by Deanna Chase
“From what I’ve heard, you’ve got enough entertaining to do.”
“I can always make time.”
“I wouldn’t want to impose. I’ll just stick to the waitressing for now so I don’t clutter up your schedule.”
He looked back at the elevator doors and sighed. “If that’s what you prefer, but you don’t know what you’re missing out on.”
We walked down his long hallway and I admired the paintings, like I did every time I saw them. If nothing else, I was starting to like the hallway.
We stepped in as Ben held the door.
“Ben, our little porcupine here will be staying in the spare bedroom.”
“I’ve already put the contents of her bag away.”
I said thank you, but I was annoyed someone had gone through my personal belongings. I puttered around my new suite of rooms for a while, digging through the closet and the drawers finding all of my things. I was sure Ben made a good salary, so it was ridiculous to think he’d take some of my things, plus what would a middle aged man do with my stuff, anyway? But having to fight for years and years to keep anything had ingrained a distrust in me that didn’t easily let go. Even as I fought the feelings with logic, I still had to locate every last item.
I found my book of Monet prints still in my knapsack. I guess he hadn’t been sure what to do with that as it looked out of place here with its binding held together with duck tape. I knew it was foolish to pack it, but I couldn’t seem to leave it behind.
I’d just finished counting my bras, Ben could turn out to be a pervert after all, when Cormac called me into the foyer to tell me lunch was coming up. Ben had left to go get us food from the casino kitchens, so it was just me and Cormac in the room and it felt beyond awkward.
I was just about to make some excuse that I hadn’t thought of yet, to go back in my room, when Dodd barged in. He paused inside the door breathing heavily, his eyes looking frantic.
“What is it?” Cormac asked immediately.
Dodd’s eyes darted to me for a second, then back to Cormac. “We have a problem.”
“How bad?”
Dodd didn’t speak, just shook his head.
“Come on,” Cormac said, as he walked out the door and Dodd followed him immediately. I stood watching them leave and wondered what had happened to make Dodd look so bad. These weren’t the type of men that became rattled. “Come on!” Cormac said again, and looked straight at me.
“A simple please would suffice.”
He rolled his eyes and didn’t say please, but I went with them, anyway. As much as I wanted to be left alone I didn’t mind going with them. I wanted to see what would affect them this much.
I followed quickly behind, glad that I was a runner and could keep up with their larger frames. We climbed into the private elevator, and plummeted an unknown number of floors, until I found myself in the hallways we had just left not more than a couple hours before. But, where the area had felt abandoned then, now it bustled with people. They all gave Cormac a wide berth, and a few threw a passing glance at my presence, but no one spoke a word. I wouldn’t have either, with the energy Cormac was throwing off.
He stormed into the room with the portal, and as I entered behind him, I saw a crowd in the center. Everyone was gathered around something I couldn’t see, but they parted quickly as Cormac approached.
Once I saw, I wished I hadn’t. A man was lying in the center, his clothes in tatters and his flesh was raw. On the skin that was bare, blisters oozed and wept. Any area that wasn’t blistered was a raw and angry red. He didn’t appear to be conscious, and I was glad. The pain would’ve been unbearable.
Cormac kneeled by the man’s side. “What happened?” Cormac barked into the room. No one spoke, and the room became deathly quiet. I realized people weren’t even moving, afraid to draw attention to themselves. “What happened!” Cormac repeated as he stood to his full height.
A young, small, brunette stepped forward. “We don’t know sir. We had started everything as planned, all seemed to be going well. We didn’t know anything was wrong until he stepped out.”
“Who was on point?” Cormac asked.
A blond man in his thirties raised his hand.
“Kever, do you have any idea what went wrong?”
The man just shook his head. He looked close to tears.
“Were you taking in the radiation?”
“I was pulling at it, the same way I always do. I’m so sorry Cormac, I don’t know what happened.”
The man was clearly beyond distraught at what had happened, and I could physically see the aggression leaving Cormac as his limbs relaxed slightly. I, on the other hand, was glad we hadn’t had our lunch yet. I found myself looking for a trashcan nearby in case I got sick.
“Get him set up in a bed. Give him as much morphine as you need to keep him comfortable, if it’s even possible. Dodd, call Tracker right away, tell him to get here. Send him up to me when he arrives.” Cormac stormed out of the room.
Looking around the room, I decided to follow Cormac rather than stay here. The tension hung thick in the room, and I was better off waiting it out in my room, in solitude, while tempers calmed. Plus, I’d already seen more than I’d wanted.
I kept my distance, as I followed Cormac back. A fleeting thought ran through my head of trying another break out, but a quick glance at Cormac’s stoic face, and still quite tense frame, made me think this wasn’t the best time to push the issue. My confidence in making it out unseen had fallen to an all time low.
It wasn’t until we walked into his penthouse that he finally spoke.
“Come into the living room for a minute. I would like to talk to you.”
I paused. I didn’t want to be near him right now with how volatile he seemed, and I tried to decide which way to turn; my new room, or follow him into the living room. I considered ignoring his request. I didn’t owe him anything. He owed me.
