by Jana Denardo
Chapter Nineteen
“I THINK I made a mistake.” Arrigo flopped on the couch. Gaius meowed his displeasure at having to share, then butted up against Arrigo’s thigh.
Siobhan sauntered over with a blood cocktail in hand. She and Arrigo were getting a little rest while Hanako and Michael were out on Eleni’s trail. “You make a lot. Want to be more specific?”
He gave her the stink eye. The annoying part of immortality was your oldest friends had forever to get to understand you well. Siobhan knew how to mash his buttons. “I invited Luc on a date.”
“Really?” She arched an eyebrow at him, carefully sitting out of arm’s reach. “Was this before or after you sucked his cock?”
“So crude, and after.” He scowled, wanting to throttle her for taunting him. “I’m doing things backward.”
“Also not that unusual.” Siobhan sipped the cocktail. He could smell the blood’s salt. Maybe it would give her current attitude a boost.
“Can you be serious for a moment?”
“Sorry.” Too used to his bullshit, Siobhan didn’t look particularly contrite. “Are you asking if it’s a mistake to ask him out or to sleep with him? You’re allowed a love life, Arri.”
Arrigo rubbed his forehead. She was right, but that did nothing to make this easier. “I asked him on a date, but I can’t think of what to do or where to go. I have one date planned, but what comes next?”
Siobhan chuckled. “You are in Vegas. There are a million things to do. It’s a good thing you’re usually a one-man wrecking crew, what with Eleni still out there. I know you’ll be able to keep Luc safe if he’s with you.”
He spread his hands, conceding the point. Gaius batted at his fingers, then jumped off the couch. “Thanks, but also dates mostly cost money. He’s not got much of that.”
“And you do.”
“It’s a bigger deal than you might think. Men don’t like to be on uneven ground. Not that I’m assuming it’s easy for women, but seriously, most men don’t like having a wealthy Prince Charming rescuing them. It’s already a problem. He thought I was after him for something, not that he could figure out what I wanted with a poor bartender. I don’t want him to feel obligated to me if I suggest I pay for the meal. I’m sure he’ll feel even more self-conscious if we go somewhere low-rent because he knows I can afford better.”
“Then find something midway. Don’t be dense, Arri. You don’t have to go to Joël Robuchon or Picasso on one hand or to McDonald’s on the other. There are so many cheap places here. Hell, go to the California Pizza Kitchen in the Mirage and split a pie. What does he like to do? Do you even know?”
He winced. “I don’t. That’s the problem.”
She slowly spun a finger in her drink as she studied him. Siobhan sucked the blood and alcohol off her finger before asking, “So lots of lust and that’s about it?”
“I’m hoping there’s more, but I don’t know if there is. I know I have feelings for him, but you know I’m slow to call anything love. There’s probably too big of a chasm between us.”
Siobhan polished off her drink, setting it aside. “Then let him go, Arri. You’re already worried about what Eleni might do to him.”
He tugged at his ponytail. “Wish it was that simple. I messed up bad here, Siobhan. I didn’t realize how confused he is, how twisted up his family has him. It ran deeper than I knew.”
“Abusive, yes you said.”
“More than that. Homophobes. Between them, the brother’s friends, and religion, he’s so afraid, Siobhan. He might even hate what he is, and he’s never given in to it until me, or if he has, it’s been in a small way. If I say ‘hey it’s been fun, but this isn’t working,’ I could really do damage. I don’t want to screw him up. I didn’t know… no, that’s a lie. I suspected he wasn’t experienced, but I ignored it. I wanted to help him. It’s not like I don’t care about him, because I do, but I think I might have made a real mess of it.”
“Vampires are human too.” She grinned. “You can make mistakes.”
Even though it was what he wanted to hear, Siobhan making excuses for him touched a nerve. “I’m over two thousand years old, Siobhan. I should know better, damn it.”
“True.” She leaned over and poked his arm. “Are you sure you weren’t projecting a little of you and Fadil onto this situation?”
He wrinkled his brow. “How do you mean?”
