We could not quite get public transport from the motel, so we drove a few blocks. I thought of checking out, but knew we’d be back.

 

Part of me didn’t like the idea of leaving our stuff there, though, for no rational reason. Well, no rational reason other than my enemies having burned me out before. So, yeah, I had a rational reason.

 

But anything irreplaceable was in the car. I wasn’t about to take weapons into a motel, if nothing else.

 

Of course, then we had to leave the car locked. I contemplated – I’d managed to hide a sword on the Metro before, but I wasn’t as comfortable with this. Eventually, I decided to take the risk.

 

And we rode the subway into New York. I could feel that same sense of presence. So many people.

 

Some of them were bound to be different. Witches, vampires, angels, demons. I was pretty sure I sensed the edge of the aura of at least one Valkyrie. Maybe Kara.

 

I wasn’t sure, but if it was her, maybe we should swing by. No, I was on vacation. “Central Park first?” I suggested.

 

Kanesha grinned. “Before it gets hot.”

 

It wouldn’t be quite as hot as DC, but she had a point. And then, as a surprise for her, I had Broadway tickets. It might not have been the show I would have picked for myself, but it was for her.

 

We got off in Central Park, walking through it. It was easy to pretend there was not a huge city around us, except for the slight peeking vision of the skyscrapers above the trees.

 

And, of course, the people. It was a weekday morning, but there were still plenty of them. Of course, school was still out, so a lot of them were teenagers.

 

“I like this place.”

 

I nodded to her. “It…isn’t as tense as the Mall, is it.”

 

“The Mall always seems to be people taking brief lunch breaks and checking their watches, or trying to get in every Smithsonian museum in a day.”

 

I laughed at that. “A week, maybe. Two would be better.”

 

“They don’t seem to understand, do they.”

 

“Do I understand what to do in New York?” I asked her.

 

“Do you?” came a voice from nearby. A figure in a trenchcoat. “What are you doing in town?”

 

“Vacation,” I said even as I turned to face the figure, narrowing my eyes. Local witch. Male, for a change.

 

“Ah.”

 

“I’m not here for trouble, although I’ll deal with it if it finds me anyway.” I smiled at him.

 

He nodded. “You know I have to check.”

 

“Oh, I’d do the same thing. Call me Jane for now…and this is Kanesha.”

 

“Kieran,” he introduced, offering a hand. “I doubt I need to tell you what I am.” His eyes flicked over Kanesha, but he didn’t seem bothered.

 

“I already know I don’t need to tell you.” I laughed a bit. “But we really are on vacation.”

 

I hoped he’d believe me.