As I got closer, I strained for a better look at the fairy. His expression didn’t appear hostile. If anything, he looked curious. Concerned, even.
Before I made it halfway to him, he glanced down at the hunters and stiffened, seeming to make a determination. He met my eyes and inclined his head for me to follow. That was the only warning I received before he bolted off in a sharp flight toward the opposite hallway on the second floor.
Cursing, I flew after him.
I heard the conversation with the concierge taper off into a gruff, “We’ll find you later,”as Cliff and Jon shouldered past himto follow me, urgently trying to keep up without revealing what they were chasing.
They must have been itching to shout for me to slow down, but there was little they could do without drawing every eye to us. Guilt stabbed me for wishing they would hang back, at least for now. Perhaps the other fairy would be more open to talking if I weren’t flanked by a pair of weapon-laden hunters.
Before long, the single hallway became a maze. The hotel’s second floor had dark, polished paneling, leaving me disoriented as the light was reduced to warm vintage sconces. I struggled to keep up with him.Stars, he was fast. I rounded a hard corner and pulled to a hover. The fairy was nowhere to be seen. The hallway stretched ahead, leading toward an elevator.
I scanned the ceiling and the corners of the crown molding—places I would have tried to blend in if I’d been pursued here.
Hearing Jon and Cliff closing in on my location, I cursed under my breath. They might scare him off for good if their entrance was too abrupt.
Then, I spotted it: one of the heavy doors was cracked open just a few inches. I closed the distance without hesitation and peered inside. The familiar prickle of something unmistakablyfaemade goosebumps rise along my arms. Magic was present, somewhere. The utter silence within the room unsettled me enough to warrant a defensive spell. Frost ignited with a soft crackle in both of my palms, crawling up my forearms.
I flew through the opening, scanning the room the way the hunters had taught me.Look for exits and places that could conceal an assailant; never leave your back unguarded. A vast storage room opened before me, containing all manner of strange suitcases, trunks, and containers bound with cloth and rope. Shelves were crammed, and much of the floor space was filled, save for a maze-like pathway to navigate the room.
The glitz of the lobby was entirely swallowed up here, the air thick and charged with magic. The fairy’s presence had to compete with a simmering stew of various pulses and rotting enchantments, things I couldn’t sort through all at once.
“Sylv!” Jon’s voice made me stiffen.
I whirled to find them standing in the hallway, looking all around until they found the door. Flying toward them, I caught their harried gazes—only to have the door slam shut, nearly clipping my outstretched hand. The lock clicked into place with sinister, metallic finality.
The hunters immediately rattled the doorknob, their efforts turning violent as the door refused to budge.
“Sylv, unlock the door!” Cliff’s command was muffled through the heavy wood.
“That wasn’t me!” I shouted back. “It’s deadbolted from this side, too!”
I searched every inch of the door for a way to unlock it from my side, but my tugs of frost magic rebounded uselessly off both the wood and metal.
Hairs rose on the back of my neck as one of the trunks, bound with thick steel chains, gave a menacing growl and rattled its shelf. I lifted my hands, spellwork misting the air around me. After a moment, the creature within settled back into silence.
What the hell is being stored here?The sheer number of containers was dizzying, and I couldn’t help but picture them all bursting open at once, unleashing the horrors within.
“Sylv, stand back,” Jon said.
After a heavy pause, a viciouscrackrattled the door with a well-placed kick. Still, nothing.
There was no getting through. Though the room was wide enough to house five industrial-sized shelves on either side of a four-foot aisle, I felt utterly entombed. Flitting higher, I peered past the shelves until I spotted the back wall. There was anotherdoor, this one sporting a window. The spotless glass framed a set of stairs leading downward, connecting elsewhere in the sprawling hotel. Red velvet curtains were parted at the base, providing an occasional glimpse of employees moving about on the floor below.
Another exit?
If I could get through, perhaps the employees would be too busy to notice me. I drifted toward the door for a better look, trying to make out what they were doing.
A single row of fluorescent bulbs illuminated the room, leaving plenty of shadows to eat away at the corners. My skin prickled as I inched my flight toward the door, scanning various trunks and cloth-bound parcels as I passed. Some of them looked downrightancient. Sheets covered several cages, not quite covering the bottom of the bars. Disturbed by the hunters’ attempts to open the door behind me, creatures stirred restlessly, beaks and snouts nosing the bases of the enclosures. Something slithered with a faint rattling that chilled my blood.
Cliff and Jon’s ruthless struggle to break inside faded as I reached the window and peered through. A massive room lay beyond the curtains like some kind of elaborate, otherworldly ballroom. The door was ajar just an inch like the other. Perhaps I could circle through the venue and reunite with Jon and Cliff elsewhere.
Or it’s a trap.
A buzz of wings drifted into earshot behind me. “Trust me, you want to stay well away from there.”
I shrieked and fired off a spell toward the voice.
The other fairy shouted in alarm, ducking my spear of ice. He flinched as it shattered against the wall and sent one of the nearby captive creatures chittering indignantly. He held up his hands, eyes wide.
