CHAPTER 58

I jerked awake, spitting out a mouthful of white shag-carpet fibers. I winced at the damage to the hotel room. A trail of vomit led from the bathroom to the bed, not to mention a group of small scorch marks.

Usually after a nightmare I had to use at least two fire extinguishers. Maybe I was maturing?

I rose to my feet, still a little shaky from the explosion of pea vomit, as well as Izzy’s lies.

Speaking of the pea, I headed back to the bathroom to retrieve it. I wasn’t sure what I planned to do with the damn thing. Swallowing it again was out of the question. The first time was bad enough.

Once in the bathroom, I licked my dry lips, dunking my face under the cold faucet spray as I sucked down gulps of water. When I had drunk my fill, I splashed water on my face, dried off with the hotel’s overly white towels, and then glanced down at the soap dish, where I’d left the pea.

An empty soap dish.

A shiver ran up my spine.

“Penelopee,” I called, my voice filling with increasing anxiety. “Are you here?”

No answer.

But the faint scent of denture cream tickled my nostrils.

The same scent Izzy claimed she’d smelled the night Jack the Tooth Ripper had attacked her. I stumbled from the bathroom toward the front hall of the suite, my heart filling with guilt and fear. Something on the ground by the door caught my eye.

And I knew.

For a brief moment I stared down at the torn piece of green wing on the floor, the puzzle pieces from my earlier dream snapping into place.

Without another thought, I took off running as if my life was at stake. When, in truth, Izzy was the one in danger.

Grave danger.