by Tricia Owens
"Maybe. But overzealous workers with pride in their city is an excuse that many people are willing to believe if it lifts Las Vegas back to its feet and allows revenue to flow into the city once again."
"That's true," I said thoughtfully. "I can imagine the big shots turning a blind eye to the 'how' and only caring that they can open for business again, six months earlier than hoped for."
"Precisely."
I turned my head slightly. "But you don't believe that's the Oddsmakers intent, do you?"
"I believe they're building us up so they can tear us down even worse. Their love has never been for the city itself, but for the power it grants them. Las Vegas is merely a means to an end."
"Does anyone have any idea what that end might be?"
"I was hoping that you would know," she told me.
Great. We were all running blind. But thanks to her, at least I had a few more pieces of the puzzle in hand. If only I knew what the finished picture was supposed to look like.
"You're still hated by those who support Xaran and oppose the Oddsmakers," she said.
I shrugged. "So what else is new?"
"You need to change that. A fractured magickal community doesn't stand a chance against the Oddsmakers. And I believe we do stand a chance…but only if we act soon."
I agreed with her that time was of the essence. The Oddsmakers had been caught with their pants down when it came to Echinacious revealing part of their future plan. They were scrambling now. Maybe this accelerated repair job all over the city was the result of that. She was also right that we stood a better chance against a disorganized group of Oddsmakers if we attacked them as a group.
"Who's leading the Rebellion at this point?" I asked the canary shifter. "And what's your name, by the way? I think I kind of need to know that."
"Merry with an 'e,'" she told me. "That's what Kleure named me because I made him happy."
I winced at the mention of her significant other, an old, European dog trickster whom the Oddsmakers had tortured and killed in order to serve as an example to keep me in line. It was Merry's heartbroken request to be sacrificed for the cause which had spurred me to begin my betrayal and deception against the Oddsmakers.
"Merry, who's stepped up to take control?"
"I have."
She didn't see my surprise, but why was I surprised? She'd been the partner of Kleure, who had held significant influence over the rebellious shifters who hung out downtown. She might dress like a Lolita girl and be as cute as a button, but she'd already proved to me that she was willing to sacrifice her life to defeat the Oddsmakers. That was pretty compelling. With that level of determination I could easily see the other shifters falling in line behind her.
"So what you're saying is you want me to meet up with your group," I said. The glow out in the street seemed to be brightening, or was it only an effect of my eyes growing adjusted to the darkness?
"I'm saying it's the only way we'll prevail. You need an army, and I have one. Not to mention you're not guilty of betrayal like they all think—like I used to think. Once this is all over, you won't want to continue to be labeled the enemy. That could lead to a future purge."
I fisted my hands but resisted turning around to confront her. "That sort of sounds like a threat."
"It is a threat. Not one made by me, but by the circumstances. Maybe you enjoy being the outsider. But those who dislike you can easily learn to dislike your friends and family. I doubt you want that, especially when it would be based on a misunderstanding."
"Alright, I'll meet them. But I can't say when I can set that up. I'm sort of under the gun at the moment."
Also, I was now convinced that the glow was growing brighter. Maybe even moving, too, sliding along the ground south. That was concerning because repairs had begun at Mandalay Bay in the south. This magick multi-armed blob should be moving north where the remaining damage needed fixing.
"I will find you and set up a—"
"Hold that thought," I interrupted her. Not only was the glow growing and moving, making me think of a deep ocean school of plankton, but its arms had also risen into the air and were arrowing into a point.
"Oh, no," I said.
The arrow turned into a laser line of sorcery, shooting straight at the pedestrian bridge where Vale was spying from. When the sorcery hit it, the bridge didn't explode. It began to twist like a rag being wrung of water.
Flushed from his hiding spot, Vale's gargoyle burst up into the sky, wings beating furiously. I called up Lucky, making him big and bright to distract everyone away from the fleeing gargoyle.
But it didn't work. That sorcerous glow shot up from the street and struck Vale's gargoyle square in the chest. The gargoyle spasmed, wings jerking without coordination. The blue glow surrounded it and began to drag it down out of the air as though it were a magickal tractor beam.
