by Debra Dunbar
Before I could reply, an out-of-breath woman dashed through the bar to my side, obviously awaiting my attention. I turned and looked at her obligingly. This must be that casino manager who everyone had been insisting I meet.
“Baal, we welcome you here,” she gasped. I wonder how far she’d run to make sure I didn’t disappear before she managed to finally speak with me. “My name is Kelly and I manage the casino. I’d like to introduce you to Mario who will be your liaison during your stay.”
Mario must not run as fast, since he hadn’t yet arrived. I wondered if he looked like the video game Mario. Kelly did not look like a video game character. She was a vampire, not as young as Scott the bartender, but not old enough to be putting out any kind of power signature. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, although with vampires it was impossible to tell. She was tiny. Barely over five feet and slight of frame, probably a hundred pounds max. She looked to be of Mediterranean descent. Her skin tone light, her eyes as dark as her hair, her face an adorable heart shape with high cheekbones and a tiny, pert, turned-up nose. All her features pointed toward a fragile, delicate woman, but the way she carried herself, the authority in her every movement, spoke otherwise. This was a woman who’d had to fight a stereotype every step of the way to be taken seriously. Maybe because of that her emotions were closer to the surface, covered by only a thin crust of polite distance, as opposed to the miles of concrete that surrounded the other vampires I’d met. Besides Scott, that is.
“If there is anything you need, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to let Mario or me know. Mario will always be at hand to serve you, and I’ll give you my cell phone number in case you need to reach me directly.”
I realized that Mario was going to be my minder. He’d make sure I didn’t cause too much trouble, steer me in the appropriate direction, let the higher-ups know if I was getting out of hand. I wondered if they did this with all the demons, or if Kyle had ratted me out as particularly troublesome.
“Your meeting with The Master is scheduled for Sunday morning. We have a hunt scheduled for you Saturday night. I have several targets for you to choose from, and I took the liberty of noting their schedules for that night so that you may save time and effort in locating your chosen prey.”
Ahhh. My meeting right after the hunt. That way I don’t get so carried away killing things that I run out of control. I’d have a tight time window to keep to. If I got over excited and missed my meeting, well then I’d certainly not be granted another. They’d been told I was under pressure to deliver this thing, so this schedule would assure I’d keep my killing within parameters. I’d be willing to bet Kelly wouldn’t even discuss potential prey until tomorrow, just in case I was tempted to start early. Plus, they’d scoped out the schedules of the victims to keep me from enlarging my kill numbers as I looked for them. Very smart folk, these vampires.
“I’m afraid we’re still nailing down those schedules, so I won’t be able to discuss the potential prey until late tomorrow afternoon,” she apologized. Just as I’d thought. “I can offer you several choices of entertainment for tonight and tomorrow though. Perhaps you would like a snack?” She said this with a significant look. Not this again. I assumed I needed to guess what the fuck she meant.
“Snack like burger bites?” I asked. “Or snack like something bipedal that would scream a lot and beg for mercy?”
“The latter.” She smiled, as if she’d just offered me a pretzel. “I was told that you brought a human toy for enjoyment, but I thought perhaps you might like something additional? I’m assuming you may have already used up the one you brought with you.”
Sheesh, these vampires were worse than we were.
“Wyatt is my companion, my most favored human. He’s not a toy. I don’t intend to break him or use him up. He’s going to be occupied with the gaming tournament for most of the weekend, so I’ll probably do the tourist thing, gamble a bit, see if I can find The Donald and Own him.”
A brief look of frustration crossed Kelly’s face. I’m sure she would have preferred I locked myself in my room and devoured humans for the weekend. If I was out and about, Mario would have his hands full keeping me in line. Too bad.
“I don’t believe Mr. Trump is in town. Mario will be thrilled to show you the highlights of Atlantic City and our fair casino though.”
Yeah, I bet he’d be thrilled. Hope they were paying this guy a lot of money.
