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"He runs a ski business," I noted absently, printing off a fresh stack of schedules since he liked to change them fairly often.
"Like a resort?"
"Nope. Just the ski lifts and slopes, though he runs shuttles from here to there. He holds ski and snowboarding classes. They have a café that offers hot chocolate and concessions, but he never wanted to do the lodge side of things, so we have a partnership of sorts."
"This is going to be a change," he said, almost looking uncomfortable.
"What is?" I asked without taking my focus off of the computer.
"The lack of magic. Before we came here, I was in an all-magic community. We saw magic every day, used it at every chance. Here it's like a second thought," he said, a small frown turning down his lips.
"It's like that in most of the modern parts of the world," I said. "You get used to it. Too much magic freaks out the humans."
"We aren't in hiding anymore for a reason," he said. The words hit a bit too hard, and my flinch must have shown it, but he didn't press. Yet, at least.
"We haven't banned magic here. West and I are just the only ones at the hotel who have it. Molly has her own kind of magic with cooking, but she’s completely human. She just knows more about our kind than most do from spending years by our side."
I didn't mention that West and I kept ours under wraps for a reason. West didn't take me in solely because he was kind; it was because he saw himself in me. He hated how the magical community was run, with witches sticking to tradition to the point of killing their own. His omega sister had been ostracized for mating with a wolf shifter, rejected by the community she’d given years to because of fate. It was insane.
"Good," he said, sending a ball of flame into the fireplace. The fire had died down in the rush of the morning, and we both sighed in appreciation when it flared to life. "Now, what can I do?" It was kind of funny that this strong, stoic alpha was askingmewhat to do, but he was in unfamiliar territory so I kept my commentary to myself.
"Not much until they show up… unless you want to make sure our menus and brochures are full," I offered, pointing at the display. "We keep the extras in the far left drawer behind the desk."
He got right to work. It was actually kind of nice to have someone here with me, though it was also distracting. Every so often, as we got things ready for check-in, he'd cast glances my way. I could feel the tension rising as hours passed, hyper aware of where he was and what he was doing. Without conscious thought, our entire beings were pulling us to each other. It was maddening in the best way. The only reprieves were the random drop-ins from West as he scrambled through the building to make sure it was in perfect shape.
"Incoming," West hissed as he walked back in for the tenth time. It was already ten in the morning, and he had yet to go back to bed. I couldn't blame him though; it was more than just chaos that was the issue. The rooms were always damaged because they partied every night, and there wasalwaysdrama. We'd witnessed more break-ups and messy hook-ups than I'd care to count. But a group that big was too good to pass up, and West wasn't afraid to collect damages if he needed to. Plus, having the college crowd on our radar was smart because it meant future bookings.
The roar of a bus sounded before a steady flow of guests burst in. The look on Nikolaus' face was comical, but I didn't have time to appreciate it. We were a flurry of check-ins, issues, and requests, the process taking nearly two full hours. By the time West finally escaped and Zachary came in, we were both exhausted.
"Hey…" Nikolaus stopped me when I'd tried to make an escape, needing a bit of alone time after that much socializing. My battery wasn't just empty, but busted. "You alright?"
"Nothing a long soak and some quiet can't fix." I tried to lighten it with a laugh, but even that sounded exhausted. "I'm not the social type."
"I can relate," he said quietly, then we both paused at the sound of my name being called from the front desk. Zachary's voice was strained.
"I guess I better go check that," I muttered with a sigh. He shifted around like he wasn’t sure about leaving, but I waved him off. Something changed then. Nikolaus tensed and reached for me, switching from nonchalant to protective in that motion.
"No. Something's not right. I'm coming," he said in a low murmur, his hand never leaving me. I swallowed hard. His intensity was freaking me out, but I also didn't want the poor kid getting hurt if something was about to go down, and I certainly wasn't going to doubt a witch's intuition. I raced down the hall and back to the front, freezing at the heaviness in the air. Even with the roaring fire and ambient music, it was obvious. Zachary stood behind the polished wooden counter, his eyes bouncing everywhere but at the man across from him. The guest was standing, his collar up so I couldn't make out his face just yet. He was across the room, yet his aura was pitch black.
“Dark magic?” I whispered to Nikolaus, but he shrugged. The fact that he looked uncertain, eyes vigilantly scanning the room, had me even more concerned. I could scent his worry in the air, mixing with my own.
"What's wrong, Zachary?" I asked as I walked behind the desk and stopped next to him.
"Something with th-the card reader," he stuttered out. He'd always had a slight stutter, but I had a feeling it was more than that this time. Even this human could sense our new guest's bad energy. I cast a glance at the mystery man, trying to mask my feelings with calm. My customer service smile was firmly in place. He was tall and lanky, his dark eyes unlike Nikolaus'. These were inky, almost fully black. His skin was pale, with a slight grayish pallor, and I would bet money he was a demon of some kind. I hadn't heard of them outside of lore, but what else could he be?
‘I’m unsure, but I only feel malice coming off of him,’Zehra warned. That was not helpful in the least.
"Could we hurry this up?" the man asked. His voice was monotone, and from another person, I might say bored, but there was something else wrong. I’d never heard someone sound so…empty. He was a startling contrast to the chatting co-eds who’d come before him.
Taking the card from Zachary, I swiped it and watched the error message pop up. Frowning, I turned it over and inspected the card, noting that it looked completely unused.
"Sometimes new cards have issues. I'll type the info in, but heads up, I've seen a few guests have to call their bank over it," I told him with another fake smile before entering the card numbers in on the keypad. It worked this time, and I handed it back, making sure our fingers didn’t touch. "Got it that time."
"About time," he hissed, and the venom in his voice had Nikolaus stepping into view. The demon glanced over, then sighed, reining in some of his anger. I finished the transaction and handed over his room keys, then the man left without another word. As he moved away, he took the heaviness with him. It felt like my chest was released from a vise, and I was able to take in a full breath of non-tainted air.
"Have you ever felt anything like that?" I whispered to Nikolaus, keeping my voice low enough that Zachary wouldn’t hear. No need to scare the poor kid further.
"Yes," he admitted. "Dark magic has the same type of aura. We should be careful. I’ll get Avi on alert. He’d know more."
