Dreamwalker (Stormwalker #5)(23)

“Are you serious?” I asked. “Nothing went wrong while I was … asleep?”

Ansel considered. “I sat up every night with Mick, keeping watch. All was quiet.”

Strange in a hotel that drew the supernatural and the crazy from every corner of the country.

I chewed through the rest of my makeshift burrito. My stomach was still growling, but this would have to placate it for now.

“Thanks for helping out, Ansel,” I said, swallowing. “I appreciate it.”

“This is my home too, Janet. You and Mick protect me. It’s the least I can do.”

Such a gentleman. Ansel hadn’t taken any more swallows from the bottle of cow’s blood Elena kept stocked for him while I’d stood there eating. I knew he must be hungry, just rising from his day sleep, but he was being polite and keeping his blood-lusting vampire self hidden from me.

“Still, thanks,” I said. I patted his slim arm, then left the refrigerator and closed the door behind me so he could get on with his feeding frenzy.

Elena had all the meals finished by the time I emerged. Cassandra, as elegant as ever in her gray silk suit and high-heeled black pumps, carried the silver-dome covered plates to the guests in the saloon. There she would quietly set them in front of guests and reveal the feast within to their exclamations of delight.

Don, Elena’s assistant, gave me a quiet smile and blocked Elena’s view while I snitched a fingerful of braised meat from the pan he was carrying to the sink. Damn, it was good.

I had my finger in my mouth when I walked out of the kitchen to the lobby and ran smack into Colby.

“Janet!” He lifted me in his big arms, crushing me hard and spinning around. “So glad to see you finally standing. Micky was scared shitless you’d never wake up.”

Colby swung me around a few more times then thumped me back to the ground. He kept his big hands on my shoulders, his light blue eyes sparkling.

“What did you mean when you said Mick called you for help?” I asked him. “What could you do that he and Cassandra couldn’t? No offense.” Dragons were proud, and touchy.

Colby’s grin spread wide. “None taken. Micky asked me to find Coyote. Figured he needed a god for this one. I was recruited so no one else had to leave your side. Besides, dragons can be persuasive, even to gods.” He released me and cracked his knuckles, contriving to look modest.

My good mood faded. “So it was a spell? Not just me getting whacked on the head?”

My head felt fine, as did the rest of my body. No pain, no headache—in fact, I felt better than I had in a long time.

“You did get whacked, but in the face. A couple of times, Mick said. And then hit with one hell of a magic wave. Micky was seriously worried.”

When Mick was concerned, that meant there was something to be concerned about.

“Thank you,” I told him sincerely.

Colby winked. “Hey, I can think of ways you can thank me …” I knew he was joking. Maybe.

“In your dreams,” I said.

“I have terrific dreams.” Colby flickered his tongue at me. “You’d be amazed at what I can dream.”

I raised my hands. “I don’t want to know. I just don’t.”

“I do.” The voice called from inside the saloon. The magic mirror loved to listen in. “Tell me all about these delicious dreams.”

Colby, being magical, could hear the mirror. A glance through the saloon’s open doorway reassured me that most of my guests could not. Cassandra sent the mirror an annoyed glare, and the mirror snapped into silence. I wish I knew how she made it obey like that.

“I’m hearing all was quiet while I was out,” I said, shutting the saloon door. “Really? Emmett didn’t come here and try to steal my mirror?”

“Not that I heard about,” Colby answered. “I only got here yesterday, though.”

“Hmm.” What I’d assumed was that Emmett had either spelled me when I’d been in the limousine with him, or had sent the demons to take me out of the picture. Then, when I was unconscious and unable to fight, he’d come after Mick, kill him, and take the mirror. Or maybe bargain with Mick—the mirror for my life. Or, he’d simply try to steal it while Mick was distracted looking after me.

The fact that Emmett had not showed up at all was odd. Troubling.

“Thanks for your help, Colby,” I said. “I mean it.”

He shrugged it away. “I was hoping your sister would be here. She’s crazy—in a good way.”

I raised my brows. “She’s powerful, unstable, and dangerous.”

“Like I said—in a good way. This summer when we were fighting the mages, she and I made a … connection. She likes a good dragon.”