by Krista Walsh
He fell silent. Allegra wondered if the police had returned to the hotel to take him away. She berated herself for once more being too distracted by her own desires to focus on the important issue of stopping him.
She looked out the window, but didn’t see him anywhere.
“Fool,” she said, and she wasn’t sure if she meant Tim or herself.
Matthew shifted his wide-eyed stare to Allegra. “The guy managed to talk himself out of a murder charge and now he’s confessing his crimes to the entire neighborhood?”
“I suspect great amounts of alcohol are involved.”
“The cops should have tried that method to get the confession out of him the first time. I hope someone is catching this on camera.”
She grabbed her robe from the chair beside the bed and drew it over her shoulders.
“Where are you going?” Matthew’s gaze scanned over her.
Allegra pulled her hair free of the collar and paced the width of the bed, grabbing a pair of jeans from her suitcase and a black top from the wardrobe. “That man,” she pointed to the window, “is the cause of all of this, and now that his crimes have been revealed, it is likely he will not stop until he has taken his revenge on anyone who stood in his way. Including me. Listen to him crow. If he is now confessing to Penny’s murder, what does he have left to lose?”
Matthew pulled himself up to rest against the headboard. “You think he knows about the draugrs?”
Allegra hmphed as she wiggled into her top. “I’m finding it more and more probable that he is the one controlling them. It is the only reason I can think of that they disappeared while he was gone and only appeared again when he was released from jail.”
“But we broke the connection with the corpse.”
“There was another option that I discounted because of how much power it would require. A necromancer could control them. The draugrs would become slaves to his bidding.”
Matthew raised his gaze to hers and snorted. “That would shock the hell out of me. Listen to him. He’s a drunken idiot.”
“He did commit murder,” Allegra pointed out, and Matthew shrugged his concession. “If my suspicions are correct and he is the source of these monsters, we have to prevent him from using them.”
Matthew sat forward. “Why does it have to be you?” He held up a hand when she turned on him. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t do anything. But you’ve been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours. If you know he’s the necromancer, isn’t there someone you can call? Someone you can pass this off to who can handle it for you? I don’t know…the supernatural police or anything like that?”
Allegra snarled and glared out the window. Her demon strength threw itself at her restraints at the idea of anyone taking Tim out of her hands. “I would not relinquish my opportunity to tear his heart from his chest. He feels no remorse for what he has done, no regret for what he has stolen. Monique, Cody — they were not the sort of people who should be taken by monsters. They were people who should never have known darkness, and yet it came for them anyway.” She growled in frustration and squeezed her hands into fists. “Why could Cody not have told me what he’d seen? Perhaps it was exactly the clue we need to resolve this. I should have pressed him at the time to tell me everything.”
“We’ll figure this out,” Matthew said. “If you’re right and Tim is behind this, then we can get him. Did Cody tell you where he saw whatever it was?”
“He said downstairs. I assumed he meant the kitchen, because that is where he saw the draugr. From the way he spoke, I guessed they were connected.”
Matthew threw off the covers and grabbed his pants. “Then I say we start in the kitchen.”
Allegra paced as Matthew got dressed. “If Cody saw something downstairs, maybe he told Lee what it was.” Her blood froze. “The proof of Tim’s power could have been in front of me this whole time.”
Matthew rested his hands on her shoulders. “And it wouldn’t have been your fault if you missed it. You couldn’t have known. Cody was here a lot longer than you and he only noticed it yesterday.”
She released a breath and watched as Matthew pulled on his shirt and started on the buttons. “You should stay here.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because if a draugr comes after me, worrying about you would be a distraction. We do not know what might be down there.”
“I’m not letting you go alone. These monsters creep up on you. If you’re focused on finding evidence against Tim, you won’t be paying attention to what’s behind you. Let me be your extra set of eyes.”
Allegra frowned, torn between his logic and her stubbornness to keep him away. She thought of her fight with the draugr in the garden. It had been so strong and quick — if she’d been anything less than what she was, she would have lost. As it was, she’d nearly lost anyway. Matthew might be able to sense them before they arrived, but if he wasn’t able to get away, the foreknowledge would offer no advantage.
“I have made so many mistakes by being distracted,” she said. “I cannot risk losing you.”
“I can watch my own back.”
“Please, Matthew, stay here.”
She squeezed his hands and met his eye. He stared back at her with concern so deep and genuine, her heart clenched. She’d never seen that expression on her behalf before. Not even Aunt Louisa had ever been concerned about her survival. If Allegra had died during a feed, it would have been her own fault.
She raised herself on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. He drew a breath in through his nose and clutched her against him. When she pulled away, he exhaled and pressed his lips against her forehead.
“How are you going to relax knowing that I’m up here waiting for whatever Tim has unleashed to break into the room?”
A groan of irritation rose from the back of Allegra’s throat. “Do not attempt to manipulate me, Matthew. Believe me, you are a novice in comparison. Draugrs cannot open doors.”
