Evie Jones and the Rocky Roulette: An Evie Jones Novella

by Amie Gibbons

  “Oy gevalt,” I said, pulling out my phone. I texted the guys to watch the men there, make sure they didn’t wander off with Sean. And to follow them very carefully if they did.

  When Chet asked where we were going and I told him, I swear the phone melted in my hand with his anger.

  “NO!” he text back. “It’s probably a trap.”

  “Yeah, that’s why we’re both going. Watch your backs, please!”

  I put the phone away so I couldn’t see his response.

  “I don’t like this,” I whispered.

  “I don’t either,” O’Shay said as we hit outside and followed the woman into the next casino. “It’s the perfect opportunity to take off with Sean, maybe your friends too.”

  “Except she hasn’t had a chance to tell those guys what’s going on. Hopefully they’ll keep playing.”

  “They’ll expect her back.”

  I nodded, half-shouting, “Hey!” at the woman.

  She turned.

  “Toss me your phone,” I said.

  She did without question.

  “Keep going,” I said loudly before saying to O’Shay, “I can see why you guys cling so tightly to your power. This is going to go to my head.”

  He didn’t say anything. Probably smart.

  I read through her texts to see if I could tell who had Sean on the floor and get a handle on her writing style. I texted one of the guys who obviously had Sean based on the texts that I was taking the woman I drugged back to the room to put with the others.

  “Need help?” came back.

  “No,” I text, figuring the less said the better.

  We walked through another casino and in the next she took us to the elevators.

  “I don’t need to tell you what will happen to you if this is a trap, do I?” O’Shay asked as we entered the elevator, voice sharp, somehow threatening even with that accent.

  “No,” she said, staring at the ground. “I know what happens to witches who cross the Council.”

  “We get the hostages, take you all in, and I promise you’ll be treated fairly,” I said.

  “This from the woman threatening to shoot me?”

  So she did notice the discrepancy. “It was you or me in that moment. I would’ve been in trouble with my superiors if I had, but they would have understood. We can still make this okay, though. Still give you a chance.”

  The elevator doors slid open and we followed her down the hall. I kept my hand on the grip of my second gun under my jacket, ready to pull it out the moment we got inside.

  The woman opened the door and we followed her in, calm as anything. Soon as we were in, I closed the door behind us and now that I was pretty sure there were no cameras to capture me, I pulled my gun.

  I shot the woman, the paintball splatting against her shield.

  She’d had it up this entire time? No way.

  She turned on us, throwing her arm. I flew backwards, hitting the door hard enough to bruise.

  I hit the ground on my knees, flinching as they got scraped again. Kept ahold of my gun though.

  Two guys jumped off the beds they’d been lounging on, watching some action movie. The younger one really did look young enough to be the woman’s son, maybe eighteen.

  He should’ve been playing beer pong at frat parties and flashing fake ids to campus cops, not playing gangster with his murderous parents and fighting witches playing cop.

  I shot him with the paintball and his eyes rolled up into his head as he crashed down.

  We’d infused the paintballs with a sleeping potion so strong it could drop an elephant, that way, even if the person only got a little through their clothes, it’d still knock them out.

  O’Shay and the woman went at it, magic flying so fast and thick I couldn’t even tell what spells they were trying, only that both had shields strong enough to keep them from landing.

  The other guy looked about my age and I shot at him, hitting a shield. I switched the paintball gun to my left hand and pulled out my real gun, shooting the shield with another few bullets. Couldn’t get through, but hopefully would put enough stress on the shield to make him drop it.

  He pulled out his phone, fingers flying over it, and I screamed like a banshee, running at him full tilt, only now realizing I’d been walking barefoot through Vegas since the bathroom.

  What a funny thing to notice. I smacked into his shield. The thing bounced me back like a jelly bubble and I huffed, backhanding it with the butt of my gun.

  My hand bounced off but only slightly.

