Demon Forsaken by Jenn Stark

Author:Jenn Stark [Stark, Jenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Elewyn Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Renaissance Cleveland Hotel

Grand Lobby

Cleveland, Ohio

11:03 a.m., Dec. 24

Stay focused. Get through this meet, get back to the office, and then you can deal with all the insanity waiting for you there.

Some of it anyway. Dana didn’t think she’d finish unwrapping this year’s Christmas gifts of crazy anytime before Easter. There was simply too much to process, coming at her too fast, all of it connected to a man…angel…whatever the hell he was, who short-circuited her brain every time he came within five feet of her. And the touch of his hands on her skin…

Dana rolled her eyes. Of course, that was what she’d be focusing on. Not the list of men and women targeted for extinction. Not the fact that she apparently was either psychic or superpowered or, at a bare minimum, an excellent candidate for American Gladiator. No, all she wanted to think about was the way Finn looked at her, as if he could imprint her on his brain to remember her for all eternity…as if he’d never see her again after today.

An entire night garden of sadness bloomed deep inside Dana at those thoughts, and she quickly pushed them away.

“Stupid,” she muttered. Straightening her shoulders, she drew in a deep breath, the canned air of the indoor mall redolent of candy canes, hot chocolate, and roasted chestnuts. After she cut through the Ritz’s lobby to gain access to Tower City Center Mall, she weaved her way through last-minute Christmas shoppers toward the Renaissance Hotel, one of Cleveland’s grandes dames of old-world luxury.

A few minutes later, she walked into the Renaissance’s opulent lobby, unable to school her features away from the wistfulness she always felt in this majestic space. Of all the hotels downtown, she loved the Renaissance the most—its quiet, nostalgic elegance a beautiful counterpart to the clanking, cranking, nonstop action of the industrial city. She especially loved the hotel’s lobby, with its enormous chandelier and stunning blue-and-gold trim, its gleaming grand piano and majestic marble fountain. Clevelanders and travelers alike gathered here at all hours, and it was no surprise that her mother had chosen it for their meeting. Being seen here at brunch was a critical component of any society matron’s publicity schedule.

But coming to the Renaissance never reminded Dana of her mother as much as her father. Probably because he’d brought Dana here every Christmas when she was a little girl to show her the beautiful tree on Public Square and dazzle her with stories about what good things came to children who believed in Christmas. Later, when she’d thought herself too grown up for Santa Claus, he’d brought her here just to let her watch the little children who still did believe, to relive her own sweet memories in the light of their eyes.

The place gleamed with that sort of memory, she realized, her slightly skewed vision taking in the atmosphere of the lobby. It shone with a rarified light, the whisper of expectation shimmering at every turn. She’d have to come back here later…if only to catch sight of the hope in the children’s eyes.

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