“Oh, a seashell. Why is that here?”
His lips parted as he was struck by a distant memory. It’d been shortly after he’d been tossed out of his home and was roaming through Asia. He’d discovered a cavern near the Sea of China that had shells stuck in the ground and the scent of salt in the air. Scrambling to his feet, he turned toward the altar.
“Wait. I know who made those runes,” he said in smug tones. He truly was a clever demon. A shame he was not fully appreciated. Intending to reveal his astonishing depth of knowledge, Levet was halted when a ruthless hand grabbed him by the horn and started dragging him across the cavern. “Arg. What are you doing?”
“I tried to be nice,” Inga muttered, taking giant-size steps that had them entering one of the tunnels with remarkable speed.
“Nice?” Levet reached up to try to pry her fingers off his horn, his wings flapping. It was hopeless. The female had the grip of a steel vise. A talent that might have been fun in the right circumstances. This, however, was most certainly not the right circumstances. “You are an ill-tempered brute.”
She never slowed as they reached a long flight of steps that led even deeper into the earth.
“I didn’t want to do this,” she said, dragging him down the stairs.
Bang, bang, bang. His heels hit each step, jarring him until he feared his brains might be scrambled.
“Do what?” he demanded as they finally reached the bottom of the stairs and he heard a squeak of a rusty hinge. Turning his head, he peeked over his shoulder to discover they were standing next to a heavy steel door. “Hey, there really is a dungeon.”
“Yes.” Without warning, Inga swung him around her legs and tossed him through the opening. Levet arced through the air, giving a sharp flap of his wings to prevent yet another painful landing. The door was closing before he ever hit the floor. “I’m sorry,” Inga called through the small slit in the middle of the door.
Levet scurried forward, wondering if this was some annoying prank. Ogres did have an odd sense of humor.
“Let me out.”
“I can’t have you babbling about what you’ve seen to your vampire friend,” the female said.
Levet skidded to a halt, his mouth gaping open. Of course. He had been so stupid. The truth had been staring him in the ear since they’d arrived at the hotel. Wait. Not ear. Face. Oui. Staring him in the face.
“You’re the one responsible for hiding the key,” he accused in sharp tones.
“I’m protecting it,” the female argued.
“Fah.” Levet tried to decipher the heavy sensation that was making his wings droop. It wasn’t fear. Even if he was locked in the dungeon, he could feel the faint breeze that tugged at his wings. Which meant there had to be a way out. Non. This was something else. Something that felt disturbingly like disappointment. As if he was bothered by the thought that Inga was the bad guy. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the ludicrous thought. “Did you shoot the arrow at Chiron?”
“I just wanted to frighten him away.”
Levet snorted. The ogress clearly hadn’t spent much time with vampires if she thought anything could frighten them. They were the most stubborn, irrational of creatures.
“We will not harm the key,” he told the female. “Once Chiron has freed his master, you can have it back.”
“You don’t understand.”
“What is there to understand? You give us the key. We free the stupid vampire. Then hand it back to you. Wham. Bam. Buy a ham.”
There was the sound of a frustrated sigh. “What?”
Was the female hard of hearing? Levet forced himself to speak in slow, concise tones.
“You give us the key. Free the vampire. And we leave. Simple.”
“There is nothing simple about it,” Inga told him.
Levet parted his lips to continue the argument, only to snap them together as he heard the sound of her huge feet stomping back up the stairs.
He’d been abandoned.
Heaving an exasperated sigh, he turned to inspect his latest prison.
It was barren, like all good dungeons should be. Stone walls. Stone ceiling. Dirt floor. There were a few ancient torture devices scattered around the large space. None of them looked like they’d been used in the past couple of centuries. Thank the goddess.
Aggravated with the ogress, and himself for being blind to the female’s devious nature, he crossed the room and tilted back his head. He could feel the faint breeze coming from a crack in the wall that was hidden beneath a layer of spiderwebs. This would be his way out. Sadly, it looked as if he was going to have to dig through several feet of stone. That meant he would never be out of there before morning dawned. A pain, because he couldn’t step into the sunlight or he would be turned to stone.
Unless there was a tunnel leading to the hotel, he was stuck there for at least the next twenty-four hours.
Mon Dieu.
This was the worst vacation ever.
* * * *
It was late afternoon in Vegas. That weird time when the day crowd was filtering out of the casinos and the night crowd hadn’t arrived yet.
Usually, Ulric used this opportunity to do a walk-through of the property. He checked hotel rooms to make sure they were being properly cleaned, and then he headed downstairs. Despite having a French chef who cost them a fortune, along with a professional waitstaff, he’d discovered that nothing kept a kitchen running more smoothly than the fear that Ulric might discover something that didn’t meet his high standards. And last, he would make a sweep of the casino.
He’d just finished his inspection of the rooms when he was interrupted by one of his guards.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Ulric studied the man with a lift of his brows. No one bothered him during his walk-through unless it was an emergency.
“What is it?”
The guard leaned forward, speaking in a low voice. “I was reviewing the security film from the high rollers room, and we have trouble.”
“What sort of trouble?”
“I caught one of the dealers stealing chips from a customer.”
