The Cardinal Bird (1 of Cardinal Series)

Chapter 16

It wasn't even a hotel.

It was a hostel, advertised proudly in big, peeling letters across a dingy sign that had seen better days. I didn't get out much, but I definitely knew the difference between a hotel and a hostel. Maybe Karl didn't.

"This is a hostel," I pointed out. Karl started to get unbuckled without acknowledging what I'd said. I went to sit up, but two large hands pushed me back down, one on my shoulder and one on my thigh. Apparently, I wasn't allowed to get up yet.

"You, we will sneak in," North said, patting my thigh when he was sure I wasn't going to try to sit up again.

I frowned. "How? You need ID to get rooms, don't you?"

"Yes," Karl said from the front though I couldn't sit up to see him, especially since Nathan still hadn't removed his hand from my shoulder. "Usually you need to leave your passport for your stay at the desk with reception, or at the very least to check-in with. Speaking of which..."

The front door opened and shut as Karl left.

"So how are we going to be staying here then?" I asked.

I felt the van shift a little. Possibly North had shrugged? Were his shoulders so massive that he would rock the van with a simple shrug? I glanced down at him. He did have a rather intimidating size, coupled with his dark aura and permanent scowl.

"Karl's going to pay them off," he said, nonchalantly.

Alarm raced down my spine. I didn't even try to sit up though the urge was strong. I knew I wouldn't get far with Nathan's hand. "Won't that tip people off?"

"Yeah," he replied. "But, if Ivanov sends anyone back to check, and the switch doesn't work, he's going to know you're alive. He'll probably assume a government or someone official had to intervene since it would've been hard to get you out of there otherwise. He already knew you had tipped someone off, right?"

I bit my lip, wincing at the taste. I needed a new habit. "Yes, he found out that I tipped people off, but only after the fact. He didn't seem too upset about it either."

There was a soft curse. The van shifted again as Silas' head edged around the seat so that he was looking at me. It was dark and his space filled the small gap between the front seats. His face was cast in shadow, but it was easy to feel his gaze as he studied my face. "If you weren't put in that tank to die for tipping us off, then what were you put in there for?"

I shrugged my shoulders but didn't give an answer.

"Anyway," Nathan said, rubbing at one of the shoulders I'd just shrugged. "It's our hope that if he finds out, he'll try to trace us by checking hotels. Most officials wouldn't check into a hostel."

I prayed that they were right, but I feared Nikolai's reach was just too far spread. Paying off a hostel was bound to draw attention. If someone wanted to gain a favor from the Great Ivanov, they would be jumping at the bit to mention any unlawful, unusual, and suspicious behavior.

I froze as I replayed the conversation over again. The way he'd worded what he said. It sent alarms off in my mind.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked.

I nearly licked my lips, remembered the slime on my skin and thought better of it, and settled for clearing my throat. "You said he'd assume you were government."

Nathan's face turned to stone. North cursed, but Silas said, "What?"

Neither North nor Nathan were answering though their reactions said that they knew exactly what I was asking about. I cleared my throat again. "You said that Ivanov would assume you were government...implying you aren't really government."

The front door opened, interrupting the tension, and Karl's face appeared over the driver's seat. "We've got a few dorms for us. There's a shared shower and one room with a private shower, so I just rented out the entire floor. I was tempted to rent out the whole place and get some privacy, but I figured that would be too flashy, yea? Anyway, we're going to go in small groups up to the right floor. We'll already stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, I certainly don't look 18 anymore. I had to pay them off extra to let me stay."

"I thought most hostels don't care anymore about age," Silas said.

"Well," Karl said, shuffling some papers. "I guess they just smelled easy money since I was already paying them off for the passports and to get the entire floor."

"That sounds reassuring," Nathan added helpfully with a chipper voice.

North snorted at Nathan's sarcasm.

I groaned, wiping a hand down my face. "It'd be just my luck if they're in Nik--Ivanov's back pocket."

I wondered what he would do if he caught me. He wouldn't put me back in the tank, surely. Would he be so mad that he'd end it quickly? Probably not. He wasn't one to let emotions rule him, after all. He'd probably drag it out, make it a learning exercise for others. He liked things that had multiple purposes.

The back of the van was opened from the outside. The one with two different colored eyes was standing there...maybe Marc..., yes, definitely. It was Marc. I had called him Maybe Marc in my head until I'd asked him if that's what his name was. There were too many names, and I was horrible with them. I'd just have to call him Maybe Marc to help me remember.

Maybe Marc was no longer just wearing the black fatigues. He had changed into a blue button-up shirt with a logo on the front in French. It was paired with black slacks. He tossed a bag into the back of the van. It landed with a heavy thud. "Axel picked these up at the gas station when we stopped.  All our clothes are are at the hotel in Russia, and we can't  exactly go in all looking like an illegal version of SWAT. So change into these clothes. We're going in as two separate groups. For you guys, it'd probably be best to go in as one group to help hide Sassy Sang over there. She looks like she's been cycled one too many times through a coffee grinder."

Despite the tense situation, his comment registered as playful.

It was childish, but I couldn't help it. It was something about his personality. I stuck my tongue out.

A deep, husky laugh sounded from over his shoulder.

"Tebe luchshe byt' ostorozhnym, malen'kaya ptitsa. Ne vytaskivayte svoy yazyk, yesli vy ne sobirayetes' yego ispol'zovat'. (You better be careful, little bird. Do not put your tongue out unless you plan to use it)."

That made my tongue tuck tail and disappear faster than a calculator computing: 2+2. I could feel my face trying to go red, but it was difficult. Even with the burst of adrenaline from earlier when I found out we weren't going to be leaving the country immediately, it seemed that I was running out of even my farthest stores of energy.

I cleared my throat. "Little bird?"

Raven's only response was to grin. He took half a step back and suddenly disappeared as the black night swallowed up his massive form. It sent chills up my arms. He was such an intimidating and imposing person--both in personality and his physical body. I hadn't known he was standing there--silent until he 'dd laughed. I hadn't seen him until he stepped forward. I wanted to blame it on the exhaustion, but I couldn't, not entirely. He had been watching me as I talked to Marc, all without my knowledge.

Marc shuffled items around in the bag, pulling out a button up shirt similar to what he was wearing. He tossed it to North who snagged it out of the air.

"Sassy Sang gets to wear Karl's shirt since, oddly enough, he's the closest to her size."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? Oddly enough?"

"Well, sir," Marc said with a slight smirk. "It's just that you're the oldest and yet--"

"Okay, okay, okay, okay," Karl cut him off, a look of distaste on his face. He groaned and rubbed at his face. "I get it. Jeez, Marc. Jeez." He mumbled something under his breath about Axel being a saint, whatever that meant, before he ran his hand through his hair. "Alright, Toma team, start moving out. We're on the third floor. Post people on each floor and clear the way."

North held the button-up shirt, clear skepticism on his face. "Do you have any pants?"

A pair of brown slacks hit him in the face, the legs wrapping around to the back of his head like a handsy octopus. There was complete silence.