“Tim can, and you say he’s likely after you.”
Allegra bit down on the edge of her tongue to hold back her bubbling retort.
“You know I have skills of my own,” he pushed. “No, I can’t find ghosts, but I can pick up energies easier than you can. If magic is the source of this mess, then maybe we can work together to discover it.”
Allegra’s mind wavered. He was probably right that whether he was with her or up here, she would worry about his fate, and he was right that he might be able to help. The sooner they found the source of the spell, the sooner they could end it and prevent Tim from causing any more trouble.
She didn’t like it, but she knew she couldn’t guarantee Matthew would obey her orders and remain in the room after she left, either. “Very well, but keep your back to the wall and follow my lead.”
They moved to the door and Matthew pulled it open. Through the window, Tim’s voice rose on the wind, wild laughter mixed with the chorus of an old rock song.
“What is he doing out there?” She shoved her hands through her hair and raised it off the back of her neck to cool down the flush of her waking demon. “I wish I knew what he was planning. Has he just gone insane, or does he perhaps mean to destroy the hotel?”
She’d thought his loose threat of burning people along with Penny had been the ravings of a drunkard, but what if he meant it?
“Wouldn’t that destroy the draugrs?” Matthew asked.
Allegra pinched the bridge of her nose, concentrating on keeping her thoughts together. “It would destroy the ones who are present, but if he is controlling them, he can summon more of them wherever he is. If the police arrest him, he could bring them to prison with him. If he tries to escape tonight, we might never stop him from creating more.”
Matthew grabbed her hand. “Then we’d better hurry.”
He tugged her into the hallway and toward the stairs. Halfway down, a shape darted across the lobby.
“Goddamn it,” Matthew hissed, pressing his back again
st the wall. “Was that a draugr?”
Allegra tightened her grip on the railing and strained her ears to pick up any sound, but the lobby was quiet. She didn’t even hear any televisions or voices coming from upstairs. She sniffed at the air and picked up nothing but the clinging aroma of the dinner menu and the mixed odors of the dozens of people who had passed through the lobby throughout the course of the day.
“I cannot say for certain,” she said, keeping her voice low, “but it might be safer to believe it was.”
If the monsters were already on the prowl, Matthew wouldn’t be safe on his own if she had him wait in the lobby. She considered ordering him back upstairs to lock himself in his room, but decided to save her breath. He would never obey.
“Where was it going?” he asked, scanning the rest of the empty space.
“My guess would be the kitchen.” She released a breath and faced him. “You can come with me, but you will stay close, stay quiet, and if anything happens, you will take the first opportunity to run. Is that understood?”
The lines around his eyes and mouth tightened, and for a moment she thought he would argue with her. Instead, he jerked his head in a nod.
Worry pulsing through her veins, she took a step away, then stopped as Matthew grabbed her arm and crushed his mouth against hers. Allegra’s legs tingled as sparks shot through her blood.
“For good luck,” he murmured when he pulled away. “Next week, I’m giving us both a three-day vacation where I don’t mean to let you out of bed. But first,” he added, kissing her again, lightly this time, “we need get out of this hotel in one piece.”
She flashed her fangs as her canines elongated. Her blood raced with lust and the promise of atonement for failing Cody. “So let’s go tear them to pieces.”
Matthew took hold of her hand as they turned their steps toward the staff door.
She had always prided herself on being a good reader of people. In her position, she had to be. She had to know who would offer the most sustenance in a meal, who would cause her trouble, who would help her career.
But the energy in the Garden Hotel had left her blind. She’d seen Tim’s feigned charm and the effort it took him to maintain it, but she’d missed the power lurking beneath the surface. She’d seen Cody’s easygoing nature, but had turned away from his fear when he’d needed her. She’d believed Matthew lusted after her as a way to pass the time, when in truth, he had turned her entire life on its axis.
Nothing in this hotel was what it seemed to be, but tonight the smoke would clear and she would learn the truth.
No matter what they found in the kitchen, Allegra was going to look it right in the eye — and end this war once and for all.
20
The Garden Hotel was silent.
After five days of bustling activity from the guests, the staff, and the Grace crew, the blanket of quiet drifting through the hallways carried an eerie energy. Ominous. As though the building were holding its breath for whatever Allegra would find downstairs.
She clung to Matthew’s hand to reassure herself that he was safe and she wasn’t alone, but he may as well have been on the other side of town for the way her courage dropped into her black suede ankle boots as they crossed the lobby.
The hallway leading to the hotel bar was still and empty, and nothing moved in the shadows of the dining hall. No one was there except for her and Matthew. Whatever had moved in the dim night lights had disappeared.
Her heart fluttered and her blood rushed in her ears. She drew in a deep breath and reached for the handle of the staff door, half expecting it to swing open of its own accord.
You’re not in a horror film, Allegra.
No, the monsters she faced were far too real.
She rolled her neck to work out the tension and rested her fingers on the handle. The metal felt cold under her touch.
