I took it and slipped it back into my pocket.
“How long do you plan to stay?” she asked.
I shrugged. “We haven’t decided, Mrs. Ouellette.” I figured this was the time to let my manners shine.
She batted a hand in the air. “Gosh, call me Clarice. Mrs. Ouellette was my mother-in-law.”
“Um, we haven’t decided yet, Clarice.”
“That’s all right. I only require that you give me a three-day notice before you check out. Rent is due on Mondays, and it’s paid in advance,” she said. “Are you at least staying until Sunday?”
“Oh, for sure,” I said, reaching in my front pocket for the cash Kall had given me. The pack hadn’t been totally without resources. “Today is…” I tried to remember what day of the week it was, but I had no idea.
“Wednesday,” Clarice said.
“So I should pay you for five days?”
“Correct.” She punched the numbers in a calculator, which then printed a little paper with the total on it. “This should cover it.” She offered me the paper.
I looked at the number, then carefully counted the bills.
“Oh, you’re paying cash?” She frowned, looking concerned.
“Is that a problem?”
“We normally require a credit card in case of… damage. It’s a sort of insurance.”
Crap!That was something we hadn’t found in the hidden stash Kall had taken us to after we snuck out of the cave and left Lawana and her dubious plans behind.
“I… can leave a cash deposit,” I offered, thinking quickly.
Clarice bobbed her head from side to side, considering.
I held my breath, afraid she would turn us away, and we would not be able to find another place.
“Well, a cash deposit is normally $500. Can you afford that?”
I made a dismissive gesture with my hand. “Of course, no problem.” I glanced over at Ila. “We can just call daddy tonight.” I pulled five hundred-dollar bills from my front pocket and laid them on the counter. I did my best to smile since that barely left us enough money to buy groceries for a few days. But that was a problem we would have to solve later.
“Excellent,” Clarice enthused, slipping the money into a cash register. “We will hold this for you until the day you leave. We will do a room inspection, and if everything looks fine, you’ll get your money back.” She quickly wrote up a receipt and handed it over along with a couple of card keys.
“Sounds great,” I said.
“Do you have any luggage?” She stood and looked around at the floor.
“Oh, we left it in the car. We’ll get it later. Thank you. We’ll be seeing you around.”
Ila and I walked toward the stairs that led to the upper floors. They were covered in thick green carpet. The building had three levels, and we’d requested a room at the very top. We hurried up the stairs, Ila peering warily in every direction.
When we got to room 315, I showed her how the card worked on the reader, instructing her to watch for the little green light. There was a beep, and we were allowed into the room. We stepped in and locked the door behind us. I had picked the place because it offered suites with separate bedrooms and a kitchenette. We needed two separate rooms, one for Ila, Bethel, and me, and one for the guys—not that Clarice knew about that. She thought one of the rooms was for Ila and the other one for me.
A knock at the window made my heart jump. I ran there and popped the latch. Maki jumped in, followed by Kall, Novuk, and me—or more accurately, Bethel inside my body.
My head swam as I saw myself. Her hands, my hands, moved in strange patterns. I felt a snap, and the next thing I knew I was back inside my body. Relief washed over me, and I sank into a barstool in front of the kitchenette’s peninsula.
I fought to stave off a dizzy spell and the nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach. “That is so weird,” I murmured, holding my head.
I took a few deep breaths and glanced up. Five pairs of eyes peered at me.
“We did it,” I said, putting my hands out to gesture at the room.
“Now what?” Novuk asked.
I stood in answer with as much confidence as I could muster. “Now, we destroy the Academy from within.”
