CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 

DESPITE OUR ATTEMPT at an early night, I’d barely slept. By the middle of the afternoon, when it was time to put our plan—limited as it was—into action, I was feeling the beginnings of fatigue settling in on me. I dragged my suitcase behind me as I walked up West 20th Street toward the Bayview Hotel and tried desperately to force aside the stress coursing through my body over what was going to happen next.

The entire way, I could sense someone watching my every step and assessing my next move. My mind conjured up images of the shadow, long knife in hand, trailing just a step or two behind me. I had no way of knowing whether it was actually him or if it was a manifestation of anxiety over what was to come. Either way, it was unnerving.

If it is the shadow, there’s not much you can do about it now. He’s tomorrow’s problem. Today, Mackenzie is counting on you.

The ominous feeling grew until I grew certain fate had earmarked the day to go wrong. Swallowing hard, I tried to disregard the sensation and push on.

Everything about my attire and persona felt wrong. The watch Ethan had forced me to wear was out of place and heavy on my wrist. With the exception of Clay’s chain, I’d never worn any form of jewelry, and the irritating band of the watch had quickly become a frustrating weight. It served as a reminder of the handcuffs I’d melted my way free of in Detroit.

I rubbed absently at the scar.

Clay had claimed his chain back in case he needed it during the heist. After having it around my neck for so many years, the lack of it was conspicuous. The wig rested weirdly on my head. The make-up was too thick on my skin and itched, making me want to scratch my face off. It all added to my discomfort and the growing certainty that death was in the air.

Regardless of the fatigue, the ill feeling that covered my body, and the dread settling into my chest, I tried to force my nerves away and concentrate instead on cooling my body. Even though it would do little to reduce the amount of heat I emitted normally, I hoped it would at least help to keep my temperature from escalating.

A block before the Bayview Hotel, I received a text. Sucking down a breath to calm myself enough to check what it said, I pulled my cell phone from my pocket.

“Swarm in hive. Fly solo and shift to project X. Meeting queen bee in the yard. R-at-420”

I turned the words over in my mind to match them up with the codes we’d agreed on. Swarm in hive was his warning that they’d encountered multiple Assessors. That knowledge made my heart race. Could the Assessors still be roaming the lobby?

Allowing myself only a moment to panic, I sucked down a breath to calm myself again. It wasn’t an order to abort the mission, so Ethan didn’t think I would be in danger. At least, no more danger than we already anticipated.

With that knowledge, I swallowed down my fear and focused on the words again. Fly solo was our agreed code if they were unable to block the heat sensors. It meant I had to use my own smarts and strategy to get through the reception and into the hotel room.

Queen bee was Abraham, the leader of the swarm. They were meeting him somewhere. I only hoped the where would make sense once I was inside the four walls of the hotel. Project X was for me to join Ethan and Clay wherever they were and pretend to be one of his exes to get him the items stowed away in my suitcase. Obviously, he wanted me to rendezvous with them at twenty after four wherever they were meeting Abraham.

Overall, it was a massive shift from the original plan, which hadn’t seen me going anywhere near the Rain hierarchy. The change wasn’t completely unexpected though; we’d known we couldn’t plan for every contingency.

With the new plan forming in my head, I tugged on the set of gloves and scarf that I’d brought with me. We’d wet them the previous evening before leaving them inside the minibar at the hotel all night. The hope was that the residual cold should be enough to mask the heat that was sure to be emanating from me.

None of us had complete confidence that it would work. All I could do was pray that it would. I was too far committed to the plan to back out at this point. I could only hope that between Ethan and Clay going into the hotel a little over half an hour earlier and my choice in accessories, I could make it across the lobby without alerting anyone in hotel security that I was something other. Blowing out a breath that had caught in my throat, I had no idea whether I was hoping too much.

The closer I got to the hotel, the bigger the knot in my stomach grew and the tighter it curled. Something or someone was definitely watching me, the possibilities of whose gaze might be on me played on my mind. The awareness grated on my nerves, and I couldn’t escape it or the way it sent shivers racing along my spine. After trying to ignore it again, I couldn’t help myself. I glanced over my shoulder again to be certain but didn’t see anything lurking in the shadows. I didn’t even see the dread-inducing flash of someone in the shadows that I was used to.

