Jacinth gave a little shrug, and her lips firmed into a stubborn line. “Well, it was sad!”
“Ladies!” Troy’s deep voice thundered. “Inside!”
“Oh, right.” Katerina looked apologetically at Troy, although she giggled. Taking Naomi’s arm, she urged her up the sidewalk to the front door. “Also, I scrounged some clothing for you, and shoes, too, so you’ll have something to wear until you get your own back. It’s in a bag in the lobby, waiting for you.”
Once inside, a staircase with white railings led upward. To the left was the reception desk and a long narrow hallway to the back of the inn, while to the right, a wide doorway opened into the parlor. As promised, a cheerful blaze crackled in the fireplace she could see from where she stood. The two women, Djinn and shifter, veered off into the parlor, while Liam prodded her gently toward the desk with a hand on the small of the back.
A somewhat older black man was seated behind the desk. It was hard to judge his age… he could be anywhere between forty and seventy, with that rare kind of timeless features. However, his eyes were gentle, and he smiled. When he stood to greet her, he was taller than she had expected, standing well over six feet.
“Welcome, Miss Kerrigan.” His voice was deep, though not as deep as Troy’s, with a strange lilt to his words. It wasn’t quite an accent she could identify, but it was oddly soothing. “I’m Angus. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Angus put a paper on the counter before her. “All you need to do is sign here, and we’ll get you a key.”
She stared at the paper, her mind spinning. “I-I didn’t think this through,” she whispered. “I don’t have…”
“It’s taken care of,” Angus reassured her.
She stared at him, feeling confused. “What?”
“The Council is picking up the tab,” Liam explained.
“No,” she stated flatly. Her eyes dared him to argue with her. “I’m perfectly capable of paying my own way. It’s just… my things, they’re in the city.” A panicky feeling filled her. “My purse, my money. I have to go back and get them. I-I didn’t think…”
“Hey, hey.” Liam’s hand was warm as he captured her fluttering fingers. “Naomi. It’s okay. The Council thought because they wanted you to stay here, in communication with us all, that…”
“I get it. I do.” She sighed a little, feeling tired. “They want to keep tabs on me. I can hardly blame them, you know. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let someone else pay for me. I’ve been saving as much of my money as I could since the day I turned eighteen and struck out on my own. I don’tneedthem to pay my way. Idoneed for me to pay my way. As soon as I have my purse. Okay?”
Liam took a step back, holding up both hands in a gesture of surrender.
“Okay. But we’ll cover you until then.”
She nodded, feeling unhappy, but she had little choice. She was an hour’s drive from the city, with no money, no car, no identification. No nothing, but the charity of these strangers. But, she reminded herself, they were extending friendship and support, when they had every reason to revile her. Although, oddly, it was hard to think of them as strangers, after the unexpected welcome.
Angus smiled at her as he took the paper she signed. “Now, do you have a preference for a room? There are balconied rooms on the second floor, and we have a turret room free on the third floor.”
“Oh! A balcony, please,” she said without a moment’s hesitation. The fresh, crisp air here would be wonderful, with the hint of smoke from fireplaces and the sharp rich smell of fall on the faint breeze. There was also a kind of snap in the air that she thought might herald snow.
“All right, your room is at the top of the stairs, overlooking the front of the inn.” He passed a key card over the counter. “My wife, Renee, does the cooking. Breakfast is from six-thirty to nine every morning. There’s tea and coffee, instant cocoa, and sometimes hot cider, in the dining room around the clock.”
“And Renee also keeps it stocked with baked goods,” Katerina said, poking her head in from the parlor. “Come on this way, Naomi, and we’ll show you.”
Naomi felt horribly awkward and uncomfortable, and longed for the solitude of her room. But all these people were here to meet her, and no one seemed to be holding it against her that her aunt was a Rogue who’d tried to kill some of them. That meant that, at the least, she should come spend time with them, since that seemed to be the expectation. She glanced down at the loose caftan she wore.
“While this is lovely, it’s more suited for lounging. I should go up to my room first and change into more suitable clothes. Including shoes,” she added, attempting to insert a lighter note.
Katerina made a face, but accepted this. “I can see your point,” she conceded. “I’ll try to save you some hot cocoa, which Renee has fresh made, not the instant stuff. Jacinth’s been hogging the carafe.”
“I refilled it too!” Jacinth’s raised voice came from inside the parlor.
“That’s magic-made cocoa,” Katerina drew back into the parlor, her voice trailing after her as she disappeared from view. “That’s not the same as home-made cocoa.”
“Is so!”
Unable to help herself, Naomi joined in with the men laughing. “Are they always like this?”
“Mostly,” Troy said. “I shudder to think of what their telepathic discussions must go like. I’m told Katerina is much snippier and has Attitude-with-an-A when she’s in her cat form.”
Alarmed, Naomi aimed a quick look back at Angus, and was reassured by his faint nod.
