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I sat in my office, staring into the flames flickering behind the iron grate.
The exterminator said the swelling would go down in twenty-four hours.
I was so upset after Mr. Bedel left, I decided to take it out on the creatures in my rafters. I suppose I wanted to prove I still had what it takes to protect my hotel. One of those goblins decided to give me a parting love bite as I chased him out the door. And, lawsie, those monsters love to bite. That bastard latched onto my ankle and didn't let go until Ajax hit him square in the face with the handle of his ax.
Back in the day, I would have lit a fire under that goblin's butt and shot him to the moon. Instead, I had to pretend I had been taken by surprise and unable to get my wand out quickly enough as we waited for the pest removal company to clean up my mess.
The last thing I needed was goblins passing the word around that I was impotent. Might as well throw open the doors and welcome every undead bad boy across the threshold for a blood bath banquet.
I thought about Mr. Bedel's offer as I propped my left foot on my burgundy velvet poof.
Rooms were empty. The folks who did show up weren't improving our reputation. It was a doomed situation, as bad as if a curse had been put on the place.
I sighed.
A soft knock on the door interrupted my pity party.
"Come in!" I called.
The brass handle turned and the heavy oak door opened slowly.
"These were going to get moldy if someone didn't eat them. And you know I hate waste," Ajax pronounced gruffly as he tiptoed into the room. In his arms, he carried a delicate silver tray laden with a teapot, cookies on doilies, and a flower he had picked from between a crack in the sidewalk.
It was a nightly habit for Ajax and me to sit down for a moment of quiet once all our guests had been tucked in.
It didn’t usually involve snacks, however.
I smiled softly, so grateful for Ajax's kindness. "I'm fortunate to have someone so conscientious about the larder."
"There are starving centicores in Atlantis."
"And the cookies would get so soggy if we sent them there."
Ajax pushed the tray onto the small, carved table between our wing chairs. The yellow flower nipped sweetly at my finger as I poured. And then she leaped out of her vase and marched crossly out of my office to replant herself where she belonged.
I picked up one of the treats and took a nibble. There was an earthiness to it, which was a surefire sign that Ajax had actually baked them himself for me, bless his heart.
The dwarves lived under the crust of the Other Side for millennia. Their chefs used local flavors when they developed their dishes. And by local flavors, I mean dirt.
"I'm so glad you brought these. It would have been criminal if they had gone to waste." I placed the cookie on the side of my saucer and washed down the flavor of ash and soil with as much tea as I could politely get in my mouth.
Ajax started to blossom with pride, but he tamped it down before anyone could catch him doing any positive self-talk. Instead, he launched into me. "Did you take care of your leg? Goblins have a nasty bite. If you lose that foot, I'm not taking up the slack."
I sighed once again and looked at the bulging poultice, stuffed with herbs and potions to draw out the poison. "Oh, I did what I could."
Ajax shook his head, glaring into his delicate cup judgmentally. "You should have left them alone. Those are nasty creatures and it could have been so much worse. You went and riled them up instead of leaving them to the professionals."
Ajax was adorable. I could read that grumpy gus like an open book. "And allow them to spoil the stay of our guests?" I asked with a knowing smile.
"We don't have many guests," he pointed out.
"Something will change," I tried to assure him. "It is just a strange time."
"We live on the Other Side. It is always a strange time."
"I just mean, we are outside of the fertility festivals and reasons people have for traveling. It's the slow season. They'll come back."
Ajax shifted uncomfortably in his chair. I could see that something was bothering him and it had nothing to do with my foot or our failing business.
"What is it?"
He set down his cup and folded his hands. "Who was that man who came to see you?"
"Why, Ajax, are you jealous? I'll get you his number if you want." I took another sip of my tea. My guest's reason for visiting was going to come out at one point or another. This was probably as good as any. "His name is Mr. Bedel. He is interested in purchasing the No Spell."
The calm Ajax displayed just a moment ago disappeared. He looked like his hair might catch on fire. "He WHAT? You're not going to— you wouldn't—"
"Of course I wouldn't," I replied, soothing him. I tried to sound like I meant it. But I stared into the fire, hating to admit the dire nature of our situation. "I wouldn't do it willingly. If we don't get more guests soon... I might have to consider it." I could feel him start to protest. "But only as a last resort. And things will change. It is just a strange time. Once I get my powers back, this will seem like nothing but a bad dream."
"You could speak to your coven—"
I cut him off right there. "They stripped me of my magic without even allowing me to defend myself. If I go in there with that current witch in charge, she's liable to take away ten years of my powers out of spite."
Ajax grunted in frustration. He raised his fist like he was rallying his troops to battle. "Still, you have to fight—"
"And I will," I reassured him. "It has only been six months. I have only another six to go." I tried to make it sound like it was no time at all.
"And you see what has happened already! Just imagine how much worse it is going to be!"
"There's nothing to be done! Perhaps there will be a change in the coven leadership—"
"You witches live forever. By the time that old bat—"
"Language, Ajax!"
"—stops sucking up air, you'll be one foot in the grave yourself."
"It's not that bad," I said, taking another bite of his cookie to remind myself what bad actually tasted like.
Ajax waved his little hands at the door and hissed at me. "It's going to get out that we are defenseless. We are on the preferred clients' list with the exterminator."
I thought of the exterminator coming to the front door, covered in his black robe and carrying his scythe. I was pretty sure that Death didn't go around gossiping. The man never even took a holiday. "It won't get out. He's quite professional."
"I'm not worried about him blabbering out of that skull hole of his. I’m concerned about that goblin you decided to scare away rather than allow him to end. They're the ones who are going to give our hotel an 'excellent accessibility' rating with all their friends."
"I don't like going around killing things that don't need killing, Ajax," I said. A shiver ran up my spine. "It'll fill the hotel with all sorts of bad energy and I don't have the power to clear it out."
"Still—"
"Still, an unjustifiable death is what got us here."
We both fell into an angry silence as the memory of that day six months ago came flooding back. You see, just when you think you're going to have an easy night, a vampire decides to abuse your hospitality.
And this whole mess started with a vampire...