by Lisa Shearin
There are no ghosts in here, Mac. No boogey-man under the bed or in the closet. The way things have been going, you’ll be seeing far worse than that soon enough. Shut up and sleep while you have the chance.
For once, my overactive imagination listened to me, because the next thing I knew, I was being woken up. Suddenly. Rudely.
Someone was banging on a wall. Not in the rooms on either side of me, but close by.
I groggily sat up and muttered, “Jeez, people. At least have a little consideration.”
A glance at the clock told me I’d only been asleep half an hour.
Shouts were added to the banging.
Calvin and Liz’s shouts.
My feet hit the floor, and my hands grabbed my weapons.
My next instinct was to call Ian, but my phone was only good for playing games. Though with Cal and Liz yelling like that, word would spread quickly that there was a big problem on the third floor. I’d thought my vocabulary was suitably extensive. After hearing Cal and Liz go at it, I was humbled by my own profanity inadequacy. I was in the presence of masters.
At least I had enough presence of mind to look out the door’s peephole before barging out into the hall.
Oh boy, was I glad I did.
It was right outside my door.
Peepholes distorted what you saw, so I didn’t know how big this bug was, but judging from Cal’s vocabulary, it was every bit as large as it looked.
It was a scorpion the size of a horse.
I’d had every intention of giving Cal and Liz some backup, but I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to open my door even a crack. Yes, I’d flipped the little lever to keep it from opening more than a few inches, but a little lever wouldn’t keep out a horse-sized scorpion.
I decided that when it moved, I’d move.
Now I kinda wished I’d taken Ian up on his offer of his spear. I wasn’t qualified to use guns in the close quarters of a hotel hallway, and while I had knives, they weren’t nearly long enough to give me a healthy distance between myself and a monster scorpion.
I kept my eye on the peephole. The scorpion was moving down the hallway, toward Cal and Liz, and away from my room. I could quietly open my door and slip out behind the scorpion. I could be just the distraction Cal or Liz needed to put a fatal hole in that thing. Cal was one of the people who’d taken to carrying a spear with a telescoping shaft after fighting grendels with the spear-wielding Scandinavians.
Then I remembered.
A scorpion was a bug. I had bug spray. Yes, the bug was big, but it was an economy-sized can of Raid. And with a twenty-foot stream, I could at least spray it in the eyes. Maybe it’d slow the thing down enough so Cal or Liz could kill it. It was worth a shot.
I got the Raid from its place next to my bed, clicked the “safety” off the top of the can, slowly opened the door, and stepped out of my room.
As I did, a door opened behind me from farther down the hall, and a green-faced delegate of an unknown-to-me species stuck its head out of their room, saw the scorpion, and screamed bloody murder.
That got the bug’s attention.
On me, standing there in the middle of the hall with a can of bug spray.
Then the delegate slammed the door, making even more noise. Like the scream wasn’t bad enough.
The scorpion spun toward me, its claws clicking like supersized castanets, its stinger arching menacingly over its back.
Oh crap.
I didn’t take into account the difficulty of locating a scorpion’s eyes. Two, four, six. . . Damn, how many eyes did this thing have? I aimed at what looked like the main pair, and let ’er rip.
I’d never given much thought to what, if any, noise scorpions make.
It started as an enraged hiss and rose to a shriek that would’ve done a banshee proud.
Liz took advantage of my distraction and darted in to slice clean through the scorpion’s stinger with a short sword. As dark blood sprayed the walls, the blinded bug spun toward its newest tormenter, pincers clicking madly in search of a target.
I wasn’t qualified to shoot in a confined space. Cal was. He put a bullet through each claw. They had no effect.
But the loss of blood—or whatever it was leaking—was taking the fight out of it.
And right before the scorpion looked ready to keel over, it vanished.
Gone as if it’d never been here.
Cal and Liz didn’t wait to see if the scorpion was going to reappear, or worse, bring friends back with it. They darted into one of the guest rooms.
I ran after them and saw that the door wasn’t ajar.
The steel door had been peeled open as though someone had used a giant can opener—or monster scorpion claws—from the inside.
Commander Roy Benoit lay sprawled on the floor, his face deathly pale.
Cal had been an army medic and was working on him. Liz was doing what she could to help.
“Get the doctor.” Liz’s voice was tight with uncharacteristic fear. “He’s been stung.”
Chapter Seventeen
Calvin went with Roy when he was taken to the hotel’s small infirmary. As a medic, Cal wasn’t about to leave his commander. SPI headquarters had a world-class trauma center. If we hadn’t been trapped inside the Regor Regency, he would have been transported there. But we were trapped, so we weren’t going anywhere, and neither was Roy Benoit.
He was in bad shape.
Rake’s hotel doctor was the best his money and influence could hire. He was a doctor, but he was also what goblins called a healer. He could diagnose and repair damage—internal and external—by touch and will alone. But Roy’s problem was different. He had the venom of a giant scorpion coursing through his veins. Normally, a scorpion sting would cause pain, muscle spasms, and swelling, maybe numbness and blurred vision, but this thing had been huge. The sheer volume of venom injected into Roy’s body had been incredible. The seizures had started almost immediately. Roy was heathy and in amazing physical condition. That was probably all that had kept him alive so far.
