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Chapter Eleven
Skylar
Elias was sitting in the front seat as if he’d been there the whole time. I was a little surprised he looked so cozy. I thought for sure he’d follow me, despite saying he’d wait. Maybe he could be trusted. Just a little.
It was still early, the sun had only been up for about an hour, and I was feeling the exhaustion hard.
With the clock ticking, I hated the idea of wasting time to sleep, but I knew even a few hours would benefit me. I opened the passenger door and sat down on the seat.
“Hidden away?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “After we find the killer, we can retrieve it and figure out the next steps.”
“We?” He arched a brow.
“I will figure out the next steps,” I said.
He looked amused and I rolled my eyes. I was too tired to deal with him right now but at least he hadn’t pressed for details. “You want to take shifts and get a few hours each in your car?”
“You can’t be serious.” He wrinkled his nose in an almost adorable display of disgust.
“You have a better idea? Cause I’m pretty sure my apartment is compromised. Not that there’s anything left to actually sleep on there anyway.”
“I’ve got a place,” he said.
“Cop safe house?” I asked, intrigued.
“Sort of.” He started the car and drove away from Old Town toward the outskirts of the city. The same run-down part of town we’d first met in.
The car turned off the main road and I looked up to see a familiar sign. My shoulders slumped. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“There’s a reason the scum of the earth pick this place.” Elias pulled the car in front of the office of theEssex House Motel.
“I barely survived this shit hole last night. Why on earth would you think I want to come back here?” I asked.
“Because they have a warded room,” he said.
“This place?” I didn’t even try to hide my skepticism. This was the last place I’d expect to have the very expensive spells to create a ward. Wards had to be applied by highly skilled mages. They wore off quickly and had to be constantly reapplied. Most wards lasted only a week but a highly skilled mage could apply a ward for a month.
Either way, the cost was astronomical. There were not a lot of mages who specialized in that kind of magic and they could demand quite the premium for their service.
“Wait here.” Elias was already out the door before I could argue. He’d left the keys in the ignition and the car running. Bold for an enforcer whose job was tied to bringing me in with or without evidence.
Before I could consider where I’d go if I took the car, he was back. He passed me an old fashioned looking skeleton key. “Hold this.”
I took the key from him and instantly felt the jolt of magic. It sent tingles right through my fingertips and up my arm. Even the key was warded. Whoever they had on the payroll for this was good.
“Is this an enforcer safe house?” I asked.
“No,” he said.
I looked at the key again and wondered how he had knowledge or access to something like this. Even at a crap hotel like this, a warded room would run the renter a lot more than an enforcer was paid.
Elias parked the car in front of building number three. At least it wasn’t the same building I’d been in last night. That would have been too weird.
That’s when it hit me.
When we met last night, he’d said he was on official business for Queen Marcella. “You’re not working for the enforcers, are you?”
