Demon Leap: an Urban Fantasy (The Specials Book 1) by Tricia Owens

Author:Tricia Owens [Owens, Tricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“Hey, pretty boy.”

Elliott tensed. “Hey, um, Calia. What’re you doing up here?”

“Oh, you know, just thought I’d catch some sun and pay a visit to my favorite boy.”

He knew she was lying. Though the conservatory was Elliott’s favorite space in the Sinistera, he was aware that he was alone in his love for it. Calia Uroskova, as far as he knew, had never stepped foot in the rooftop greenhouse before now.

It was a shame, because the place was beautiful in Elliott’s opinion. The ornate metal posts comprising the structure were plated in copper that had mellowed to a dreamy, milky green patina. The tall sheets of glass between the posts were pristine thanks to a perpetual cleaning spell applied weekly by a member of Housekeeping. The clear panes allowed a brilliant view of Victory City below, which was truly stunning at night.

“This place is full of man-eating plants,” Elliott warned her. “Also, some pollen will cause hallucinations. It might be safer if you returned inside, Calia.”

She laughed. “Are you kidding? Sounds like a perfect place for a picnic with enemies.”

Of course that would be her reaction. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d warned Arrow not to cross paths with Calia or go anywhere with her alone. It had been advice given to him by Sheridan when he’d first joined the staff and it had served him well. Too bad he hadn’t been able to heed it today.

There were around fifty employees of the Sinistera in total. Most of those employees he’d never run across due to him working the night shift or because those staff members worked in parts of the hotel that he didn’t have reason to visit—the basement, for example. Since a statuary guard was already in place there, he had no reason to visit except out of personal curiosity and Elliott was not, by nature, curious.

A handful of the employees that he did know were ones he wished he didn’t. It wasn’t so much personality conflicts that were the problem as it was the simple fact that those employees were dangerous.

Several deaths had occurred among the staff while on Sinistera property. Like most everyone else, he didn’t question how they occurred or whether someone could be blamed for them. He simply kept his head down and crossed his fingers that he wouldn’t be next.

But as he’d told Arrow last night, he wasn’t deaf. Of course he heard things in the hotel. They were usually things he wished he hadn’t, because admitting to having heard them could mean very bad things.

The rumors he’d heard about Calia fell into this category.

She was young-looking and some people called her pixie-like, but Elliott didn’t think that description was accurate at all. If Calia was a pixie then she was the demented twin of one. A pixie dusted with anthrax or armed with needles, perhaps. He wouldn’t say that she was evil, only that she was fanatically self-serving, and if there was a difference, well, sometimes he couldn’t tell.

Despite not having slept, she was strikingly beautiful.

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