“Hey, Lemony, I thought you’d left me,” I said, digging in another pouch on my scabbard strap for a piece of jerky. I bent to give the treat to the stray who often lurked near this doorway. He took the offering, and I gave his head a pat before straightening.
For reasons unknown to me, I’d been a stray magnet since childhood. Usually cats, but occasionally dogs. Even a rabbit and a turtle once. I used to try to shoo them away, but years ago I gave in and began carrying treats with me. My roommate Lochlyn said it was good luck to show kindness to stray animals. I wasn’t so sure about that, but the animals seemed to appreciate the handouts.
I looked up the Millennium’s location on my phone and then hopped on my scooter and headed around to the other end of the Strip, taking roads that would keep me out of the thickest traffic. Van Zant’s hotel was in an area of second-tier luxury hotels.
At the Millennium, I left Vincenzo in one of the motorcycle spots, went inside, and headed toward the nearest restroom. In the privacy of a stall, I drew transformation magic to change my clothes. My jeans shrank into a micro-mini denim skirt, my boots turned to shiny leather with stiletto heels, and my long-sleeved navy henley transformed into a crop-top that fell off one shoulder and displayed a gold silkscreened couture logo on the front. I tied my hair up into a messy bun. Using slightly different illusion magic, I added the appearance of heavy black eyeliner around my eyes, mascara on my lashes, and glossy pink lipstick to my lips.
All Fae have magic called glamour, but it’s different than vamp glamour. Ours was primarily for changing the way we looked to non-Fae. Usually we use it to mask features that didn’t look entirely human, so we blend in better when in the Earthly realm. I could pass for human without any glamour, but I liked to use it to disguise myself at times.
After pumping up the spell that obscured my scabbard and sword from human eyes—more Faerie glamour-type magic—I emerged. Letting my hips swing as I walked slowly on the plush carpet in the spike heels, I headed toward the elevator that went up to the residences. There was a female concierge at a podium and a beefy man in black guarding the elevator. The man wore sunglasses and an earpiece. He was Fae, but she was full human with no magical ability, which should make this easy.
I gave the concierge—Brittany, by her nametag—a sultry smile.
“Hello,” I said. “Van Zant invited me up tonight. I should be on his list.”
She gave me a tight stretch of her lips that said she doubted it. “Your name?”
“Penelope,” I said, using the pseudonym I adopted when I had to use the sort of getup I was wearing at the moment.
I glanced down at the tablet on the podium as Brittany began tapping the device’s screen, and when she paused, I pushed a tendril of illusion magic to make it look as if my name appeared there.
“Well, Penelope,” she said. “Mr. Van Zant must have forgotten to tell you that he left town an hour ago.”
She quickly lifted the tablet, and it flashed in my face as she snapped my picture.
“But rest assured that I’ll tell him you were here,” she continued. “And now I’ve got your picture, so you’ll be in our system. Have a lovely evening.”
She cast a look at the guard, and he casually strolled a few steps closer to the podium.
I ground my teeth. Dammit. I’d missed my mark, and it looked like my usual illusions wouldn’t get me past the desk.
I forced a disappointed pout. “Oh, silly me, I must have gotten our times mixed up. Thanks anyway!”
I turned and speed-walked away, not wanting a run-in with the guard.
As I passed through the exterior door, I dropped my cosmetic illusions and transformed my clothes back as they were. The transformation happened in a fraction of a second, banking on the chance that anyone who might have seen the change wasn’t sober enough to question it.
I headed back to the MonsterFit doorway, taking my scooter inside with me. Instead of using the doorway to pass into Faerie, I whispered different words and traced a sigil in the air with my index finger. Then I closed my eyes, sucked in a deep breath, and held it, bracing myself in anticipation of the frigid blast that came with using a doorway.
All Fae were born with the magic that allowed us to use doorways and helped us blend in with humans in the Earthly realm, as well as specialized magic that was based on the race or races of the individual. Our magic literally runs through our blood. To call on it, we only need to turn within and focus on the sensation of our own hearts beating and the magic-infused blood coursing through us.
The darkness and freezing cold of the netherwhere engulfed me, and I lost all sense of up or down. Seconds ticked by, and I held my breath until the chill began to thaw. Allowing myself to breathe again, I cracked open my eyelids.
I was standing in a corner of a condemned parking garage on the edge of Boise, Idaho, the city where I lived with my roommate, Lochlyn.
Faerie doorways had limited capabilities to transport us between various locations in the Earthly realm. Any doorway could theoretically connect to any other doorway in Faerie, if you knew the right sigils to trace. But in the Earthly realm, the connections were scarcer. For instance, there was only one doorway in the San Francisco area, where the Stone Order’s fortress was located, that could take me here to Boise.
I straddled my scooter, started it up, and zipped toward home, located on a slightly raised plateau known as The Bench, which was situated behind the train depot that was still in operation.
It was after two in the morning, and weariness pulled at me. I parked Vincenzo in his assigned spot and went up to the second-floor apartment. The place was dark and silent, and the door to Lochlyn’s bedroom stood open, indicating she was still out for the night. Part of me was disappointed she wasn’t there. It had been a few days since we’d been able to catch up with each other. But the other part was too tired for a late-night chat.
In my sparse bedroom, furnished with only a frameless twin mattress and a second-hand dresser I’d bought for nine bucks, I propped my scabbard against the wall next to the bed, shed my jacket and boots, and then collapsed across the mattress. As my eyelids drooped, I tried to muster the will to take a quick shower but fell asleep before I could force myself up.
When I awoke, morning light slanted through the cheap blinds. I sat up and could feel by the stillness that Lochlyn was still gone. I reached for my phone, thinking to text her to see if she’d be home in time to grab coffee together. But then suddenly remembering the summons to the Stone Order, I scrambled to power on my phone and check the time.
I had exactly an hour to get there, and the drive from the Bay Area doorway to the stone fortress would take at least half that.
“Shit!”