Kissed by Ice(7)

He had a point. I dialed Eddie next. Again no answer. I was starting to feel that sick queasiness in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't sure if I should chalk it up to a sudden onset of seasickness or my sixth sense telling me something was wrong. Based on past experience, I was going with the latter. Although I really wished I'd thought to bring along some Dramamine.

"Surely there is someone on board who can tell us where Eddie is staying," Drago suggested.

"The head concierge," I said. "If I can find him. Probably has an office below decks somewhere. Don't you need to get back to the castle?"

"And leave you alone to face the unknown? I don't think so. At least not until Kabita arrives and we discover what is going on. Inigo would have my scales if I let anything happen to you."

I wasn't so sure about that. "Sure. Great."

I admit I was kind of relieved he was sticking around. Normally I didn't mind being on my own, but I'd never been on a cruise ship before, and I had no idea what I was facing. Going in without any sort of backup was just plain stupid. At least I had weapons now. Back at the castle, Drago had loaned me a boot dagger and a wrist sheath knife. He'd then made arrangements for my weapons to be shipped from Paris to the castle with a promise to have Finn deliver them either to me on the ship or to my house in Portland, depending on what went down during our visit.

I had no idea where on earth to begin looking for the concierge, or if the place had a front desk like hotels. Fortunately we came across a map on the wall indicating the location of guest services.

"That's it," I said, tapping the location on the map. "They should be able to tell us how to find Eddie. I hope."

Drago nodded and took off in the direction indicated with me hurrying along in his wake. Dragons had an unerring sense of direction, one that put my inborn Hunter abilities to shame. Although the deck was fairly busy, the crowd seemed to part for Drago with ease. No one appeared conscious of it, but as he approached, people veered away, leaving a clear shot toward his goal: the elevators.

"Did you do that on purpose?" I asked as we stepped on board.

Drago punched the button for the correct deck. "Do what?" He seemed genuinely confused by my question.

"Never mind."

We rode the elevator in silence. It stopped with a ping, and the doors slid open, revealing an enormous lobby with soaring ceilings and marble floors. At one end was a long desk of polished dark wood like in those snazzy hotels. Above one end of the desk was a sign that said Guest Services.

I wasn't sure exactly how to handle this. They'd realize pretty quickly we weren't legitimate guests, and it wasn't like we could make up some random excuse for how we'd just happened to wander aboard. All I could do was play my role and hope they didn't ask me any awkward questions.

I strode across the lobby with Drago hot on my heels. The young woman behind the desk looked up at my approach, a pleasant smile plastered on her face. The smile grew wider the minute she spotted Drago. So that was how the land lay. I gave him a subtle nudge in the ribs. He wasn't stupid. He took the hint.

"Fair lady," he said, putting a little extra Highland burr into his voice and giving her a slight bow, "I would beg of you a great favor." I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.

The girl giggled and tittered. "Of course," she gushed. "I am always here to help. What can I do for you?" She eyed him like she might dive across the desk and rip his clothes off. I barely bit back a laugh.

"My sister and I are supposed to meet a friend of ours. However, she has forgotten where we are to meet." He gave her a conspiratorial look that spoke volumes about my supposed mental state. "I was wondering, could you kindly ring his room and ask him?"

There was a courtesy phone not ten steps away. I half expected her to tell him to go use it. Instead, she giggled again and said, "Of course. Do you know his room number?"

"Alas, she left it, in our room, and it is a long hike back."

They exchanged another conspiratorial look. "No worries, sir. It happens. Just give me his name, and I'll look it up for you."

He gave her a wide smile, and I thought she was going to faint dead away. "Eddie Mulligan. Although he may be booked under Edward Mulligan."

She tapped away at her keyboard. "Ah, here he is. Let me call the room." She picked up her phone and dialed. After a moment she hung up. The look she gave Drago was so mournful, I thought she might burst into tears. "I'm so sorry. He's not answering. Would you like me to leave him a message? Or perhaps I could page him?"

I stiffened. Blasting Eddie's name all over the ship was the last thing we needed. It could put him in even more danger.