Dr. Jules had sedated him against the pain and muscle spasms. The hotel catered to supernatural species, so he had been equipped to deal with just about anything. I didn’t see how that could extend to stocking monster scorpion antivenom in his small hotel infirmary, but I prayed I was wrong.
Being unable to leave the hotel had just gone from inconvenient to life-threatening.
Like Ian, Roy had served in the army and had become a Ranger. Where Ian had gone from the army to the NYPD, Roy had gone on to multiple deployments in Iraq. He’d come straight to SPI after he’d left the army, having seen things in Iraq that convinced him that humans weren’t the apex predator on our world. A man who hunted humongous gators for fun, with the only thing between him and them being an itty-bitty john boat, was SPI’s kind of folks.
We were lucky to have him.
Now we were fighting to keep him.
While we had been on the third floor with a giant scorpion, the gnome delegation had been dealing with some kind of mole monster up on nine. A swarm of armored spiders had appeared in the hotel spa where the Yerenn ambassador—who hadn’t been able to get to sleep—had been having a stress-reducing session in the steam room. And the grimtogs had gone from a few to an official infestation, having been spotted on six of the hotel’s thirteen floors. The dwarves had taken it on themselves to post a guard at the top of every turn in the main staircase, spears in hand, faces set on extra-grim. The other guests seemed to appreciate the additional security, especially since grimtogs were small, fast, and would dart out to feast on any ankles that passed by. They drank beer, but they ate meat, the fresher, the better.
I was with Ian and Rake in Roy’s room. Sandra Niles had come and gone to the infirmary to check on Roy. Ms. Sagadraco was there as well. Having been around for a couple thousand years, the boss knew a thing or two about exotic monsters from other dimensions and their poisons.
The room was trashed. A commando of Roy’s
skill doing hand-to-claw/stinger combat with a giant scorpion was hell on décor.
“The door was locked,” Liz said, “so we couldn’t get in. Judging from the sound of things, the scorpion was between Roy and the door. He couldn’t escape.”
So much for people feeling safe in their rooms.
Rake frowned. “I’ll have master keys brought to the guard stations on each hall.”
My nap may have been short, but apparently I’d been down for the count. Roy had his guns, and he’d used them, to little effect. I hadn’t woken up until Cal and Liz were fighting the scorpion in the hallway. I’d even slept through a steel fire door being peeled back like a can of cat food.
The scorpion had stung Roy, then left the room. Thankfully, it had been more intent on a rampage than an easy meal.
I glanced uneasily back at the mauled door. “We know how it got out, but how did it get in?”
“If we can talk to Roy,” Ian said, “we may have our first eyewitness to this nightmare. Anything that big in a room this small couldn’t have gotten in without him seeing how and where.”
“Unless he was asleep, too,” I said quietly. “How long had he been up here?” I asked Liz.
“Less time than you. About fifteen minutes.”
Roy was a powernap master, but after what had happened today, he would’ve needed time to decompress. No, Roy hadn’t been caught sleeping.
Rake had crossed the room and pulled back the curtains. For the most part, they’d been left undisturbed in the struggle. The view from Roy’s room was the wall of a neighboring building. Since it’d been built around the same time as the Regor Regency, at least it was a nice-looking wall. At least it would be nice if it wasn’t presently blurred by the whatever that had cut off the hotel from the outside world.
Rake knelt to examine the floor at the base of the window, then stood to touch the window itself and where it connected to the wall of the room. “There’s no sign of entry here, either physical or magical.”
As in all of the rooms, the flat-screen TV was mounted to the wall. I carefully picked my way across the floor and peered behind it. I didn’t really expect to find anything, but paranoia’s an even more powerful motivator than curiosity. There was nothing in the back, and no ectogoop on the screen. At least that ruled out Roy having had a Carol Anne experience.
The phone rang by Roy’s bed, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
I clutched my chest. “Jeez. Phones are up.”
Ian answered it. “Byrne.” He listened without speaking. “Great work. I’ll let her know.” He hung up and turned to me. “As is obvious, Kenji’s fixed the hotel phones. Our comms are going to take more work, but he thinks he’ll have those operational within the hour.”
“How?” Rake asked.
“He’s found a temporary way around the interference.”
I frowned. “Why only temporary?”
“Whatever took out our communications keeps moving to screw with his repairs.”
“Okay, this is starting to really piss me off,” I said. “It’s like we’re being poked with a stick. Poked to see what we can do about it, and because they can. Kenji didn’t happen to mention anything about narrowing down Rake’s list of possible perps, did he?”
“No, but he’s enhanced the video from the hall outside the portal room. He’s ready for you to come take a look.”
I headed for the door.
“Did he say anything about the hotel television network?” Rake asked.
“Up and functional,” Ian replied.
I paused. That was impressive. “The hotel has its own network?”
