Page 3 of Icy Reception (SOS HOTEL #9)

CHAPTER 3

A snow storm couldn’t freeze two people solid like that, could it? “What h-happened?” I asked, fighting my chattering teeth. I’d clamped my arms around myself, but the frigid temperature drove deep into my veins.

Victor studied the two frozen men, his hair and clothes whipped by the brutal wind.

“I dunno. I found them like this—” Zee hunkered down against a sudden gust. “Two human popsicles.”

“Didn’t you follow them outside just a f-few minutes ago?” I asked, raising my voice over the wind’s growing howls.

“Yeah, but I lost ’em in the snow. Went the other way.” He pointed down the sidewalk, past the hotel entrance. Snow swirled around streetlights, coming down harder with every passing second, and we couldn’t see much of the main street now, just halos of light in the falling blizzard. “When I came up here they were already frozen.”

“D-did you s-see anyone else?” I stammered.

“Nah, nobody.”

“We need to get Adam back inside where it’s warm. We’ll inform the authorities,” Victor said. “We must not involve ourselves.”

After stumbling back down the slushy sidewalk, we pushed through the hotel’s front doors and back into its stifling warmth. As soon as the doors swung shut behind us, the sound of the wind and the bitter cold vanished, sealing us in a perfect bubble of party atmosphere.

At least fake Zee’s warbling had stopped.

“Both of you, wait here.” Victor planted my shivering self in a chair beside a radiator and crossed the foyer to the front desk. Larimer greeted him with his typical scowl and nodded along as Victor’s lips moved, but I couldn’t hear what was said. Did they have the SSD in northern Minnesota? Finding two frozen people wasn’t normal; people didn’t freeze solid in just minutes.

Something supernatural had to be involved... but we definitely did not need to be.

Victor returned. “The manager is going to contact the local police.”

“Should we collect the bodies?” Zee asked, keeping his voice down. “I feel kinda bad leaving ’em out there.”

Victor leaned against the wall and muttered under his breath. “We do not need to involve ourselves any more than necessary. It’s best we stay out of it entirely and act as though nothing untoward has taken place.”

I could do that. Acting normal in a crisis was an everyday event at the SOS Hotel. “Normal. Right, okay.”

This time, we wouldn’t be dragged into solving the murders or be blamed for them. All we had to do was keep our heads down, get a good night’s sleep, and be on our way in the morning. Easy. “What could do that, though?” I asked, looking up at them. “Turn two people to ice?”

“I do not know.” Victor sounded troubled, which definitely meant we should be concerned .

“Ah-ha! His Lordship doesn’t know everything,” Zee smirked, folding his arms and propping his shoulder against the wall.

“I have never claimed to be all-knowing.”

“You just fuckin’ act like it.”

Victor’s eyebrow hitched. “I know precisely enough for someone of my age and experience.”

“So fuckin’ old.” Zee rolled his eyes. “Imma get more wine and a whole plate of tiny quiches, which is a totally normal thing for me to do.”

“Do not go far,” Victor warned.

“Okay Daddy.” Zee winked and dove back into the bar.

“If there’s trouble, I have no doubt he will find it.”

As we waited for Zee to return, guests filed back and forth having a great time at their LARP evening. Nobody seemed aware that two people had died, and as the minutes ticked by, no police showed up, no Special Supernatural Division agents... nobody.

“Maybe we should call Agent Leomaris?” I wondered aloud. “Actually, never mind...” I did not want Leomaris asking why the Heroes of San Francisco were in frosty Minnesota.

Zee walked backward out the bar doors, carrying a plate stacked with every bite-sized morsel he’d been able to lay his hands on. I took a tiny pie, suddenly hungry. Zee ate one in a single bite, and Victor glared at his.

“Alright, we’ve waited long enough. Back to the hotel room for kinky mirror sex and nibbles,” Zee declared. “Also very normal for us. See, we can do normal.”

I glanced at Victor, who seemed to be considering the idea.

“We did our bit by finding the dead guys,” Zee said. “C’mon, look at all this food that I definitely cannot take back to the bar without someone noticing I stole it.”

“Very well, we shall retire for the evening,” Victor agreed. “ But we must prepare for a call once the police arrive. Any intimate intentions should be reserved for later.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Zee strode ahead, leading the way up the stairs and back to our room. Once inside, he placed his tower of tiny pies on the table, and we got comfy in the chairs, eager to tuck in. After eating my fill, I raided the minibar, and it wasn’t long before we were content, and maybe a little tipsy—except Victor, who didn’t get drunk unless Tom Collins was serving.

