He stooped and picked it up. Examining it, it turned out to be a tarot card…the Knight of Swords to be specific. It was from a small deck, so the card was barely the size of a business card. There was no writing or other message on it.

Griffen frowned at the card. Instead of finding an explanation to the presence in the hall, he was presented with a new mystery.

The phone rang; the sound like a fire alarm, loud in the stillness of the room.

Griffen collected his nerves from where they were clinging to the ceiling like a velcro cat and reached for the phone. An inch from the receiver, he hesitated. There was no way this was going to be anything good…unless it was Mai.

Cursing himself for being a nervous Nellie, he picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

There was a moment’s hesitation on the other end.

“Griffen? Are you alone?”

Griffen relaxed as he recognized the voice.

“Hi, Uncle Mal. Yes, I’m alone. What’s up?”

“I wanted to warn you,” his uncle said. “Things have changed since we talked earlier.”

“Changed how?”

“Some of the other dragon factions I mentioned know you’re in town.”

“No kidding,” Griffen said with a sarcastic laugh. “I’ve already run into some of them.”

“What happened?”

Griffen proceeded to narrate his meeting with the senator, including his suspicions about the bodyguards. As he did, he found himself waving his arms wildly and pacing with the phone next to his ear. Here, alone in the hotel room, he allowed himself the physical release, though he was sure his voice would match it with at least a little strain.

There were several moments of silence after he finished.

“Not good,” his uncle said at last.

“It gets worse,” Griffen said. “I think there was someone outside the door of my room a little while ago. They’re gone now, but it creeped me out a little. Whoever it was left a calling card. They slipped a tarot card, the Knight of Swords, under my door.”