Chapter One
Sage
Sage Stirling blushed as one of the gargoyles who was standing guard at the main doors of the Regis Hotel winked at him as he went past. Sage’s main hobby was avoiding any form of attention, and simply getting a wink was enough to unsettle him.
Moving through into the front foyer, his steps faltered as he was greeted with a vision he couldn’t ignore – larger-than-life-size statues of the owners of the hotel that dominated the middle of the room. Luc and Nic – no last names - were famous, or infamous, depending on who Sage was talking to, but people talked about the local kraken shifters all the time.
It was disconcerting. Yes, that was the word Sage was going with. It was disconcerting to be smacked in the face with replicas so lifelike that Sage almost expected them to say hello. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and resisted the urge to fan his face with his hands. The statues were obviously commissioned to show Luc and Nic resplendent in their dual glory – their top half showing off their model handsome looks, and the bottom half a mass of kraken tentacles writhing across the floor as if they were real.
I can do this. I can do this. Just don’t look. Don’t look.But it was as if he couldn’t tear his eyes away. His body was flushing under his suit – made in a suitably unnoticeable shade of camel – and every instinct Sage had wanted to reach out and touch what his logical mind was telling him were simply metal painted copies of real people.
“Sage, thank goodness, I am so glad you’re here. You’re even on time.”
“You should know me better than that by now. I’m never late.” Sage dragged himself away from the sight of the krakens and greeted his best friend in the world, at least according to Marty. “I’m still not sure this is a good idea. This place is far too upmarket for someone like me, and I don’t know the first thing about being a hotel receptionist. I’m a researcher.”
“That makes you perfect for this job – you won’t mind the paperwork, and you know how to use a computer. Plus you wear a suit, are softly spoken, and are always unfailingly polite – three more plus points.”
“Yes…but...I shouldn’t be here. Surely they must have somebody else on staff who can cover your shifts for the next week?”
“I thought so too, but nope. I’ve been begging, calling in favors and doing everything else I could think of since the beginning of December, trying to get these days off. But you don’t need to worry.” Marty had Sage’s bicep in a vice-like grasp and was dragging him behind a large oval reception desk. “It’s not like there’s a lot to do. You basically answer the phone – you know how to do that.”
If I’d known what you were pulling me into, I wouldn’t have bothered to answer your call when you came up with this hare-brained idea.
“Most people who call down to the front desk want room service. You write down the order – send it via email to the kitchen with the room number, and that’s it. Cleaning mishaps, or accidents in the rooms…”
“Accidents?” Sage finally got himself free of Marty’s grip. “What accidents? Is there blood involved? Does this happen very often?”
Marty bent over laughing. “You should see your face,” he said, as he straightened again, pointing, predictably, at Sage’s face.“People come to the Regis to have a good time.” He quirked his eyebrow. “You know. Agood time. Sometimes accidents happen – glasses get broken, wine spilled on the carpet, and often a guest might need fresh towels or sheets if they’ve been enjoying carnal activities. You don’t have to see the mess or do anything about it, beyond sending the details and room number via email to the housekeeping office. They’ll take care of it.”
“Right away?” Sage had a sudden image of some huge, grumpy shifter stomping across the lobby, barely covered in a dirty towel, demanding some clean ones. It’s not like he’d ever even stayed in an upmarket hotel before. He had no idea how things worked.
“Our beloved owners, Nic and Luc, insist on all clients’ needs being met immediately, no matter the time of day or night.” Marty shrugged. “Some of our clients are more nocturnal than most, as I’m sure you’ve learned through your extensive studies. The kitchen and housekeeping crew are alert and ready to respond to all messages twenty-four seven. Aside from that, all you need to do is sit here and read your books, which is what you’d have been doing at home anyway. It’s just the location that’s different.”
It sounded easy enough, but still… “Are you absolutely sure no one is going to be upset about my being here? There must be…I don’t know, but I’m not even employed by the Regis. Doesn’t my being here breach security standards or something?”
Sage had spent most of Christmas and Boxing Day working out all the ways Marty’s ridiculous idea could go wrong. He knew it was partially his fault. Marty never listened, especially when he had what he considered a good idea, and Sage had never been the best at talking him out of those ideas. But taking over someone else’s shift in a hotel – even if it was just for five nights - when Sage hadn’t even been interviewed by anyone inmanagement, just sounded wrong on so many levels. He didn’t want Marty or himself getting into trouble.
“Oh, security standards. Thanks for the reminder.” Marty opened a drawer and pulled out a sheaf of papers with Sage’s name scribbled across a Post-it note stuck to the front of them. “Barry, the reception manager, has agreed. All you have to do is complete these forms and sign your name at the bottom, and you’ll be considered a temporary contract worker until New Year’s Day. You’ll get paid and everything, and honestly, a monkey could do this job. It’s that easy.”
“Are you comparing me to a monkey now?” Sage didn’t think that sounded very flattering, but then maybe it was shifter humor he didn’t understand. Marty came out with some weird things sometimes.
“I’m not slagging you off. You know I’m not. But all you have to do is sit here, be polite to clients, answer any queries, and pass on messages. Nic and Luc are adamant that this place be a full-service, twenty-four-hour hotel, and that’s the only reason anyone has to sit behind this desk all night at all.” Marty leaned closer. “Between you and me, if you weren’t reading, you’d be bored shitless, or reduced to spending your time trying to work out how many suckers are on those tentacle statues. I’ll give you a hint – it’s more than a hundred.”
Sage took a break from filling in his personal details on the form to glance up at his friend. “You’ve counted them?”
“I spent over an hour one night caressing each and every one.” Marty chuckled. “That’s when I found out the whole lobby area is covered by cameras. I was so embarrassed when I came into work the next night, and Barry told me about it.”
That sounded like something Marty would do. Sage went back to his forms. “I already know how many suckers - as youcall them - there are on a kraken’s tentacles. I’m not sure those statues are anatomically accurate,” he said, filling in his contact information. “One of my first research papers was on the physiological differences between an octopus, a squid, and a kraken.”
“They all have the same number of suckers?”
“No, they don’t. That was the subject of my second paper.” Sage scanned the form, making sure he’d ticked everything that was meant to be ticked and filled in all his relevant details. “What do I put here?” he asked, tapping the spot marked “paranormal type.” “Is everyone who works here a paranormal type?”
“Hmm…” Marty wrinkled his nose. “I’m not sure. Possibly. Probably, seeing as ninety percent of our guests are paranormals. But hey, you can just tick ‘other’ and write ‘human.’”
“Non-para,” Sage said firmly, writing those words into the space provided, and then signing the bottom of the form. He’d always hated how some paranormals used the word “human” as though it were a slur. “Is that all there is to it?”
“Yep.” Marty’s grin split his face. “There’s no point in worrying about your educational qualifications or past employment. It’s only for five days. But congratulations. You’re now an official temporary contractor for the Regis Hotel. I’ll send this through to Barry and then start showing you the computer processes you’ll need to use. Welcome to the team.”
