generally, it had that same nice, generic look that any other hotel
would have. They had internet access and a television, and I didn’t know exactly what I had expected. Some
sort of run down hunting lodge with only one bathroom in the whole place maybe. But
when I peaked out the
window at the snow covered dark, based on the cars in the parking lot, it was relatively busy.
“There’s a lot of people here,” I commented.
Letting the shades close, I turned back to Ezra. He had already started to busy himself with unpacking, while I had just dropped my luggage on one of the beds. I had claimed the
double bed closer the
window, and his was nearer to the bathroom.
“There’s a ski resort,” Ezra explained absently. “I think I’m going to go ahead and take a shower.” He
gathered up his change of clothes and toiletries, then looked over at me. “Then we’ll get some rest and have a
go at finding Peter tomorrow.”
“Do we really have time to waste?” I tried to ask without accusation. We had left in such a hurry, and
I wasn’t sure how imminent the danger to Peter was.
“We have to rest, or I’ll be of no use to Peter.” He shrugged tiredly, as if he couldn’t see any way
around it.
Once he’d gone in the bathroom and I heard the familiar sound of the showering running, I changed
into my comfy pajama pants and a cotton shirt. They felt tremendous after spending the past twenty hours or
so stuck in jeans and a sweater while traveling across the world. Thankfully, in my rush to pack, I had thought
to pack pajamas, otherwise it would’ve been incredibly awkward sleeping in my underwear while sharing a
room with Ezra.
I had gotten sleep on the plane ride over the ocean, and with the time difference, I would just be
30
getting up back home in Minneapolis. On top of that, Ezra had amped me when he dropped
the news to me
that we were really chasing after werewolfian vampires, so I didn’t exactly feel like sleeping.
When I pulled out
my phone, I was surprised to find that I had a signal (subconsciously I guess I had been thinking that Finland
was in the stone ages) and that my charger didn’t work in the outlets. Fortunately, I’d had it shut off the entire
travel time, so the battery was fully charged.
Crossing my fingers, I sat down on the bed and hoped he would be awake enough to answer the
phone. This had been the longest we’d gone without talking to each other since I’d turned, and it felt very,
very strange. Like the chemicals in body were slightly off balanced without him.
“Hello?” Jack sounded almost frantic when he answered the phone. “Alice? Are you okay? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Irrational tears welled up in my eyes. It was stupid how much I missed him
when I’d barely even been gone for a day. “We just got to the hotel. I was just calling to let you know that we
got in alright.”
“Good. Good.” Jack was genuinely relieved, but that was tightness in his voice, probably because he
missed me and hadn’t wanted me to go in the first place. “How was your flight?”
“I slept through most of it,” I admitted but neglected to tell him the reason for it. He didn’t need to
know about my panicked bloodlust in New York. It would just work him up. “This is my
first time being out
of the Midwest, though, and it sucks. I was in New York City, and I didn’t see any of it. I barely got a glimpse
of Helsinki when we were coming in.”
“You’re in Finland ?” There was an edge to his voice, and I realized that I might’ve said too much.
“That’s where Peter’s in trouble with vampires?”
“Um…” I shifted on the bed, trying to think of a line to feed him.
“They’re not really vampires, are they? It’s lycan.” He sighed when I didn’t say anything, and then he
held the phone away from his mouth. “Mae! Mae!”
“Why are you yelling at Mae?” I asked wearily.
“Because. If she knew that’s