“You were once the uneducated poor kid who needed help.”
Arrigo held up his hands. “That’s not exactly how it went.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Really? You told me you were brought into the military early after your father died and were more or less a boy toy after one of your uncles lied about you being freeborn so he could get your inheritance. Yes, you were a soldier by the time you met Fadil and one of your brothers had found you and undid your uncle’s evil, but did you have much in the way of wealth or education when he took you under his wing?”
Arrigo scowled, shifting on the couch. He’d considered that, but even so Siobhan’s observation cut uncomfortably close to the bone. Could that explain his attraction to Luc? Was it creepy if it was? What was wrong with wanting to help someone? So what if it had similarities to events that had happened around the time Caesar crossed the Rubicon?
“You might be right.” He paused, licking his lips. “I swear. All I wanted to do was help.”
“Then help. Find a nice middle-ground thing to do. I suggest someplace you can talk and actually hear each other. For all you know, Luc will be the one to decide ‘hey, this dude is too fussy and uptight for me’ and dump you.”
“I’m not uptight.”
Siobhan laughed and slapped the chair’s side. “Are you serious? I’ve been tempted to jam a lump of coal up your ass to get myself a nice big diamond.”
He showed her his fangs. “Real nice, Siobhan.”
“Seriously, though, it’s a good thing you’re trying to help him, if you ask me.” She rubbed her chin. “You helped me the same way. I would have been lost without you. You’re better with fledglings than you think you are.”
“Like hell I am. I’m a disaster. You would have managed fine without me. You are one of the most capable people I’ve ever known, but I’m glad I helped.” Arrigo stood up, walked to the picture window, and looked out over the city. “I hope I can help him and not end up making it worse.” He glanced over his shoulder at Siobhan. “At least I have one date thing to do with him. I sort of invited myself along.”
She arched her fine eyebrows at him. “Oh?”
“He wants to feed the sharks at Mandalay Bay’s shark experience. Technically, he wants to go swimming with them, but it’s expensive. I said I’d go feed the sharks with him, and he seemed okay with that.”
“Sharks? Is he insane?” Siobhan giggled.
“He’s normal!”
“Are you sure? Head-damaged maybe?”
“I don’t think so, though not for a lack of trying on his family’s part.” Arrigo gritted his teeth, the tips of his fangs poking his lips. “He’s adventurous. You know how guys are.”
“I know you make up the bulk of those world’s dumbest videos.” She held up a hand. “I know, sexist. Bad Siobhan.”
He snorted at her. “You’re awful.”
“I’m sure—” Her cell phone rang, cutting her off midthought. She answered it and narrowed her eyes as she listened. “Right, thanks, Hanako. I’ll tell Arri, and we’ll be right there.”
“What happened?”
“You know Hanako went to work with Taabu today. Taabu wanted to pay her back with dinner at Treasure Island. When they got there, they saw that guy she had me draw a picture of. They lost him in the crowd. Hanako’s not sure if he was following her or what.”
“Merda!” Arrigo jumped to his feet. No one was hurting Taabu again. Not if he had anything to say about it.
“IT’S NOT my fault.” George leaned on the fencing in front of the Mirage’s volcano. He looked down the street tow
ard Treasure Island. “I never expected to see her there. I was playing around for a little while. It’s been nothing but work since we’ve been here. I didn’t think it would be a problem to do a little gambling, and I didn’t think anyone would recognize me without the disguise.”
Eleni held up her hand. She couldn’t keep a complete stranglehold on George. She needed his help, and if she made him unhappy, he might take off on her. Eleni couldn’t chase him in broad daylight.
“It was an accident.” She tightened her mouth. “The question is why did she chase after you?”
George shrugged as Eleni moved in close to him, decreasing the chances a passing tourist would overhear. “Maybe she doesn’t get too many strangers and wondered if I set her up. I probably shouldn’t have worn the blond wig again so soon.” He touched his hair. “Maybe she remembered me being there when you bit her.”
