I stared straight ahead, clenching my jaw. “That’s what we’re going to find out.”
My brain felt like it was about to short-circuit from trying to compute all the variables into some sort of logical explanation. I needed more answers before I figured out how to sort through everything.
“Where are we going?” Giguhl asked.
“It’s time to have a conversation with the mage.”
19
The card Adam gave me listed only a cell phone number. About twenty minutes outside the city, I called it. He picked up after the second ring.
“Lazarus.”
“It’s Sabina,” I said. “We need to talk.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Meet me at the Fog City Hotel.”
A while later, I pulled the minivan into the portecochere of the hotel. The valet guy opened my door. He jumped back in surprise when the hairless cat jumped out ahead of me.
“Sorry, he needs a potty break,” I said.
The guy took the keys without a word and handed me a ticket. I chased Giguhl over to a small patch of monkey grass.
“I can’t take you anywhere,” I said under my breath.
“Bite me.”
“Keep up the backtalk and I just might.”
The hotel wasn’t what one would term five-star. But it wasn’t shabby either. Adam’s room was on the second floor. I bypassed the lobby by slipping down the first hallway I saw. From there I took the stairs two at a time up to the next floor. The last thing I needed was some nosy hotel employee telling me the cat wasn’t welcome.
Adam’s room was the second on the right from the stairs. I knocked and waited.
“What’s our plan?” Giguhl asked, squirming in my arms.
“Just keep quiet,” I said. When Adam didn’t open the door after two more knocks, I pressed my ear to the wood. I didn’t hear any movement.
“Are you going to ask him about how to send me home?” Giguhl whispered.
“Not yet,” I said. His body went slack from disappointment. I sighed. “Listen, if you just play along and be a good kitty, I promise I’ll talk to him about it soon.”
“Okay.” He sounded crestfallen, but resolved.
Pushing my guilt to the side, I knocked again. Why would Adam leave when he knew I was on my way?
Left with no other choice—at least to my mind—I decided to let myself in. Giguhl muttered a protest, but I shushed him and transferred his scrawny frame to my left arm. I turned the doorknob hard and forced my right shoulder into it. The door cracked open. I looked to my left and right to be sure no one noticed my B&E before slipping into the room.
I pushed the door against the slightly splintered doorframe. From the outside, it wouldn’t be noticeable. Turning back toward the room, I stopped short.
Standing in front of me, wearing nothing but a white towel, was a scowling, wet mage. Giguhl squirmed from my arms and streaked further into the room.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Adam demanded. With one hand, he held the towel, and with the other, he dragged me further into the room by my arm. “And what the hell was that thing?”
“Whoops, sorry,” I said. “You didn’t answer so I thought you’d stepped out. And that,” I motioned in the direction Giguhl fled, “was my cat.” I wasn’t ready to introduce him to the demon he’d sent.
“First, that was not a cat. It looked like a bald weasel or something.” He looked at the door. “Second, did it occur to you to call my cell phone?”
Distracted by his damp, sculpted chest and the happy trail of golden hair, which disappeared beneath the towel, I didn’t answer. Just above the edge of the white terry cloth, I saw a small tattoo, which resembled a three-pronged maze in the shape of a circle. The symbol wasn’t familiar, but the placement just above his happy place was … intriguing. In fact, up close and personal, I couldn’t help but realize for the first time that Adam was a total hottie.
He crossed his arms, bringing my attention back above his waist. Seeing his scowl again, I realized I needed to focus.
“When you didn’t answer my knocks, I figured you might be hurt,” I said. “I didn’t have time to think.”
“As much as it warms the cockles of my heart to think you were rushing to my rescue, I’m not buying it.”
I wasn’t about to tell him that part of me had been hoping he’d stepped out for a few minutes. Then I would have had some time to rifle through his things. “I’ll pay for the damage.”
He blew out a breath, making the towel sag a little. I held my own breath hoping to get a glimpse of the Promised Land. He cleared his throat, bringing my gaze north. His right eyebrow arched. “See anything you like?”
My cheeks warmed, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of admitting to my embarrassment. “I was just noticing your tattoo,” I said.
He didn’t look like he believed me, but let it pass. “It’s Hekate’s wheel. And it’s not a tattoo.”
I must have looked confused because he went on. “All mages have this birthmark somewhere on their body,” he said. “Where’s yours, Sabina?
I looked away. Mine was different from Adam’s. An eight-pointed star, just like the symbol on the Lilith amulet at the Red Moon, sat on my right shoulder blade. Remembering what my grandmother had said about keeping it hidden, I decided to change the subject. “Are you gonna put some clothes on or what?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smirk. He decided to let me get away with my evasion over the birthmark issue. “I’ll be right back.”
I moved further into the room. Giguhl was sitting on a table, looking at a piece of paper.
“Hey, stop that,” I whispered.
“You’ve gotta see this,” he said.
I picked it up and felt my eyes grow too big for their sockets. “Holy shit.”
“Rooting through my things, Sabina? Isn’t that a little clichéd?” Adam was back and he sounded amused.
I swung around, the damning evidence in my hand. “Why do you have this?” I thrust the printed layout of Immortal Vineyards at him.
“Why don’t you tell me?” he said, ignoring the print out and sitting on the bed. “You went there tonight, didn’t you?”
My mouth fell open. I opened it and closed it several times as I sputtered. “You followed me?”
He shook his head. “Not technically, no.”