Hotel Magnifique(16)

He thought he did me a favor.

“Besides, it was merely a single drop of Truth mixed into the juice,” Bel went on. “The drop allows Yrsa to uncover a potential hire’s best ability in order to find perfect candidates for our open positions. It’s usually dripped onto your tongue at the final stage of the interview.”

Apparently I never got that far. But Zosa had. In the teahouse, she’d signed her contract so quickly. It must have been the drop of Truth affecting her—I could see how easy it would be to do something rash, with a feeling like this running through my veins. “How long will it last?”

“A few minutes, sadly.” The hint of a smile flickered on his mouth. “In all honesty, this has been the highlight of my morning.”

“You’re despicable.”

He cocked his chin. “You know, you’re the first person with enough guts to call me that.”

“You seem surprised.”

“I guess I am,” he said, almost to himself. “I’ll find you about your contract later. If you want to work here past two weeks, you shouldn’t be late for orientation.”

Right. I rushed away clutching my throat, as if that would help keep any more unwanted words from spilling out.





The Blue Room was a sweltering space on the service floor, its only redeeming quality a sky blue ceiling painted with fluffy clouds.

I looked for Zosa. She wasn’t in our room so I’d assumed she would be here, but I didn’t see her. My worries only grew as I replayed everything Bel had told me. I pictured the maggot wriggling from my skin last midnight. If using an old invitation was strong enough to nearly kill me once, having something wrong with my contract could easily cause something worse to happen.

“Quiet, everyone!” A sharp voice sliced the din.

“Who said that?” whispered a worker behind me.

Someone pointed to a large, gilded mirror on a side wall. The ma?tre’s reflection appeared in it, but the spot in the room where he should be standing was empty.

“Welcome, everyone, to my hotel,” the reflection said, and all the workers gasped. “My name is Alastair. And while I would love nothing more than to give you this orientation in person, I’m afraid I’m just too busy.”

His mouth remained in an unwavering smile as he spoke. It reminded me of the too-perfect smiles painted on marionettes.

“What do you know of Hotel Magnifique?” the reflection asked the room.

“It’s the only place in the world where magic is safe!” A fair-skinned boy in a doorman’s getup shouted. “And it only stays one day in each place.”

“Very good. Anything else?”

An older girl with smooth brown skin said, “We must be inside by midnight.”

“What happens if we’re caught out?” asked a pale-faced porter.

“At the entrance is the hotel’s demarcation: the boundary between inside and Elsewhere. If a guest or staff member with a signed contract is caught outside when the hotel moves at midnight, they disappear. Unfortunately, they don’t reappear anywhere else. It’s a side effect of the powerful magic that keeps everyone safe inside the hotel.”

The room went deathly silent.

Zosa had signed a contract.

In Bézier’s kitchen, Bel was adamant about taking her. I’d assumed there was some selfish motive behind it. He’d saved her life, I realized, whereas I’d tried to stop him with that miserable knife. If I’d had my way, Zosa would be gone forever, and it would have been all my fault.

Standing on my tiptoes, I tried to look for her again, but there were too many workers. My pulse spiked. Stop worrying. She’s probably behind someone, I told myself, but it was no use.

Zosa squeezed beside me, and I took a shuddering breath. “Where have you been?”

She didn’t answer. Her eyes were glued to a beautiful woman with flawless light-colored skin near the mirror. She wore the same velvet uniform as Yrsa, but hers hugged each of her curves, giving way to a plunging neckline. Periwinkle curls bobbed from an enormous wig perched atop her head.

“Who do you think she is?” Zosa asked, awestruck.

“Someone who spends all her time in front of a vanity.”

Zosa snorted.

“Hush,” I said. We both giggled until Zosa tugged her shirt—the same blouse she wore earlier. Everyone wore uniforms except her. “Where’s your uniform?”

“They said I would get it later.”

“They?”

“Other performers. I still can’t believe I’ll be singing.”

I was happy for her, I was, but for some reason, I had to force my lips into a smile. “Did they say when you’d start?”

She shook her head then elbowed my side as the ma?tre’s reflection cleared his throat. Candles flickered and everyone stilled.

“Now I’ll have to warn you,” the reflection said, that eerie smile as wide as ever. “Each of you is lucky to have your job, but the guests’ experience is more important than any position here. If you break any rule, we won’t hesitate to dismiss you. There are endless candidates vying for each of your places. Please remember that.”

I squeezed Zosa’s hand. The last thing I wanted was to be sent back to Durc.

“But,” the reflection went on, “follow the rules and there will be nothing to worry about.”