  I met his eyes, grinning as I shot the shield with my last bullet.

  It fell. I dropped the gun and grabbed the paintball gun with two hands.

  He swung at me and I ducked, bringing my paintball gun up and dancing out of his way. I shot and he dodged to the side, smacking into the table in the little hotel room and yelping in pain.

  I shot again, hitting him dead center and he went down.

  “Whoop!” I yelled, turning to the dueling witches.

  O’Shay popped in and out of the bathroom shooting spells at the woman as she poured magic out in bursts like a machine gun, keeping him pinned.

  I shot her in the back and she dropped.

  “Couldn’t keep the shield up through that, could ya?” I asked her unconscious body as I grabbed the guy’s phone.

  “Your dad and Ashley are unconscious in the bathroom,” O’Shay said.

  I ran and he got out of the way so I could poke my head in and see. Dad and Ashley sat in the tub, propped up against the back wall and leaning into each other.

  I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled up the phone.

  The breath snagged in my throat. The phone showed the text saying they’d been caught had already gone.

  O’Shay joined me as I straightened. “Shit,” he said. “After that, I’m drained.”

  “We can’t leave these guys alone in case any of them come to or anyone comes looking for them,” I said. “Do you think you could see what’s in that potion and come up with a potion to counter it? And make sure these guys don’t wake up until we can get you repowered to take them in?”

  He licked his lips. “I don’t know if I can take them down if they wake up.”

  I handed him the paintball gun. “You know how to use this?” He nodded. “Tie them up with something if you can. If they wake up, put them back out. There’s about twenty more in there. Anyone comes through that door, drop them.”

  I grabbed my gun, pulling extra bullets out of my pocket and reloading the revolver before tucking it away.

  “Evie,” he said, voice heavy. “I…”

  “I know,” I said, opening the door and running out, swinging it shut behind me before he could say anything else.

  I ran down the hall, hitting the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. I’d never been fast, but now I practically had wings on my feet.

  I took the shortcut through the casinos we’d taken, definitely faster than going around the monstrosities outside even if I couldn’t run flat out in here.

  I hit the casino floor at Caesar’s and hustled back to the high rollers room. I poked my head in.

  The trio along with Sean were gone, Chet and Corey nowhere in sight. I tried calling Chet. No answer. I texted him and Corey just in case Chet hadn’t heard his phone or couldn’t talk.

  Nothing. I huffed, looking around.

  I did see one familiar face. “Jorge!” I half jogged up to him. He smiled but it slipped off as I got closer. Maybe I looked as disheveled as I felt.

  “Where are your shoes?” he asked.

  “Oh, right. They were hurting my feet. Did you see where my boyfriend went?”

  “Left with a buddy of his, maybe five minutes ago.”

  “Do you know where?”

  “Said they were going to meet you at the next place, to tell you if you showed up here looking for them.”

  “Thanks,” I said, quick walking back out. I kept my phone in my hand as I hustled thr
ough the casino to the side it shared with the Bellagio.

  Why would they be going to the next casino if they knew they were blown?

  They weren’t! They just left and Chet assumed they were going to the next place.

  They could be anywhere, and if the kidnappers caught them following them…

  My phone buzzed with a text from Chet. It just said, “Our room. We’re stalling. Hurry!”

  I hurried.

  # # #

  This time I did pull out my gun in the hallway, cameras be damned. The door was open a crack and I slammed it open, gun up and out Cagney and Lacey style.

  Two guys rushed me in a flash of clothes and I barely had time to pull the trigger before one was on me. The bullet got him pointblank in the chest and he barreled into me, taking me to the ground.

  I slammed to my back, barely keeping my chin tucked and the wind burst out of me in a painful huff.

  The man coughed, blood hitting the ground next to me. I pushed out from under him, scrambling to my feet. A fist came out of nowhere, clocking me across the jaw so hard I dropped again, birdies flying around my head.

  The world went blurry as the arm came down again.

