by Krista Walsh
Cody scoffed, but neither Lee nor Allegra looked his way. She leaned forward in her chair, resting her arms on her knee. “That’s why you called my attention away this morning.”
Lee nodded. “It was just luck that I happened to walk by when I did. I wouldn’t have given you a second glance — no offense, I’m not saying you’re not a looker — except I saw the way you tensed up. There’s a certain change that comes over a person when they think they’re being watched. We’ve all got that sixth sense, you know? Then you started to turn your head to the staircase, and I caught the son of a bitch in the corner of my eye. So I made you look the other way. These monsters never linger in the same place for long.”
Allegra sat back in her chair and uncrossed her legs, resting her palms on her thighs. “I suppose I should thank you for protecting me.”
“If you’re looking for a protector, I’m happy to do the job,” Cody said, as though he were eager to get the conversation back onto lighter ground.
“I was lucky enough to draw you away this time,” Lee said, “but if you take my advice, you’ll get out of here as quick as you can, in spite of your protector here. You’ll pack your bags and head out the front door — and keep your eyes front as you go.”
***
As Allegra went through the motions of the afternoon photo session, brushing off questions about the odor on her dress and the slightly wilted texture of her hair, she thought about what Lee had told her.
Courtney had scheduled the shoot for the hotel bar, the same place where the promotional party would be held later that evening, and while they worked, Allegra kept a close eye on the bustling hotel staff. She noticed how often they paused in their work to stare at the models in their glamor poses, their hair and makeup done to perfection, their clothes fitted to every curve and bump. At first she dismissed the staff’s interest as curiosity in the running of a shoot, but the longer she watched, the more she recognized their expressions as something darker. More like theatergoers, held rapt by the middle act of a tragedy, guessing which character would be the next to proclaim their final lines before death swept them off the stage.
Were they wishing Courtney had decided to cancel the photo shoot so the crew would leave? Anything to prevent another misadventure from occurring on their shift.
Anything to stop feeding the monsters that stalk their lives.
Despite the audience, the work went smoothly, and between shots, Allegra’s mind traveled in a hundred directions about how she intended to act with her new knowledge.
Goosebumps bubbled on her arms as her memories jerked her back to the encounters she’d already had with the corpses Lee had described. How many times had she almost looked at them without realizing? So far she’d managed to avoid the danger, but how long before she made a mistake? Such a natural instinct to search for the eyes seeking you out. What if she glanced at it by accident?
The hair rose on the back of Allegra’s neck and her skin flushed. She checked over her shoulder to make sure nothing was creeping up on her from the shadows, then cursed herself for looking. Her breaths came quick and shallow, and she closed her eyes and focused on her breath to soothe the tightness in her throat.
You’re stronger than this, Allegra, she scolded herself.
Despite her self-disgust, the bitterness of panic filled her mouth. Yes, she was a succubus, with a demon’s strength and quickness, but unless she wanted to seduce these creatures into her bedroom before she snapped their necks, she had no way to fight them off. She didn’t know their weaknesses or how they killed their victims.
Even worse, it seemed that they were drawn to her. Why? Because, by her very nature, she reeked of death? She wondered if that would protect her or put her at even greater risk. She did her best to shake off her discomfort, but a vice squeezed tighter around her lungs as the hours passed.
Her demon side wanted to hunt these monsters down and tear them apart before they got their hands on her. She had no idea what these decomposing corpses were made of — if they were corporeal, surely more people would have noticed them, no matter how thick-headed humans could be — but she wouldn’t let that stand in her way. There were always ways to remove a threat, no matter how ethereal.
Her rational side wanted to avoid the creatures and remove herself from being a target. If the risk was in looking at them, then her potential plan to leave the hotel and only come in for work would reduce her chances of being caught in their trap. Maybe that was what she should do.
By the time Courtney finally called it a day, Allegra had made up her mind. She was going to give her excuses to the team and head home.
She stood to the side as Courtney chatted with the photographers and went through the photos, her eyebrows bunched together as she scrolled through with a critical eye.
As though she wasn’t standing in a hotel where to look the wrong way meant certain death.
Allegra released a sharp breath. She often wondered how the human species had survived as long as it had, ignorant to the real threats surrounding them on a daily basis. The scene in front of her served as a perfect example of their blindness.
Her strained patience ran out when the photographer grabbed his other camera, and she stepped forward to interrupt the producer’s conversation.
But before she moved a foot, the sensation of someone grabbing her upper arm tugged her backward. A sharp pain stabbed the space between her neck and shoulder, like a sting. Her blood turned to ice and her breath caught in her throat. The sound of the room grew muted, and all she heard was her heart pounding in her ears.
Then the room in front of her blurred as cold hands clamped down on her shoulders.
6
Allegra tore herself away from whatever grasped her, hissing as the icy touch ripped across her back.
She whipped around, certain she would see the monster that had just attempted to feed off her, but all she found was the photo set, the camera and lights still focused on her.
“Allegra?” Courtney asked. Allegra turned to find the producer and the photographer staring at her with wide eyes. “Is everything all right?”