"Get out of here!" I yelled at Merry as Lucky blasted fire at the magickal blob on the street.
"Find me at the welcome sign when you're ready to meet!" she yelled back.
I didn't check to make sure she shifted and flew to safety. She was on her own. My attention was on the blue beams that shot out from the armed blob, piercing Lucky in several places.
The pain of those hits made me stagger and grunt. What the hell? I clutched at my chest and right arm, where it felt like I'd been stabbed with thin blades. I coughed and half-expected to spit up blood. Lucky had fought plenty of baddies before and suffered at their hands, but never before had I shared his pain. It looked like there was a massive downside to melding so well with my dragon. The line between us was blurring in many ways.
As I reeled from the attack, I heard wolves howling and the hair-raising sound of canine claws snicking across the asphalt. I did the only thing that made sense to me: I pumped more of my life energy into Lucky. And then I ran like hell in the other direction.
Stop the magick in the street, I thought at Lucky.
He had shown signs of sentience here and there. I counted on it now, otherwise he and I were both toast. I couldn't directly attack the wolf shifters, especially now that I had firsthand confirmation that they weren't mindless zombies and could act with autonomy. And no way was I going to risk potentially hurting Lev if he were among them. My only option was to attack the sorcery that had been repairing the road. It possessed some degree of consciousness if it had been able to notice Vale's gargoyle and attack it. Stopping it might draw off the Hell hounds, too.
I felt a faint mental tug from Lucky. Maybe it was a question, a request for permission.
Go for it, I thought back.
A streamer of something pleasant slid through my soul. I couldn't quite label it joy or happiness because those were human emotions and my dragon's brain was, well, not human. But there was no doubt in my mind that Lucky was thrilled to unleash his own brand of whoop-ass.
Encouraged, I ran faster. Adrenaline was a hell of a thing, giving me the energy to keep running even after jogging miles to follow Merry to this point. But it wouldn't last me forever. Not to mention I was feeding my life energy to Lucky. The wolves, who were a lot faster than I was, would eventually catch up.
Come on, Lucky. Hook me up.
I gasped as another invisible blade sliced through my right thigh, causing me to stumble and nearly fall. I yawned my mouth wide, feeling Lucky doing the same, and mentally prayed that whatever fire attack he intended would be effective. The sensation of heat and congestion built in my chest, which wasn't so great to feel while I ran for my life from demonic wolves. I coughed and could tell across the distance that Lucky had just let loose with a streamer of fire.
Come on, baby.
I heard a snarl behind me. I turned my head and yelled at the sight of the black, spiky monster not twenty feet away, its glowing red eyes glaring hatefully at me. Sparks erupted from beneath its claws and red liquid leaked from the tips of its spikes.
I couldn't outrun this thing. So I didn't try. I leaped for a nearby Dumpster,
awkwardly slamming my shin and knee into the side of it. Adrenaline and endorphins didn't let me feel the pain for long as I scrambled up on top of the metal box, quickly yanking my limbs up and out of reach of the snarling Hell hound that dove at them with its thicket of crooked, needle-sharp teeth.
It backed up and leaped at me again. I kicked it in the snout, knocking it back to the ground where it flipped around on its back for a few seconds before rolling over and gaining its feet. Another Hell hound raced up. I suffered no illusions that I'd be able to fend them both off. This was going to be a Cujo standoff, and I was going to end up the loser.
The second Hell hound jumped for the Dumpster. I kicked out again but missed its snout, the heel of my shoe skidding along its jaw. Not good. It felt like a bear trap closed around my shoe as it snapped its jaw around me. I screamed as the creature dragged me toward the edge of the Dumpster.
Rust and leaves of paint shredded beneath my fingernails as I tried to hang on, but I didn't stand a chance against the creature. My hips hit the edge. Once I went over I was dead.
Suddenly, the biting pressure around my shoe disappeared. I quickly scrambled back up onto the top of the Dumpster and spun around to see what had happened. Vale's gargoyle had found us and was beating on the Hell hound that had grabbed me. It got in only a few kicks with its powerful hind legs before his gargoyle had to fly up into the air to get away from the second Hell hound which snapped at it with its gnarly teeth. I looked around for a weapon to make it a fair fight, but there was nothing, just bits of litter and crushed soda cans.