Crawling into Zee’s lap, I lay back in his arms, more comfortable and relaxed than I’d been for the past week on the road. We’d been on the move since leaving Whiteacre Falls and its werewolf pack... and my brother, who’d sprung a surprise visit on us.

His attack had been a valuable lesson in why we didn’t stand a chance against him.

I knew what had to be done, but as I snuggled deeper into Zee’s arms and listened to his voice rumble as he told Victor about the time he’d been performing a private one-on-one and accidentally given the unprepared client a heart attack, I really did not want to face the truth of our future.

My brother would crush Zee as though he were nothing more than an irritating bug. Victor too. They were both powerful among their own kind, but it wouldn’t be enough against a dragon.

Someday soon I’d have to fight my brother, like I’d tried to before, but this time I couldn’t mess up. Dragons healed from almost anything, but if I could get to his heart—if I could eat that—then he wasn’t ever coming back, and I really would be the last dragon.

That was the plan I’d come up with.

But neither Zee nor Victor would let me face him alone.

Together. Never apart. Always.

They’d die for me... but not if I had my way .

Zee’s arm tightened around my waist, his keen empathic senses picking up on my melancholy.

“More whiskey, Kitten?” he asked, voice low in my ear.

“Not advisable,” Victor warned. “We’ll need clear heads for the authorities.”

“Yeah, but shouldn’t they be here by now?” Zee scooped his glass up with his free hand and sipped his wine, which we’d gotten from the minibar.

“Indeed, they should have.” Victor leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. With his sleeves rolled up and his hair tossed by the wind, he’d gained a scruffy look that I adored on him. His kept his emotions off his face, but I knew him well enough to know he was concerned, distracted, and as he occasionally glanced at the bed, he was wondering if we could indulge.

There hadn’t been much time or space for sex on the road—running for your lives kinda dampened the mood—but that big ol’ luxurious bed sure did look inviting.

A loud ding-dong sounded through invisible speakers somewhere in the room, and a disembodied voice announced, “Due to the storm, and for the safety of our guests, we advise nobody leaves the hotel. The Stephanie Hotel wishes you a lovely night’s sleep.”

Snick .

“Did the door just lock?” Zee asked.

“Yes.” Victor scowled at the door, then dashed from the chair in a burst of speed to check the window. “Hm, this is also locked, but on the fifth floor a locked window is not unusual.”

“We don’t lock our guests in their rooms, do we?” Zee asked.

“No, we don’t.” I sat up, and after reluctantly prying myself out of Zee’s comfortable embrace, I tried the door. Firmly shut and locked—the little red light confirmed it—but with a bit of force I could probably break the lock if we really needed to leave.

“The storm is ferocious,” Victor added, peering outside.

Zee huffed, and flopped his head back and his boots up on the table, sprawled out like a demon in the spotlight. “Imma just say it. Are we locked in a creepy hotel with a whole lot of clueless humans, Mr. Frosty the Popsicle Making Murderer, and one real weird concierge who definitely did not call the fuckin’ cops?”

I heaved some strength into the door handle and tried to pop it open, but the more I tried to force it, the more solid the lock became, as though it were fighting back.

“The door’s warded,” I grunted. Also not a good sign.

“Fuckin’ great,” Zee huffed. “But that’s fine because it’s not our problem. There are multiple other versions of us here. They wanna be us so bad, they can solve this shit. Imma sit this episode out.”

Zee was right. This wasn’t our hotel, or our problem.

“I can see you’re considering agreeing with Zodiac,” Victor spoke up. “However, if a number of humans expire while we’re on these premises, and we do nothing to prevent it, Agent Leomaris may be inclined to revoke our Hero status, thus making us liable for past crimes—of which there are many and varied—resulting in lengthy and unpleasant incarcerations.”

Victor was also right. As responsible heroes, we couldn’t just sit on our hands either.

“Whatever you just said must have been boring as hell because I lost interest after the we do nothing part... which I totally agree with. Unless it’s sex. Or raiding the kitchens for more of those tiny pies. Why does everything taste so good when it’s bite-sized?”

“Wait...” I had an idea and turned toward Zee. “Can you translocate into the hallway? ”

“Ugh.” Zee thumped his boots on the floor, and standing, gave himself an all-over shake. “Depends on the type of ward. Though all it’s gonna mean is that I can get out but you guys can’t.”

That was good enough for now. “Larimer doesn’t believe we’re the real SOS Hotel heroes. You can poof out and spy on him, maybe find out what’s really going on here?”

