Page 40 of Rites of Passage

Mae’s mouth flattened to a thin line.Keep yanking my chain like that and I’m gonna dump your sorry asses before we leave Philadelphia.

The doorman rushed down the steps with a bevy of bellboys and a cordial expression. “Welcome to The Azure. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay with us. May we take your luggage, sir?”

Vlad passed the guy a fifty-dollar bill. “Sure. We’re in the Royal Suite.”

Mae startled. “The Royal Suite?”

She became aware of a sudden hush. People on the sidewalk had stopped to stare at Vlad. The doorman’s face flushed as he gazed at the incubus, a lovestruck simper stretching his mouth.

Mae leaned sideways, her voice coming out on a low hiss. “Stop that!”

Vlad blinked innocently. “Stop what?”

“Your—you know!” she spluttered. “Your damn glamour!”

Vlad grinned. Several women swooned.

Mae breathed a sigh of relief when the incubus dampened down his sexual aura. The doorman blinked, as if coming out from under a spell. His smile grew stilted when he saw the pile of cases Milo had unloaded from the trunk.

“I’m sorry,” Mae said ruefully. “Someone got carried away with their shopping.” She cut her eyes to Vlad. “What’s this about a Royal Suite? That sounds like the most expensive room in this joint.”

“It’s a suite of rooms. There are ten of them, to be precise.” Vlad raised Mae’s hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. “Only the best for my queen.”

She shivered. The incubus’s gaze grew hot.

Noah cleared his throat discreetly where he and his men waited with the rest of her family at the top of the stairs. They joined them and headed inside the hotel, Noah’s team at the head of their group while Vlad’s bodyguards formed the rear guard. The noise level dropped when Mae passed the revolving doors and entered a majestic lobby.

Dozens of pairs of eyes focused on her as they started across the wide, marble floor, people moving aside hastily to make way for their party.

“It’s like the parting of the Red Sea,” Ryu remarked. She glanced at Mae. “I bet you wish you’d had this kind of power on Sunday, huh?”

Yoo-Mi shuddered. “No one is to mention that funeral again. Ever.”

Ye-Seul grinned. “It was the best thing I’ve seen in ages. Well, except for the bit where Mae got punched in the face.”

Vlad scowled. “Someone hit you?”

“It was an accident,” Mae murmured. “And, no, before you ask, you can’t kill her. She’s a grieving widow.”

“I heard that thing was a humdinger,” Noah whispered to Ryu out the corner of his mouth.

“I’ll show you the video Bianca recorded later.”

A low growl left Brimstone when they reached the halfway point of the immense foyer. Hellreaver hummed on Mae’s chest.

“I know,” she said quietly.

She could feel magic all around. Though most of the people staring looked guarded or wonderstruck at the sight of her, a few showed faint hostility.

Bryony was right. Not everyone is happy about the revival of the Witch Queen.

Tension tightened Mae’s stomach. She reached for her power. Heat bloomed from the hot core of magic inside her and spread through her veins.

“Nullify.”

Vlad stiffened at the spell she murmured, his gaze sweeping the foyer. It was the one she’d used a few weeks back to break the defensive shield the Sorcerer King had imprinted on his Dark Council to conceal their powers.

Her magic washed through the lobby, invisible to all. A few sorcerers and witches blinked. Mae noted their reactions with a neutral expression. She could tell from the brilliance of their cores that they were powerful.

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