Then I felt it: a rush like I had taken a huge gulp of air after being submerged under water. Golden light blasted into the alley and barreled up on us like a speeding comet.
"Stop!" I yelled, sensing Lucky's intentions.
He didn't listen. From fifty yards away he bazooka'ed fire at the nearest Hell hound, engulfing it in flames. The creature howled, and I truly wish it hadn't. The sound reminded me that at its heart it was only a wolf shifter, a victim in the Oddsmakers' gambit to turn the world into Hell. I watched in misery as the Hell hound stumbled about for a few seconds before collapsing to the pavement where it burned steadily.
Lucky turned his big whiskered head toward the remaining Hell hound and I cringed, expecting my dragon to barbecue it, too. But unexpectedly, Lucky hesitated. After a handful of seconds, Lucky spiraled into the sky like a thrown roll of toilet paper.
I kept one eye on him while Vale's gargoyle fought with the remaining Hell hound.
It was a strange fight, almost half-hearted as if the Hell hound was only going through the motions of snapping and lunging at the gargoyle. Vale's gargoyle acted similarly, diving in to knock the creature off balance but not committing any attacks that would actually injure the Hell hound.
Which meant it might be Lev.
Nearly hyperventilating with hope, I hurriedly began the process of pulling Lucky back into me. He fought it, bolstered by the freedom I'd given him to act on his own, but I wasn't in the mood for his rebellion. With a snarl, I reeled him back in, pain be damned. Once his golden light blinked out, I called out to the two creatures still tussling from one side of the alley to the other.
"Lev! Lev, fight it! This isn't you!"
The Hell hound snapped at me, which gave Vale's gargoyle the opportunity to kick it in the back of the head. The creature's chin smacked the asphalt, and it stumbled to one knee for a moment.
"Lev!" I tried again. "You can do it. Remember Celestina! She needs you."
Any doubts I had that this creature was actually Lev vanished when it snapped its head up and stared at me. Though its eyes continued to glow red, the hateful look was absent, replaced by a mixture of confusion and agony. The Hell hound shook its head violently and clawed at the asphalt, digging deep furrows into it as sparks flew.
"Fight it," I urged again. I was on my feet atop the Dumpster now, cheering the creature on. "You can do it!"
The red liquid that seeped from the tips of the Hell hound's awful spiky fur began to trickle forth as though from a leaky faucet, pooling beneath the hound's paws. I likened it to a poison, for the more that drained out of the hound, the more the creature danced around until finally, with a violent shake of its body that sent red droplets spraying and forced Vale's gargoyle to leap out of reach, the Hell hound began to transform.
It wasn't pretty, as Tymon had mentioned. The black spikes seemed to melt and droop, their tips still draining the red poison. When they'd melted all the way down, I could see the suggestion of fur on the hound's body, but fur that had been drenched in oil or tar, all gummy. Facially, the process was a nightmare, and I didn't watch too closely. With teeth going one way and the snout another—yeah, no thanks. Fortunately, the entire process didn't take too long—maybe ten seconds at most—before the hunched, shivering form of a naked man streaked with black tar-like goo stood amid the pool of red liquid.
"Lev," I breathed with relief.
He raised his damp head to look at me. His eyes still glowed red, but I had hopes that it was an affliction that might fade in time or could be reversed through magick.
"Anne? You not very smart to do this thing with me."
Same old Lev. I laughed, a bit hysterically, upon hearing his familiar speech pattern. "No one's ever accused me of being too smart, Lev. Just ask your girlfriend."
"Girlfriend…" Lev's face crumpled. He wrapped his muscular arms around himself, looking less like Wolverine and more like a homeless puppy. "She never forgive me for what I do. So many bad things."
Vale's gargoyle flew away, presumably back to Flamingo Road where I'd dropped his clothes. I focused on Lev.
