second floor. I bypassed the lobby by slipping down the first hallway I saw. From there I took the stairs two at a time up to the next floor. The last thing I needed was some nosy hotel employee telling me the cat wasn’t welcome.
Adam’s room was the second on the right from the stairs. I knocked and waited.
“What’s our plan?” Giguhl asked, squirming in my arms.
“Just keep quiet,” I said. When Adam didn’t open the door after two more knocks, I pressed my ear to the wood. I didn’t hear any movement.
“Are you going to ask him about how to send me home?” Giguhl whispered.
“Not yet,” I said. His body went slack from disappointment. I sighed. “Listen, if you just play along and be a good kitty, I promise I’ll talk to him about it soon.”
“Okay.” He sounded crestfallen, but resolved.
Pushing my guilt to the side, I knocked again. Why would Adam leave when he knew I was on my way?
Left with no other choice—at least to my mind—I decided to let myself in. Giguhl muttered a protest, but I shushed him and transferred his scrawny frame to my left arm. I turned the doorknob hard and forced my right shoulder into it. The door cracked open. I looked to my left and right to be sure no one noticed my B&E before slipping into the room.
I pushed the door against the slightly splintered doorframe. From the outside, it wouldn’t be noticeable. Turning back toward the room, I stopped short.
Standing in front of me, wearing nothing but a white towel, was a scowling, wet mage. Giguhl squirmed from my arms and streaked further into the room.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Adam demanded. With one hand, he held the towel, and with the other, he dragged me further into the room by my arm. “And what the hell was that thing?”
“Whoops, sorry,” I said. “You didn’t answer so I thought you’d stepped out. And that,” I motioned in the direction Giguhl fled, “was my cat.” I wasn’t ready to introduce him to the demon he’d sent.
“First, that was not a cat. It looked like a bald weasel or something.” He looked at the door. “Second, did it occur to you to call my cell phone?”
Distracted by his damp, sculpted chest and the happy trail of golden hair, which disappeared beneath the towel, I didn’t answer. Just above the edge of the white terry cloth, I saw a small tattoo, which resembled a three-pronged maze in the shape of a circle. The symbol wasn’t familiar, but the placement just above his happy place was … intriguing. In fact, up close and personal, I couldn’t help but realize for the first time that Adam was a total hottie.
He crossed his arms, bringing my attention back above his waist. Seeing his scowl again, I realized I needed to focus.
“When you didn’t answer my knocks, I figured you might be hurt,” I said. “I didn’t have time to think.”
“As much as it warms the cockles of my heart to think you were rushing to my rescue, I’m not buying it.”
I wasn’t about to tell him that part of me had been hoping he’d stepped out for a few minutes. Then I would have had some time to rifle through his things. “I’ll pay for the damage.”
He blew out a breath, making the towel sag a little. I held my own breath hoping to get a glimpse of the Promised Land. He cleared his throat, bringing my gaze north. His right eyebrow arched. “See anything you like?”
My cheeks warmed, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of admitting to my embarrassment. “I was just noticing your tattoo,” I said.
He didn’t look like he believed me, but let it pass. “It’s Hekate’s wheel. And it’s not a tattoo.”
I must have looked confused because he went on. “All mages have this birthmark somewhere on their body,” he said. “Where’s yours, Sabina?
I looked away. Mine was different from Adam’s. An eight-pointed star, just like the symbol on the Lilith amulet at the Red Moon, sat on my right shoulder blade. Remembering what my grandmother had said about keeping it hidden, I decided to change the subject. “Are you gonna put some clothes on or what?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smirk. He decided to let me get away with my evasion over the birthmark issue. “I’ll be right back.”
I moved further into the room. Giguhl was sitting on a table, looking at a piece of paper.
“Hey, stop that,” I whispered.
“You’ve gotta see this,” he said.
I picked it up and felt my eyes grow too big for their sockets. “Holy shit.”
“Rooting through my things, Sabina? Isn’t that a little clichéd?” Adam was back and he sounded amused.
I swung around, the damning evidence in my hand. “Why do you have this?” I thrust the printed layout of Immortal Vineyards at him.
“Why don’t you tell me?” he said, ignoring the print out and sitting on the bed. “You went there tonight, didn’t you?”
My mouth fell open. I opened it and closed it several times as I sputtered. “You followed me?”
He shook his head. “Not technically, no.”
“How did you know then? Technically.”
He shrugged, seeming unconcerned by my growing agitation. “We all have our little secrets, Sabina. I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
“Cut the shit,” I said, growing impatient. “Why are you still following me?”
“Like I told you, our family sent me to find you and make sure you’re safe. So, you gonna tell me why you went?”
I sat in the chair next to the table where Giguhl was now napping. “Oh, you know, just had a sudden hankering for some wine.”
“Right. And it just so happens the vineyard you visited is owned by the Dominae? Last I heard you weren’t exactly on their good side.”
“Weird, huh?” I said with a shrug.
“I’d say so.” He was playing along. “Sample anything good?”
“They have an amusing Shiraz you’d probably like. Although, it was a bit tannic for my taste.”
“Interesting.” He leaned forward, so his knees brushed mine. “Now are you going to cut the shit and tell me why you were really there?”
“No,” I said, pulling away. “That’s privileged information. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“That would be a pity,” he said. “After all, if you kill me you’ll never get the answers you came to me for.”
I stopped, wondering if mind reading was one of his powers. He laughed then, “Mind reading isn’t one of my powers. I just figured this wasn’t a social call.”
I shifted in my seat, cursing myself for being so easy to read.
“Now that the witty banter portion of the evening is over, why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
His posture was relaxed and his manner open, but I noticed a slight tension around his eyes. I felt a little tense myself as I tried to think of a way to question him about the missing mancies without his guessing the reason.
“Okay, so I’ve been thinking about what you said. Why would the Hekate Council send you now? I mean, I’m fifty-three years old. They’ve had plenty of time to track me down.”
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Your existence was kept secret from us until recently.”
“Kept secret? By whom?”
“The elders of the Council knew, of course. However, it wasn’t until recent events that they felt the need to find you. They only entrusted the information to me and one other.”
A dozen questions popped into my head. I started at the top. “What recent events?”
He stood and started pacing as if the activity would help him gather his thoughts. “How much do you know about the Praescarium Lilitu?”
“That’s odd,” I said. “You’re the second being who’s mentioned it to me recently.”
“Who else mentioned it?”
Not wanting to explain why I’d gone to the occult shop, I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I always thought the prophecies were a myth.”
“Yes and no. No one’s ever seen them. They’re guarded by a secret sect.”
“The Caste of Nod?”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you know about them?”
“Nothing really. Like I said, I thought it was all a myth.”
“The Caste is über-secret and from what I hear they’ll do anything to keep it that way. As for the book, it’s rumored to be a collection of prophecies.”
“And?” I wasn’t impressed by his dramatics. So far, it sounded like Nostradamus-type shit.
“And,” he said, “Some of the prophecies have been coming true.”
“Wait, I thought you said no one’s ever seen them. How would anyone know if they’re coming true?
“Oral traditions exist among the spiritual leaders of the races, passed down from generation to generation. So some of the prophecies are known by each race’s leaders—more or less.”
I frowned remembering Grandmother’s dismissal when I’d mentioned the book to her. If Adam was telling the truth, surely she would have access to some of this information. Given recent revelations about the Dominae, I wouldn’t be surprised if Grandmother kept this secret, too.