“Friends,” Adrian spoke in his commanding, silken baritone as he pinned them all with his gaze. “The Red Letter Hotel Paris has been compromised; our safety within these halls is no longer assured. Trust me when I say I am doing everything in my power to correct this, but in the meantime, we have problems to solve. You have all read the dossier Dusk prepared concerning our intruder, oneHuntermasquerading as my own cousin Adam Rhakvir. You all know the extent of the problem he caused during his time here, and have read the testimony of the Phoenix King Falliro Arini. I have called you all together so we may thoroughly discuss this problem, to consider this issue from every angle. I will now hear your thoughts. Let us begin.”
Layla watched people shift all along the high table, but Madame Etienne Voulouer spoke up at once, fanning herself with a zebra fan edged in silver lace that complimented her 1950’s silver couture. “Have you spoken with the Board about thisHunter, Adrian? What do they have to say about our situation?”
“The Hotel Board of Owners have berated our security and browbeaten me on my lack of control over the situation.” A wry smile took Adrian’s face, more a grimace as he answered her query. “I have managed to convince them it was not the fault of our exemplary security team,” Adrian nodded to Rikyava and Dusk, “but the problem of having a very ancient Royal Dragon Bind with unique abilities stalking our employees. As of now, we have no answers from them. But trust me when I say the safety of our family here is of myhighestpriority, and I am searching for answers independently.”
Adrian’s gaze settled upon Layla and she couldn’t help but blush. She was not a Department Head, but since this discussion involved her, Adrian had suggested she be present. The cat was out of the bag that another Bind was stalking her. Adrian hadn’t been able to hide it when she was abducted the night of the Samhain Masquerade – nor that the Vault was now out-of-order because of its cracked sapphire door and blasted columns.
The intensity of Adrian’s gaze made heat surge through Layla. The Department Heads shifted, their looks ranging from discomfort to intrigue as they felt her magic – as she desperately tried to reign in her flare of passion and failed. Without her hamsa-cuff, her orange-bourbon scent washed through the room, making a number of people’s lips fall open and others take deep drinks of wine.
Even Adrian shivered at the head of the table.
It had been hard to touch Adrian and Dusk since her recovery. Every time she was near them, Layla’s thoughts turned to lust and her magic with it. She’d not been able to share their beds since the morning she woke. Even the touch of their hands was enough to send her spinning, re-learning how to breathe. Layla could go about in public as long as they barely touched, but she wondered how far her passions would spread if she kissed one of them. As rash as Dusk and Adrian both were, neither had pushed their suits since she’d changed – and she wondered just how worried they were about her growing power.
Sitting beside her, Sylvania Eroganis gave a reassuring smile and settled a hand to Layla’s thigh. It was soothing and Layla’s magic eased, the Head Courtesan unperturbed by Layla’s intensity.
Madame Voulouer cleared her throat as Layla’s energy settled, then rose to stand at Adrian’s side. “We cannot change the opinions of the Board, but we can address this inside our own Hotel, which Adrian and I have already begun to do. Our dearest Rikyava Andersen and our wonderful Dusk Arlohaim are leading our security systems through a vibrational catalogue of the entire staff, so we can identify any anomalies if this Hunter returns. From now on, every new hire will be introduced to the security imprinting, as will every guest. I have approved one hundred additional veteran Guard personnel to be released to us from various Hotel branches. Everyone will read and follow Dusk’s new guidelines on security for their Departments. While the risk of infiltration by Hunter is high, we cannot assume any of us is safe. Rikyava, you will orient our new Guard personnel when they arrive in a week’s time.”
“Yes, Madame.” Sitting across from Layla, Rikyava nodded tersely, dressed in her crimson Guard jerkin and weapons.
“In the meantime, we are operating onbusiness as usual,” Adrian continued, taking up the Madame’s thread. “I want no disruption to our regular processes. Our guests must believe we have no troubles, and until we have answers, we will bolster this illusion with our usual wit and grace. Are we understood?”
Heads nodded around the table. A few people sipped wine, the tension needing some kind of reprieve as the sun set over the gardens. Layla’s heat had finally lessened when the Madame fixed her tiger-eyes upon Layla, causing her to surge with embarrassment again.
“As many of you have guessed, we have a very unique problem due to this recent intrusion,” the Madame continued. “Our young Concierge Ms. Layla Price is a Royal Dragon Bind, one of Hunter’s Lineage. Recently abducted and relieved of her talisman by the intruder, she is now having difficulty controlling her increasing powers.”