“Please.”
That word told me one thing. He was desperate, really desperate. I walked into the living room. I could tell he was upset about the man but I wouldn’t feel bad for him. I refused to. He wasn’t my friend, ally or anything else. He was my enemy, or a nuisance if I felt like being generous. I followed him because, as I might have mentioned before, I don’t like desperate people. They tend to do desperate things. Desperate people should be placated until you can get as far away from them as humanly possible, because desperate people had a bad tendency of blowing up and taking you with them.
I sat down on one of the now pristine matching couches, while he remained standing by the bar, and wondered if they kept spares in a warehouse somewhere. A quick glance showed the glass had also been repaired, not a scratch remained. It was as if the night had never happened, and it made me mad. As easily as that, nothing was left. If I had died that night, not even a stain would be there as proof of my slaughter.
“I need a favor.”
I laughed, but it wasn’t a laugh of joy. It told him, without words, what I thought of his request.
“I wouldn’t ask if it was for me.” He was a hair away from groveling. In theory, having this man grovel for anything should have appeased me, but in reality, it did nothing.
“And who is the favor for? Buzz? Dodd? Do you think I would be willing to help them either?”
“I told you about the portal. What I didn’t explain is why I need to keep control of it. Most involved view this as simply a business. I provide passage in and out of this universe for a price, but the reason is much larger. Only a select few and I know the entire truth. If I can’t keep control of this operation, this entire world is in danger.”
I snapped my head in his direction as I watched him go to the bar. The somber tone of his voice lent authenticity to what he said. He might be crazy or wrong, but he believed what he said. I watched him throw back the contents of an amber liquid I assumed to be scotch. He silently offered me a glass, which I declined, and he refilled his own.
“Th
ere are only a handful of portals. That is all that can exist at one time because of the distortions they create. We, the Keepers, are the only ones capable of controlling them. There have been defectors over the years, Keepers thirsting for more power who have joined with others. They’ve all been low level, none of them strong enough to open up and maintain another portal.” He came and sat down across from me on the other couch, the one that had replaced the bloodied one. Even with this supposedly heavy burden hanging over his head, he was a striking looking man.
“What happens if others control a portal? Why should you have all the power?” My question was argumentative and bordered on confrontational. I couldn’t help myself, the more attractive I found him the more I felt compelled to fight against him. In truth it wasn’t him I was fighting, it was my conscious brain, struggling with the workings of my subconscious desires that truly pissed me off right now. A subconscious that had a masochistic streak and wouldn’t listen to reason.
“If someone like Vitor or Tracker gets control, there will be no end to the influx of other beings. One on one, they are much stronger than humans are and there will be no end of them in sight. Even if they don’t rape this earth for all it has, they will be more powerful. It’s only logical that they’ll try a power grab. Right now, the only thing that keeps them in hiding is that if they were found out, they’d be so outnumbered they’d lose. Also, if this one has been opened recently, and another is opened too soon after, it creates turmoil in the space-time fabric. This area could possibly explode.”
“Possibly explode? Would it explode, or not?”
“It would all depend on how large a portal was opened, and how recently this one had closed. There are too many factors to predict accurately.”
“Worst case scenario?” I asked. In my life, that’s what I’d come to expect.
“The entire Vegas Strip could be destroyed.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I leaned my head back on the couch and rested my arm over my eyes.
“Afraid not.”
“What do you want from me?” I asked, but I was afraid to hear the response.
“Today’s incident isn’t the first time something’s gone wrong. Someone is messing with the portals, someone strong.”
“So, go get Vitor and kick his ass. You don’t need me.”
“I would’ve if that was an option. I can’t. Even if I was positive it was him, I need to know what Keepers are betraying me or it won’t end. Someone else will step up and take over. There is at least one very strong Keeper involved in this, possibly more, and I need to take them out.”
“Still don’t see why you need me.”
“I want to teach you how to control a portal and I need you to operate it with me.”
“You’ve got other Keepers. Trained ones remember?”
“I already paired them up and I thought that would control it. As you just saw it didn’t. You’ve got a lot of natural ability, and I can’t take any more chances of being outgunned.” Cormac’s phone rang and interrupted our conversation, cutting off the reason why I was so important. “Thanks,” he said then pressed the end button. “Tracker is going to be here in two minutes. We’ve got to finish this later. The guy who got cooked in the portal was one of his men.”
I got up without being asked and walked to my room, I had no desire to see Tracker, and try as I might, I wasn’t cold enough to ignore such a loss.
Cormac followed me into the foyer, and then left through the main door. I waited about ten minutes, before I checked to see if anyone was in the hallway. There were two today. I sighed and went to go shower for my shift tonight. If I was going to be stuck here, I might as well earn some cash. I didn’t plan on being stuck for long, and when I left, I was going to need the money.
Chapter Ten
“Let me through!”
“Not until Cormac says so,” said one of the burly door guards.
“What’s the matter?” I heard Cormac’s voice before I saw him.
“My shift started five minutes ago. You said that I would be able to come and go as I please, but I guess not,” I said accusingly and waited for his reaction.
