Page 26 of Malcroix Bones Academy

“It’s a hotel,” I said, astonished.

We walked over the bridge, and I stared down at what looked like dolphins and fish in the shockingly clear water.

On the other side, we were basically right on the hotel’s doorstep. Red, purple, and gold banners snapped in a high wind. Everything about the structure appeared larger as I got nearer, from the massive iron doors to the wall of dark stone. A fountain stood at the exact center of the drive, filled with marble dragons spouting water in high plumes.

I still hadn’t seen a single car.

I saw a lot of people walking in all directions, including in and out of the arched doorway to the hotel. Through the iron-framed windows past the drawbridge, I saw more people inside, standing in groups under enormous chandeliers lit with candles.

A man wearing a beefeater costume opened the door to let us in. As we entered the massive lobby, I glanced up and saw that it stretched up eight or nine stories.

Just then, a large, Persian-style carpet floated up from the stone floor, taking a group of five people with it, along with a bellhop and all of their luggage. I continued to stare as the carpet stopped three stories up, and everyone on it walked off. The bellhop unloaded the luggage onto the third-floor landing, then followed them to one of the blue-painted doors.

The carpet sank back down.

When it reached the bottom, two new bellhops began loading it with more luggage. A family of two adults and two young children climbed on next. The woman never stopped chatting to her husband as the rug began to rise. She laughed at something he said, and a tiny animal that might have been a mole, or possibly a hedgehog, laughed with her from where it perched on the pink purse hanging from the woman’s arm. Her other hand gripped the fingers of their youngest child, who looked maybe three.

I tore my eyes off them when Ankha pointedly cleared her throat.

I followed my aunt to a long counter, just like a check-in counter in a large hotel back home. When Ankha touched the bell, a man appeared, wearing an emerald-green uniform with gold accents and engraved gold buttons.

I had no idea where he’d come from.

“Can I help you?” he asked politely.

“Yes.” Ankha fished in her pocket. “We’ve been assigned a room for the night.” She handed over a card that looked to be made of metal. “Myself and my niece.”

The man bowed. “Of course, ma’am. Any preferences?”

“No. And the standard menu will do.”

“Excellent. You’re just in time for elevenses.”

The man in the emerald-green uniform walked the length of the counter, stuck the card into a slot in the wall, and waited. The wall glowed, then spit something into his hand. He walked it back, and handed it to my aunt.

It was a bronze key.

“They’ll take you right up, Ms. La Fey,” he smiled. “…Ms. La Fey,” he added to me with a polite nod. “Your meal should be waiting for you.”

“Thank you.”

Ankha ushered me back to the middle of the floor.

Looking down, realizing where we stood, I fought a twinge of panic. A bellhop in a red and gold uniform stepped onto the rug with us, and I started to step off, but Ankha gripped my arm in another of those talon-like holds, and yanked me back.

“Don’t be a little fool,” she warned.

The rug rose straight up.

My stomach lurched. I also snatched at my aunt’s arm.

“For the aether’s sake… calm down,” Ankha said, annoyed. She disentangled her arm, and brushed off her sleeve as we rose higher. “Didn’t I see you watching the other guests ride the lifts? None ofthemplunged to their deaths, did they?”

Glancing down over the edge of the rug, she sniffed.

“It would be splendid if you could go without embarrassing both of us for at leastsomeportion of today,” she muttered between her teeth. “Even if only for a few minutes.”

I caught a half-hidden smile on the bellhop’s face, and my jaw tightened.