to take that chance. Just tell your team to hurry and meet us inside.”
I pressed the disconnect button. As I was passing the phone back to Lucas, it rang. He reached over and turned it off.
After another minute, we moved into the center lane. To our left stood a large Spanish-style villa. A discreet sign near the palm-flanked drive announced we’d arrived at the Fairfield.
Unnatural-Born Killer
THE FAIRFIELD WASN’T NEARLY AS OPULENT AS THE BOYDS’ hotel, though I suspected the price was still at least double what we were paying. It had that kind of graciously understated atmosphere that doesn’t come at an understated price. Stephen St. Cloud’s room was on the third floor. When the elevator was slow in coming, we took the stairs.
We emerged at the far end of a quiet corridor. At the opposite end, a dark-haired man in his twenties lounged by the elevators. He didn’t glance over until we stopped outside Stephen’s room. Then he did a double take, and strode toward us, glowering.
“Good morning, Tony,” Lucas said.
“What the hell are you doing—”
“My father sent me. Have you been able to get into Stephen’s room yet?”
“Not unless I can walk through walls. We need a locksmith.”
“No,” I said. “You just need a witch.”
I cast my top-level unlock spell. The last words were still leaving my mouth as Cassandra reached for the door handle. When I finished, she pushed it open and walked inside, leaving us in the hall.
“No deadbolt or chain,” I said, checking the lock mechanism as I walked through. “Gotta love these card-locks. Any witch could walk right in.”
Cassandra strode from the living area into the bedroom. We’d barely made it out of the front hall when Cassandra walked from the bedroom and brushed past us on her way to the door again.
“I have it,” she said. “Let’s go.”
“Guess that means he’s not here,” I said. “I don’t see any signs of a struggle, so he seems to have left on his own. Tony? Any idea where he might have gone?”
Tony glanced at me, then turned to Lucas.
“What?” I said. “Is my voice pitched outside a sorcerer’s range? Lucas, please, interpret.”
“Do you know where Stephen might be?” Lucas asked.
“Out grabbing breakfast, I guess. Everyone else left to search for Tyler, and Step was bitching about being left behind. He hates being treated like a child.”
“So he pulled a snit fit and took off,” I said. “Very mature. Please tell me he has a bodyguard with him.”
“Does he have a bodyguard?” Lucas interpreted for the invisible witch.
“Uh, yeah,” Tony said. “Me.”
We stared at him.
Tony shrugged. “Well, his dad needed Step’s regular guard to help in the search, so he told me to watch him, make sure he stayed in his room.”
“Which you did admirably,” I said.
Tony glared at me. “He’s eighteen, an adult. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
“Don’t worry,” I called after him as he stalked off. “We’ll find Stephen ourselves. But thanks for offering to help us look.”
Cassandra popped her head back through the doorway. “Are you two coming?”
In the few seconds it took us to reach the door, she’d made it to the elevator and pushed the button. A minute later we were heading for the main lobby. Cassandra paused partway there, head turning from side to side, eyes narrowing. I don’t understand how vampires track people, and I’ve never dared ask Cassandra. All I know is that it’s not by scent, yet it’s like tracking by scent in that they pick it up at the source and the trail fades over time.
Cassandra wheeled and strode back down the hall. I looked at Lucas, shrugged, and hurried to catch up. As she shoved past a middle-aged couple, the man muttered an epithet after her. Not stopping, she glanced over her shoulder, eyes meeting his. The man looked away fast, his arm going around his wife’s waist as he picked up their pace.
Cassandra veered into a side hall. I turned the corner as she pushed a door clearly marked EMERGENCY EXIT. Before I could call a warning, she flung the door open. Sunlight flooded in, momentarily blinding me. I braced for the alarms, but none came.
Cassandra walked though, letting the door swing shut behind her. Lucas grabbed it before it hit me. We stepped outside. When the sun-blindness cleared, I found myself at the edge of a half-filled parking lot.
“Damn,” I murmured. “You can’t track him if he took a car.”