“Fine,” Allegra replied. She raised her chin and swallowed her anger at embarrassing herself in front of these people. “I thought I saw a wasp. Excuse me.”
She turned on her heel and stormed upstairs before Courtney had a chance to say anything further. Once she reached her room, she closed the door and turned the lock, then leaned back and released a deep breath.
The breath did nothing to relax the muscles of her heart, which continued to spasm and flutter against her ribs.
She paced the length of her cage of a room, her nerves scratching at her skin. Needing air, she went to the window and shoved it open, then leaned her head out over the garden to catch the cool breeze floating past.
A thud in the hallway made her heart stop and then start again with a harder beat that stole her breath. She grabbed on to the window ledge to steady her trembling legs and turned toward the door, braced for whatever was outside to find a way into her room. Unless it was already here.
She felt the cold fingers closing around her arms, the sharp pain stinging in the middle of her back. The memory of it was as clear as if it were happening again, and she shoved away from the window.
“Stop this, Allegra,” she ordered. “Fear does not rule you. You were trained by the best. No matter what comes, you have what it takes to fight back. You are worth all of your siblings at once, and some shadowy monster has frightened you?”
Even as she asked the question, she knew the answer wasn’t so simple.
These creatures were not the only reason she was having trouble sleeping at night. They were not the only threat bearing down on her.
She cursed the dreams that had haunted her for the last two months — those approaching dark clouds that threatened to suffocate everything in their wake and mocked her with her inability to escape them.
Lately, she hadn’t even been able to escape the sens
e of dreadful inevitability during her waking hours. Twice in the past three weeks, she had found herself involved with her fellow victims from Jermaine’s locked room. The first time, she’d set it aside as an unpleasant coincidence. She’d gone to speak with Daphne Heartstone, hoping the sorceress had also experienced these sanity-stealing dreams, and wound up helping her with one of her news stories. But when Gabriel Mulligan had come to her, she’d realized that whatever chased her in dreams had stepped into the waking world, affecting the otherworldly in New Haven and possibly the rest of the world. Now, stuck in this hotel with people who couldn’t understand or have the faintest idea what to do if the worst should happen, she had to wonder if the growing storm had already arrived.
It cannot be related, she argued with herself. Lee said the monsters have been here for twelve years. They are just a side effect, the sadness and nightmares of an old hotel. Do not let them become yours.
She curled her hands into fists at her sides and then eased her grip as her nails dug into her palms deep enough to draw blood.
Allegra closed her eyes and took in the silence of the room, assuring herself that, at least in here, no one was watching her. She sucked in a few more breaths until her heart slowed. The tension in her limbs started to dissipate.
But she could still feel the burn in her back.
Her lips pressed into a grim line, she turned her back to the mirror and glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, a red welt glared from between her shoulder blades, a trickle of blood staining her caramel skin until it disappeared under the loose folds of her dress.
Even as she watched, the redness of the welt faded, and within moments nothing but the blood remained.
Allegra unzipped her dress, then grabbed a tissue and wiped the evidence away. When the last traces were gone, her dress miraculously unscathed beyond the lingering grease smell, she dropped on shaking legs into the chair in front of the vanity table. Only after she sat down did she notice that Tim had kept his word. A bottle of house wine sat in a bucket of ice on the table, condensation dripping down the neck.
Without thinking, she popped the cork and poured herself a glass, drinking it too quickly to appreciate the quality. Once the warmth of the alcohol hit her blood, she relaxed into her chair and stared at herself in the mirror. She took in the large ocher eyes staring back at her and hated that they still showed traces of fear. She narrowed her eyelids and leaned forward to reapply her eyeliner and smooth out her lipstick.
This is why I did not want to involve myself, she thought. Because one step leads to another, and before I know it, here I am in the middle of a battle with the undead, fighting for my own survival.
She preferred her place at the top of the food chain and had no desire to fight others who wanted to turn her into a meal of their own.
These creatures had taken that decision away from her. They’d come after her, and she had no intention of sitting by and waiting for them to try again. She would be ready. She would be the one to walk free and leave their corpses for someone else to find.
Monique’s empty eyes flashed in her mind, and she shook the image away. She was no sentimentalist to be haunted by bad memories, but she would use Monique’s death as motivation to avoid the same fate.
She would be smarter than Monique. Faster. Stronger.
Allegra allowed her anger to spill through her and thaw the chill of her earlier terror.
She drew her shoulders back and lifted her chin. Yes, she was stuck seeing through this contract, but stuck did not mean the end of the battle. Like the serpents with which succubi shared so many similarities, her species did not surrender when trapped. They fought back, and so would she.
When she came upstairs later, she would take the time to figure out what her next step would be.
For now, she had a party to attend.
***
At ten o’clock, Allegra went downstairs for her fashionably late appearance at the hotel bar. For once, she’d actually needed the extra hour. Every time she’d risen to leave, her hands had started shaking, and she’d needed a few minutes to calm down and lecture herself on not being a coward.
