I held my head in my hands, and Lennon rubbed my back. “Gabriel was there. In her seat. He wanted me to see him.” My tone could barely hide the hysteria rising inside me. It burned. Not the kind of fire that I relied on during my stage routines, this one would simmer inside and destroy me slowly.
“Explain the connection again?” Callie said. I picked my head up to give her the best WTF look I could muster under the circumstances, and she shrugged.
“Rainey has the gift of Sight. She Sees the future, but it’s not always accurate. The visions are like riddles, and they’ve always been subject to change depending on what’s happening at the time.” I chose my words carefully. I didn’t doubt that Callie would step over my dead body without a second thought, but for her sake, and the sake of everyone in the city, I had to make her believe this concerned far more people than Rainey and me. “Someone spoke to her in the visions. She was never sure who it was until we saw Gabriel at Embrace that night.”
Lennon whistled low. “He doesn’t exactly come across as angelic, if you ask me.”
“Not at all. What did he do when he was there?” I asked. Lennon told me to stay away from him.
“The strangest thing about him and his friends was the energy. It was almost thick, if that makes sense, like a force field. It made dealing with them...weird. Time moved funny. The other vamps didn’t like having them there at all. One of Gabriel’s guys interfered with a feeding, and a huge fight broke out.”
“Who won?”
“Gabriel. And then they kept coming back, like some sort of weird vigilantes. That’s why I didn’t want you girls messing with them.”
I expected Callie to chime in, but she didn’t.
“The tone of the messages changed after that. He kept telling her that he’d take her back if she failed,” I said.
“Failed what?” Callie finally asked.
“He thought I’d been drawn to evil.” As a half-vampire, evil was an essential part of my DNA. I was doomed from the day I was born. “He came to see me, not Rainey, and explained that he’d take her from me. We thought The Afterlife show and the energy from the audience would be enough to stop it, but he didn’t give the show a chance.”
Callie quirked a brow. “We don’t have any proof that he took her. She disappeared. You said you saw him in her seat after she went missing. Are you sure you saw him? You were in rough shape when you went out for the encore.”
And you dragged me out there. I couldn’t start a fight. The last thing we needed was more negative energy. We’d create our own force field and I’d never see Rainey again. “There’s no mistaking Gabriel for anyone else.”
“Where would we even look for her?” Lennon asked. “We’re running out of time tonight. The sun will be up in an hour. You’ll be on your own until nightfall.”
“That’s the problem. I have no idea.” After Lennon’s claim of weird energy around Gabriel and Rainey disappearing, I feared Rachel’s claim of another Realm was true.
I hadn’t been invited to the opening night after party for my own show. There was no way Gabriel put me on the guest list to wherever it was he called home. If that bastard hurt her, I’d roast him over an open flame. Let the vampires drink his blood like a hot toddy.
Besides Rainey, I didn’t have any friends that weren’t vampires. Not that I necessarily considered them friends. Keep your enemies close and all that. I headed home, alone. Our apartment was empty. I held onto hope that Rainey would be there waiting for me. That I’d been under the influence stronger than an angel coming to collect his debts.
No such luck.
Sleep wasn’t happening, even though the tiny shred of me that was still functioning rationally knew exhaustion would only hurt me. I crawled into bed and buried my face in Rainey’s pillow. I expected to break down, but it didn’t come. Rainey took my heart with her, wherever she was.
I didn’t have the first clue where to look. Gabriel left no traces of himself behind—no whisper in a vision, no unexpected visits, no chance encounters. And that was something I’d never find on a map or in Rainey’s spell books. I had a gut feeling that the chances of him living somewhere in Vegas were slim. Rachel’s claim of another Realm had gravity.
I never attempted this before. Every place I travelled had been in the universe I knew—it didn’t look or feel the same today, but the spot had always been there. Like Lennon, I could initiate travel by imagining a place or a time, but I’d always had a target. I clutched Rainey’s pillow, pretending her body was pressed against mine as I tried to imagine Gabriel’s world.
