I sat up in a rush of water as she walked out. “Trenton!” her voice rang out, harsh against the peace I had been wallowing in.

My breath puffed out, and I looked at the soaked towel clinging to me. Sighing, I got up and opened the drain with my foot. The water swirling about my calves settled and began to escape. Ellasbeth had thoughtfully left all the doors open, and I could hear her shouting at Trent. She wasn’t far away. Perhaps as close as the common room. Deciding that as long as I could hear her out there, it was probably safe enough to get dried off in here, I wrung out the soaked towel and grabbed two new ones from the warmer.

“God save you, Trenton,” came her voice, bitter and abusive. “Couldn’t you even wait until I was gone before bringing in one of your whores?”

I reddened and my motions to dry my arms grew rough.

“I thought you had left,” Trent said calmly, not helping matters. “And she’s not a whore, she’s a business associate.”

“I don’t care what you call her, she’s in my rooms, you bastard.”

“There wasn’t anywhere else to put her.”

“There are eight bathrooms this side of the wall, and you put her in mine?”

I was glad my hair was somewhat dry, and that it smelled like Ellasbeth’s shampoo made me feel all peachy-keen. Hopping ungainly on one foot, I tried to get my underwear on, thankful I had only been wearing the nylons that I brought from home when I went into the drink. My skin was still damp and everything was sticking. I almost went down when my foot got stuck halfway into my jeans leg, and lurching, I caught myself against the counter.

“Damn you, Trenton! Don’t even try to say that is business!” Ellasbeth was shouting. “There’s a naked witch in my bathtub, and you’re sitting in your robe!”

“No, you listen to me.” Trent’s voice was iron hard, and I could hear his frustration even from two rooms away. “I said she’s a business associate, and that’s what she is.”

Ellasbeth made a harsh bark of laugher. “From Vampiric Charms? She told me the name of her bloodhouse herself!”

“She’s a runner, if it’s any of your business,” Trent said so coldly I could almost see his clenched jaw. “Her partner is a vampire. It’s a play on words, Ellasbeth. Rachel was my security escort tonight, and she fell into the river saving my life. I wasn’t going to drop her at her office half dead from hypothermia like an unwanted cat. You told me you were taking the seven o’clock flight out. I thought you were gone, and I wasn’t about to put her in my rooms.”

There was a moment of silence. I shimmied into my sweatshirt. Somewhere on the bottom of the river was several thousand dollars of soft ribbon gold from Randy’s coiffure and one earring. At least the necklace had survived. Maybe the charm worked only on the necklace.