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"Let me see what I can find out about the place," Delilah said, pulling up a second browser. While she started her Web search, I wandered over to where Morio was sitting in the recliner with Camille now perched on his knee. Shamas leaned back in the opposite chair, a quixotic look on his face.
"How are you doing?" I sat down next to him. "Have my sisters filled you in on what life's like over here?"
"I spent all morning watching tee-vee," he said, elongating the es. "I never quite realized how alien humans are. I had no idea how big of a schism has evolved over the millennia. I still thought they rode in buggies and fought with swords."
"Like we do at home?" I said, grinning. "Face it, we developed magic, they developed technology."
Shamas laughed. "Point taken. But how have you managed it? How did you adapt to the differences? I don't know if I can handle walking among the head blind all the time."
I stared at him, well aware that both Delilah and Camille had paused at his comment. It didn't bother me so much but I knew that any time one of the Fae—family or stranger—made a disparaging comment about FBHs it hit home for my sisters with a nasty smack.
Standing up, I leaned over and gave him a quick but sharp slap on the cheek. "Shamas, darling, you better remember one thing. Our mother was human. Full-blooded human. And that makes the three of us half-human. Walking among the head blind is no more difficult than walking among pompous asses who rely on their magic instead of their brains. Understand?" I gave him a little hiss to punctuate the veiled threat.
Blinking, he glanced at my sisters, then back at me. "I'm sorry." He ducked his head. "I had no idea how that was going to sound. I guess I'm a little frightened. I know my way around Otherworld, but I don't dare show my face back there anytime soon. But here… I don't know how to survive. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Well, plenty of our relatives stood behind their insults," Delilah muttered. "At least here we don't have to put up with it—this is our home." She squinted at him, and I could see the glimmer in her aura foretelling a change.
"Kitten, calm down. We don't have time for you to shift." I glared at Shamas. "Don't upset her like that. She's very sensitive to family criticism."
"It's all right, sweetie," Chase said, resting his hand on Delilah's knee.
Delilah glared at Shamas. "I'll be all right." But I heard her mutter something under her breath that suspiciously sounded like, "Fuck you, too."
"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Impatient, I floated toward the ceiling. I always felt better off the ground. "Delilah, find anything yet?"
Delilah nodded. "Okay, here it is. Sixty years ago, the Halcyon was a lumber warehouse. The barges came in from the peninsula where there was extensive logging going on. Thirty years ago, as the lumber industry took a hit, the warehouse was converted to a storage facility. Four years ago Exo Reed bought it, lock, stock, and barrel, and converted it into the Halcyon Hotel and Nightclub, serving primarily Earthside Supes and some OW visitors. No connection with the OIA that I can see. Hmm… considered a four-star joint."
"And Exo Reed?" Morio asked.
"Lycanthrope. Activist on several fronts—Supe rights, NRA…"
"Kids? Wife?" Chase asked.
"Yeah, he's married. Three kids. It also says here that Exo's president of the Seattle Hunters League."
"Great, just what we need. A good ol' boy who carries a rifle and turns into a werewolf on the full moon," Chase muttered.
I tried to stifle a laugh but it broke through. Camille and Delilah looked at me quizzically.
"Hey, the man has a point," I said. "Lycanthropes can get trigger happy come the full moon. Anyway, so being such an upstanding businessman and a family guy, Exo wouldn't be likely to give Dredge a room if he knew what kind of a sick monster he really is, ya think?"
"Especially since he and his family live in the hotel." Delilah glanced at one last Web site. "Okay, well, that's about all I can find right on the surface."
"I think we'd better pay the Halcyon Hotel and Nightclub a little visit." I jumped up and grabbed my keys. "Who's riding with who?"
Delilah slammed the lid of her laptop. "I'll ride with Chase."
"Camille and I'll go together," Morio said as she slid off his lap and straightened her dress.
"Can I come?" Shamas asked.
"No, you stay here with Iris. You aren't ready for the kind of fight we're looking at. Damn, I wish Trillian was back from—" A knock on the door interrupted me. "I'll get it."
As I opened the door, a swirl of snow blew in on a cold gust of wind, followed by Roz, who was holding a bloody towel to his neck.
"Crap, get in here!" I hustled him into the living room. "He's been hurt. Get some water and bandages while I…" Stopping suddenly, I backed away. His blood smelled like ambrosia and a wave of hunger rolled through me. I couldn't take my eyes off that bloody towel. "Camille—"
She heard the tremor in my voice and immediately ran to my side. "Go over in the corner and look out the window until you can steady yourself. Delilah, get Iris to help you—towels, water, and bandages. Now."