Maybe it’s just the fae, I reasoned silently. They were going to remain in the fae realm as long as possible after all—they were probably nearby watching me to ensure I was okay. Only, the gaze that rested heavy on me didn’t seem friendly. It just . . . feels like the shadow.

Even as the thought struck me, I glanced down the street and saw a looming figure beneath darkened eaves. Maybe it was the shadow, or maybe I was simply letting the fear of breaching the Rain’s home turf get the better of me.

No, not now!

Before I’d even blinked, the figure was gone, but the menacing feeling remained. Even though I hated doing it, I had to push it aside or it would stop me from doing what I needed to do. And I couldn’t allow that. Other people were counting on me.

Mackenzie is counting on you.

Forcing the ill-at-ease feeling out of my mind, I tried to focus on the entrance to the Bayview Hotel right in front of me. I stopped and took a few calming breaths before moving to the revolving glass door.

The moment I walked through the doors of the hotel, the view rendered me speechless. Almost as soon as Ethan had said it was once a prison that the Rain had converted into a hotel, a certain picture had entered my mind. Although I couldn’t explain exactly what that image was, it was worlds away from what I actually bore witness to.

The floors were concrete, polished to the point that they gave off a rich shine and had an almost mirror-like finish. Deep-blue paint, the color of the ocean, coated all of the walls, giving the space an openness and warmth that I hadn't expected. Nods to both the nautical and prison histories of the building were scattered throughout the expansive and open atrium-style lobby.

In one corner, there was a bar called The Hole. Even in the middle of the day, that room appeared darkened, as if it drew all the light from the rest of the foyer toward it. A sign on another wall indicated that The Yard restaurant was open for business on the rooftop. The words in Ethan’s text made sense as I read that sign.

I moved a little farther into the lobby. Off to one side of the lobby was a small cafe, The Chapel. The lettering for each of the places was similar with the last letter of each of the words circled, reminiscent of the Rain logo I’d seen so often before.

The first five stories of guest rooms overlooked the entry; the doors to each formed a sentry-like ring around the space. Glass elevators rose and fell through the center of the building, giving the occupants a bird’s-eye view over the ground floor. Reaching up behind the check-in desk was a huge mural, a series of geometric shapes that rose up in a slightly reduced scale duplicate of the painting Venus that used to grace one wall of the Bayview Hotel before it was covered up by nearby buildings. I remembered reading about the painting in a book when I’d lived with Aiden. The version in the fae books had been blurred, but it was clearly the same piece.

The name of the hotel, printed along the bottom of the check-in counter, was in the same font as the other signs, and it didn’t escape my notice that the W was an inverted version of the Rain symbol.

Two behemoth men guarded the foyer. They were the only pieces making the whole scene feel off. In the past, I’d risked staying at an expensive hotel a few times, so I knew that security guards usually tried to blend seamlessly into the background.

Instead of merging into the scenery, the Rain traits and training made the guards appear slightly unusual as their eyes darted around regularly so they could assess the faces of the guests rather than looking specifically for troublemakers. Even though they seemed to thrive on being conspicuous, to any other guest they might have actually passed for regular hotel security. At least, to any other guests who weren’t paranoid about being caught, locked up, and tortured.

I moved toward the check-in counter with the heels I wore clicking loudly against the highly polished floor. One of the guards glanced my way and it took everything I had to meet his eye instead of shying away.

Exuding all of the confidence I could muster, I headed away from him before I could ruin everything by letting my smile fall. Lifting my chin and reminding myself of the accent I was supposed to be inflicting, I walked past the guard to head toward the check-in desk. I quickly assessed the three people processing the guests and selected a young clerk, the only male in the bank of workers, figuring he would be most susceptible to my charms.

When I closed in on his station, I noticed the raindrop shaped pin on his lapel. Hopeful failures Clay and Ethan had called them—Rain sympathizers who didn’t have the skills needed to be an operative. It wasn’t the best news, but it was far from the worst possible scenario.

