"Oh, well, then that makes it okay."
"I didn't say it did, Paige. I was merely pointing out that death is a tragedy but, ultimately, an unavoidable one. You can't save everyone, as difficult as that may be for you to accept."
"I'm not-" I snapped my jaw shut, swallowed the rest of the sentence, and forced myself to face the windshield again.
Lucas's cell phone rang. He handed it to me.
"Paige Winterbourne," I answered.
A slight pause. Then Benicio asked, "Is Lucas there?"
"He's driving. Did you get in touch with Lionel St. Cloud?"
Another pause, as if considering whether to insist I pass him over to his son. "Yes, I called him, and he tried to call Stephen, but there's been no answer. Both of Stephen's uncles came to search for Tyler, but we did manage to find a cousin still at the hotel. He reports that Stephen's room is locked and no one's answering the door. Now, Paige, I've dispatched my search team to the Fairfield. They may be a few minutes behind you, but they will be there quickly. I-" He paused. "The killer may still be at that hotel. I don't want Lucas going inside."
"I understand that," I said. "I can ask him to stay out while I go in, but-"
"I mean for you to both stay out, at least until you're accompanied by the search team. An extra minute or two isn't going to make much difference."
"So I've heard," I said. "But I'm not willing to take that chance. Just tell your team to hurry and meet us inside."
I pressed the disconnect button. As I was passing the phone back to Lucas, it rang. He reached over and turned it off.
After another minute, we moved into the center lane. To our left stood a large Spanish-style villa. A discreet sign near the palm-flanked drive announced we'd arrived at the Fairfield.
Unnatural-Born Killer
The Fairfield wasn't nearly as opulent as the Boyds' hotel, though I suspected the price was still at least double what we were paying. It had that kind of graciously understated atmosphere that doesn't come at an understated price. Stephen St. Cloud's room was on the third floor. When the elevator was slow in coming, we took the stairs.
We emerged at the far end of a quiet corridor. At the opposite end, a dark-haired man in his twenties lounged by the elevators. He didn't glance over until we stopped outside Stephen's room. Then he did a double take, and strode toward us, glowering.
"Good morning, Tony," Lucas said.
"What the hell are you doing-"
"My father sent me. Have you been able to get into Stephen's room yet?"
"Not unless I can walk through walls. We need a locksmith."
"No," I said. "You just need a witch."
I cast my top-level unlock spell. The last words were still leaving my mouth as Cassandra reached for the door handle. When I finished, she pushed it open and walked inside, leaving us in the hall.
"No deadbolt or chain," I said, checking the lock mechanism as I walked through. "Gotta love these card-locks. Any witch could walk right in."
Cassandra strode from the living area into the bedroom. We'd barely made it out of the front hall when Cassandra walked from the bedroom and brushed past us on her way to the door again.
"I have it," she said. "Let's go."
"Guess that means he's not here," I said. "I don't see any signs of a struggle, so he seems to have left on his own. Tony? Any idea where he might have gone?"
Tony glanced at me, then turned to Lucas.
"What?" I said. "Is my voice pitched outside a sorcerer's range? Lucas, please, interpret."
"Do you know where Stephen might be?" Lucas asked.
"Out grabbing breakfast, I guess. Everyone else left to search for Tyler, and Step was bitching about being left behind. He hates being treated like a child."
"So he pulled a snit fit and took off," I said. "Very mature. Please tell me he has a bodyguard with him."
"Does he have a bodyguard?" Lucas interpreted for the invisible witch.
"Uh, yeah," Tony said. "Me."
We stared at him.
Tony shrugged. "Well, his dad needed Step's regular guard to help in the search, so he told me to watch him, make sure he stayed in his room."
"Which you did admirably," I said.
Tony glared at me. "He's eighteen, an adult. I don't know what all the fuss is about. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
"Don't worry," I called after him as he stalked off. "We'll find Stephen ourselves. But thanks for offering to help us look."
Cassandra popped her head back through the doorway. "Are you two coming?"
In the few seconds it took us to reach the door, she'd made it to the elevator and pushed the button. A minute later we were heading for the main lobby. Cassandra paused partway there, head turning from side to side, eyes narrowing. I don't understand how vampires track people, and I've never dared ask Cassandra. All I know is that it's not by scent, yet it's like tracking by scent in that they pick it up at the source and the trail fades over time.
Cassandra wheeled and strode back down the hall. I looked at Lucas, shrugged, and hurried to catch up. As she shoved past a middle-aged couple, the man muttered an epithet after her. Not stopping, she glanced over her shoulder, eyes meeting his. The man looked away fast, his arm going around his wife's waist as he picked up their pace.
Cassandra veered into a side hall. I turned the corner as she pushed a door clearly marked EMERGENCY EXIT. Before I could call a warning, she flung the door open. Sunlight flooded in, momentarily blinding me. I braced for the alarms, but none came.
Cassandra walked though, letting the door swing shut behind her. Lucas grabbed it before it hit me. We stepped outside. When the sun-blindness cleared, I found myself at the edge of a half-filled parking lot.
"Damn," I murmured. "You can't track him if he took a car."
Ignoring me, Cassandra marched into the parking lot. From the front of the building came the squeal of tires peeling into the lot.
"The search team?" I asked Lucas.
"I doubt they'd make their arrival so obvious, but they should be here by now. I should fill them in. Will you be all right?"
"I'll get a speed-walk workout," I said. "But I'll be fine. You go on."
I went after Cassandra. She'd stopped about twenty feet from the door.
"Can you-?" I began.
She started off again, darting between two minivans. I sighed and broke into a jog. She moved fast, taking a roughly diagonal path across the parking lot, weaving around cars. When I stepped behind her, she wheeled so fast I jumped back. Her eyes narrowed, and I was preparing a retort when I noticed her gaze was fixed somewhere behind me. I turned but saw nothing.
"Someone's here," she said.
In a hotel parking lot, that didn't strike me as strange, but before I could say so, she strode past me and backtracked a row. Then she stopped and surveyed the lot.
"Maybe we should-" I began.
She disappeared between two cars. I looked around. Beyond the distant road noise, the lot was still and quiet. I cast a sensing spell. Nothing. Not even Cassandra, who should have been within range. Damned spell. I really needed more practice.
I stood on tiptoes. Sunlight glinted off Cassandra's auburn hair as it bobbed between the cars. As I headed toward her, I heard the soft fall of footsteps behind me. I slowed, but didn't turn. Instead I glanced at my reflection in the side of an SUV. The gap behind me was empty.
I was turning my attention back to Cassandra when a shadow flickered past, the metal side of the SUV darkening for a split second. I whirled, casting my sensing spell as I turned. This time the spell caught something, but farther off, to my left. At the same moment I heard the clack of women's shoes to my right and the equally purposeful footfalls of the person approaching from my left. On my right, the footsteps stopped as Cassandra emerged from between two cars.
"There you are," she said. "You have to keep up, Paige. I can't be-"
I turned left. Again, it was who I expected. Lucas covered the distance between us, expression blocked by the sun.