Something green made my eyes snap open. It wasn’t a vision—it was a scent. Earthy and fresh, and something I’d never smelled in Las Vegas.
I was surprised I fell asleep. With my head still pounding, I shuffled over to the window, and gasped.
Dirt and rocks had been replaced by green grass. Flowers dotted balconies and clustered near walkways. It was beautiful, but not sustainable. I turned back to see if anything had changed about my bedroom, and it was exactly as I left it, Rainey-free.
Tiptoeing through the apartment like I thought I heard an intruder, I searched for any clue that I wasn’t actually here. The scene outside the window stayed lush and alive. After finishing off the last of the lettuce tea Rainey had made me, I got my shit together and headed out to investigate.
It was hotter than balls out. I was sensitive to it, the fire screwed with my internal temperature. Since I dragged ass like I spent the night binge drinking, I wasn’t surprised the heat hit me harder than usual. A neighbor waved and said hello. She stopped to talk to me about the weather and other pointless stuff, and I had a hard time being friendly. My social skills were lacking, but even I knew that, “Gotta go, my girlfriend’s been abducted and WTF is up with all these pretty flowers,” wasn’t polite conversation.
Driving to the Strip seemed like the most natural thing to do. I was freaked out, and not sure if I was in the middle of one of my travels or not. The greenery continued but everything else was familiar. A few signs were different, and a couple buildings might have been missing. It was hard to tell. All the green threw me off. Usually it was stucco on dirt and everything melted into the desert.
Horns honked as I veered out of my lane to avoid hitting another car at the stoplight. Everything in my car jolted forward as I caught my breath. My car was on the grass, and I was pretty sure I took out a flowerbed. Last night it was a dirt lot. People got out of the cars, rushing toward me. They banged on the windows and I let out the scream that had been threatening to choke me ever since I woke up.
One of them pressed his face against the glass. “Are you all right?” he called to me.
Hell no, I wasn’t all right. I wanted to get out of there and go...I wasn’t sure where. At least get my car off the grass. I rolled down the window, heat bitch-slapping me in the face, half expecting to get carjacked or shot.
“Do you need us to call an ambulance?”
“Is your car working?”
“Can we help you?”
I scanned the faces of the crowd surrounding me. Every single one of them looked genuinely concerned and not one of them made a play for my purse in the passenger’s seat. Nobody recognized me either, which for once I was fine with. I motioned for them to back up so I could open the door. The fresh cut grass smell was here, too. I pointed at the giant hotel on the corner. The sign read Sahara, just like the street we stood on. “How long’s that been there?”
“The hotel?” someone asked. The intersection was as lively as ever, bustling with traffic and tourists and billboards I didn’t recognize. But I’d deal with that later. Not everything had to have my face on it. First, I had to figure out why the hell another hotel stood in the Alta Vista’s place.
“It’s been there since the 1950s.” A woman grabbed my arm and I flinched. “Are you lost?”
I shook my head. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what year it was, but these good Samaritans were freaking me out and it w
asn’t in my best interest to return the favor. “No. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
The crowd dispersed when I got back in the car, but they kept looking back at me, like they didn’t think I should be left alone. They were having the same problem with me that I was having with them. Everything seemed normal enough, but something was off. I glanced at my phone as I waited for the light to turn. The phone didn’t work. It actually made me feel better—I was travelling, and this was the first time I’d gone to the past since getting back my ability to time travel.
The Riviera was back, too. I’d never get over the horrors that happened in that building, so an unexpected glimpse of the unmistakable, rounded building felt like a kick in the gut. The pieces were falling into place, with the signs for old shows and dated cars. And so many flowers.
Maybe this was how I got Rainey back. I’d go back in time and atone for my sins.
I’d always been so careful not to change what I saw, because it created a domino effect. But the future could use a little rearranging.
