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I WAS SURPRISED WHEN there was a knock at my door, but I was shocked when I opened it to find Lynlee Lincoln standing there. She stood with her legs crossed at the ankles, grinning at me as she waited to be allowed in. All I could do was stare for the moment.
“Should we just talk with me standing out here?”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, stepping aside so she could enter my room.
“Ruining my honeymoon, that’s what. Which means I don’t want to waste much time so let’s have a chat.”
“Vicente sent you.” She nodded, and I threw up my hands in exasperation, dropping them so hard they smacked my upper thighs. “I should have known.”
“Yeah, well, he’s like a kid who lost a puppy or something. I couldn’t very well tell him no.”
“On your honeymoon? Seriously?”
She snorted, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. “So serious it isn’t even funny. So, he really needs to talk to you. But this Hotel, which by the way is fantastic ... I mean, if I had any inkling this kind of establishment existed, I would have been here for my honeymoon. Have you seen the bar? I barely glanced at it as we made our way through the lobby, but I have never seen this kind of grandeur ....”
I let my head drop to the side. “You’re in a hurry, remember?”
“Oh, yes. So, this Hotel won’t let him come to your room. Poor guy, he told me he’s been going back and forth up and down the elevator trying to find you, but those statues keep taking him anywhere by here. The pool, the restaurant, his room. You should see how frayed he is.”
I couldn’t lie. I liked hearing that he was frayed. I thought about him searching the Hotel in angst, trying but failing to find me, and amusement began bubbling up from my belly. I tried to keep my mouth closed, biting my lips, but air hissed out of my nose in little chuckles. Finally, my mouth popped open and I laughed aloud. Lynlee smiled like a Cheshire cat.
“Want a drink?” I asked her, stepping over to the wet bar and pouring up one of the little whiskey bottles, still giggling a little under my breath.
“Uh, no.” She pushed herself away from the wall. “Better not. Honeymoon, remember? But seriously, Prieto has some sort of information he needs to give you. He thinks your life is in danger. He’s totally mum about it with me, but I think he’s really worried.”
Worried? I supposed it was possible, but he’d trapped me before and I wasn’t sure I could afford to take a chance right now. Nassor would be here tomorrow, and after that my mission would end. I’d already worked things out in my mind. I knew Vicente wouldn’t let me go. He would come for me no matter what.
“What is it you want from me?” I asked Lynlee, breaking away from my thoughts and swigging at my drink.
“Just go talk to him. At least then I can say I did my part, and I can get the hell out of dodge.”
“You can get the hell out of dodge anyway. I’ll take you back to your man.”
“Pfft,” she huffed. “You don’t know Prieto. He’ll come for me. Better to do what he wants so he’ll leave me alone.”
We stared at each other, then we both rolled our eyes simultaneously at the infuriating man. “Give me fifteen minutes. Either I’ll come talk to him, or I’ll send you a message. Will that work?”
“That’ll work. Thanks.”
I put my hand out to her, and she took it, shaking it with vigor.
“I figure I owe you. It’s the least I can do for the jail break and all.”
She’d no sooner left me than there was another rap on my door. I swung it open in irritation, half-expecting to see Prieto there. Instead I found only an empty hallway . . . empty, that was, except for a single envelope sitting neatly in front of the entrance to my room. I picked it up cautiously, glancing left then right.
He has found the cave.
That was all the note said. It was scribbled in Atreus’ hand. I crumpled it, pursing my lips as I wondered what to do. The protections at the cave were strong, but that didn’t mean Nassor couldn’t find a way to break them. And if he found the relics ... well, that would be catastrophic to say the least.
I rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. At the front desk, I found Max bent over some paperwork. He stood, and my eyes had to follow him upward to his full seven feet. He smiled.
“What can I do for you, Miss Red?”
“I need to send a message to a guest’s room. Then I need to borrow a quiet corner where I can change, if you know what I mean.”
He inclined his head in understanding and passed me a notepad and paper. I penned Vicente a quick note, folded it and passed it back to Max.
“I’ll have Ava deliver this to Mr. Prieto immediately.” I shouldn’t have been surprised that he knew who I wanted it delivered to, even without me stating it. He then rounded the counter and motioned me to a little alcove. “Will this offer enough privacy?”
It would do, so I nodded to him and waited for him to step away. Then I immediately got down on all fours and focused on my inner magic. My body heated at the core, smoldering tendrils licking their way to my limbs until my entire body burned like a furnace. Then a painful explosion in my gut ...
... I awoke as the phoenix, my body wrapped in the cocoon of my wings. I unfurled them, stretching them wide to get a feel for them, then I dug my claws into the floor and leaped into the air, flying immediately for the door of the Hotel.
I emerged in Greece, soaring through the alley without stopping to explore my surroundings. The phoenix had only one destination in mind, and she saw nothing else. My wings flapped, the sound of the air forced beneath them whooshing in my ears. There was always something exciting and thrilling about these moments after rebirth.
The stars twinkled above, their light reflecting like shards of glass on the sea below me. It seemed to take only minutes, but soon I arrived at the Elba Mountain, raising my wings above me to slow my descent. I dropped onto the stone floor of the ledge just outside the cave and paused to look around.
My phoenix could see well in the dark, but as soon as I transitioned back into human form, I lost that ability. I was careful to examine my surroundings for any sign of Nassor. I saw none and decided I must have gotten here before he had. After all, the cave was high up a very steep side of the mountain and not easy to get to, especially without wings. I quickly shifted before I stepped into the cave.
I’d only gone a few feet inside when a sharp kick landed at the small of my back, shoving me hard onto and across the stone floor. My head hit a jutting piece of the rock wall, and I immediately felt blood begin gushing down from my temple.
I recovered quickly, rolling over so that I could face my attacker. It was Nassor, but the glowing pulse in the center of his chest told me I’d underestimated my foe. And more than that, he was inside the cave, meaning my protections had been breached, and the relics were in danger.
But then, so was I ...