Page 6 of Thicker than Water

“Let me show you where you’ll be working. It’s just down this way.”

I follow her down the hallway. With a start, I notice an enormous portrait of Tudor Thornblade on the wall. He looms over the lobby with his arms crossed. His blond hair is slicked back from his temples and his light purple eyes gaze intensely at everyone who passes by.

With a shiver, I turn back to my new boss.

“Have you met him?” I ask her.

“Tudor? Yeah,” she says. “But he doesn’t bother much with the day-to-day operations of the hotel anymore. He leaves that to his daughters, mostly.”

“His daughters?”

“Yep. If you’re lucky, you won’t have to meet any of them.”

I squint at her. “Why?”

“Here we go,” she says, stopping in front of an old service elevator. It’s off to the left of the more modern, pristine hotel elevators that take guests to their suites. But this elevator looks older than I am (which is saying something). She presses thedownbutton and the doors to the elevator immediately open with a chime.

I follow her in. The inside of the elevator is much larger than I expected, with mirrors along the wall and a bench with plush, purple pillows. It’s strange to see, especially in what’s supposed to be aserviceelevator.

“I’ve never seen a bench in an elevator before,” I comment.

She chuckles. “Oh, that’s nothing. Wait until you see the club.”

The doors shut. But instead of pressing one of the buttons on the brassy, shiny panel, she presses a small red button underneath it. For a moment I brace myself, expecting the elevator to stop or the emergency alarm to activate. But instead, the elevator starts moving.

With another jolt, I realize that none of the buttons on the panel say “Club” or indicate a “B” for basement. But we’re definitely goingdown.

I feel a tingle of apprehension and I clutch my bag close to me. It has my wand inside, a wooden instrument that hones my magic. I’m glad that I brought it. If I get murdered on my first day, I’m going to come back from the dead just to haunt Lavinia Nox.

The elevator comes to a stop and the doors open.

This floor is dark and the air is thick. My eyes adjust as we step out. The first thing I see is a wall, bare except for a red neon sign. It depicts a set of lips with two sharp fangs sticking out.

Very subtle, Tudor.

“Whyisn’t there anyone stationed at the entrance?” snaps Xia, moving down the hallway. I follow her to a coat check window. The attendant catches a glance of her and ducks out of view quickly.

A security guard appears at the end of the dark hallway, wearing a red uniform and an appeasing smile. They’re short, barely 5’1’’, with light brown skin and closely cropped, platinum blond hair.

“Sorry, Xia!”

“Nova, how many times do I have to tell you-”

“It’s during the day. What could possibly happen?” they reply with a shrug.

“Lots of things could happen,” says Xia, shaking her head. “Trust me, you don’t want to find out. Just stay at the entrance at all times, ok?”

“Ok, ok,” the security guard replies. They shoot me a charasmatic smile. “Hi! I’m Nova.”

Xia introduces me. “Nova, this is Amara, she’s going to be the new bartender.”

I smile back. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise!”

“Come on, I’ll show you the bar,” Xia says.

The hallway opens into an enormous, underground room.