Free Hotel Hex by Linda Wisdom

taking her hands between his and massaging them. “He said when he went up to his room after breakfast he felt as if he traveled twice the distance to get there. He told me the hall appeared never ending then without any warning everything was fine. After hearing what appeared to happen to Beatrice he decided it was a good idea to spend the day in the library. He planned to take a bottle of scotch in with him.” His expression darkened. “Also, I ran into Mrs. Babbington on my way back here. She wanted to chat but…”
    “But?” she prompted, noticing the look in his eyes.
    He shook his head. “Jazz, we know there’s a lot that’s not right here.”
    “And that’s a new thing for us?” she chuckled shakily.
    “As of fifteen minutes ago I’d say Mrs. Babbington looks about ten years younger than she did at breakfast.” Nick looked grim as he glanced around the room.
    Jazz looked at the wall that flickered odd images of screaming faces with melting skin flowing over the surface. She closed her eyes then opened them again. The terrifying images were gone. Her unease was soothed by the caressing touch of Nick’s hand against the back of her neck as he wrapped her into a hug. As a vampire he couldn’t offer her any body heat, but he could give her solace.
    “We should have gone to Bermuda,” she muttered against his chest.
    “I’ll keep that in mind.”
     
    Nick walked alongside Jazz as they left the suite, her hand tucked securely in his. He didn’t want to think how close she had come to death in that bathtub. How he’d walked into the bathroom to see a shimmer of something solid covering the surface of large tub and how it had disappeared with a barely audible pop. He couldn’t shake the image of her lying on the tub’s ceramic bottom, her eyes closed and lips slightly parted.
    His witch drove him crazy, they fought like wildcats, but he knew she was always there for him and he would die for her.
    He glanced down at the top of her head, noticing how the dim light cast a faint glow on the coppery red strands escaping her knot.
    “I’m beginning to feel as if we’re starring in an updated version of The Shining ,” she said, her footsteps slowing as they neared Beatrice’s suite.
    The closed door beckoned them and not in a good way.
    Nick reached past her and twisted the doorknob then pushed the door open. It silently swung to the side, revealing the room.
    “Why does it feel different?” Jazz whispered, standing on the threshold. She wrinkled her nose at the musty smell that drifted in the air.
    “That’s because death now rules here.” He ignored her hesitation and took the first step inside.
    Jazz tightened her grip on his hand and followed her lover into the last room she wanted to enter.
    She allowed Nick to take the lead. Her detecting skills had to do with curse elimination while he was a private investigator for the supernatural community and a former Enforcer for the vampire Protectorate that rivaled any government agency in the world.
    Nick glanced over his shoulder. “Why don’t you look around here while I check the body,” he suggested, heading for the bedroom.
    “I can do that,” she whispered, circling the antique-decorated parlor. She heard the soft sounds of drawers opening and closing in the other room as she faced a painting of a young woman dressed in a Victorian-styled ball gown.
    “Absolutely don’t miss the corsets from back then,” she muttered, leaning forward to study the subject of the artwork. She kept her hands behind her back so she wasn’t tempted to touch it. With her magick on the fritz no thanks to whatever was going on in the house she wasn’t about to take any chances. A faint wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. “Nick, you need to see this.”
    He was there before she finished the sentence.
    She pointed to the portrait. There was no need to say a word.
    “Interesting,” he said in a low voice, also making sure not to touch the painted