CHAPTER 18
The hotel was quiet, empty. Marsha had tried to stay with me, but I broke free of her as gently and kindly as I could, and in what was likely a state of shock, wandered the halls alone for what seemed hours. The sun rose, revealing the cold and snow and ice beyond the walls of our hive. Nothing had changed. In fact, a few inches of fresh snow had fallen in the night.
I eventually returned to my room, stripped down, and took the longest, hottest shower I could stand. My head spun, overflowing with the things I’d seen and heard and felt and done. The headache that had plagued me on and off for days returned and, with both hands pressed firmly against my temples, I sunk onto my backside and let the water angrily rain over me.
The steam wasn’t enough to hide me, so I closed my ey