Heads turned to Layla; her energy cranked up a notch as the Madame smiled kindly. “Layla has been shining under the tutelage of our dearest Dusk Arlohaim. Yet her intense, uncontrolled powers are anathema to continuing her position in Concierge Services. I will now hear suggestions as to the best place to fit Layla at the Hotel, rather than working as a Concierge. We do not abandon our family, but we must address this issue promptly. The floor is open.”
Layla sat stunned as the Madame resumed her seat, having had no idea her job was on the agenda today. Glancing at Dusk, she flared with anger like a torched orange grove. But though he was frowning deeply, he shook his head, indicating for her to say nothing just yet, settling a hand to her thigh and pouring a soothing vibration through her as silence fell around the table.
“I could take Layla on in the Guard.” Rikyava cleared her throat, glancing to Layla with a tough but kind smile. “She’s showing promise with battle-magics. Cracked an unbreakable door. Layla could be quite an asset once she establishes some control.”
“Impractical.” Head Courtier Reginald Durant spoke up, pinning Layla with his ice-blue eyes from across the table. “Ms. Price would need years to train in blades, firearms, and all the basic ability the Guard have. Magic is not their only tool, and unconfined power like Ms. Price’s is more of a liability in combat than an asset.”
“Do you have a better idea?” Rikyava prickled, crossing her arms and glaring at Reginald.
“Any idiot can feel what Layla’s becoming,” Reginald spoke, cold like the North Sea as he glanced to Layla. “And if no one will say it, I shall – a Courtesan. Her powers breathe of passion and sex. We cannot have a surging eros-torrent occupying any casual department like Concierge, Catering, or the Guard. Some guests would love it when her power tastes them indiscriminately; otherswillcall it a breach of privacy, and they would be right. It is my belief that Ms. Price’s only option is to be instated as a Courtesan immediately, and assigned to a Partner for training.”
“I am of a similar opinion to Reginald,” Head Courtesan Sylvania Eroganis spoke up now, her silvery voice soothing as she turned luminous eyes to Layla. “Layla has great power, yet because her abilities are new, they are ranging as indiscriminately as her passions send them. She needs training in controlling her sensuality. And from what I’ve felt, I believe her powers are intimately suited to being a Courtesan. Perhaps even Head Courtesan someday.”
Layla stiffened,reallynot liking the direction this conversation was going. She opened her mouth to speak but Dusk gripped her thigh hard. Layla glanced to him and he shook his head, though a deep apology was in his eyes. In that desperate glance, Layla saw that this conversation hadn’t been his doing. But her placement at the Hotel also wasn’t his decision. She had a flash of vision – an image of herself standing out on the curb of the Hotel with her bags packed. Clearly, the image had come from Dusk, and Layla understood what it meant.
Her job was on the line if they couldn’t find an appropriate Department to place her in as her powers developed.
“Well! If Layla is suited to becoming a Courtesan, that leaves the issue of her Training Partner.” The Madame glanced to Reginald. “Which Courtiers do you have that could lead Layla through a Courtesan’s studies?”
“None.” Reginald spoke in his ice-water voice – his gaze piercing upon Layla.
“But if she is to be a Courtesan in order to remain at our Hotel as her powers open, she must have a Partner.” Madame Voulouer fretted with her fan. “Are none of your Courtiers accomplished enough to take Layla on for training, Aldo?”
“We have but one option for Layla’s Partner – myself.” Reginald’s gaze drilled a hole right through Layla. “Only Sirens know how to wrangle such unbridled eros. If she will not have me as her Partner for training, Layla will not be taken on as a Courtesan at this establishment. As Head Courtier, my word on the matter is final. If she joins my department, she trains and beds with me – and mealone, until she learns to control what she is. If she will not acquiesce to becoming a Courtesan and suffer my training, then I move to have her dismissed from the Hotel altogether. We cannot tolerate her wild magic in any other department. She would be dismissed with an appropriate severance package, of course, but dismissed nonetheless.”
Layla blinked, feeling her world spin. She stared at Reginald, her passions dying into a cavernous black hole at his ultimatum. She felt Dusk’s low growl ripple around her and she saw Adrian set his jaw, his eyes blazing gold and furious.
Clearly, this wasn’t what Adrian wanted, either – or what he had planned.
All around the table people shifted, feeling a coup in the air. For her part, Layla couldn’t breathe. A Courtesan – a woman who sold her body for money. It was everything Layla had feared about the Hotel from her very first conversation with Adrian back in Seattle. Even worse, if she chose to stay and not leave Adrian and Dusk, she would have to take Head Courtier Reginald Durant, the cold-as-North-Seas Siren, to her bed.
Swallowing hard, Layla whispered, “No.”