Eleni scowled. “That would be very bad. If she could remember me….” She shook her head. If that was the case, Arrigo might know who was behind everything. She was counting on him not knowing which of his enemies was after him because it would make his search that much harder. She thought using disguises and burner phones would be enough, but she’d slipped up not wearing a disguise to attack his friend, putting too much on her ability to prevent a memory of her attack from forming.
“I thought you said that couldn’t happen.” George interrupted her train of thought.
“It’s rare a human can slip past a vampire’s suggestive abilities. She must be a real psychic. Unexpected. They are rare. I figured she was a Vegas con.” Eleni shrugged. “Accident or not, it might be a blessing in disguise. We can assume Arrigo has a clue. We might have to work faster.” She stepped away from a group of drunken giggling girls. “What I need you to do is start looking for another house here in town and a good place to go if we have to leave quickly.”
George sighed. “Okay, but it will be a shame to leave so fast. Why another house? Even if they know who we are, they have no idea where we are in a city this size.”
“I’m saving something special for his boyfriend, so we’ll need a second bolt-hole.” Eleni tugged on her hair. “And see if you can find any abandoned houses. There were a lot in Vegas at one point after the housing crash, but I’m not sure if they are recovered or not.”
George shot her a look that said he didn’t understand, but he nodded anyhow. “I’ll get started on it immediately. Is there anything you need in the abandoned house?”
“Make sure there is an internal room with no windows.”
George narrowed his eyes, twigging on to what she had in mind. “Got it.”
Eleni shivered, glancing up and down the packed street. “I think he’s looking for me.”
“You can sense each other?”
“Only if they’re very close, like you felt wrong in that Crypt-Kicker bar. Someone is nearby. Could be him or another vampire. Either way, let’s not stand here. You can have the night off since you can’t do what I asked of you until daytime. Go have fun, blend into the crowd. I’m feeling peckish. I think I’ll head off and find a little snack.” She grinned, thinking now might be the time to create a distraction. Arrigo obviously kept tabs on his friends. This might divide his attention. It was worth a try, and if nothing else, she’d have a little fun.
ARRIGO HUDDLED next to Michael. Michael focused his attention toward the group of scantily clad women dancing on Treasure Island’s pirate ship rather than watching the dense aggregation of people along the sidewalk. Arrigo hated being pressed in like this. While he enjoyed city life, he also liked a zone free of strangers touching him. Having this many tourists jammed around him, phones and tablets held in front of their faces so they could record something, annoyed the living hell out of him.
Busy glaring at Michael, Hanako’s attention strayed from the audience. Arrigo wondered, not for the first time, if there was a history between them, or something fresher than history. He needed to follow up. It could be she simply didn’t like people staring at the women like they were objects. Michael watched the women. Hanako watched Michael. Arrigo watched everyone, wondering in the back of his mind if he could sample a few of them. He’d probably get a secondhand drunk off them.
No one was doing what they actually came there for: finding the man Taabu had described. The problem was it was as unlikely they could find a second person in a city the size of Vegas as it was one person. They could be wrong about the guy being Eleni’s Renfield, but Arrigo doubted it. What were the chances Taabu had picked up two stalkers? Of course, it could have been a coincidental meeting between Taabu, Hanako, and some poor tourist who happened to visit Taabu’s shop at the worst time imaginable. That man had been bearded and bespectacled. That’s how Siobhan had drawn him, but this time Taabu said he had neither facial hair nor glasses and his hair was brown not blond. Still, she was sure it was him, and it meant the sketch of him was fairly worthless.
“We ought to be trying a little harder to find this guy,” he grumbled.
“I’m looking,” Michael said, watching one of the girls step to a drunken group of young men.
“No, you really aren’t.” Hanako elbowed him.
“She’s right.” Arrigo regretted sending Siobhan with Taabu. He thought Michael might be better with tracking the blond man, but that wasn’t proving to be the case. Taabu kept her shop open on the weekend evenings, especially when a local ghost tour made her one of the stops. Currently Siobhan watched over Taabu and the shop. “This is hopeless enough as it is trying to find someone in a town of millions. To sense another vampire we have to be within a few yards of them, not conducive to searching a city.”
