And she started to close the door in my face!
I got a foot in it, which drew the attention of a couple of vamps I hadn’t seen, even though they were in colorful suits and the room was white.
Good trick.
“Now, see, it would be a shame for your—what is that?A Payless special?”a redhead in a tan suit with orange windowpane checks asked, looking pointedly at my foot.
We both regarded it for a moment.It was clad in a scuffed brown loafer to match my old sweatpants and t-shirt, because I hadn’t been expecting to visit royalty today.The redhead did not seem to approve, perhaps because he was wearing a shiny croc-skin slip-on in a tan that perfectly matched the suit.
“Yes, be a shame for it to get damaged,” he said dryly.“Now wouldn’t it?”
He pushed my foot back outside while an aristocratic blond, who was an inch or so shorter than I was, nonetheless managed to look down his nose at me.
“Yep,” the blond said.The casual slang didn’t match the slicked-back hair ending in a short ponytail gathered at his neck, or his expensive blue suit, which exactly matched the icy color of his eyes.But his air of ennui said he didn’t care.“Need help finding the elevator?”
Considering that it was just behind me, I took that for what it was and reinserted the foot.
“You don’t want to do that,” the redhead said mildly.
“She’s a mage,” the blond murmured.
“Like I don’t have a nose?”the redhead asked him.“And Francoise here is a witch, if she decides to get funny.”
“I’m not feeling very funny,” I told them honestly.
“No, you’re short of blood,” the blond said, creeping me out, because how did he know that?“Odd blood,” he added, sniffing delicately.“Whatisthat?”
“Were,” the redhead said, his nose wrinkling.“She positively reeks of it.”
“She can’t be Were and mage both,” the blond argued.“And anyway, there’s something else, something...strange...”
“You know, I don’t like strange,” the redhead said.And the next thing I knew, I was back in the elevator again, and the damned thing was going down.
I stopped it, feeling my temperature rising, and took a moment to sit on the little velvet-covered bench this thing came equipped with.The hotel wasn’t old enough to date to the era when that had been a regular feature for elevators, but then, nothing about this place was normal.Including the fact that I was dizzy, and not because I was still recuperating.
The vamp had influenced me, damn it!
That wasn’t supposed to be possible, not for a trained war mage, but the son of a bitch had managed it.Okay, time to stop being nice.I punched the penthouse button again and rode back up.
“Do you ‘ave—oh.Eet is you again,” the Frenchwoman sighed.
“Who?”A short, fat vamp with a bad combover and a tie that would have been ugly in the seventies, when he probably bought it, came forward.
“Oh, God.It’s Payless,” the redhead said dramatically from across the foyer.
“I told you she’d be trouble,” the blond commented.“I can always tell.”
“You have no idea how much trouble I can be,” I said, flashing my badge.
“Ooh, a war mage,” Red said, grinning and putting his hands up.“I love playing with war mages.”
“I need to see the Pythia,” I said, which made him laugh.
“Yeah, you and half the world.Make an appointment, honey.In fact, the little lady who can do that for you is right there.”
He gestured at Frenchie, who looked bored.“Vee are booked up forseesmois,” she told me, before looking at the blond.“I am going back to zee office.Let me know whenla princessearrives.”
“Will do.”