Furious, Ulric released a low growl. Around him, the air prickled with the heat of his wolf, and he turned his head to keep the guard from seeing the golden glow in his eyes. Working with humans meant he couldn’t shift into his animal form and hunt down the bastard. Instead, he had to pretend to be civilized.
“Have him brought to Chiron’s office,” he commanded, turning to head toward the private bank of elevators.
In less than ten minutes, John Mayfield was being escorted into the penthouse suite. Motioning the guard to leave, Ulric had his fingers around the man’s throat and shoved him against the floor-to-ceiling window before the door closed.
In the back of his mind, there was a warning voice that whispered he was overreacting. But it was a voice he easily ignored.
He’d been on edge for hours; now he at last had a productive way to release his frustration. As long as he was capable of keeping his wolf leashed, it was all good. Right?
“Stop, please.” The slender human made a gasping sound as he reached up to grasp Ulric’s thick wrists. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he’d been crying, his brown hair mussed. He looked pathetic, but Ulric didn’t give a shit.
This man had just threatened everything he and Chiron had worked to build.
“How much did you steal?”
“Just a few chips,” he rasped.
Ulric growled deep in his chest. The office was filled with the musk of his wolf, but John wouldn’t be able to detect it. Not when the stench of his human sweat clung to the air.
“How much?” he repeated.
The man trembled, his heart thundering so loudly, Ulric could hear each frantic beat. John Mayfield might not realize he was in the hands of a Were, but he easily sensed his life was hanging in the balance.
“A hundred.” He squeaked as Ulric’s fingers tightened. “All right, maybe two hundred.”
“
When did you start?”
John released a whimper, his face turning a strange shade of blue. “Tonight was the first time ever. I swear.”
“Why?”
“My kid is sick and I needed to get some medicine.” His voice was harsh with a sincerity he couldn’t fake. “The shit costs almost four hundred dollars.”
Ulric released his breath with an angry hiss. Chiron might be a demon, but he treated his staff like family. Which was why they had the best, most loyal workers in all of Vegas.
“And you didn’t think about asking for an advance on your salary?” Ulric demanded. “Or hell, just asking for some extra cash? When have you ever been told no?”
“I wasn’t thinking at all. I was scared out of my mind that my kid…” The man’s words ended with a gurgle.
At the same time, Ulric was distracted by the sound of the door opening. He didn’t have to turn his head to know who’d entered the private office. A sudden breeze stirred, brushing against him like a physical caress.
Rainn was a rare zephyr sprite, capable of manipulating the air around her. She’d walked out of the desert and into the casino twenty years before. She never talked about her past, or why she’d chosen Chiron to become her new master, and no one pressed her for answers. At Dreamscape Resorts, a person was judged by their competence in their job, and their willingness to work together to forge a better future for everyone.
“Sorry to interrupt your fun, Ulric,” the female said in cool tones. “But I need to speak with you.”
Keeping his fingers around the dealer’s throat, Ulric glanced over his shoulder at the intruder.
Rainn was surprisingly short for a sprite, although she had the usual slender curves and delicate features. Her hair was glossy black and cut in a straight line at her shoulders. Her wide eyes were a misty gray. Her skin was as soft and dewy as a peach and her lips a luscious temptation. She was exquisite, but Ulric never allowed her beauty to blind him.
He knew that beneath her beauty was a spine of steel. This female wouldn’t hesitate to kill if she thought it necessary.
“I’m a little busy,” he said between clenched teeth.
She strolled forward. She was wearing her usual uniform of a tailored black jacket and matching slacks. Her shoes were black and low-heeled. She dressed to look professional, but the severity of her clothes only emphasized her feminine appeal.
Something he’d cut out his tongue before he’d admit.
“I can see that. Let’s talk.” She offered him a humorless smile. “Now.”
Ulric bristled at her tone, pulling back his lips to bare his teeth. “I told you, I’m busy.”
Her gaze flicked toward the terrified dealer. “Pack your things and get out, Mayfield.”
Ulric released a warning growl. Rainn could be bossy, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew he was in charge while Chiron was gone. “Don’t interfere.”
Shockingly, Ulric felt the air around him begin to thicken, pressing against him until he couldn’t move.
Rainn waved a hand toward the wary human. “Go.”
Trapped by the bands of air, Ulric could do nothing to halt John as he cautiously inched along the wall of windows. Then, realizing he had a shot at freedom, he made a mad dash out the door.
The second he was out of sight, Ulric felt the pressure fade. With a snarl of anger, he spun around to glare at the sprite.
“Are you challenging me?”
Rainn held his gaze without flinching, her expression calm. Not much rattled the female. Not even a pureblood Were having a temper tantrum.
“If necessary.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“That’s what I was going to ask you.”
Ulric jutted out his lower jaw. She was eyeing him in a way that made him feel like a…like a damned drama queen.
“He was caught stealing from our customers,” he snapped, goaded into justifying his behavior. “Do you know what would happen to this casino if word got out that our staff are a bunch of thieves? We’d be bankrupt in less than a month.”
“I took care of it.”
His brows snapped together. “How?”