“Didn’t the council try to see if they were using credit cards?” Hanako asked.
Arrigo scowled. He wished it were that easy. The Chiaroscuro had plenty of members able to sneak in the back door and look at that sort of thing: illegal but necessary. It didn’t always help.
“Old vampires are sometimes slow to use new things, and yes, to someone like me, credit is still new.” He ignored their snickers. “More importantly, if the Supernatural knows they’re being tracked by the council, they avoid using technology if they can. Many of the old ones are like me, socking away money over centuries. I have no real need of credit, and it is a pain in the ass to fake an ID or a death. The less we have to do it, the better, at least that’s how some of us see it.”
“I don’t know how to find one person in all this. If we were in Bumfuck, Egypt, I could probably track her, provided I had a scent in the first place, but there’s no hope in a city. I’m not a bloodhound,” Michael said, earning a strange look from the woman next to him.
“I know, but Taabu said she saw this same guy around here. It’s a possibility he hasn’t gone too far away.”
“Or she saw a guy who looked a little like him.”
Arrigo shrugged. “It’s all we have.” It killed him to admit it, but there it was. “I wish I could have convinced Taabu to come with us tonight. She refused to close on her busiest night.”
“We’ll be back other nights.” Hanako shrugged. “We aren’t likely to get lucky right away.”
“Especially when we only have her description who could be a thousand men without even trying hard.” Michael put a hand on Hanako’s arm. “You barely caught a glimpse of the man she meant.”
Arrigo sighed. “Agreed. Okay, I’m going to walk on a little. I can’t stay packed in here.” He jerked his thumb toward the Mirage. “Anyone coming with me?”
“I’ll stay here,” Michael said, surprising no one. Werewolves had the highest sex drive of any Supernatural Arrigo knew, and that was saying something. Vampires hardly lacked in that area. Even the humans who thought them mere myth seemed to have twigged on to their sexuality. Both kept ending up as representations of sex in literature: the vampires sensual, the wolves rough.
“You head up toward the Mirage,” Hanako said. “I’ll go across the way and head down. How far should I go?”
&nb
sp; He shrugged. “I wish I knew. Be careful.”
“Tell me about it. My power is only halfway decent here on the Strip.” Hanako scowled, and he could see the anger in her eyes.
“So you’ve said. I’ve asked for more help, but the local regent wasn’t being, well, let’s say he’s being a dick about it. Something I should know?” Arrigo arched his eyebrows at her, wondering if he’d get an answer to his question this time.
Her scowl deepened. “Yes, but nothing I feel like talking about now.”
On that note, Arrigo headed up the street, still thick with tourists. He could almost understand vampires like Eleni and the others who refused to treat humans as equals instead of food. Maybe it was for the best he had been made at a time when humanity feared the dark and spent the nights huddled around their fires and tucked into their homes. Vegas was a city of temptations.
He couldn’t even ignore all the tasty temptations as he scanned their faces looking for someone far too generic to give this mission even the possibility of success, but he pushed the desire to feed down. The best hope they had was in following Taabu. He didn’t want to use her as bait, even less than he wanted to use Luc. They were going about this all the wrong way. Frankly, he should know better. They were following the proactive Chiaroscuro procedures, but they didn’t hold up when a dickhead local regent sent two agents to a city the size of Vegas.
He needed to lure Eleni and her servant out. Now was the time to be seen around town with Siobhan. He knew Eleni would believe they were back together—and hopefully not as a threesome with Luc, though he couldn’t rule it out.
He’d had enough of all this nonsense. Arrigo had come to Vegas for some action, to have fun. He had hoped for a little break from hunting rogues. He never expected them to come hunting him. He paused, sensing something. Another vampire wasn’t too far away. Hoping it wasn’t that tourist from the Kiss, Arrigo prowled up the Strip following his psychic senses. He half jogged, enjoying the hunt. He hoped he’d picked up Eleni’s trail and this would end tonight.
