"Marcie is right," Hecate said gently, leaning against the bench beside the stove, facing the young mortals at the table. Poor Marcie, Kaden was watching her unbraid her hair, a desperate look on his face illustrating a need greater than Marcie had the capacity to fill.
Than anyone did, maybe.
"There is no rush at all," she reiterated. "You can stay here for as long as you like, this is a place for people who need to step out of the world for a time. In fact, Kaden... I think it would be a good idea if you didn't leave this hotel for a while. I have spells in place to turn the eyes of enemies away, and so long as you are inside these four walls, those who want to harm you can't find you."
Kaden was listening, but he had also begun smearing raspberry jam in a thick layer over his pancake. He frowned deeper when she spoke, and finally lifted his head to look at her. "This is a hotel?" he looked at the dried herbs, the mismatched mugs sitting upside down on the draining rack beside the sink. He dropped his eyes again and muttered: "Hella weird sort of hotel."
Also things like spells and shit made it weirder, he supposed. Every goddamn thing was making him uncomfortable - Marcie's discomfort, Hecate's calm, the threat of enemies still out there, the idea of not leaving this building - everything. To try and cope, he rolled up the pancake and stuffed it into his mouth.
It tasted so good he wanted to cry.
"Yes, it is," Hecate agreed, and he'd almost forgotten what he'd said. "This is the Enodia, in Cobble Hill, in Brooklyn. I own it, and I do not charge people to use these particular rooms. This space is yours for as long as you need it," she said, as she placed a plate with another hot pancake down in front of Marcie.
Cobble Hill? Kaden's mind focused on where it was, rather than what. Some magic hotel where his enemies wouldn't find him? That was a floaty concept, hard to grasp. But Cobble Hill? If you shot straight down Atlantic Avenue and swung right on Conduit Boulevard you'd end up smack in the middle of The Hole.
He didn't know what to do with that information either. He kind of wanted to chuck his plate at the wall.