“He thinks it’s worth the risk, as long as he gets to be part of the human world. My life looks totally glamorous to him. He wants to live on his own, date a human girl, be out from under my aunt Holly’s eight thousand rules.”
“Oh.” The pieces all fell into place and Keira blinked. The irony was that Smith and Susan had more in common than she’d thought. In spite of the fact that he wasn’t human, they’d grown up in almost identical situations.
“That’s why my aunt’s so desperate for me to hurry up and finish my assignment. She wants to be sure I find the Experimental and bring it—you—back to Darkside. The thing is, once the Experimental is gone, there’s no reason for anyone to cross between the worlds. The Reformers wouldn’t be looking for Darklings like Smith, and the Reformers would finally leave our family alone. My aunt Holly wants that. Desperately.”
“But you don’t.”
“Not anymore,” he said.
She relaxed back against the seat. At least she hadn’t put Susan in danger.
“So where will we go that they won’t think to look for us? Jail? The library?” Keira mentally scrolled through the places she had never been in Sherwin.
Walker tapped his finger against his lower lip, thinking. “Oh! I’ve got the perfect place. Well,” he amended, “it’s actually pretty far from perfect, but it’ll hide us.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see.” Walker headed toward the outskirts of town. Keira watched the streets fly past and wondered, again, what the hell she’d gotten herself into. Even more, she wondered if there was any way out.
About five miles outside of Sherwin, Walker turned the car into the parking lot of the Steer Inn Hotel. Keira stared uneasily at the crumbling brick facade. Black shutters hung at the windows and white columns flanked the iron-grated office door. But the attempt at grandiosity failed miserably, as the paint flaked off the shutters like cheap mascara and the left-hand column tilted like it was drunk.
“We’re staying here?”
Walker nodded. “Safest spot for miles.”
Keira turned to him, mystified. “And can I ask how the hell you found this place?”
Walker cocked an eyebrow at her. “That you probably don’t want to know.”
Keira ignored the embarrassed heat that flared in her cheeks. She looked at all of the ordinary, human surroundings, waiting for something bizarre to appear. Like saying “bloody Mary” while staring into a dark mirror. It seemed insane to think she’d see something, but that didn’t stop her from looking. Which was crazier—believing in something no one else could see, or ignoring the proof that it existed?
“Are you sure no one followed us here?” Keira reached to unfasten her seat belt and her shoulder throbbed painfully.
“As sure as I can be. We’re safe for now. I’ll show you why once we’re inside,” Walker said. “So, do you want to come in with me and endure the knowing looks of the night clerk, or wait in the car while I get us a room?”
They were going to stay in a hotel. Together. As tempting as the thought was, Keira’s instinct was to insist on having her own room. She was grateful for Walker’s help, but that didn’t mean she was going to sleep with him. Then she remembered that she’d run out of the house with only her backpack and her mother’s coat. Keira had about twenty bucks to her name. And no pajamas, either.
“Um, I’ll come in with you, I guess. I want to pay for part of the room.”
Walker shook his head. “With what money? You carry your life-savings around in your bag?”
“No,” Keira admitted.
“I’ve got this one,” Walker said. “We’ll call it even. I ruined your life, so I pay for the fleabag hotel. Now come on. We’ll be safer inside.”
“We will? Why?”
“You’ll see.”
The clerk eyed them sleepily when they pushed into the office. Overhead, the fluorescent light buzzed unpleasantly.
“We need a room for the night,” Walker said. “One on the east side of the hotel.”
“One with two beds,” Keira piped up.
“Jesus Christ, what d’you think this is, the goddamn Ritz?” The clerk shook his head. “The rooms on that side of the building all got one king bed.”
“That’ll be fine,” Walker said smoothly.
Keira frowned, wondering why it was so important to be on that side of the hotel. The clerk handed Walker a key and a set of sheets that looked reasonably clean.
The two of them walked down the hall, which smelled of mildew and old fast food.
“Three-A,” he said. “Home sweet home.”
Walker opened the door and flipped a light switch. The room was shabby, with threadbare, mismatched furniture. There was an old-fashioned television bolted to the dresser, and a water stain shaped like the State of California on the ceiling.
“Wow. This is bad, even by Sherwin’s standards,” Walker said.
Keira squinted at him. “I thought you’d been here before.”
“I’ve never been in here. I’ve only, uh, taken the lay of the land.” He glanced around. “At least the bed looks decent.”