“Let her through,” he said to them. The moment they moved to the side, I headed down the hallway toward the elevator that would take me to the casino. I’d almost been out of earshot when I heard him tell them, “But keep your eye on her from a distance.”
I wasn’t surprised at all. I’d expected it. I would play by his rules for a while. Maybe even agree to help, while I learned how to control this thing I could do.
I put it to the back of my mind, as I got to the high rollers section where I waitressed. I saw Lacey leaning on the bar laughing at something Jonny said.
“Where have you been? You missed class,” she said as soon as I came to stand next to her.
“Hi, beautiful.”
“Hi, Jonny. I was really sick. I think it might have been food poisoning.”
“That’s the worst!” Lacey responded and Jonny cringed. The moment Jonny walked to the other end of the bar, Lacey leaned in close to me. “I heard you came back with Cormac? What’s the deal? Did you hook up with him?”
“No!” My face scowled when I said it.
“Really? Everyone here heard about you walking in with him at the crack of dawn, well, everyone but Jonny.” She nodded her head in his direction. “I don’t think anyone wants to tell him.” She finished with a little giggle.
“Shut up,” I said quickly, as Jonny walked back over to us.
“Jo, don’t look, but that creep that was bothering you the other night is back,” Jonny said.
“Where?”
“He’s in my section.” Lacey offered. “I heard about that too. They shouldn’t even let him back in the place.” She shook her head in indignation.
I looked over and saw the man named Tracker at a black jack table and my skin crawled. All I could see was fur and a large muzzle with pointy teeth now. It had been gruesome. Cormac said that he would have killed me violently if given the chance. Looking at him, I believed it. I had gotten the worst kind of vibe off him the night I had met him, but I had to let it go and just get to work. It would paralyze me with fear if I didn’t.
Once I got into the swing of things, it was strange how the routine made me feel a little bit normal, even with everything else going on. The casino was packed, and so I had been going nonstop since shortly after I started. I saw some of Cormac’s door thugs lingering here and there, but they blended into the background and kept their distance.
I’d been so busy, I’d barely noticed when Tracker got up and went to leave, but I caught the movement of the garish candy apple red leather jacket he was wearing as it moved across the room. I was relieved he was leaving, as I watched him cross the floor, wanting to confirm the moment he was gone.
“I hear you moved into Cormac’s?”
I rolled my eyes before I turned to face Vicky. Right now, it was just a rumor of me being with him. If she knew I was staying there, it was only a matter of time before the whole casino knew.
“Where I’m staying is none of your business.”
“You’re a whore. He’s just using you because you’re easy, so enjoy it while it lasts, because he’ll get bored and throw you away like the trash you are.”
“Get out of my face,” I said. She was in my personal space. That was almost as bad as touching me, in my book. “Or I’ll move you.”
“You think you can?” she sneered.
Vicky had pure ghetto running through her veins, but she was too stupid to have learned how to tone it down, like I did. She was also too stupid to recognize that I wasn’t a stranger to the streets myself.
I pulled myself to my full height, just a few inches shy of Vicky’s, and instead of holding back, and I let every ounce of my own harsh upbringing show through. The nice, innocent, girl-next-door façade I usually wore slid from my features like butter across a warm skillet. I could see the shock on her face before I
even uttered a word.
“You don’t know who you’re messing with. Back off before I lose my patience and drag your skinny ass out of here, then beat you to within an inch of your life.”
“You’re a sicko,” she said, but then she walked a little too quickly back to the bar and the safety of others.
“Very nice.” It was Cormac’s voice from behind me. I was annoyed on so many levels. First off, I was tired of people sneaking up behind me. It showed how off my game I was. Second, I wanted to cringe at what he had just witnessed. I didn’t like anyone to see that side of me. The side I had developed out of desperation from being a young girl in a mean world and having no one else to depend on.
Just then, a group of women walked past to the left, which only highlighted the differences. They wore heels and had pretty hair and nails. They laughed over something that was probably light and frivolous. They were soft and feminine, everything I wasn’t. I could fake it all day long, but I’d never truly be one of them. That was what men wanted, not someone like me. I felt jaded and dirty compared to them.
I didn’t care though. This man was my enemy. Why should I care what he thought of me?
He walked up and stood next to me, close enough that I could feel the heat of his body. I could see him stare at me, out of the corner of my eye, but I busied myself looking down at my order pad instead of meeting his gaze.
He leaned down close to my ear and said in the softest whisper, “Am I making you uncomfortable Jo?”
His warm breath on my ear sent a shiver down my spine. I wanted to instantly take a step away, but that would be almost as bad as admitting it, so I held my ground and forced myself to meet his eyes. “No, why would you?”
“That’s good. I wouldn’t want to make you nervous.” He ran a finger along the length of my arm. “Are you cold?”
“A little,” I lied, knowing he had noticed the goose bumps on my skin.
He smiled down at me. He had a beautiful smile, dimples and all. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together,” he said. “I really do want you to feel comfortable.” His hand came to rest on the small of my back.
