“Do you think everyone is okay back home?” I asked.
Drea’s phone buzzed and she looked down at it, reading it before nodding.
“Apollyon left. Everyone, turn your phones off. Burners for now. He knows people in high places and could track them.”
Whoa, burner phones? Did he have a level ten demon in the CIA or something?
I thought about it a second and then decided I wouldn’t put that past him.
We all pulled out our phones and turned them off one by one.
“We’re on our own now,” Drea said with a confidence that I envied. She looked at Gage and Harley. “I’m assuming you still have access to your bank accounts?”
They both nodded.
“Pull out as much cash as you can. We’re going to need it,” she told them.
Okay, this situation just got very real.
After locating an ATM in the park, Gage and Harley pulled out the maximum amount of money allowed, then I created another portal to the parking lot of the motel Gran and I stayed in when we’d visited. We needed a plan, but we all needed rest first. Harley still couldn’t stand on her own, Gage had just spent over a day fighting for his life in the Netherworld, and my other friends all had dark rings of exhaustion under their eyes.
“This place is a dump,” Harley said after we’d all walked through the portal and I closed it behind us.
I glanced at the entrance and shrugged. It was a little shabby. The Florida sun had faded the blue and brown siding, and the bulbs had burned out in one of the letters in the motel’s name that hung on the side of the building.
Yeah, it wasn’t the Four Seasons, but Gran and I hadn’t had a lot of money, and I remember feeling like it was a palace when I was younger. There was a pool, so that had probably been enough to impress my ten-year-old self. Right now, what would really impress me was a mattress with mostly clean bedding. A warm shower would be a bonus, but not a necessity.
“Come on.” Gage grabbed my hand and tugged me forward as we all stepped into the lobby through the single glass pane door.
We hung back as Gage went to the check-in desk and paid for our rooms in cash. The night clerk, a skinny guy with glasses who probably wasn’t much older than the rest of us, kept shooting nervous glances at Gage and our group as he arranged for our rooms. I didn’t suppose it helped that Dash still held Harley—who was half asleep in his arms—and Gage had streaks of blood and dirt from the Netherworld crusted on his exposed forearms. But eventually we got checked in and Gage handed keys to Jacob and Drea as we all walked to our rooms on the second floor.
The rooms all had two double beds each, and faced an exposed catwalk that overlooked International Drive, one of the main thoroughfares near the Disney properties. We reached Drea’s room first and I went to follow her, Indigo, and Marlow inside, assuming I’d be staying with the girls, but Gage caught my hand to stop me. I looked back at him and he lifted a plastic keycard.
“I pay for the rooms, so I get my own. You’re with me tonight,” he said with a wink. My stomach dropped.
What?
I blinked back at him. Gage had been so distant since the night of our date when he fully shifted into a hellhound and attacked me that I was shocked he wanted me to stay with him tonight… alone.
Drea cleared her throat, and when I glanced over at her she handed me a small pack with a half-smile on her face. I looked down and realized immediately that she’d passed me several tranquilizers like they were the shifter version of protection.
“Make sure you guys getsomesleep,” she said, her smile growing into a full grin, and I felt my face heat as she shut the door behind her.
Shoving the bundle in my back pocket, I cleared my throat.
“What about Harley?” I asked, looking over at Dash, who still held her.
Dash glanced down at my sister, who was now fully asleep against his chest and snoring softly. His expression was hard to see under his hood, but the look on his face was protective.
“I’ll take her,” he said. “Jacob and I can share a bed. I’ll put her in the other.”
I arched an eyebrow, surprised at the offer. I wondered what Harley would think when she woke. Maybe she’d be annoyed, but I knew she’d be safe with the boys, so I was okay with it if they were.
I cast a questioning look to Jacob, who just lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Fine with me. I plan to be dead to the world in the next five minutes anyway.”
I guess that was settled.
Jacob and Dash, with Harley in tow, moved down the exposed walkway to their room.