"You didn't do those things," I told him firmly. "Vagasso tricked all of the wolf shifters of Vegas so he could use you to help him open the Rift. None of it was your fault."
"We did those things, Anne," he told me with dark, haunted eyes. "Me. I did."
"And we heard that you tried to resist and that you tried to stop the rest of the pack." I took a step toward him. "Celestina will understand, Lev. She just wants you back. No matter what."
With his head hanging, he stood there and shivered. I felt helpless, unsure how to relieve his conscience.
"I've done a terrible thing, too," I eventually told him, softly. When he raised his eyes to me, I couldn't help flinching because I was baring it all. "None of us are getting through this unscathed, Lev. But as long as we don't allow the darkness to take root in us for good, then I think we'll be okay. I have to believe that, and so do you. The Oddsmakers and Vagasso—we can't give them the right to destroy us. They can't take that from us, too."
"No," he sort of snarled and I breathed a sigh of relief at having gotten through to him. He stabbed a finger into the air. "They will not win this. They will not destroy me."
"Good. Good." I nodded eagerly. "Is it possible for you to stay in this form?"
"Yes. When I shift to wolf form is when trouble happens."
"Okay, so we'll keep you like this." My emotions were on a pendulum, swinging from low to high. "Once Vale and I defeat the Oddsmakers we'll figure out how to reverse whatever they did to you. Or maybe it'll end when they do. Some curses are like that."
"Anne." Lev's gaze bored into me. "There is no way to defeat Oddsmakers. They are like gods. Bad gods."
"Oh, no, they can be beaten. Trust me. They've made mistakes. A lot of them," I added, thinking of all the looped paintings they'd used to practice everything. Yet so far nothing they'd attempted had worked. "The key is getting ahead of them. We need to be proactive. Do you know anything that might help us? Any idea what they're planning?"
He shook his bushy head. "I never saw Oddsmakers. Never saw Vagasso. My alpha talk with him, but alpha is dead now." He spat at the flaming Hell hound.
"Damn." I scraped my brain for anything. "What about the repair work that you and the other wolf shifters were guarding? What's that about?"
Lev turned to look at the buildings which stood between us an
d the destroyed Strip. "I was running and running through streets, not thinking of anything. Just running and angry, always thinking of image of round plate."
"A Rift seal," I said.
He shrugged. "Then tonight, in my head, something tell me protect crack in ground. Something tell me magick would be done and I need to make sure is done. No one can stop."
"Was it a voice telling you to do this or just a feeling?"
"Maybe both?" He gave me an apologetic look. "Wolf thoughts not so easy to say, you know?"
"I'm a dragon. I know all about puny, indecipherable brains." I sighed. "I was hoping you'd been given direct orders. Something I could trace back to its source."
"No orders like that. But…" He trailed off, looking doubtful.
"What? Tell me anything."
His handsome face screwed up into an expression that nearly made me back away from him. "I helped do one thing. One very bad thing. I think is important I show you."
Chapter 10
With so many shops closed because of the destruction, it was an easy matter to find one to break into that could provide Lev with some clothes so he wouldn't need to think about shifting into his wolf form. Once he was no longer naked, the three of us hitched a ride with a UNLV student who was heading out to meet friends.
"There's no real point in studying anymore," he told us as he whipped down Maryland Parkway in his Kia Rio. "The campus is toast just from everything shifting around. Lied—that's the library—was totally trashed inside and lots of the other buildings have been closed so they can be tested for structural damage. Who knows when classes will return to session." He cranked up the radio, blasting Arcade Fire. "If you ask me, most of the students won't come back even if it is all repaired. Las Vegas won't be the same. Lots of people came here because it's Vegas. But 'Vegas' is done. Stick a fork in us. Whatever rises from these ashes will only be a shadow of its former self. I'm telling you. It's savage."
I nodded as if I agreed, and a part of me did. The only way the city could have suffered more was if every slot machine had simultaneously exploded. But his comments nagged at me, and I couldn't figure out why. I glanced at Vale sitting beside me in the back seat, but our driver's comments didn't appear to have triggered anything in him. Maybe I was looking for connections where none existed.