“So you’re in charge of this whole resort? Impressive.” I thought I’d butter her up a bit and see if I could get any useful information from her. It worked. She practically glowed with pride.
“Oh no. I report directly to the General Manager though. I’m in charge of the Casino and the VIP services. Stephen is in charge of the hotel, dining, and facilities. With VIP guests such as yourself, I have primary responsibility for their entire experience.”
She said this with a smug look lurking under the polite, generic smile, indicating that this function put her a notch above Stephen in the chain of command. We demons understand the importance of these little things, since knowing where you stood in a hierarchy was a big part of our lives. It was either a big part of vampire lives too, or Kelly just had an axe to grind with Stephen and liked rubbing his nose in the fact that she was a smidgen more important. I nodded and looked at her as if her status pleased me.
“Can you let me know if there are any other demons in the resort, and where their current locations are?” If she’d tell me, it would save me time. I didn’t really feel like spending the afternoon combing the resort looking for Haagenti’s goons.
Kelly looked suspicious. I knew she was well aware of every “VIP” in her resort and probably had minders tracking their every breath. I could see her wondering why I wanted this information and if it would be detrimental to her if she gave it to me. We don’t usually work in groups, so it wasn’t likely that I’d gather a posse and trash the casino. Still, I’m sure she was wary of my intentions.
“There are three,” she said grudgingly. “Two are in male form, the other in female form. They don’t appear to be together. One male is currently at the spa getting a pedicure, of all things. The female is at the ten dollar blackjack table, although she is making some noise about being hungry. The other is in his room. He is scheduled to leave tonight.”
Wow. I was really liking this Kelly woman. She was obviously stretched thin with four of us here at one time, but still knew exactly where we each were.
“You’re good,” I told her, not shy about giving praise when it was due. “Why did it take you so long to track me down? You should have had a tag in my ear the moment I stepped through the doorway.”
I could see the aloof mask getting thinner.
“We didn’t expect you so early. In our experience, demons usually don’t get up before noon, and we knew you had a good drive to get here. After you got here, none of us seemed to be able to identify you easily. The reservations desk had only a vague description.”
She paused and her eyes ran over me in admiration.
“You have the most convincing human form I’ve ever seen. You don’t leak energy. Even your actions are those of a human. If you hadn’t used your room key to pay for your drink, you would probably still be wandering around here unnoticed, until you started counting cards at blackjack or manipulating the roulette wheel, that is.”
“Or exploding glasses of vodka while trying to freeze them,” I added. I was sure she’d heard about the fracas at Bang.
She couldn’t hide a quick grin, and the mask evaporated.
“I know the most successful predators are those that blend in, appear other than what they are, but….” She paused, deciding how to phrase her question. “But does it bother you when others underestimate you, think you’re just a weak human?”
This was clearly something she experienced all the time. And it bothered her.
“It’s a decision you have to make,” I told her honestly. “Personally, I like to say ‘fuck it.�
�� Let them underestimate me. Means they’re more surprised when I drive a pike through their face.”
Kelly looked doubtful. “But don’t you demons put huge stock in your place in the hierarchy? If you’re underestimated, doesn’t that affect your rank?”
I shrugged. “Yes, but I don’t really care.”
“Doesn’t it hurt your pride? Isn’t it insulting when someone thinks you’re a nobody, thinks you’re not worthy of respect?” she asked.
Like when someone thinks you’re an insignificant, worthless cockroach. I winced. It had never bothered me before, but I was starting to care what that stupid angel thought about me.
“Pride has a terrible price,” I told her. “People with pride are so easy to defeat. They never see it coming. A little cockroach takes down the mighty giant. Of course, it’s best to make it look like a fluke, an accident, and run and hide as quickly as you can.”
Kelly looked doubtful. “But then no one knows you’ve done it. They still won’t respect you. How can you advance, live up to your potential, and take your rightful place in the world if you hide in the woodwork like a cockroach?”
I was feeling really uncomfortable with her logic. All this talk of respect was bullshit. She wasn’t getting my point here.