All I could do was hope that he was unskilled enough not to notice my heat and other phoenix qualities. Turning away to go to a different clerk would have been far more likely to raise suspicions. And it was likely they’d be sympathizers too. Or worse, actual Rain operatives.

I gave the alias we’d booked the hotel room under and handed over a credit card bearing the same name. It was the last card I’d acquired before my reunion with Clay and, although I hadn’t tested it yet, I had no reason to suspect that it wouldn’t work.

“I’ll need to see some photo ID,” the young clerk said.

Identification was a complication, but one we’d anticipated. I hadn’t had time to get anything with my new blonde-haired, blue-eyed disguise. Ethan, Clay, and I had discussed using another piece of ID and merely shrug off the differences as a cut and dye job, but both Clay and Ethan worried the clerks would have training in spotting others. Especially if they were sympathizers.

Seeing my everyday appearance, even with a fake name attached, might have been enough to raise the clerk’s suspicions.

“Of course,” I said, forcing my voice to form the musical tones I’d heard every time we’d gone into Kiruna while we were in Sweden. As I said the words, I opened the small clutch and pretended to leaf through it. After running through everything in my clutch once, I allowed my face to fall a little from the smile I’d forced it into. “Jävla! I’m sure it’s here,” I said as I started to rifle through it with more frantic movements.

The clerk’s face fell into a frown, and he huffed out a small breath.

After rifling through the contents of my purse one more time, I placed it down on the counter between us and forced my face into an apologetic expression. “I must have forgotten it in my purse. Everything is buried at the bottom of my suitcase. Is there something that you can do?”

“I’m sorry, Miss, I can’t book you into the room without a picture ID.”

My lip quivered as I pretended to cry.

“I’ve had the hardest time trying to get here in the States. My dumbom boyfriend broke up wiv me, and now I’m all alone and supposed to be modeling tomorrow. My whole luggage is filled with my lingerie and I . . . I need someone to help me.” I leaned forward and tried for a smile. Drawing in a deep breath, I placed my gloved hand over his and met his gaze. “I really don’t want to display my panties to just anyone.”

I tried to flutter my eyelashes at him, hoping it didn’t come off as ridiculous. I assumed it was working though when the poor boy shifted uncomfortably and seemed like he was about to choke on his tongue.

“What if I promise to come down later, as soon as I’ve unpacked everything, and show you my ID?”

“Uh, it’s against—”

“Please?” I begged quietly as I subtly slid a hundred dollar bill across the counter to him to sweeten the deal. “You’d be doing me a huge favor.”

He folded the money into his palm. “I’m not sure . . .”

“Maybe you’re right,” I said quietly, pretending to prepare to leave. Before I could move away, I brightened my smile a little and leaned closer still. My voice was low and husky when I continued. “I know! Perhaps you could swing by the room and I can show you what you want then? Anything you want.” I hoped he finished late enough that we’d have been and gone long before he tried to find me—otherwise I’d have an extra complication to deal with.

He shifted awkwardly again before his eyes roamed my body hungrily. He subtly glanced from side to side at the other two people at the desk. “I finish at seven,” he whispered. “Can I come by then?”

“Definitely.” I grinned. The truth was that if everything went as planned, we’d be long gone by seven.

“You’re in room 407,” he said, sliding my room access card across the counter.

“Thank you, so much. You are beundransvärd,” I said, ignoring the slight stab of guilt that I might be responsible for some trouble for him later. I tried to reason that he’d broken hotel policy for a large tip and a chance at copping an eyeful of some lingerie—maybe he deserved what was coming to him.

Grabbing the handle of my suitcase, I headed over to the elevators, my heels clicking against the polished surface again. It was a sound I didn’t think I’d ever get comfortable with.

Once I was safely inside the glass car, I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t be certain that my heat had gone completely unnoticed—placing my hand atop the clerk’s had been a risky move—but security hadn’t escorted me into some darkened back room full of pain either.

At least, not yet.