~ MARIE ~

Her head was pounding and her mouth felt dry. Marie sighed as she pressed her hand against her temple. She really shouldn’t drink so much. Marie opened her eyes and was confused for a moment. The room wasn’t familiar. Where was this? The last thing she remembered was…

“It seems odd that you would end up with a hangover when there’s no alcohol.” Adrian was sitting at a table at the opposite end of the room. The last thing she remembered was being carried from the room where they were playing their game. She used a quick spell on her head to temporarily relieve it. Marie swung her legs off the edge of the bed and sat up. Her body felt heavy but she ignored it as she went over to him.

“Did you look at the envelope?” He gestured to the stack of papers in front of him. She leaned over as she examined them closely.

“How much do you remember?” Adrian looked her right in the eyes as he waited for her to answer. Marie looked away.

“I remember last night.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” She looked sideways at him.

“Why?”

“I had some questions over what you said yesterday.” Marie pressed her lips together. He would figure out what she didn’t know soon enough. She might as well tell him.

“I remember coming back to the room.”

“And?”

“That’s it.” He shook his head.

“Next time something like this happens, I want you to discuss it with me.” Marie nodded but if it was up to her, there wouldn’t be a next time. “What did you talk about with Grace?”

“Nothing important. We discussed the game and she asked me what I was investigating.” Marie shrugged. They had been drinking, not talking.

“How did you win?”

“We were drinking from the same bottle of Rose Red. We were halfway done when I drank the other half by myself.”

“Because I contacted you.” It wasn’t a question. Did they talk about this last night? If only she could remember what they talked about. “What was the difference between what you drank last night and what you usually drink?”

“Why would you think there’s a difference?”

“You told me there was 'more Rose Red'. I also saw the color. Grace still had some in her glass. I didn’t know they were the same thing until you told me.” Marie pressed her lips together. How much did she say last night?

“It depends how much Rose Red is in the bottle. The pink one is about fifteen percent. The one from yesterday, thirty-five percent.”

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“How much danger were you in?”

“None. I could drink the whole bottle and still be able to cast magic.”

“What did she want from you?”

“All I know is that she wanted information but she didn’t tell me more than that.” He frowned but didn’t ask further.

“I want you to reapply the spell so we can talk.” Marie walked to his side of the table and reapplied the spell. Adrian watched as she worked. He didn’t turn away when she filled the spell with magic. He glanced at his watch before standing up.

“I need to get going. I have another meeting right now but later we’re going out so you will need to be ready by eight. I’ve already ordered something for you, so eat when it arrives.” Only then did Marie notice that he was already dressed and ready. “Do not leave the room. This is an order.” He tilted her chin so that she was looking into his eyes. “Will you follow it?”

“I won’t leave the room.” He let go and walked out the door. She heard the door to the room open and close before she turned her attention back to the stack of papers. There was plenty here to keep her occupied.

Marie was forced to stop in the middle to eat breakfast. Even though the man wasn’t even here, he was still forcing her to eat. Why did he care so much about her food? She quickly finished what she could before she went back to looking over the building plans. Marie tried to see if she could remember where the victims had been and if there was anything in common between them but it wasn’t going well.

She sighed as she leaned back in the chair. If only the magic stayed active for much longer than a few seconds. Maybe if she could figure out the method, she might be able to find the killer. Depending on the spell and the method used, she could figure out the maximum distance the killer could be to cast the spell and they wouldn’t have to worry about searching the entire hotel. She stood up and crossed her arms.

If only the magic would go off nearby. If she could stop them from draining their target, then maybe they’d have an idea of what the killer looked like. She glared at the door. Of course, it wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t leave the room. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Who could that be?

She’d already eaten breakfast and he hadn’t told her to expect anyone to come for her makeup. Who else would come to their door? The knock came again. Should she open it? He didn’t say she couldn’t. Marie opened the door to find Grace and Luke standing there.

“Why are you here?”

“Can we come in first?” She didn’t think Adrian would be happy if she let them in. Marie wanted to close the door but she also didn’t want Grace to ask for a divination while Adrian was here. He knew too much about her already.

“Only Grace can come in.”

“That’s fine with me.” Luke nodded. Marie stepped aside to let her in but she kept a careful eye on Luke to make sure he didn’t try anything. He went over to the opposite wall and leaned against it. Marie closed the door and went to sit on the sofa. Grace sat across from her and crossed her legs.

“Well?”

“I want to exchange information.” Grace held up another envelope. “This has information on the auction hall itself, along with plans concerning that part of the building.”

“I want something else on top of that.” More important than what she had brought. Grace frowned as she tilted her head away.

“Like what?”

“When do you plan on going through with your plan?” The woman smiled as glanced at her nails.

“Who says I plan on stealing anything?”

“I’m not here for you but your theft will affect my investigation.”

“Security.”

“Yes.”

“Alright. I won’t give you an exact time but if all goes well, then I might do something Friday.” She didn’t know if she could trust the woman’s word but it was something. Marie frowned. She didn’t want to do this but it was better to get this over with before Adrian came back.

“Before we start, there are some conditions I need you to agree to before we can begin.”