Page 69 of Cold Curses

Lulu has to be safe first,I told monster again.You can’t just jump out of me. There will be a process to get you out. Be patient.

That had it backing down, at least for now. But it didn’t diminish the low hum of its conversation with the monster in the sword.

I made it to the second floor without further incident, and then went down the quiet hallway to the guest suite. Outside the door, I found a guard standing at attention with his sword belted. He nodded at me, then turned his gaze back to the hallway and watched for threats.

“Doctor took a break,” he said. “She’ll be back in five.”

I couldn’t spare much more time than that. So I opened the door.

The magic was thick. I assumed that was a side effect of the magic done to Lulu, as it bore the sour tang of demon. This wasn’t a symptom I’d seen before, but then it was my first experience with a demon-induced coma.

I wasn’t sure if I needed to worry about it, but I’d tell the doctor. She was human and wouldn’t have noticed it. Because I wasn’t sure what it would do to monster, I left the door open, looked back at the guard.

“The room needs to air out,” I told him, then walked across the small room—bed, nightstand, bookshelf, dresser, and assorted medical devices monitoring Lulu—to the window. I cracked it open, let a cool breeze blow in, waited until some of the magic dissipated.

When the magic had thinned, I sat on the edge of the bed. Lulu wore blue pajamas with white piping around the hems. Her eyes were closed and her feet were tucked into fuzzy socks.

“There’s nothing new to report,” I told her. “But it’s only a little past sunset. You’re in Cadogan House, in case you wondered why it smells like pizza and Armani.”

She would’ve at least chuckled at that, if she’d been awake.

“Alexei was here all night. I haven’t asked, because I know you’re still figuring it out, but I thought you should know that he’s been watching over you. I’m pretty sure you’re the one for him, Lulu.

“You were in my dream last night,” I continued. “I was stuck in a well or something and you were screaming down at me. But I couldn’t hear you.”

I watched her in silence for a moment, half-expecting her to sit up and explain what she’d been screaming about. But she didn’t move or react.

And still I wondered: Could she have really been trying to tell me something?

“That’s crazy talk,” I murmured. There were undoubtedly supernaturals who could travel in dreams; she wasn’t one of them.

I sat with her in silence for a few more minutes, then rose. “I have to get to work. Nail the bad guy, rescue the princess, all that jazz. Stay with me,” I told her. “I’m going as fast as I can, and you have to stay with me in the meantime.”

I closed the window and stepped into the hallway, where I found a woman standing with the guard. She had light brown skin and dark hair pulled into a tidy topknot. Her eyes were dark brown and wide and full of knowledge. She wore a white doctor’s jacket over scrubs and sneakers. This was Dr. Anderson, Petra’s cousin.

“Elisa,” she said.

“Dr. Anderson. You’re making House calls now?”

“Clever,” she said. “And in this case, yes. She’s a friend of Petra’s and I’m a very curious woman. The circumstances are unusual.”

“She seems stable.”

“She is, for now.” She frowned. “I think it’s partly being in this House. She’s still shedding magic.”

I nodded. “I opened the window. It was thick in here.”

“Good thought. Her vitals have remained stable. I think Cadogan House’s own magic is having some sort of reverse osmosis effect; it’s actually pulling out some of the demon magic. It’s fascinating stuff. Second to patient welfare, of course, but fascinating.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “You look peaky. You need blood.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, resisting the urge to tell her I was aware how to vampire, because I knew she was trying to be helpful.

I left them in the hallway, walked to the staircase again. I took the stairs two at a time to the first floor, ordering the Auto as I did. I wanted out of the House before anything else went haywire.

I made it to the foyer. And that’s when it struck.

Monster hadn’t been considering. It had beenwaiting. And this time it had me grabbing the newel post and taking that first step down into the basement.

I suddenly had no control over my body. I used what little strength I could muster to try to look casual—and prevent the vampires at the front desk from alerting the House’s guards that I looked unbalanced.