  Then it wasn’t.

  I blinked, trying to clear my vision as nausea took me. Chet had the guy in an arm lock and slammed his fist into my attacker’s face. Blood exploded and Chet hit him again and again, letting his arm go just long enough to pull his back and pound the man across the face with a hook then shot him with the paintball.

  The man dropped.

  It was the guy who’d been playing roulette. Maybe his magic was better for delicate work like that than fighting. It’d explain why he didn’t have any shields up or use magic for the smack down.

  Chet ran to me and helped me to my feet. My stomach heaved and I bent, breathing heavy through my mouth to keep my stomach down.

  Chet turned, paintball gun up, and shot.

  Oh yeah, there were more of them.

  I grabbed my gun from the ground, willing my stomach to settle, and pointed it at the room too.

  The woman held Sean in front of her like a human shield and the guy with the thin ghetto braid coming out of the base of his otherwise shaved skull traded swings of magic with Corey’s fists as Corey tried to get the paintball gun up to shoot him.

  “Evie?” Chet asked, moving his arms like he was trying to get a clear shot of the woman. She grinned out from behind Sean’s back, way too small a target to hit.

  “Trade,” I said to Chet. He handed over the paintball and I gave him my gun without having to explain.

  I shot Sean in the chest.

  He dropped out of the woman’s arms, way too much dead weight for her to hold.

  I shot her and she waved an arm, barely deflecting the ball in time.

  I shot at the guys, three in a row, figuring one would get one of them. It smacked the arm of the guy, but the splat must’ve gotten Corey, because he dropped too.

  The woman pulled a shield up and I blew out a huff. “I’m getting really sick of you guys pulling those. You know we took down the rest of your team, right?”

  She didn’t say anything. Apparently witty banter was for TV shows.

  The world shook under us and I slammed to my knees, jaw dropping as she grinned.

  Oy gevalt, an earth witch.

  Chet hit the ground behind me, heavy enough to give the room another shake.

  “Really wish we weren’t on the ground floor now.” I grinned, meeting her eyes with a look I knew wasn’t friendly by the way she paled. I focused on the bed next to her. Lots of cloth in here.

  And subtle really never had been my strong suit.

  I set the bed on fire, the power push leaving me shaking. She jumped away and I shot another paintball as I pulled flames in front of her face. She screamed, scrambling back.

  The fire alarm screeched and I fried it.

  I pulled the flaming covers off the bed, wrapping them around her shield, my brain pounding to get out as I pushed my powers and squeezed.

  I dropped to a knee as I squeezed harder and felt it when the shield fell.

  The flames snuffed out and she glared at me, murder in her eyes.

  The floor rolled up under me, bucking me back into Chet and we both went down. I grabbed my gun from where he dropped it and shot off a few rounds at her to keep her occupied. She tossed up a shield just in time, but I could see the effort in the sweat on her hairline.

  “So they really can cause earthquakes?” Chet asked as we unmixed our limbs.

  “Not usually.” I shot again and the bullet broke her shield with just enough momentum left to tap her chest.

  She rubbed the spot on her chest and pulled a knife, rushing me. The ground picked up under me and pitched me forward.

  Straight towards the blade.

  A black ball of fury flew out from under the other bed.

  Gremlin latched onto her back and she howled, half turning with the knife so I stumbled into the bed.

  “Gremlin!” I screamed as I bounced back up. She had a knife!

  Grem had already pushed away before the knife could even catch his fluff. He ran under the bed and slingshot around, pouncing her face before she could pull up the knife or do much more than scream.

  He clawed up her face before bouncing off and I shot her in the belly with the paintball once he was out of the way.

  She collapsed, smacking her head on the nightstand as she went down.

  “Oy vey.” I lay back on the bed.

  Gremlin’s furry face appeared above mine and he meowed. He climbed on my belly and turned in a circle before settling down.

  “Evie,” Chet said, sitting next to me. “Where are the others?”

