He motioned with his jaw towards a blank stretch of?
Well, wall.
The bellhop seemed to mean the area just past the fireplace, and I noticed that section of wall shone a faint gold color, like a mist shimmered over its surface. A young man stood right in front of it, frowning faintly, as if trying to make up his mind about something.
I walked unsteadily off the rug. I tried to control the roil in my stomach, even as I focused on not walking like I was drunk. A few seconds later, I stood near the wall myself, a little ways back, and to the side of the young man standing there, who I nowsaw in profile. He was tall, well over six feet, roughly my age, and startlingly handsome.
“You can go ahead,” he said absently, fluttering his fingers.
He didn’t look over, but continued to frown at the shimmering gold surface.
“I don’t actually know how to use it,” I confessed.
He froze at that, then slowly turned around from the waist up, his hand still supporting his beard-dusted jaw, his brow crinkled. His stunning, pale, multi-colored, hazel eyes met mine, made all the more startling by their size and the darkness of his skin. I noticed a two foot tall centaur stood by him. Its eyes were the exact same color and shape as his.
“You don’t know how to use it?” he asked, baffled.
“No.” I shook my head, now wondering if it was a mistake to admit that. “Could you show me?”
His lips twitched. “What is it you want?”
I thought about that. “Can I get bottles?” I asked first.
“Absolutely.”
“Lager?” I ventured. “And maybe a big bottle of water?”
Those perfect lips lifted in a sideways smile. “No wine?”
“I’d take wine, too,” I admitted.
He lowered his hand for the first time, and pulled out a gold pocket watch, making a show of checking it. “I like a woman who drinks early,” he said, snapping the gold casing shut around the blue face. “Care for some company? Or are we drowning our sorrows in solitude today?”
I stared back. “Drowning sorrows? No.” I thought about that. “Not reallysorrows.It’s definitely been a strange day. I may not be entirely good company.”
“I promise to behave,” he assured me. “I’m just bored out of my mind, living here. I’m stranded for the summer, not exactly penniless, but definitely observed and constrained outside thosedoors.” He waved in the vague direction of the main lobby entrance.
At my rising eyebrow, he smiled.
“My point is, I could useanycompany really, good or bad. Otherwise I’ll wander the streets of London like a sad sack, at least until my friend comes to collect me for tonight.”
“Friend?” I mused.
He waved that off, a glint in his eyes. “Oh, don’t worry your head abouthim.He’s a prick, or tries very hard to be. Hopelessly Sad King Caelum, I call him… and yes, to his face, as I have those sorts of privileges. He’s definitely not good drinking mate material, like me.”
I snorted a laugh, and the handsome man with the stunning eyes smiled.
“You live here?” I asked. “At the hotel?”
He nodded. “Temporarily. Just for the summer, as I said.”
I thought about that, and about all the questions swirling in my head.
“Okay,” I said. “We could have a drink.”
He snorted a laugh.“Your name’s Shadow? Seriously?” He covered his mouth with a hand, his eyes faintly apologetic as he laughed into his palm. “You’re our brand-new, incessantly talked about hybrid, and your last name isShadow?The gods really decided to take the piss with you, didn’t they, love?”
I blinked at him. “Why is that funny?”
