A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire Page B

old is she?”
    “Not very. She seems pretty comfy with all this tech, so she was probably born no later than the eighteen eighties.” For a pureblood, anything less than two hundred years is basically adolescence. One of the more ironic things about immortality; the immature period lasts a lot longer. “Tamed Lightning is probably her first ‘real’ regency.”
    Quentin frowned. “Do you think something’s really wrong?”
    “I think it’s too early to say, but it’s possible,” I said. “Which exit?”
    “Next one.”
    “Got it.”
    Fact: Sylvester was worried about something “going wrong” at ALH. Whatever it was, it was real enough to spook Jan. She wasn’t happy to have us there. So what was she trying to hide? Fact: ALH Computing wasn’t anything I was used to. It’s not that I don’t approve of modern technology; I just don’t understand it, and that makes it hard to appreciate it. What were Jan and her associates hoping to achieve?
    Quentin was saying something. I glanced toward him. “What?”
    “So are we staying for a while?” he repeated.
    “It looks like we may be, yes.”
    “Oh,” he said. He didn’t sound disappointed; in fact, he sounded pleased. Not a good sign.
    The hotel was coming into view up ahead, and I turned toward it, angling toward the promise of material comfort. The idea of a bed—any bed—was suddenly compelling.
    “I am so ready for bed,” I muttered.
    Quentin glanced at me. “The Duchess asked me to pass you a message.”
    “Oh? What’s that?”
    “She says, ‘try to get some sleep, and have anything you want off the room service menu if it means you’ll actually eat.’ ”
    That was Luna, all right. I grinned. Sometimes having a collection of surrogate mothers can come in handy—between Luna, Lily, and Stacy, I was almost starting to eat regularly.
    “Cool,” I said. “You need anything before bed?”
    “No. Wait—what time is it? I promised Katie I’d call.”
    “Almost nine. Calling Katie, huh? You sure you’re not going to call Terrie instead?”
    Even in the dim light of the car, I saw him redden. “Katie’s my girlfriend.”
    “So you were flirting with Terrie, why?”
    “I . . . I don’t know. She was cute, and I was bored.” His blush got worse. “It didn’t mean anything.”
    “Uh-huh.” I busied myself with pulling into the hotel parking lot and looking for a space.
    Unbidden, another fact rose to my mind: Alex was definitely cute. I paused. That wasn’t a thought I needed to have, especially not when I’d just been scolding Quentin for thinking the same about Alex’s sister. But it was also a thought that didn’t involve Connor, or Cliff, and I needed to move on to someone who was neither married nor mortal. Really, who was it hurting? I scolded Quentin because of the age difference. Alex and I didn’t have that problem, unless he was a lot older than he looked.
    I don’t usually move that fast. Devin was my first lover, and I was with him for years before I left him for Cliff. The only person I’d so much as looked at since then was Connor, and he and I started flirting when I was still living under Amandine’s roof. I don’t get crushes. It’s not my style. Still, it could be time for a change—and something was telling me Alex would be the perfect change of pace. So what if it was unexpected? That made it more appropriate. Out with the old, in with the new.
    Quentin was silent, lost in his own thoughts. Probably thinking about how he was going to explain his sudden absence to Katie. Maybe we’d get lucky, and the only thing wrong at ALH would turn out to be some sort of computer error . . . but somehow, I didn’t think so.
    Whatever it was, I had to hope it was something we could handle on our own. Sylvester would never have sent me with nothing but a half-grown fosterling for reinforcements if he thought we’d be in any real danger. Right?

SEVEN

    M ELLY ANSWERED ON THE THIRD RING. “Shadowed Hills, how can