  “In their hotel room, O’Shay’s watching my dad and Ashley. They’re knocked out.”

  “I’ll call O’Shay, tell him this is over.”

  I grinned.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I told you there were too prisoners in paintball.”

  I drifted off to the sound of him laughing.

  “My colleagues have them safely tucked away on a truck and are taking them to Oz,” O’Shay said, putting the phone down and resting the icepack on his head again.

  “The guy I shot?” I asked, closing my eyes again as I pet my purring baby. The room spun every time I opened my eyes, moved… breathed too heavy.

  “Stomach shot. They stopped the bleeding in time and are pretty sure he’ll live. The woman is swearing revenge against you and”–he hitched his voice up–“your little cat, too.”

  I burst out laughing, my stomach cutting it off with a gag as it fought to get out.

  “Shhhhh,” my dad said from somewhere to my right. “Here’s your soup.”

  The door opened and closed and I groaned. “That better be Corey, I can’t deal with any more attacks today.”

  “It’s me,” Corey said. “How about some good news? The guy they got to play Sean? It was a body from the morgue. He died of natural causes three days ago.”

  “Nobody died?” Ashley asked. “Oh thank god.”

  “Well technically he did die,” I said.

  Grumbling came from my left and I grinned.

  We’d decided to stick around until we got enough of our energy back to fix the damage we did to the room. Trying to explain the ripped up carpets, ashes of the comforter and the destroyed fire alarm would take way too much and it’d be easier just to mend a few things magically and buy the rest.

  Also, O’Shay and I were in no condition to be moved until we recovered from the severe magic drain.

  O’Shay had called the Council reps in Vegas and told them what happened, making it sound like he stumbled onto the scheme when he was in Vegas on an impromptu trip, and asked them to get the perps since he was drained.

  We were fine with him taking the credit and leaving us the hell out of it.

  Once O’Shay woke everyone, Dad used his powers to patch the guy I’d shot, then to magically cover
Corey and Sean as they hauled the unconscious bodies out of our room and to the kidnappers’ hotel room.

  “Thanks Daddy,” I said, cracking my eyes enough to see him sit next to me and hand me the half-filled bowl. It was thick chicken stew from the restaurant downstairs, sitting on a plate next to a bunch of little packets of crackers.

  Ashley sat curled up next to Sean on the stiff hotel couch like a cat and he watched her eat with an intensity that made me think no matter what she was saying about them being casual and that’s why they hadn’t told their friends, there were definitely feelings there.

  I smiled as Chet put an arm around me and Dad passed out the rest of the food they’d hauled up.

  Chet handed me a Gatorade. “Keep hydrated.”

  “Goddess bless you,” I said, opening it and downing a few sips to test my stomach. It was cool with it.

  “And to you,” Chet said, bowing his head and making me giggle.

  “I still can’t believe you shot him,” Ashley said, making me jerk.

  “What?” I asked. “He was rushing me.”

  “No, not that guy. I mean Sean.”

  “Oh, it was just a sleeping potion. It was the only way to get him out of the way so I could get to the woman.”

  “I still object to the friendly fire,” Sean said, not sounding terribly upset. “I could have been more use in the fight.”

  “I’m sure you could’ve, but it was the only thing I could think of at the time.”

  “What happened to the money they won?” Sean asked.

  “Well, I’m glad you asked,” I said. “They made out with nearly a hundred grand after I stopped messing with them, according to O’Shay’s count. I think that’d go a long way towards helping out some of the animal shelters in Salt Lake.”

  “I was thinking the Science Center,” Sean said. “They’ve got an after-school program that could use a little help.”

  “Okay, animals and kids. Sounds like a good way to spend it. Does anyone know where to go get the money? I mean, all we got is their ticket saying they had that many chips, right?”

  Chet chuckled. “Nope. They took the chips up to the cashier and got their money. Weren’t planning on going back.”