“Fuck!” she snapped, turning a few heads. She lowered her voice, a hand over her mouth as she mulled this over. Then her eyes lifted back to me, utterly panicked. “I tried to stop you boys from coming. Remember that I tried. Get Cliff and get out now while you can.”
That bitter wriggling in the back of my mind surfaced again. The gala around us muted into a distant, dull roar as my mind raced. Tammy had been keeping secrets from us, keeping us at arm’s length formonths.
Something was very, very wrong.
“What have you done?” I whispered.
The stringent clap of a gavel split the air. “Sold! Seventeen million to Ivan Loughty for the last niamh. Thank you, sir.”
The guests surrounding the stage stirred at the winning bid, equal parts groans and shouts from losing bidders, to croons of intrigue and excitement from others. The domed cylinder gave an enticingclickas it was set onto a specialized dolly and wheeled back into the shadows.
Too late, I felt Tammy take advantage of the commotion, tearing out of my grasp. I cursed, whirling as she vanished into a circle of women inspecting the tequila ice fountain.
“Tammy!” I tried to follow her, pushing through the crowd, but she was already out of sight. She was good at that when she wanted to be.
Numbness crawled through me, leaving me standing dumbly. The sour tang of betrayal dug at me.
But pieces were missing—things I still didn’t understand.
“She seems nice,” Lee said from behind. “Monster slayer family reunion?”
I ignored him, forcing my mounting panic down. Once again, time wasn’t on our side. “Let’s go,” I muttered, starting back toward the service door—the one that would circumvent those velvet ropes and armed security.
“You came here for her,” Lee’s voice was lower, more sobered now.
I paused, trying to get a read on him. He’d heard enough to understand the ulterior motive we’d been keeping from his side of things, his sharp eyes scanning every twitch in my expression.
“Does it matter?” I asked. Tammy was still gone, melted entirely into the crowd.
Lee mulled it over, following my gaze to the milling guests, as though waiting for Tammy to reappear. When she didn’t, I swore he almost lookedsorryfor me.
“So long as we don’t lose focus on the plan, I guess not,” Lee replied. “Come on. Cover me.”
We were at the back wall, near a curtained alcove where the glittering stagelights faded slightly. Guests mingled nearby, but largely clustered near the entertainment on the main floor. Angling my body to conceal Lee’s movements was simple enough.
“If you need, I can pick the lock—” I offered, glancing over my shoulder.
“No need.”
There was a faintclick, and the knob to the service door turned easily at Lee’s touch. Three seconds flat. That was nearly impossible, something I’d scarcely been able to do even at my best. I tried not to gape like an idiot, but Lee’s shit-eating grin widened at my expense.
“Pick your jaw up off the floor. I can show you a thing or two when this is finished,” Lee said, winking.
I shot him a withering look and shouldered past him. “I don’t need your damn lessons.”
He was still smirking to himself as we slipped into the hallway. Once we were sure we wouldn’t need to make a swift getaway, we bolted the door behind us to prevent further entry. This hall was dimmer than the main ballroom, but the interior was as elegant and eerie as the rest of the hotel. Dark paneling, warm sconces, and the air of nostalgia. I had no doubt that a ghost or two roamed the halls of a place like this, but we had bigger fish to fry.
The building’s blueprints were accurate and dead useful, I had to admit. We turned a corner and found ourselves in the designated VIP hallway without incident. I tensed when an armed guard on patrol passed us, but I could feel the look Lee was cutting toward me:Act as if you belong here.
Luckily, we were near enough to the elite guests who were moving between the open rooms along the ambient hall. We fellinto stride alongside a few of them as though we had all come through the main designated entrance together.
The shift of atmosphere from the main event was staggering. Where the ballroom was extravagant and noisy, this area’s sounds were more concentrated and intimate. Fewer people to hide amongst. I tried not to stare at anyone for too long, lest they look atmewith too much scrutiny. But I couldn’t help but wonder what these people had done to win their place here. Money, of course—but what had they done to earn it?
There were several meeting rooms in use along the hall, doors flung wide open. As I trailed behind Lee, I glimpsed inside one of the doors, trying to play the part of a VIP exploring all my status had to offer
The first room appeared somewhat relaxed. A few small groups of elites were socializing at tables and expensive-looking sofas. Lavish items were on display within glass cases—swords, busts, pottery, even polished monster parts. Toward the back, I swore I glimpsed the bars of a cage, but I couldn’t get a good look without walking inside.
The gathering across was much more rowdy. Laughter and loud, inebriated voices spilling through the threshold—the kind of behavior that would probably get someone kicked out in the main gala. Like the other room, there were strange artifacts within, though a few had been taken out. My gait staggered when I saw someone doing a line of coke off an ancient-looking shield. I stopped altogether when the guy straightened—a face I’d only ever seen on screens.
