Page 70 of Great Service from Top to Bottom

Hm, but he was technically still a guest. I couldn’t take Reynard’s money without Zee’s approval. “She’s just tired, that’s all.” I thumped the elevator’s side. “The old girl’s got some life left⁠—”

The elevator clanged to an abrupt stop with the arrow halfway between floors. The door remained firmly shut.

“You were saying?” Reynard prompted.

I thumped the car again, and the elevator lurched back into motion. “See, she’s fine.”

“Hm.”

“Alright, so maybe the hotel is held together by cobwebs and best intentions, but she’s still standing.” The doors finally opened and we hurried from the elevator into the foyer. “Some investment wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps just a little loan? A business arrangement. We’ll pay you back.” If the hotel ever made a profit.

“As you wish.”

We pushed into the bar, finding it lively with customers. Reynard headed to Tom at the bar to order our tea, while I took a seat and watched the guests mingle, chat, and laugh. All of them safe.

This was what the strife was all for. The SOS Hotel. A sanctuary for all.

The wards were growing, Zee had become more powerful since feeding on me, and my curse was intact. Victor had some issues, but we were working on those. It had not been easy, but after four weeks, we were still here and better than ever.

Let Gideon Cain come. Let him try and take what’s mine.

He’d soon learn what it meant to mess with the SOS Hotel management. And Adam Vex.

Picking up a branded hotel coaster, I turned it over in my hand.

Everything was going to be fine, just so long as the drama was over. It had to be, didn’t it? What else could possibly go wrong, besides the typical hotel problems?

Reynard returned with a pair of tall iced teas that likely had alcohol in them. “I thought it prudent not to argue with Tom Collins,” he said, handing over my drink and taking a seat. “The tea undoubtably has various toxins in it, as he greatly implied we should spend the evening together. Regrettably, he is unaware of the gremlins in your room, and the comatose incubus in mine.”

I chuckled and chinked my tea with Victor’s. “To the SOS Hotel.”

“Indeed. Long may it thrive.”

As I raised the cool glass to my lips, the opening bars of “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins came on the jukebox. Which was odd. I hadn’t realized it had that song in its library.

The bar door flung open and a demon I’d hoped never to see again flounced in.

Sebastien wore a pale pink suit that, combined with his long braid of white hair, gave him the appearance of sickly candy, despite there being nothing sweet about him. He scanned the bar, and my fleeting hope he might not see us quickly died the second his gaze landed at our table.

“Oh dear.”

He looked regrettably well for someone who’d had their life torn apart, and probably parts of their anatomy too, but that was probably down to glamor.

He barged through the crowd, and dumped a large cardboard box onto our table.

“Oh, sweethearts, did I interrupt whatever fucking tragedy is happening here?”

“Sebastien,” I greeted, keeping my heart calm and voice even. “You’re not welcome.”

“Oh, aren’t I?” He pouted. “Is this the face of someone who fucking cares about your SUS Hotel? No. This is the face of someone who is better than you cuntbags in every fucking way.”

Reynard simmered in fury. “Allow me to stop you there, demon. The hotel wards prevent me from harming you, but beyond the hotel, you’re fair game.”

Seb dry-glared. “I won’t be staying. I came to deliver these. Courtesy of Gideon Cain.”

“Are you Gideon’s delivery boy, then?” Reynard enquired.

Sebastien screwed up his face, then tore open the box and scooped out a pile of Wilson’s Guides. He flung a stack down, spilling them across the table, then plucked a sheet of paper from his pocket and flung it in front of Reynard. “He wrote you a note.”