“With that big ol’ eyebrow, Larry definitely be evil,” Zee agreed.

Victor’s sigh had us both looking over as he rubbed his forehead. “Zodiac is a terrible spy. He’s not subtle in the least, or quiet, and frankly his tail is a menace to society and a liability.”

“Hey, Judgy McFangFace,” Zee pointed a glossy nail at Victor. “That is all fuckin’ true. But I once hid behind a clown sign and saved your ass. You don’t remember because you slept through the entire fuckin’ thing, but it was very sneaky.”

“Hiding behind a clown sign is not stealthy, it’s just hiding.”

“Uhm, hello? Have you looked at me lately? Hiding all of this is a fuckin’ tragedy.”

“Zee should try it, though,” I urged, before they got locked in an argument. “If we’re going to get involved, then what other option do we have? We at least need to know whether he can get out.”

Crossing his arms, Victor sighed hard. “Very well. But once outside, demon, we will not be able to assist you should you need us.”

“Pfft.” Zee crossed the room toward me and the door. “Lycian, Scourge of Demios, vampire-slaying extraordinaire right here. I can handle myself.” And with the next step, he poofed out of the room .

I pressed a hand to do the door and listened, catching the faintest sound of sizzling sparks. “Zee?” I whispered.

“Okay, I’m out,” he replied, sounding like he was just on the other side. “Now what?”

“Do some investigating,” I suggested.

Victor made his way over to my side and leaned in close to the door too.

“Fuck. Right . . . How exactly?”

“Discreetly search the hotel,” Victor said. “Look for anything suspicious. Find Larimer but remain undetected. It is imperative nobody is aware we are the real SOS Hotel heroes.”

“Do sneaky shit, pretend to be fake Zee, and find Larry. Got it.”

“Zee?” I asked, after a few moments of quiet. I was about to tell him to be careful, but no reply came. He’d already left. I lifted my gaze to Victor’s concerned face.

“The chances of him not being seen are precisely zero,” Victor said, voicing my same thoughts.

It was highly unlikely he’d pull this off without somebody noticing him, but we could brush it off and deny that any sightings were our Zee. There were plenty of other Zodiacs staying in the hotel.

“Are you thinking a sorcerer?” I asked, steering the conversation back toward the source of all this. That kind of elemental control on this side of the veil had to be something or someone with lots of power... Gideon Cain kind of power.

“It’s possible, but as I made clear to Zodiac, I do not know everything, and there are pockets of Lost Ones even I have not encountered.”

So, it could be something rare, like the loup-garou? Or did we have another unlicensed dark sorcerer on our hands? I hoped not. We’d barely survived Cain .

Were we just really unlucky, or did we cause the chaos that seemed to erupt wherever we went? Was it somehow our fault people kept randomly dying when we showed up? Nobody knew we were staying at this hotel, so it couldn’t be anything related to us or the SOS Hotel. But it was clear we were now involved, and as official heroes we’d have to fix it.

“I should have picked up the anti-ward ring before we left the hotel, but I wasn’t thinking.” Pushing off the door, I paced. “I had to get you out. I knew my brother would come. There wasn’t time?—”

“It’s alright, Adam.” Victor captured me in his arms and reeled me in until I was tucked against his chest, surrounded by his solid, reassuring warmth. “Whatever this is, we’ll deal with it as we always do. We have faced far worse than this peculiar hotel and its questionable management.”

Sighing, I let him hold me, relishing the feel of him. “That sounds like a description of our hotel.”

“There are similarities. But the SOS Hotel is first and foremost a safe place for all, largely because of your passion to make it so.”

“You don’t think this hotel is modeled off ours, do you?” I leaned back and looked up at his contemplative face. “We make sure everyone is safe, Lost Ones and humans, but what if someone managed a hotel who didn’t have the same idea? What if instead of creating a safe place, they created the opposite?”

“You mean... what if the Stephanie Hotel is a trap?”

A chill ran through me. I did mean that, but when Victor said it, the idea suddenly felt very real... and possible.

The SOS Hotel was a sanctuary, and always would be. It had to be, or the guests would probably all eat each other. Barely controlled gremlins, shadowbeasts in the attic, safety wards, a bartending djinn, a powerful warrior demon, an ancient vampire lord, Madame Matase with her Romany heritage and vow to protect the last dragon, and an all-powerful dragon manager. The SOS Hotel worked because we all wanted the same thing—to help others—but what if all of those things had turned out to be bad?

What if The Stephanie Hotel was an evil SOS Hotel?

“Oh dear.”