10. Its a Trap

Angel hung up the phone and resisted the urge to throw it. "Cian found them already. King's Chalice Hotel, in a pantry of all places."

The King's Chalice was a Georgian monstrosity of granite and marble that squatted on the next block up from Third, catering to old, rich white men and their tastes. Perfect place for Councilors to settle in while they tried to kill an entire family.

"I haven't been there before," Angel said to his group, Simeon at his side as always.

"I have," Simeon assured him. "If Cian said they're in a pantry, then it's one of the extended stay suites. Likely the first floor, one of the garden suites, with alley access in the back. I don't see the hotel staff overlooking enforcers carrying unconscious people through the lobby, no matter how much they're being paid."

"Good point," Angel replied. Scylla was already gone, running toward the corner of the street nearest to them, and she'd be there in less than a minute at the rate she was going. "We need to catch up to her."

Scylla was angry enough to use humans as chew toys.

Simeon set his mate on his feet in the lobby of The King's Chalice, the ornate and opulent surroundings fitting for a group of people steeped in ill-gained wealth and corrupt power. Very British Empire in decor, and Simeon held back a sneer out of habit. This hotel was one of his least favorite in the city.

"Find my apprentice," Angel ordered the group. Remi set Milly beside Angel and blurred away, Scylla already dragging in deep breaths, trying to scent for her son and his mate. They'd entered the hotel through the front entrance, and Simeon could not catch a hint of their scents—if Cian was right, then the rear alley entrance through the gardens was how the enforcers got them into the hotel.

Now they had to find the right suite.

"How dare you come in here like that, you beast!"

The tiny bald man in a very conservative suit, puffy cravat, and wingtips polished to a high sheen tried his best to scold Scylla, standing under her great height like a chipmunk chirping at a Great Dane.

Not that Scylla was a dog, by any means.

"Begone! This is no place for this wickedness! Get! Shoo!" the little man hissed out between gritted teeth.

"Incredibly rude," Milly exclaimed. "Cease your wailing! She's a person, not an animal!"

"She is NOT a dog," Angel growled out in a decent imitation of a werewolf himself. "Scylla is here to find her son, who's been kidnapped by Council enforcers. Where are their rooms?"

"I will not tell you anything; we respect the privacy of our guests. I am calling the police! This is outrageous! You are trespassing!" the concierge declared, pulling out a cellphone from his suit jacket.

"Yeah, we're not dealing with you anymore." A flick of his wrist and Angel yanked the cellphone from the man's grasp, and it fell to floor and shattered, screen separating from body and spreading the guts of the phone over the lobby. Milly sniffed at the concierge, and gave Angel a pat on the shoulder in approval.

Remi popped into existence behind the concierge, fangs out, eyes red as rubies and glowing. The small man spun, saw Remi, yelped, and fell backwards on his rear, staring up at Remi in horror. Remi ignored him, pointing back over his shoulder and speaking to Scylla. "They're down that hall. The suite is empty. No one is there except our guys."

"This smells like a trap, my love," Simeon said to Angel, a hand on the small of his mate's back.

"Yup, I agree, trap," Angel stated, hands on his hips. "Milly?"

"A trap, my dear."

"Remi?"

"Trap," Remi agreed without hesitation.

"We spring the trap and eat the hunters," Scylla growled low and deep, crouching down so she was head-level with Angel. Milly grinned wide, and shared a glance with Angel and Simeon.

Simeon smiled, finding Scylla's word choice rather apt.

"Milly and I will abstain from cannibalism, but you guys can have fun."

"I am too rash sometimes," Cian murmured to himself, eyeing the booby trap sprung under his feet, a kinetic bomb set to go off the second he stepped off the marble tile. It had lain dormant, blending in with the magic residue in the kitchen, the old building full of generations of spell casters' leavings, maintenance spells, and every other kind of residue famous for defiling hotels the world over.

Remi appeared at the edge of the kitchen, and he stopped, hands in his pockets. "You trapped?"

"I am, yes," Cian sighed, smiling despite the bomb under his feet. "My night was set to be rather dull, with Rory and Daniel away without me. Now I get to play with kinetic bombs and evil villains. Imagine a staff member strode across this tile instead of me? They'd stand no chance."

"You stand no chance if that goes off," Remi declared, leaning on the door frame. "Are there any more?"

"Ahh yes, prudent to check. Well done," Cian said, and did just that, asking the stone tiles and the air if there was more penned-in chaos like that beneath his feet.

"I'm gonna go tell Angel about the bomb while you check. Don't get blown up," Remi said, backing away down the hall.

"I'll do my best, thank you," Cian replied a bit absentmindedly. He liked the Roman vampire a bit more now. Fabulous attitude in the face of mayhem.

"Your madman is on a bomb set to blow if he steps off it. Kinetic bomb. He's looking for more."

If Scylla had rushed headlong into the suite looking for Rael and Jameson she'd likely have blown herself up, probably even her family, too, if the bomb was big enough.

Angel pulled on his inner vision and went looking for spell traps in the lobby as well, and the sheer number of spell leftovers and ambient magic cullings, and the traces of numerous practitioners over decades was dizzying and nearly blinding in some places, not to mention the maintenance spells laid in place to preserve the hundred-year-old building.

"Smart," Angel murmured under his breath. "It's so chaotic in here from guests' magic and practitioners merely existing in this space that it would be easy to hide traps…. We need to get this building evacuated."

"What?" the concierge gasped from his spot on the floor. Honestly, Angel forgot he was there.

"Call the police, pull the fire alarm, and get evacuating." Angel ordered. "There's more bombs in the lobby."

Angel pointed not far away from where they were standing—if Remi had taken a path a bit more to the right, he'd have tripped one of the two bombs in the lobby.

"No one move," Angel commanded loudly, steel in his voice. "Milly, can you see the other?"

"I can," she said, even as she wove her hands around each other and a bright silver shield popped into reality, settling in a half sphere atop a spot on the floor near a secondary exit from the lobby, the sign on the wall indicating more long-term stay suites were in that direction. Her shield was impenetrable, though neither of them had tested their shields against bombs.

Angel followed her example and called a shield, laying it over the first bomb. His shield was hellfire green, rivers of bright neon green twisting and flowing over the shield, shadows of black smoke snaking along the floor around the shield. He made it as scary as possible to prevent anyone from getting too close—Milly's was intimidating in its brilliance, shining like a star made of steel and glass.

The concierge scrambled to his feet and ran for the front desk on the far side of the lobby, screaming the whole time. Not the man to be in charge in a crisis, then.

"Take me to Cian," Angel said to Remi, who nodded. He looked up at Simeon. "Call O'Malley and have him bring the bomb squad, and get help evacuating this place. Isaac and Constans are close, get them here as well, please. Have them go no farther than the lobby."

Simeon leaned down and kissed him, hard. Enough to make his knees buckle, and his arms wrap around that strong neck. The kiss was a promise. A declaration. Love and trust, and a hint of worry.

They broke apart. "I love you. Be careful."

Simeon's eyes were glowing, a bright emerald green Angel would never be able to forget. "I love you too, mo ghra. Take care, please."

Angel pulled away, and followed Remi with Milly by his side.

"I'll take care of him," Milly promised Simeon as they carefully followed behind Remi, watching for additional bombs as they went.