Read Bitten by Cupid for Free Online Page A

and started up the sidewalk toward the front of the hotel.
    “Just a minute,” Tiny said, catching her arm. “Maybe this is a bad idea after all. You two are pretty memorable in the state you’re in. If anyone comes around asking questions—”
    “They won’t find any trace of us in the memories of the people we encounter,” she finished quietly.
    Tiny met her gaze briefly, then nodded. Mirabeau actually felt the relieved breath Stephanie exhaled. The girl needn’t have worried. Though they were out of the sewers, their stink was still all Mirabeau could smell. They’d brought the stench with them, and she was determined to get rid of the stink if it was the last thing she did. She wasn’t going to change her mind about a stop at the hotel.
    Turning, she led the way to the hotel entrance, slipping quickly into the doorman’s mind as he approached—no doubt to stop them entering. She watched his face go blank and his eyes shift away as they passed, then turned her attention to the people in the lobby. Much to her relief, it was late enough that there were few people around. A gentleman sat reading a newspaper on one of the sofas. He started to raise his head to glance their way but simply lowered it again once she touched on his thoughts. He would not look up again until they had left the lobby. A young, overly made-up blond clerk stood at the desk. Her eyes went from sleepy to horrified and back to sleepy as Mirabeau approached and slipped into her thoughts. Then the woman began to tap on her keyboard, took two keycards out of a drawer full of them, ran them through a machine, tucked them in a small cardboard holder, and scribbled a room number on it before handing it to Mirabeau, all without lifting her eyes from the keyboard.
    Mirabeau took the packet and turned to lead the way to the elevators, her eyes sweeping the lobby one more time to be sure she hadn’t missed anyone. That was when she spotted the small store in one corner of the lobby.
    “What is it?” Tiny asked, when she paused.
    Mirabeau hesitated, her eyes slipping to the girl at the counter once more. A quick read of the clerk’s mind made her frown and sigh. Continuing forward, she murmured, “Nothing. Let’s go.”
    The elevator doors opened the moment Mirabeau pushed the button. She stepped on board and hit the button for their floor, then glanced to Tiny as he followed Stephanie on board. She noted the way he glanced worriedly back at the lobby as if suspecting she had sensed trouble. Not wanting him to worry about nothing, she admitted, “I just noticed the little store in the lobby. It had clothes and other things in there, and I thought maybe I could get a change of clothes for all of us, but the girl at reception didn’t have a key. Only the hotel manager and the store owner do, and neither of them is around the hotel at this hour.”
    “Oh.” Tiny relaxed. He then cleared his throat, and asked carefully, “So, we aren’t paying for the hotel room?”
    Mirabeau’s eyebrows rose at the question. His careful tone suggested he wasn’t too comfortable with the idea, and she frowned over the matter, then shrugged and said, “When we get to Port Henry, I’ll call Bastien, and he can send someone to take care of it.”
    Tiny nodded, his shoulders easing even farther in his suit jacket, and Mirabeau found herself staring at him curiously. Most people wouldn’t have troubled themselves about borrowing a hotel room for a couple hours without paying for it, but she already knew from the countless tales Marguerite Argeneau had told her about this man that he had a thread of honor as strong as steel running through him. She found it somewhat refreshing.
    “More like stupid,” Stephanie muttered. “It’s not like they’d notice. Obviously, no one’s using the room she gave us.”
    “Rooms. I got us a suite,” Mirabeau murmured, scowling at the girl. It was bad enough she kept reading her thoughts, but insulting Tiny just wasn’t