The door opened into a pitch-black stairwell, and Allegra glanced over her shoulder at Matthew, whose throat bobbed with a hard swallow. He stared into the depths as though he stood at the edge of a chasm and was working up his courage to jump. She drew in a deep breath and slid her hand over the wall until she found the light switch.
Compared to the warm glow of the bedside lamp in her room, the cold fluorescence did nothing to loosen the tightness between her shoulder blades. If anything, it made the shadows creeping out from under the stairs more pronounced. The light bounced through the round windows of the swinging doors at the bottom of the stairs, highlighting the kitchen appliances and creating shapes on the floor that seemed to be reaching for them.
Sweat trickled along Allegra’s hairline and gathered at the backs of her knees. She was relieved she hadn’t eaten anything for dinner, guessing it would have been revolting in her stomach right then.
Terror was such a strange emotion for her that it took a moment to accept it was causing her legs to lock up, unable to take the first step. She wasn’t afraid of much, but the shadows in this old hotel had done the trick. She didn’t trust what might be hiding in them. The draugrs were stronger than she was. They were faster than she was. If her attention strayed for an instant, they could win.
And she had more at stake than her own life. She had to protect Matthew as well.
They might not even show up, she told herself.
She and Matthew had come downstairs to search for whatever Cody had thought worth mentioning. That was all. Tim was outside screaming in the garden and had no idea they were coming downstairs, so he had no reason to send his pets after them. At the moment, the kitchen was abandoned, and it could very well stay that way until they’d finished what they’d come for.
She snatched on to that belief and her knees unlocked, holding her weight as she started down the stairs. Matthew followed close behind her, his fingers tight around hers. She reached the floor, crossed the empty stretch of hallway, and pushed open the swinging doors to the darkened kitchen.
Allegra reached for the switch and jumped as a shape passed in front of the window across the room. She turned on the light and blew out a breath as she realized the movement had come from outside. The waddling shape of a large rat was rushing away from the sudden glare shining through the window.
A rodent. She had been afraid of a rodent.
A soft touch brushed against her back and she jumped a second time, her heart leaping into her throat. She whirled toward Matthew and glowered.
“You might be more careful how you move down here,” she said. “I do not always pay attention to faces while hunting.”
“Is it possible that the unflappable Allegra Rossi is jumpy?” he asked, but beneath his teasing smile, she spotted the swirl of his discomfort. Then he shuddered. “I can’t say I blame you. Do you smell that?” He sniffed the air. “It’s so stale and musty down here. That can’t be good for the food.”
Allegra inhaled deeply and detected the scent Matthew was talking about. It reminded her of the reek of draugr dust. Under that was the same delicious aroma of Lee’s family sauce recipe that he had poured over his chicken. Her mouth watered and her stomach grumbled, and she was amazed her body could think of being hungry when her mind was so numb with fear.
Matthew peered around the kitchen, his eyes narrowed as he began to concentrate on their mission.
He appeared so sure of himself, so ready to face whatever came at them, but when Allegra’s fingers brushed over the pulse in his wrist, she discovered it was racing faster than her own heartbeat. She reminded herself he was human. His genetics allowed him to look into her world, but he was not a part of it.
The reminder deepened her desire to keep him safe — to do for him what she hadn’t done for Cody — and she stepped closer to him, scanning the kitchen for any shapes creeping toward them so she could go after them before they reached her.
“Where do we begin?” she asked.
“Let’s each take a side and look around,” Matthew suggested.
“That seems like a foolish idea. We should stay together.”
“It’ll take longer if we do.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. “Trust me to stay on alert, all right?”
“Perhaps it is not only you I’m fearful for,” Allegra replied, scowling. But his point was valid. The sooner they made it out of here, the happier she would be.
“Pay attention to where Cody might have looked,” Matthew said. “It had to have been something out in the open, unless you think he was poking around?”
She shook her head. “If he had been, he would have mentioned that. From the way he was talking, I suspect it was something he noticed offhand on his way through.” She released his hand so they could start their search, her breath hitching in momentary panic when his fingers were no longer wrapped around hers.
Closing her eyes, she worked to center herself. They would only be here for a few minutes and then they would escape, go back to the safety of her room, and pretend they had never been snooping around where they didn’t belong. It was a restaurant kitchen, nothing so terrifying about that.
“What do you think set Tim off tonight?” Matthew asked. “That breakdown seemed to come out of nowhere.”
“It does not seem so extraordinary to me,” Allegra said as she knelt down to check under the center table. “The man who returned from the police station was not the same man who greeted me on the day I arrived. I suspect something in him broke the moment he realized Penny’s body had been found. From what I’ve learned of human behavior over the years, your minds tend to snap after prolonged stress. Perhaps he could no longer bear the weight of what he’d done.” She looked around the kitchen and sniffed the air again. Had the mustiness grown stronger? “Of course, desperation often leads to dangerous choices. If he is shouting his confession to the world, I doubt his plan is to turn himself in.”