“Otrokar,” I murmured to the inn. The screen expanded to show an enormous male otrokar. He had to be over seven feet tall and at least three hundred and fifty pounds. Muscles bulged on his frame. The image faded and a new one slid in its place: another otrokar, but this one under six feet tall, lean, spinning two axes impossibly fast.

“You’re probably wondering why there is such discrepancy,” George told me.

“At puberty, the otrokar bodies begin producing a certain hormone,” I said. “The hormone has a great ability to reshape their bodies. If they begin lifting weights, the hormone bulks them up and makes them larger. If they train in gymnastics, it makes them more compact and lean. It’s part of their evolutionary adaptation, designed to let them survive in a wide variety of climates. Children who mature during the times of drought are smaller, children who mature in cold climates are larger.”

Jack grinned. “He occasionally forgets that the rest of us are not idiots.”

George ignored him. “You’re completely correct. The otrokar are highly specialized. The hormone production stops after they reach maturity, and they are locked into the choices they had made in adolescence. They learn to do one profession, but they do it exceedingly well.”

“So if you need someone to blow up a bridge in enemy territory…” Gaston said.

“Vampires would send a team of five,” Jack said. “All five will know how to arm and disarm the bomb.”

“The Otrokar will send a group of twenty,” George continued. “Five will know how to operate the bomb and the rest will keep them alive until they get there. Otrokar have large families and outnumber vampires roughly three to one. Individually vampires are better soldiers, which is why otrokar prefer to conquer in a horde. Vampires are led by hereditary aristocracy, while promotion within otrokar ranks is a meritocracy influenced by a popularity contest. The differences between their ideologies are so vast, the two civilizations have great contempt for each other, not to mention that they are currently engaged in a bloody war. If the members of the two delegations come in direct contact, we can expect fireworks.”

“They won’t have a lot of opportunities for unsupervised contact,” I said. “They will be housed in separate sets of rooms with individual access to the common dining room and ballroom. If they attempt to get at each other, they will be strongly discouraged.”

“Exactly how are you planning on doing that?” Jack asked. “We really need to discuss the security measures with your team.”

Really? “I’m an innkeeper. I don’t require a security team.”

His eyes narrowed. “So you’re planning on keeping them apart all by yourself?”

“Yes.”

Gaston rubbed his chin.

“You do realize that they are professional soldiers,” Jack said.

“Yes.”

Jack looked at his brother. George smiled.

Jack wouldn’t stop. I recognized his type. He might not have been part of the Sun Horde, but he was a shapeshifter and he was likely a cat. Cats trusted in themselves and chafed at any authority. Sean at least gave me the benefit of the doubt, but Jack wouldn’t. Not until I swatted him on the nose.

“Are you a professional soldier?” I asked.

“I was for a while,” Jack said.

Aha. “And I assume that you’re fast and deadly?”

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. “Sure.”

I glanced at Gaston. “Are you also a professional soldier?

He grinned. “I’m more of a gentleman of adventure.”

George laughed under his breath.

“I save these two from themselves,” Gaston continued. “Occasionally I do a bit of skulduggery.”

What? “Skulduggery?”

“Scale a ten foot wall, jump out of the shadows, break a diplomat’s neck, plant false documents on his body, and prevent an international incident type of thing to keep the war from breaking out,” Gaston said helpfully. “Dreadful stuff, but quite necessary.”

That was a really specific description of skulduggery. I smiled at the two of them. “Since you’re both men of action, this should be an easy challenge. Take my broom away from me.”

The two men measured the distance between me and them.

Jack glanced at his brother. “Are you going to say anything?”

George shook his head. “No, I’m just going to let you walk into this noose. You’re doing a fine job.”

Jack shrugged.

Gaston leaped into the air. It was an incredibly powerful jump. He shot off the floor as if he’d been fired out of a cannon, flying through the air straight for me. The inn’s wall split. Thick flexible roots, smooth with wood grain but agile like whips, exploded from the wall, jerking Gaston out of the air and wrapping him into a cocoon.

Jack dashed underneath Gaston. The inn’s tendrils snapped at him, but he dodged, gliding out of their reach as if his joints were liquid. It was a beautiful thing to watch. I let him get within three feet of me and taped the broom on the floor. The broom handle split, fracturing. Brilliant electric blue shot out and hit Jack’s skin. He convulsed and crashed down like a log.

George threw something. The hand movement was so fast, it was a blur. The tendrils shot out to block and a four-inch dart fell harmlessly to the floor.

The floor of the inn parted like water and Jack sank into it up to his neck. Around me the room stretched slightly, waiting. The broom reformed in my hand. I flicked my fingers and the floor surged up, twisting, raising Jack to my eye level. Above him Gaston hung, suspended upside down. Only his face was visible.

The grey-eyed man unhinged his massive jaws. “Well. This is a bit of a predicament.”

I faced the far wall and pushed with my magic. The wood disintegrated. A vast shallow sea, pale orange, stretched before us under pearl-grey sky. In the distance jagged peaks tore through the water, silhouetted against a scattering of reddish planets. The wind bathed me, bringing with it scent of salt and algae. Yes, this will do nicely.

Ripples troubled the surface. An enormous triangular fin with long spikes carved the water like a knife, speeding toward us.

“The inn is my domain,” I said. “Here I am supreme. If you keep making yourself into a nuisance, I’ll banish you to that ocean and leave you in there overnight.”

The fin was barely twenty five yards away.