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CHAPTER 14
By the time we got to the Wayfarer, the place was almost empty. It was nearly closing time. I could tell that Camille and Delilah were winding down. Considering we’d been through two battles already this evening, I was amazed they were even still on their feet. We had a lot of stamina—our half-Fae heritage ensured that—but even we had our limits.
Luke arched his eyebrows as the four of us walked in and he let out a low huff.
“Finally decided to show up?” he asked, winking. We’d developed a casual but comfortable friendship over the past few months, and I trusted the bar in his hands, as long as Tavah was guarding the portal.
“We’re headed downstairs,” I said. “I’ll be back in a bit. If you close up before then, just lock the door on your way out.”
He nodded as we vanished through the arch leading to the stairwell. As we clattered down the stairs, I could hear Tavah talking to someone.
The safe room—or panic room, depending on how you looked at it—was in the basement along with the portal. We’d hacked into the magical programming of the portal to prevent Lethesanar from finding out we’d stayed Earthside.
With the bitch queen off in the Southern Wastes, we no longer needed to worry, so the directional magic had been retuned to its normal destination, and legitimate OW visitors were once again flowing through the portal on a regular basis. And the Faerie Watchers Club was back in action to greet them, sans Erin as president. Henry Jeffries, a regular customer and part-time employee at the Indigo Crescent, had taken over the helm of the group.
Tavah was waving good-bye to an elf who was stepping into the portal. As we watched, a brilliant light flashed, and the elf quickly vanished in a flurry of sparkling dust. Faerie dust. I snorted. Literally.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
Tavah nodded. She was a vampire, too. Full Fae and not at all picky about her meals, though I’d bound her to a promise not to attack any of our guests. “Yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. No trolls, no goblins. Ever since the portal was reprogrammed back to Y’Elestrial and Queen Tanaquar set up guardians on the other end, we haven’t had much trouble. A party of seven Svartans are scheduled to come through in about an hour. Thought you’d like to know.”
Camille perked up, and Tavah shook her head. “Sorry, Camille, no Trillian listed among them.”
“Figures,” Camille muttered.
“Be sure to log their intended itinerary and length of stay. There’s no telling how much that will help, but chances are they’re going to be charming the pants off anybody they meet, and probably the money out of their pockets.” I motioned to my sisters. “Come on, let’s get you situated.”
We headed down the dimly lit hallway to the safe room. The enclosure had been enchanted by Otherworld Intelligence Agency wizards when the Wayfarer was first retrofitted for OW use. From the most powerful sorcerers’ groups around—at least on the right side of the law—the wizards had embedded the magic directly into the molecular structure of the walls. They had altered the makeup of the wood and metal, had fortified it to withstand attack from both physical and magical means. The Wayfarer might burn to the ground or blow up, but the room would be left standing. And no one could teleport in or out by any method we’d run across.
I unlocked the door and flipped on the light. There was no TV; this was a holding pen for enemies, not a hotel room. Television wouldn’t work here, anyway. The magical wards interfered with reception. Neither could radio waves get through, nor cell phones. A regular telephone worked, but we didn’t have one installed. Again, enemies don’t need an outside line.
Delilah looked around and let out a sigh. “This is the drab-best place I’ve ever seen. Good gods, the walls are olive green, and the light looks like an interrogation lamp right out of a fifties film noir movie. How did Vanzir stand it?”
“He managed, and so will you. It’s only going to be for a little while.” Camille dropped an armful of Delilah’s bags on the sofa. “You’ve got books, and I brought your laptop. You won’t be able to get through to the Net here, but you can play games on it.”
Roz glanced around as he unloaded the rest of Delilah’s gear onto the floor. “Vanzir was telling the truth. There’s no way I could jump out into the Ionyc Sea from here, either.”
“Good,” I said. “It’s secure, then.”
“Listen, I was thinking,” Delilah said. “You need to call Tim and get the Supe Community rolls from him. Set up a phone tree and warn all the major Supe groups about the Karsetii. If that thing targets the Fae and elves, we need to make sure to warn everyone. Whatever good that will do. The demon’s one big bad bitch.”
“Good idea,” I said. “I’ll call him as soon as I go back upstairs.” I spread a sheet over the sofa as Camille shook out a blanket and fluffed up a pillow.
Delilah set her laptop on the small table in the corner under the light, then crawled under the table to plug it in. She was covered with dust bunnies when she stood up again. She gave me a scathing look.
“Can’t you at least clean this joint now and then?” She wandered into the bathroom. It was little more than a cubicle with a toilet, a shower, and a pedestal sink, but at least everything worked.
Camille tossed her a towel and some soap. “Here. I remembered to bring shampoo and conditioner, too, along with your favorites.” She held up a big bag of crunchy Cheetos and a box of Hostess powdered-sugar donuts.
Delilah gave her a big grin. “You’re the best big sister anybody could ask for, you know that?” She turned to me. “Can you let Chase know where I’m staying and why?”
“Yeah, but if he comes over to visit, he’ll need to ask for me. I’m not telling Luke or Chrysandra what we’re doing down here. They don’t need to know. For one thing, it would put them in jeopardy. For another, we don’t want to advertise your presence.”
“Speaking of which, Chase is due over for dinner tomorrow night. Cancel for me, would you? Somehow I doubt if we’ll be in the mood to sit around eating spaghetti.” She sighed and sat down on the sofa. “At least it’s comfortable, and the room has a good light and plenty of ventilation, but it’s still a cage.”
Camille kissed her softly on the forehead. “We know . . . we know. But this is for your own protection. If we don’t have to worry about the demon getting at you, we can focus on hunting down and destroying the main hive mother. It won’t be for long.”
“Camille’s right, Kitten.” I stroked her hair. “The less we have to worry about you, the quicker we can get you out of here. Think of it like being kenneled for a night. Speaking of which, did you bring your litter box?”