The couple who waited for the elevator with me started chatting. I’d been alive a long time and I never remembered all this small talk. It was exhausting. They gave me a side eye when I squatted down to the newspaper box and wiped away the dirt that made the lettering on the paper behind the glass blurry. I squinted at the date on the newspaper, and couldn’t assume anything about my surroundings. Especially in 2003.
2003. That wasn’t so long ago. I racked my brain for obvious things that had changed as I shoved my phone into my purse. Working or not, it wasn’t habit to have it in hand yet.
And my fire. It was nothing more than a spark in 2003. It was possible that the ability to ignite had travelled with me, if I had any fire left in me after the show.
I followed the couple into the hotel, and politely refused an offer to have drinks. They were either being friendly or coming onto me.
I stopped short, mid-sentence when we reached the lobby. There were no slot machines or table games. Lights flashed, but they came from the ceiling, like the whole room was a stage—and it was. Beds spiraled around the room, and people were having sex on them.
The woman gave me a knowing smile. “Is this your first time here?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the bed directly in front of us. There were four or five bodies intertwined, fingers and tongues everywhere.
“Why else would you come to Vegas? Especially alone? That’s why we hoped you’d meet with us later.” She licked her lips, but she’d have to do better than that if she thought she’d get me on one of those beds.
“Welcome to Las Vegas, where the sun always shines and everyone is always fucking.” My new guy friend slapped his partner’s ass. But his attention was on me, like he was imagining what I’d taste like. “It’s okay if you don’t know anyone. You won’t be a stranger for long.”
“That’s not why—” I couldn’t risk blowing my cover. “Have fun. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
Every one of my senses was on overload as I circled the beds. Beautiful bodies doing things I’d only shared with the people I kept closest to me, the unmistakable scent of desire and conquest. This wasn’t history I was witnessing. No way. I had a feeling I held a key to what I was looking for, I just had to find the right door to open. Or in this case, the right bed.
For once I was the only one dressed. I wandered through the crowds, bumping into random naked bodies. A few tried to convince me to join them, going as far as crooking their finger or pulling my arm, but I resisted. Their shocked expressions told me they weren’t used to hearing the word no, and I had to be careful here. Play by their rules without breaking mine.
I never realized I could feel Rainey’s visions until the sensation followed me to this dimension. It wasn’t a coincidence I picked this hotel out of all the ones of the Strip. As I walked, the vibration got stronger, and I hoped it meant that Gabriel was near. I considered asking some of the people begging me to join them on their bed if they knew who he was, but chances were they had no idea who ran the show. Outside of the Immortal Dilemma fandom, very few people would know that an eighteen-year-old vampire called the shots in present-day Las Vegas.
The vibration was more reliable than vision. It occurred to me that Gabriel may have changed his appearance, casting a spell to make himself more attractive in our Realm. Possibly to be more attractive to me...
Unless he was trying to lure someone else.
“Excuse me,” a guard called to me. The vibration was like pins and needles, and it led me to a restricted area. “Do you have clearance to be here?”
I smiled at him like I just descended from my staircase on stage, wearing nothing but sparkles and feathers. His shoulders settled, and he returned the sentiment. I’d have to set the room on fire to get hauled out of here. After seeing what happened on those beds in the main area, some of them would probably be into fire play. I was in. “He’s expecting me.”
Gabriel may have gone by a different name here. I assumed nothing.
The guard nodded. “Enjoy.”
I stopped, leaning against the wall. The buzzing was overwhelming, interfering with my ability to think. Another wall of guards formed a human wall blocking the next entrance. Someone didn’t like to be on display, or he wanted to convince the rest of the room something extraordinary happened behind that wall.
Stumbling toward them, I expected much more resistance. If Gabriel was back there, I’d be on my hands and knees by the time I got to him.
