Page 13 of Stubborn as a Shadow

The woman at the reception desk raised her eyebrows when she saw me. Her eyes bulged ever so slightly as she admired me from top to bottom. I was impressive, so I was glad she noticed. She plastered a smile on her face.

“Hello, sir,” she said. “How can I help you? Are you checking in?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Name?”

“Rudy Tada.” I didn’t say it was my name, so I wasn’t technically lying. I hated lying. It always gave me an ugly, bumpy red rash.

“Of course, Mr. Tada.” Her fingers danced across her keyboard. “Here it is. We have you staying for three nights, is that correct?”

“Yes.” I clenched my teeth to stop myself from saying anything more.

Violet and I had practiced that too, because I tended to talk when I was nervous and when I wasn’t nervous too. Really, I just liked talking and dancing and all the fun things. But I couldn’t mess this up.

Even now, the back of my neck tingled, so someone must be watching. Violet had warned me the event organizers would have lots of security people milling about, and that some of them would be dressed like normal, regular people. That was super sneaky of them.

“Perfect. Now I need a credit card and a piece of ID to finish up.”

Wordlessly, I passed over my fake credentials. Again, I didn’t say they were mine, and she didn’t ask formyinformation. But the whole transaction was making me a touch itchy. Then again, that might be my wig.

Would the cards hold up? None of the other markets I’d attended had required us to produce identification, so this would be the first real test.

She swiped my cards off the counter and typed the information into her computer. When she passed them back, she was still smiling. Either she was excellent at hiding her emotions—which, based on the face she’d made when she first saw me and my magnificence, I doubted—or everything was going according to plan. Excellent.

I almost rubbed my hands together and cackled.

I didn’t, though. Violet would have my hide if I did that.

A bellhop pushed a shiny golden luggage cart up beside me. My brand-new, expensive, and drearily black luggage was all neatly arranged on it. Well, there were only two pieces, but they still looked tidy sitting beside one another. The man gave my parking information to the desk clerk and passed me a chit.

Before I knew it, the bellhop and I were on our way to my room on the third floor. I’d wanted a room on the main floor or at most the second floor, but it turned out the guest rooms didn’t start until the third floor, so that’s what I’d been given. If I had to make a hasty escape, I doubted I could jump from that height and walk away unscathed.

So, I’d need to find other escape routes. And didn’t that sound terribly tedious?

With some difficulty, I ignored the bellhop while we rode up in the elevator. I didn’t talk to him as he unloaded the cart either. Man, it was hard to be so rude. I merely tucked a few dollars into his hand before he left. Had I given him enough? I had no idea. He didn’t pout or hold out his hand for more, so I took that as a promising sign.

As soon as the door was shut, closing me in my room, I shimmied until my cape bounced.

“Yes! I’m so absolutely amazing at this,” I said.

I punched the air, then I sashayed over to the window to take in the view. It didn’t disappoint. Mountains surrounded us, so I doubted there was a bad view in the whole place.

There was a lot more snow here than at home, but I guessed that’s what happened in the mountains. The sparkly white fluff made everything look like a winter wonderland. The only thing that could have improved the view was a bit of sunshine, instead of the dull gray clouds blotting out the sky. The weather app on my phone had been predicting a blizzard for the last few days, but it hadn’t come yet. I wondered if those clouds meant it was finally hitting today.

“V?” I asked when my cousin didn’t say anything. “Did you hear all that? I was amazing, right?”

“You did good, Mo-Mo,” Violet said. “Keep it up all weekend, and you’ll be golden.”

“I’m a natural. It’ll be as easy as walking and talking.”

“You are not a natural. And walking and talking are the problems.”

“Pshaw,” I said. “Okay. I’m going to go check out the place. See if everything matches the information we found online.”

“Be careful. And check your wig and makeup before you leave your room.”

“Oh, right,” I said, scurrying over to the massive mirror hanging over the dresser.