“We have satellite TV and all the movie channels,” Rake said. “Those are out, but to cater to the tastes of supernatural beings, we offer specialized programming and entertainment that are controlled in-house.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Rake gave me a wicked grin. “You’d be surprised at how many . . . versions there are of Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White.”
Fairy-tale porn. Yikes.
Rake offered to come with me to review Kenji’s enhancements to the surveillance video. He didn’t mention that he was also playing bodyguard for me, and I didn’t bring it up. Truth be told, I didn’t mind having the company. We had a murderer as well as various and sundry monsters popping up throughout the hotel. Nothing had worked very well at either killing them or discouraging them from paying us repeat visits. Rake’s magic might not be at full power against these things, but it might slow them down. That wasn’t the only reason I didn’t mind having Rake with me for the walk down to Kenji’s broom-closet command center.
I had some questions for him. Questions I didn’t think Rake wanted anyone else hearing.
We couldn’t get out, but the monsters obviously could still get in. In fact, they were getting in in increasing numbers. We already knew we had a murderer in the hotel with us. I suspected whoever was directing or causing the monster attacks was in the hotel as well.
I had a feeling Rake knew who it was.
That list was to give us something to keep us occupied until Rake did his own search and slaughter.
Even if he didn’t know the individual behind all this, he knew more than we did.
That needed to stop. Right now.
I wasn’t good at beating around the bush. Nor was I subtle or very diplomatic. Rake had said a few months ago that I would’ve made a good goblin. I disagreed. Goblins could dance around a topic until everyone listening was dizzy. I didn’t believe in tiptoeing around a question I wanted the answer to. Roy had nearly died, and he might still die.
“Rake, that buka didn’t want to kill you; it wanted to kidnap you.” I paused to give him a chance to respond. He didn’t, which wasn’t much of a surprise, so I continued. “I think you know why, or at least you have a good idea, or maybe even a few good ideas.”
Rake continued looking straight ahead as we walked down the stairs. Neither of us trusted the elevators right now. “Have you mentioned this to Agent Byrne?”
“No, I haven’t told Ian, because if he had even an inkling that you were hiding something that might endanger our people, he would have choked you in your sleep in your own bed.”
“I wasn’t asleep. I was unconscious.”
“Ian would have sent you to the next level real quick.”
“The safety of the delegates and everyone in this hotel is my sole concern.”
I grew some silence for a few moments. Rake still showed no signs of becoming talkative.
I stopped. Rake descended two more stairs, then did likewise.
I was angry, I was hurt, and one of my friends might be dying—and the goblin in front of me probably knew who was responsible. I tried to rein in my anger, but it was fighting me. “I thought we were past this, but it looks like I was wrong. I’m disappointed, Rake. And yes, that means I’m disappointed in you. I thought you trusted me, and I really wanted to be able to trust you.”
Rake closed the distance between us, and tried to take my hands in his.
I took a step back. It was only a few inches, but it opened a gulf between us. The man in front of me had caused it to open by lying to me. It was up to him to close it.
Or not.
His dark eyes were intent on mine. “I don’t know who is doing this.” He swallowed. “Not exactly.”
“Which is it?”
“It’s an elf or a goblin. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
“Is it the type of magic being worked that only an elf or goblin would know?” I paused. “Or are an elf and a goblin at the top of the list of people who want to have you hauled off by a monster?” I stopped and realized. “A goblin monster. The goblin governor—and his . . . whatever she is—hates you.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Undoubtedly hate, or are undoubtedly responsible?”
And both were conveniently missing.
“Both despise me, but neither is qualified to work the level of craft being worked here.”<
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“Are you sure? You goblin mages are good at not letting people know what you’ve got under the hood.”
“Gremien Pivaine is a sadistic thug, nothing more. Dagara Jakome is not capable of . . . whatever this is.”
“It’s a pocket dimension,” said Kitty from where she and Yasha emerged around the curve in the hotel’s main staircase. “It’s exotic, and I’ve never seen anything like it, but it is a pocket dimension.”
My anger gave way to hope. “Can you get us out?”
Kitty shook her head. “Something or someone is powering it—from inside the hotel.”
Chapter Eighteen
My suspicions had just been confirmed.
We not only had a murderer in the hotel with us, our jailer had imprisoned themselves with us in order to keep us trapped. But unlike the rest of us, he or she could probably leave anytime they wanted to.
We were in Kenji’s computer room, where he was still working to repair SPI’s communication system.
With the hotel phones up and running, Rake had called Dr. Jules for an update on Roy. Kitty was using a phone in the hotel’s security offices next door to report her findings to Ian.
“Well?” I asked when Rake hung up.
“Gerald is keeping Roy sedated against the pain, and has begun work on neutralizing the venom in his blood.”
“Neutralizing? He can do that?”
“Gerald Jules is one of the best healers I have ever encountered. Yes, he can do that.” Rake gave me a feeble smile. “That is one of the first skills a goblin healer is taught. Poison is one of the favored ways to kill one’s enemies in the goblin court. Gerald will require extensive rest after this is over. Poison neutralization is hard on a healer.”
I tried to swallow against the lump in my throat. “So Roy’s gonna be okay?”