With any luck, no one would look inside, and I could come back later and retrieve it. I’d warned Meg I might leave it behind, but I hated to get her in trouble.
Fast as I could, I raced back to the bedroom where the huge old windows gave a glorious view of the sound.
The prey feeling was so strong inside my chest that I felt like I might pass out at any moment. I wasn’t normally such a wimp, but something about this situation seemed to be taking over my body.
I was going to get the hell out of here, no matter what.
Silently, I pushed a window open, thanking my lucky stars that this was an old hotel with normal windows. If I’d been in one of the modern high rises, I’d be screwed.
Cool wind whipped my hair around my face. I ignored the dark strands and climbed out of the window, clinging to the side of the building. I was ten stories up, and a fall would certainly kill me.
Garreth
* * *
I stiffened, my preternatural hearing picking up the slight creak of a window opening.
Was that my mate? I strained my ears but couldn't be sure. I’d heard her run for the hallway door, then scurry back into the bedroom and over to the window.
And now she was leaving? Through the window?
Suddenly, this was a hell of a lot more interesting.
Interest piqued, I stepped out of the shower, water dripping onto the marble floor, and walked into the bedroom. The wind caught a flicker of skirt outside the window.
Holy fates, she was scaling the outside of the building.
As I hurried over to the window, the main door to the suite opened. Ignoring the distraction, I pushed the window open and stuck my head out, not wanting to startle her.
Once again, I was too late. All I saw was the flutter of cloth as she turned the corner of the building and disappeared. Curiosity welled so strongly within me that I nearly climbed out to follow her.
Not an option, however. The last thing I needed was to be caught naked, scaling the outside of a human hotel. The street was dead silent below, and there were no boats close enough to see, but with my luck, a tour bus would pass by.
I heard my beta say something to the hotel manager in the other room and snapped back to my senses.
I closed the window. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to find this woman.
Inside, my wolf howled. Liar.
I ignored him and returned to my shower, leaving Seth and the manager to their meeting, knowing I was making the right call.
I was in Seattle preparing to attend the winter gathering, an annual meeting of the leaders of all the shifter packs on the west coast. It would determine the fate of my pack, which was teetering on the brink of collapse after my father’s disastrous time as alpha.
Still, it was impossible to get my mind off the woman’s scent.
Impossible not to imagine her scaling the outside of the ten-story building.
What was she?
3
Lyra
* * *
Ten stories below me, the ground beckoned.
Good thing I wasn’t going to fall.
I might be a giant nerd, but I was a graceful one. In addition to my weirdly good hearing, I was an excellent climber. As a kid, I’d had a daredevil streak a mile wide. I’d long since squashed it, but the skills still occasionally came in handy.
I clung to the side of the building, adrenaline racing through me as I eased the window back down behind me. If I were being honest with myself, I’d wanted to do something dangerous. It felt like years since I had, and the adrenaline rush was glorious.
Quickly as I could, I skirted around to the side of the building. There was a tiny stone ledge wide enough for my toes, and I was able to find hand holds on the windowsills and brick wall. My heart thundered in my chest, but I freaking loved it.
I needed to do this more often.
No, crazy lady.
When I reached the corner of the building, I found myself in the narrow passage of an alleyway, and the fire escape caught my eye. I shimmied over to it, my hands closing around the cold metal railings, and something like disappointment welled in me.
I was having fun.
This was way better than cleaning hotel suites.
“But it doesn’t pay the bills, dummy. And it certainly won’t pay your tuition.”
Instead of heading down toward the alley, I climbed toward the roof. It’d be easier to go down, but then I’d have to get back into the hotel at ground level, and someone might see me. and think I was taking an unauthorized break. Better to sneak back through the interior.
Cold wind whipped across my face as I scrambled onto the roof. The view was incredible, the city on one side and the sound on the other. As always, the sight of the water and mountains called to me. Sometimes—hell, always—it felt like I wasn’t meant to live in the city at all.
Instead, I was meant to live in the deep forests and on the glorious beaches of coastal Washington State. Sadly, that part of the country was lacking in available under-the-table jobs, and I needed this one to pay rent and raise money for school. I’d put my dreams off long enough, and coastal Washington could wait.
I shook the thought away and headed toward the small wooden door that led to the top floor of the hotel. It was an ancient little thing, a relic of the hotel’s past.
The door was locked, of course, but that didn’t slow me down. I yanked a couple of pins from my hair and got to work on picking the lock. The skills returned quickly, and within seconds, I was inside.
Thank fates for my unsavory past.
I hadn’t always been a hotel maid. When I was fourteen and my mother had died of an overdose, I’d made my living as a petty thief. A good one, in fact.
Until my father’s old buddies had found me. He’d run with the local mob, and apparently, being a thief put me in their way too often. They’d wanted me to repay his debt, but there was no way I could afford it.
I’d had to quit that gig and get this one. Since I was paid under the table, there was no way for them to find me through their moles at the IRS. The fact that I was applying to the Seattle School of Business was risky, but I sincerely doubted they were checking every school register.
Anyway, I couldn’t spend my life cleaning hotel rooms, and being a thief riddled me with guilt, even though the skills were now coming in handy.
I made my way silently down the stairs toward the top floor of the hotel, then slipped out to the main hallway. Quickly as I could, I headed to the stairs. I didn’t want to risk the elevator in case someone was in there.
Silently, I went down the old stairs that twisted around themselves. I was halfway to the bottom when I passed the door that led to the fourth floor.
It opened, and my boss entered.
Shit.
He was supposed to be in the penthouse. What the hell was he doing here already?
His eyes narrowed as he spotted me, and I barely resisted cringing.
“Lyra? What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m, ah—“
“Hiding away and reading again, were you?” Venom infected his voice. “You really need to be a better team player, Lyra, if you want to keep this job.”
Inside, I screamed at the injustice of it all. He’d only caught me reading on my break, and I was freaking helping Meg right now, for God’s sake.
Instead of telling him that, however, I just nodded. “Of course.”