She shrugged. “I returned the money and wiped the memories of the guests who witnessed the stealing,” she told him. Along with her talent to manipulate air, Rainn also had the ability to scrub short-term memories from humans. One of the primary reasons she was such a valuable employee. It wasn’t something they used very often, but there were times when a customer possessed the innate ability to detect a portion of the staff wasn’t human. “They’ll wake with a headache, but they won’t recall anything that happened tonight.”
It was, of course, the most efficient way of handling the problem. But not nearly as satisfying. Ulric folded his arms over his chest, still scowling.
“He needs to be punished.”
“Agreed, but stealing a couple hundred bucks shouldn’t be a death sentence.” She tilted her head to the side, studying him with a curiosity that was thankfully without judgment. “You might be a wolf, but you’re not an animal. What’s going on?”
Ulric released a heavy sigh, lifting his hand to rub the stiff muscles of his neck. “I’m worried about Chiron.”
A sudden breeze swept through the room, the only indication Rainn was troubled by his words.
“Has something happened to him?”
He clenched his jaw, frustration churning through him. “I don’t know.”
Rainn stepped toward him. “Ulric?”
Ulric reached to pull his cell phone out of the front pocket of black slacks he’d matched with a crisp white shirt. When the boss was away, Ulric forced himself to try to appear civilized. Instinctively, he glanced at the screen. It was the same thing he’d done a hundred times since Chiron left town.
“I expected him to check in last night,” he said. “You know how he is when he’s away from the office.”
Rainn snorted. “He’s a pain in the ass. When the two of you went to Hong Kong last month, he called me every ten minutes. I spent two weeks with the phone permanently attached to my ear.”
“So why no calls?” Ulric demanded. “Not one.”
Concern darkened her eyes to a smoky gray. “Have you tried to contact him?”
Ulric made a sound of impatience. He’d been blowing up Chiron’s phone for the past twenty-four hours. “A hundred times.”
“No answer?”
“Nope. Straight to voice mail.”
She glanced toward the door that connected to the inner sanctum of Chiron’s office. Her brow furrowed, the breeze continued to swirl through the room.
It was a rare display of emotion, and Ulric wondered if the mysterious female had feelings for her employer. He hoped not. Chiron had a long history of breaking women’s hearts without even trying.
“I’m not sure exactly what he’s doing, but I assume it must be important,” she said.
Ulric swallowed a growl. He was still pissed that Chiron had taken off without him. “He seems to think so.”
“Then it’s possible he’s too preoccupied to call.”
“Maybe.”
She narrowed her gaze, studying him with an unnerving intensity.
“What’s really bothering you, Ulric?”
He glowered at his companion. What the hell did she think was wrong? Their master was missing. Wasn’t that enough to have him upset?
Then, he grimaced. Deep inside he knew what was gnawing at him. He was afraid Chiron had found Tarak and forgotten all about Ulric and his life in Vegas. Not that he was going to admit his petty, childish fear. Not to anyone.
“I’m afraid he’s walking into a trap,” he said instead.
Rainn didn’t bother to ask for details. She accepted Ulric had reason to be concerned. Instead, she squared her shoulders as if preparing to take action.
“Do you know where Chiron is?”
“Florida,” Ulric said. He’d been relieved when Chiron had left in one of the cars owned by the casino
instead of his private vehicle. That meant Ulric could keep constant track of his movements.
Rainn nodded. “That’s a long drive. Do you want me to have the jet fired up?”
Ulric arched a brow. “I was ordered to stay here.”
She snorted, well aware Ulric had his own brand of loyalty. He would die to protect Chiron, but he didn’t obey commands blindly. Not if he thought they interfered with his ability to fulfill his pledge to guard the male who’d saved his life.
“An hour?” she asked.
“Make it a half hour,” he commanded, a sense of relief jolting through him. Sitting around and hoping everything was okay wasn’t his style. He needed to find out what was going on. Tonight. Of course, he couldn’t entirely forget his duties. “You’ll be in charge while I’m gone,” he warned.
A slow, dangerous smile curved her lips. “Fine, but I want my paycheck to reflect my extra duties.”
Ulric rolled his eyes. Rainn had many talents, but perhaps her finest was her ability to squeeze every penny from her employer. It wasn’t greed. She would never cheat or steal. It was more a game where money was the score.
“A grand?” he offered.
“Hmm.” She wrinkled her slender nose. “I did several mind wipes and kept you from committing a murder that would have brought in the human police. Always a pain.”
“Two thousand?”
Her smile widened. “Why don’t we round it up to five thousand?”
Ulric flinched. Chiron was going to shit when he found out what she was demanding.
“You drive a hard bargain, Rainn.”
She gave a lift of her hands. “Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it.” He headed toward the door.
He’d worry about the cost later. Right now, nothing mattered but finding Chiron.
Chapter 7
Chiron woke the next evening with a sharp sense of dissatisfaction.
It might have been caused by the fact that he’d wasted so much time and was still no closer to finding the key. Or the fact that he’d searched the grounds around the hotel from one end to another and found nothing to indicate who’d taken a shot at him. Or even the realization that the stupid gargoyle wasn’t in the room when he woke.
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