Storm Born Page 0,20

gentry would have also been able to hold a perfect physical shape in this world. I supposed it was also possible someone so powerful could pass themselves off as human. I hadn't encountered any who were that strong.

Walking back inside, I sat on the bed cross-legged, wrapping my arms around me. The residual ice from the elemental had melted into small puddles. The bed smelled like Kiyo and sex, and I swallowed down the nausea building within me. Oh God. What had I done? Had I had sex with a monster? Had I had sex with the very kind of thing I hunted and hated and killed? Kiyo had spoken to me about honesty, yet it seemed to have all been a lie. At least it had been safe sex.

Worst of all, I had liked him. Really liked him. When was the last time that had happened? Dean and I had seemed to date and sleep together simply because neither of us had anything better to do. With Kiyo, I had started to feel a real connection. Real chemistry. His betrayal hurt me deeper than I liked to admit.

I opened my eyes, thinking. Most gentry were too technologically inept to function seamlessly in the human world, yet he had navigated it well. He'd had a car back at the bar, one we'd passed over in favor of letting me drive. He'd also had a wallet and cash to pay for drinks and the condoms. And if he was checked into a hotel, he had to have a credit card. Credit cards were traceable. If he had a dual life in our world, I should be able to find out something.

I picked up the phone and hit the button for the front desk.

"Good morning, Mr. Marquez," a pleasant desk clerk answered.

Kiyo Marquez. It was a start.

"Um, actually this is Mrs. Marquez. I was wondering if you could tell me if my...husband already prepaid for the room?"

A pause while she looked it up. "Yes, he did upon check-in. He left the same card on file for incidentals."

"Can you tell me the number on the card he used?"

A longer pause. "I'm sorry, I can't give that out to anyone but the cardholder. If you can put him on the phone, I can tell him."

"Oh...I don't want to bother him. He's in the shower. I just wanted to make sure we weren't maxing out the wrong card."

"Well...I can tell you it's a Visa ending in 3011."

I sighed. That wouldn't do me much good, but I doubted I'd get more from this woman. "Okay. Thanks."

"Is there anything else I can help with you?"

"Yeah...can you connect me to room service?"

I ordered breakfast on Kiyo and then showered while I waited for it to show. I needed to wash away the sweat, to wash away the scent of his body on mine. When the food arrived, I munched on toast and ransacked the room for some kind of evidence. Kiyo's wallet had been in his pants, so that was gone. He had no other personal possessions in the room, save the other discarded clothing from last night. I explored every drawer and nook, just in case he'd hidden something away.

The sun was well up over the horizon when I finally left the hotel. When I arrived back home, I called Lara and told her his name. I asked her to see what connections she could find to it, Phoenix, and vets. She excelled at that kind of thing, but I knew it might take a few days. Fortunately, a career in banishing and destroying is a great way to relieve frustration while waiting.

My first job the day after the Kiyo incident involved frisking a marid out of someone's bathroom. Marids are one of the djinn - genies to most Americans - and are tied to the element of water. Like the keres and most other djinn, marids tend to occupy some sort of physical object. Only, rather than a bottle or lamp, they prefer someplace wet - say, like, a sink pipe.

Annoyed at being troubled with such an idiotic task, I cast my circle in the large, black-tiled bathroom and used the wand to yank the marid out of the pipe. She materialized before me, looking very much like a human female, save for her death-pale skin and rippling blue hair. A silk dress hung from her body.

I saw her tense up, instinctively ready to lash out at me with her power. Then she did a double