Rook

hazarded
    “You’re going to need to move along, miss,” said one of them.
    “I don’t believe this!” she yelled. “Last time I walked in here I had two black eyes, bloody lips, and was sopping wet! And I had no problem getting a room. What kind of business are you people running? I have a car parked in your security garage right now, and I don’t want to get slime on it!”
    “Miss, it’s three in the morning, and if you don’t move along, we’re going to have to move you along.”
    “If you put one finger on me, you will regret it!” she said coldly.
    “No doubt,” said one. “These uniforms are dry-clean-only.” Myfanwy was stupefied. Since settling into her position as Rook, she’d grown used to people doing what she said. She briefly considered using her powers to hurl them out of the way, but realized that no power on earth could make a hotel clerk check her in if he didn’t want to.
But what can I do? I can’t take Bronwyn home like this.
    “Fine, then I want my car from the garage,” she said angrily. “Ihave the stub here somewhere.” She tried to scrape some of the slime off her fingers and opened her handbag.
    “Clear off,” said one of the men forcefully. “Now.”
    Shooting the doormen a filthy look, Myfanwy walked down the footpath and got a perverse pleasure out of watching a couple of pedestrians jump out of her way.
    Okay, my mobile phone is coated in slime and no longer works. I can’t let Bronwyn see me like this, even if I could get back into the club, which I sincerely doubt.
The slime was beginning to itch, and it was viscous enough that she couldn’t simply scrape it off.
What the hell is this stuff?
Then she had an idea, and abruptly turned a corner.
    Thank you, God,
she thought. In a breach of security that would have had Clovis tearing out his hair, the rear entrance to the hotel had one person behind a desk, and that person was dozing. Apparently, it was the entrance for conventions and functions, and there were few of those taking place at three in the morning. The doors slid open and she stepped inside. In his sleep, the receptionist wrinkled his nose at Myfanwy’s appalling odor. She waved her hand at him and he settled into a deeper sleep. Taking a breath, she walked quietly past the desk.
    No outraged shouts stopped her. No irritating calls of “I say, excuse me!” The fact that she left a trail of evil on the floor as she padded down the hallway to the swimming pool prompted no threats to call the police. Myfanwy walked through the courtyard and looked around warily. The pool was steaming in the cold night air, and an electric light glowed under the water. Fortunately, there was no one in the courtyard, and the windows overlooking it were all curtained or dark. She laid her slime-covered handbag on a deck chair and gloomily regarded her filthy clothes. For a moment, she contemplated stripping right down, but then eyed the many balconies that looked down on the pool area.
Probably not the best idea,
she decided.
Plus, if angry hotel staff appear, I don’t want to have to make a break for it while naked.
Sighing, she walked down the steps into the water. She ducked her head under and felt a delightful warmth glide over her skin.
    Myfanwy kept her eyes clenched shut and scrubbed frantically at her body. Globules of muck sloughed off into the water, and an oily haze spread out from her. She raked her fingers through her hair and felt the sludge slide away. She kicked away from the mess and swam back toward the steps.
    Well, now I’m soaking wet,
she thought grimly,
but it’s a definite improvement.
Fate had smiled upon her in the form of a towel left on a deck chair, and she took her shirt off to wring it out. There were some ominous-looking brown-black stains on her clothes, but her skin and hair were no longer caked with crud. She briskly toweled off her hair and arms and briefly considered taking off her jeans before noticing a man looking down at her from a balcony.
    “Oh… hi,” she said, a little self-conscious about wearing just a bra.
    “Evening,” he said. “Must have been a hell of a party.” She glanced back at the pool and saw that it looked as if someone had dumped toxic waste in the deep end.
    “Yes, indeed,” she said, suddenly ecstatic. She’d come safely through that manifestation in Bath and escaped relatively unharmed from the battle after she accused Gestalt of treachery. Hell, she’d even endured the interview with that