AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m just the cleric. But I am here to help. If I can.” A big if, if the big man didn’t send me some cloud cover to work with. There were a lot of things I could do, but I couldn’t will weather into being. I needed a little something to start me out.
Like sourdough.
Yes, I was the sourdough of clerics.
I also, apparently, was very hungry and needed to sleep, because I was on the verge of becoming downright loopy.
Yet the woman at the desk was still so stunned by my appearance she couldn’t bring herself to move. Which she would have to do at some point if she was going to get Leo and me room keys.
I cleared my throat, and she practically jumped out of her skin. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe it worked.”
If the price is right and the prayer is interesting, the temple would send me pretty much anywhere. Even if the price was wrong, sometimes folks got lucky. That’s how it went. Prayers were sometimes answered based on the generosity of a tithe, but other times it was up to the whims of the priestesses or Seth himself. I think the girls at the temple sometimes chose my trips entirely at random. Seth, on the other hand, chose them based solely on how they benefited him.
Thus my little chess piece was shuffled around the board accordingly.
“There’s not much I can do without some food and sleep first,” I confessed. This was the other thing I hated about people knowing who I was. It often forced them to realize I was only human. A human who could really use a piece of chocolate cake and an order of fries right about now.
If I was going to be dousing the wildfires tomorrow, they should also probably send someone out for a big order of Chinese. Like, big enough to feed everyone in the entire town. Plus dessert.
Rain might not take as much out of me as lightning or tornados, but it would take more than a little sprinkle to ease the fire coming in, and I couldn’t leave anything to chance if the whole town had chipped in for this.
“Sleep,” she repeated back, trying to make sense of the word. I hoped I wouldn’t need to explain why I needed it. Considering it was almost five in the morning, I was praying she’d just give us some keys and let us get some shut-eye. “Oh my gods, yes, of course. A room.”
“Two, if you can spare,” I added. I wasn’t trying to insult Leo by asking for my own space, but considering all the rumors that had sparked after I shared a motel with Cade, it would be better if no one discovered I’d shared a double room with a demigod.
Rain Chaser shacks up with son of Seth. Will their love cause rumblings upstairs?
It wasn’t hard to imagine how things would look to outsiders.
I sort of expected her to say no, considering how many trucks had been parked out front, but apparently turning away other guests had done the trick.
“I have two side by side, away from the firefighters, where it’s a bit quieter. They get up awfully early. In fact they’ll be asking for breakfast any minute now. But I guess maybe they won’t be needed anymore.” She gave me such an earnest smile it hurt my insides a little. I hated when people were so nice.
When I pulled out my credit card to pay, she waved me away emphatically. “No.”
“Ma’am.” I was so tired now I almost didn’t care if there was food around. Leo and I had stopped at a couple fast food joints, and if I could get something to eat when now, and again when I woke up, I would be fine. “That’s incredibly sweet, but please let me pay for our rooms.”
She wouldn’t even look at my credit card. “Without you, this hotel would probably be nothing but ashes by the end of the week. So no. You’re not paying.” Without pausing to listen to any further arguments, she ducked into a back room and emerged a moment later with keys in hand. “You get your rest, then come see me when you get up. I can take you out to see the fire.”
I accepted the keys gratefully, handing one off to Leo. We made our way to the courtyard behind the motel where our rooms faced an empty swimming pool. I couldn’t decide if it was drained because of the fire or because it was now October. Either way the empty bowl was a depressing view to look out onto.
“Want me to wake you up?” Leo fiddled with his key, waiting outside his door.
I put Fen’s carrier down in front of my room so I could unlock the door. “Yeah, if I’m not up by nine, bust out the smelling salts and cold water in a spray bottle.”
“That’s only four hours.” He made a face at me.
“Oh, I’m sorry, princess, did you need more beauty sleep? Maybe I should be waking you up.” Four hours seemed like plenty to me, but I also wasn’t exactly normal.
Leo snorted. “Please. I’m gorgeous even with no sleep. You can barely resist me as it is.”
“I don’t know about gorgeous, but I do know you have no shortage of self-delusion.”
He laughed, a warm, joyful sound like a hug for my ears. I was glad he was along for the ride. Apparently at some point between my road trip with Cade and being here with Leo, I’d actually started liking having human company. Who would have thought?
“See you at nine.” He disappeared into his room, leaving me alone in the courtyard. The sky was still dark. This late in the season, sunrise would hold off as long as it could before things started to brighten things up.
I glanced back towards the front building and started with surprise to see a girl standing in a window, staring at me. She didn’t flinch when she realized I’d seen her, and didn’t wave or smile either. Her hair was white blonde, cut in a soft pixie style that made her eyes look enormous. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen.
