“What the hell?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
I dragged myself up, wincing, using the spigot for a handhold, which twisted and sent a spray of boiling-hot water raining down on me. I leapt out of the shower, biting my lip on a scream, and grabbed a towel. “What are you doing here?”
“You first. Because I’ve been looking for you for hours and when I finally locate you, what do I find?”
“Sorry you’ve had such a bad day,” I said viciously, patting at my red flesh. Damn, that had hurt.
“Not nearly as bad as you’re going to
have when you get back. People are freaking out. Francoise told everyone the Circle has you, so the Senate demanded your return and, of course, the Circle told them to get bent. When I left, that vampire of yours was threatening bodily assault on Saunders if he didn’t give you up.”
“Why? The Senate knows where I am. They have a trace on me!”
“Yeah, and it told them you’re with the old head of the Circle.”
I felt the blood leave my face. “Have they mentioned that to anyone? Saunders, for instance?”
“Is that a problem?”
“If the Circle finds out I’m talking to Marsden, I can forget about us reaching any kind of deal!”
“Yeah. ’Cause that looks so likely anyway.”
“Can you find out if they’ve said anything? It’s important.”
“I can try.”
“I really need this, Billy. There’s some kind of internal power struggle going on and I don’t want to get caught in the middle of it. I have enough problems.”
“I can see that. Speaking of which, in case you weren’t dying or stuck in one of the Circle’s cells, Tami said to remind you that a bunch of kids are still missing. And that Alfred doesn’t have a driver’s license.”
“I know. Tell her I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“And that will be . . . ?”
“That depends. Among other things, Marsden has a charm on a cord around his neck. He used it to bring me here.”
“And if you don’t get it, he can use it to bring you back.”
“Right. So can you—”
Billy shook his head, cutting me off before I even finished. “No way, Cass. I had to use a hell of a lot of energy to find you. I can’t carry anything in this state. Now, if I had a draw . . .”
“You aren’t the only one who’s exhausted,” I said, peering outside the door. Sure enough, there was a small pile of neatly folded clothes sitting there. “I’ll get some sleep and eat a good breakfast and you can have a draw then.”
Billy didn’t answer. I turned from closing the door to see him eyeing the frothy mass in my hands. I ignored the slowly spreading grin on his face and sorted through the results of Marsden’s shopping trip. I guess he hadn’t expected me to bring a friend, because all the stuff was for the body I no longer had. None of the lacy, frilly things was going to fit my new form, even if I’d been willing to risk Pritkin’s wrath and put them on.
I paused over the bottoms of a pair of pajamas. They were the plainest things there, light blue cotton with only a little lace around the ankles. But even they wouldn’t work. Pritkin had too much leg muscle.
“If the mage sees you in those, he’s gonna have your ass,” Billy said gleefully. He waited a beat. “Of course, come to think of it, he already does.”
A low throbbing ache had settled below my right eye. “Billy! Just go.”
“Okay, okay,” he laughed. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. No, wait—you can’t.”
“Billy!”