The room was already full. Models, crew, and other guests were chatting among themselves in tight groups of three or four. The music was a mediocre mix of remixed pop songs and alternative rock. Some people had found a way to dance to it, but Allegra guessed they’d already partaken of a few drinks to help them discover some imaginary rhythm.
The lights were low, with spotlights cutting through the darkness at intervals to light up the corners of the room. Keeping her gaze at waist height, Allegra scanned the shadows for any glimpse of the creature that had attacked her and groaned when she caught Courtney waving at her from the other end of the bar.
The production manager kept her hand raised as she pressed through the crowd. The drink in her hand sloshed against the sides, and she laughed when it spilled across the front of her gold sequined top. Allegra had never seen the woman wear her hair down before and thought she should do so more often. Her ponytail hid the natural brown waves that hung just past her shoulders, catching red and gold in the light.
“Trust me to make a mess of myself on my night off,” she shouted over the noise, her words slurred. Allegra winced. “I wanted to apologize.”
“For what?” Allegra asked.
“For being so short-tempered the last couple of days. You can’t imagine the pressure riding on me to make this shoot as perfect as possible. And now we’ve lost Monique, so I had to call in Veronica, and you know what models are like when they’re pulled in at the last minute, and now I have to change the aesthetic for a new face and —” She chortled, and her hand flew to her mouth when the laugh came out more as a snort. She shook her head and stumbled on her heels. “That’s not important. I just want to say I’m sorry for being a pain in the ass.”
As she spewed out an endless stream of apologies, Allegra scanned the room. At one end of the bar, Katie was fending off the attentions of one of the other guests. She’d gone so far as to take out her phone and was scrolling across the screen, but the man refused to take the hint. Allegra hoped the woman took the opportunity to stretch her backbone and send him away.
At the other end of the bar, she spotted Tim speaking with the bartender. In the low light, the creases on his brow appeared severe. Whatever he said to the bartender sent the other man marching away to force a smile at a new patron.
Lecture over, Tim leaned against the high-shine black bar top and stared out over the party. As Allegra watched, he jumped and looked over his shoulder as though someone had come up behind him, and then ran a hand over his hair and released a breath through pursed lips.
Allegra’s fingers turned pins-and-needles with a lingering fear that he’d spotted one of those shadowed monsters. She stared into the darkness behind Tim and relaxed on finding it empty. Hoping the creatures would find tonight’s crowd too great a risk to come after her again, she brought her attention back to Tim. She wondered what her chances would be of getting him to speak of the hotel’s curse during a night of pleasure and indulgence. She considered going up to him and inviting him to her room, skipping the party in search of greater satisfaction, but decided against it for now. Based on how he’d reacted to her questions this morning, trying it again tonight might raise his suspicions.
“Allegra?” Courtney asked, her hazy eyes down-turned with hurt. Allegra realized that she had missed everything else the woman had said.
“Yes, well,” she said. Her thoughts were still too focused on Tim to come up with a decent response to the words she hadn’t heard. “I suppose all of the pressure you are currently experiencing would explain the state of this shoot. But I’m certain you have done the best you could. Excuse me.”
She walked off and approached the bar, vaguely noticing as she went by that Courtney’s mouth had fallen open.
After ordering a glass of champagne — she would have preferred a double of scotch, but she still had her i
mage to think about — she glided her way to the edge of the room, slid into a booth that overlooked the rest of the party, and leaned into the cushions. After her close call with the shadows this afternoon, she was in no mood to make small talk or pretend to enjoy herself. She would stay as long as social rules required, then would make her exit. Her room was the only place in the hotel she felt safe, and all she wanted was to barricade herself inside. In the morning, she would tell Courtney she was checking out.
The cool, crisp taste of alcohol spilled over her tongue and bubbles burst at the back of her throat as she sipped her drink. Her insides warmed and the tension along her spine released.
The music changed into something slower and more sensual, the notes long and fluid. More people moved to the middle of the room to dance — bodies pressed against each other, swaying to the rhythm.
Allegra ran her tongue over her bottom lip, touching on the sweetness of champagne and the sweat in the air. The dancers’ energies wafted toward her, the flavors mixing with the alcohol. It crept along her skin and warmed her from her core up into her throat. She stretched one arm along the back of the booth and crossed one leg over the other, the hem of her tight black dress riding up her thigh.
One spark of energy stood out from the rest, a flavor that seemed tantalizingly familiar, and she scanned the crowd to home in on it. When her gaze landed on the source, she caught her bottom lip between her teeth and sank into the heat of her desire.
He stood at the bar. Tall, fit, and wrapped in a suit that highlighted his tapered waist and the broad shape of his back. He leaned against the railing that followed the raised platform around the bar, deep in conversation with one of the models. Val had apparently stopped crying long enough to flash the man a quick smile and run her finger along his arm.
Allegra smirked at the scene, thinking the woman still had much to learn before her seductions were as subtle and smooth as she intended them to be. It might work on this man, for now, but Allegra didn’t intend to let him leave the bar until she’d discovered whether his energy tasted as sweet on her tongue as it did on the air.
