The vampires, though, didn’t seem to want to start something in the restaurant. Instead, they positioned themselves at the doors.

“They’re working for somebody.”
Thruor nodded. “Okay. We’ll have to get out through the kitchen.”
“And my who me field doesn’t work so well here. Probably the great disguise we brought.”

“Go to the ladies room,” she told me. “Can you do a full glamor?”

I nodded.

“Okay. Go with her, Enitan.”
I knew what Thruor had in mind, immediately. “You can handle them?”

“Four obayifo? I can handle them. But not…”

Not with Enitan in the way. I offered her my hand. “Come on.”

We slipped out into the ladies room, and then I worked the glamor. She blinked as I changed completely.

“You are a witch.”

“No,” I said. “I’m not.” And neither are you, I was almost tempted to add. But I couldn’t afford having her freak out. “Now…”

I hadn’t practiced glamoring other people as much, but I was pretty sure I had something solid. “Now we walk right out the front door and hope they’re slow to react.”
Anansi had seen through my glamor, after all, but these were much more minor supernaturals. I was pretty sure I could handle it.

I strode out into the street, and turned casually towards the hotel. They didn’t follow.

“So, what makes you think you’re a witch?” I asked.

“I see things. Know things. It’s past intuition. And I don’t know why I feel comfortable trusting you with it, except that I know you don’t belong here.”

I grinned. “An outsider isn’t going to get you lynched, right?”

“Right.” She relaxed. Her English was good, with the occasional word of that other dialect slipping in.

Hotel concierge. I wondered why Thruor hadn’t picked the hotel she worked at, then realized that she would be recognized there, and we might be stopped. “We need your help.”

“My…”

“We need you to help us talk to Anansi.”

“What makes you think he’d listen to me?”

I frowned. I was still far too afraid to tell her the truth.