“I’m here for him.” My words slurred, and I put my hand on the tense muscles of the guard’s arm for balance. My mouth watered, and the salty tang of sex overwhelmed me. I craved relief, no matter how it came. The guard gave me a once-over, and it occurred to me this feeling wasn’t special. I didn’t bring it with me from the world I knew. Instead, it was residue left from this visit.
He nodded and moved aside for me to squeeze past him. Our bodies brushed together, and everything was on point. I was succumbing to the lure of this Realm. If we locked gazes for a second longer, we would’ve been lost in a kiss. I couldn’t afford to lose anything else.
Gabriel was sprawled on the only bed in the room. Two women serviced him, taking turns swallowing his cock. That thing was enormous, and not in a good way. He could ruin his partner if he wasn’t careful. Everything about him was huge, from the ripple of his muscles to his fingers that pulled one of the women off so the other could have a turn. His blond hair splayed over the pillow, tickling his chest, which was also covered with a dusting of hair. The women were on either side of him—he could crush them with his muscled thighs. Not an inch of Gabriel had been wasted.
The rise and fall of his chest and the occasional gasp for air confirmed one thing—Gabriel wouldn’t survive in the vampire wasteland where he planned to abandon me. I’d found his Achilles heel. Now I had to find the motivation to rip him out of this Realm, back to the place where I had the advantage. He had the one thing we both wanted.
I didn’t give a flying fuck if I changed history. In fact, it was the best possible outcome. I couldn’t feel my knee when it fell to the mattress. The vibration rendered me numb this close to him. Gabriel watched with lazy amusement as I crawled over to him, which pissed me off.
The women on the bed gasped when I grabbed a fistful of Gabriel’s hair, wrenching his attention to me. Only me. Just how I liked it.
His only reaction was a smirk.
Rainey wasn’t here, and I didn’t have any time to waste with niceties. “Do you know who I am?”
Chapter Five
“Of course I do.” His hot gaze raked over my body, and I wished we were anywhere but on a bed. The guards had been easy going, but that would change if I slapped their leader across the face. And I really wanted to. “You’ve been on my radar for a very long time,” he said.
He’d been watching me ever since I was a little girl, just like my father did, waiting until I was an adult to make his first
move. Waiting until Cash was gone to strike. Both men were far too egotistical to get tangled in a rivalry with each other. Neither of them considered themselves capable of losing.
“Why?” I asked.
Gabriel held his hand up to the ladies in the middle of the bed. Until he did that, I’d forgotten about them. Which was quite a feat for him—to be so powerful, so all-encompassing that two women giving him a blow job all but disappeared. They protested as they crawled off the bed, but he shook his head and they were dismissed. He covered himself with a fluffy blanket. Everything in Gabriel’s Realm appealed to or assaulted the senses.
Now his attention was on me. “What do you think of the place?” He answered my question with a question. Gabriel was infuriating no matter what Realm he was in. “I didn’t expect you to find me here.”
“I want to go home.” Without a working knowledge of how he operated, I didn’t dare assume he knew anything. I wouldn’t ask for Rainey back; I’d take her when the time was right. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
“Before I tell you what my motivations are, I want to know yours.” He brought his hand to my chin. Since my only responsibility was to make it out of this Realm alive, I didn’t move away. Gabriel was rugged and fascinating, with hair the color of desert sand and sea glass eyes. Rough edges and extremes. Art that was meant to provoke instead of comfort. “You hold darkness and light inside you. They’ve never lived in harmony. One’s stronger than the other. You seek balance, but what you’re looking for is a lie.”
The last word punched me in the gut. “That’s true of anyone. Why do you care about me?”
“You have yet to come to grips with your darkness. You will, but it’s up to you if you do it before it’s too late.” He was so annoying. Yet I hung on every word. Not only because I had to, but because I wanted to. The vibration had calmed to a hum, threatening to lull me into a state where I’d agree to whatever he said. “The reason I care about you is because you have ties to two worlds. The one you choose will have the power.”
Queen of the Night Time World Page 3