“There’s a reason pride is a sin,” I told her. “The inner strength you feel is deceptive. It actually creates enormous vulnerability, sets you up for a fall of your own making.”
I made a quick decision. Heck, it worked with the gate guardian in Columbia, might work with vampires, too.
“I’d really like it if you’d join me for dinner. Wyatt will be busy with his gaming friends, and eating alone is boring. You do eat, don’t you? You guys consume more than blood, right?” I hoped so, otherwise it might be an awkward dinner.
She looked surprised and a little nervous. “Yes, I eat solid food. I actually eat a lot. Very fast metabolism, you see.”
I smiled. “Why don’t you pick the place, make the reservations, since you know the restaurants. I’ll put myself in your capable hands. Mario can let me know when and where.” I pointed to a large, bouncer-looking man with a Bluetooth prominently attached to one ear. “I assume that’s Mario.”
Kelly nodded and gestured the man over. Mario most definitely did not look like the video game Mario. He was a vampire, a huge black guy with a shaved head and not a bushy mustache in sight.
“Mario, this is our honored guest. Please ensure she enjoys her visit by being attentive to her every need.”
“Call me Sam,” I told him.
“Of course, Baal.” I got the feeling that he would never call me Sam.
“All righty then. Come on Mario, let’s go get ourselves a pedicure.” I said, gesturing for him to lead the way toward the day spa and demon number one.
The demon was picking out pink nail polish. Idiot. I watched him a few seconds to see if I could determine who he was. He wasn’t leaking quite as much power as most, so it took me a moment. Finally, I realized with a sinking heart that it was Sobronoy.
Sobronoy is a hit-man. For a fee, he’ll knock down the targeted demon and numb them physically, confusing their thoughts enough to incapacitate them, and deliver them to whoever paid him for the job. He was good. It was looking like I would soon be up close and personal with Haagenti.
I walked up to him and handed him some blue polish. “Here. Pink is so last year.”
He tensed, finally realizing who I was, and turned to fix me with a cold gaze.
“Nice form.” His eyes moved slowly down to my feet and back up. “Should be great fun to peel the flesh off you one strip at a time. Maybe Haagenti will let me watch.”
I felt slightly ill. This wasn’t going to be the enjoyable kind of torture.
“You better hope you get this thing, and that you have the good sense to turn it over to Haagenti. Maybe he’ll be so pleased with the object that he’ll take it easy on you. Otherwise you’re going to be in for a difficult couple of centuries. Either way, you’re not leaving this casino on Sunday, so you better get your affairs in order.”
There wasn’t a gate within a hundred miles of the casino, so his comment could only mean one thing. He had a button. The thought chilled me even further. Buttons were created by the elves, and sold by them at substantial cost. Haagenti wanted to ensure my return enough that he’d bought one, or possibly more, and given them to his staff. All Sobronoy had to do was grab me, activate the portable gate, and we’d probably be standing right in front of Haagenti. Damn.
“Either way, I’m trying to ensure you don’t make a terrible fashion mistake.” I pushed the blue polish into his hand. “I’m not going home accompanied by a demon wearing pink polish.”
I turned and strolled out of the spa. I was good until Sunday. Not sure what I intended to do from that point on though.
“Where is the other one?” I asked Mario.
He spoke quietly, little more than a whisper into his tiny headset.
“Dice.”
We walked over toward the dice table and I saw her right away. She was around my level, although her form was somewhat odd with too-thin, bent legs and a nose that looked more like a beak. She had a huge platter of calamari, and her vampire minder was desperately trying to keep her from placing it on the felt of the game table. Maybe she would have played better betting calamari rings. She certainly couldn’t do worse from the ever-decreasing pile of chips by her side. Demons are usually very good at gambling. We can count cards with the skill of a computer, run the odds, and, when that fails, weight the dice slightly or rig the slot machine. She must not have understood the game rules to be losing so badly. That or she was distracted by the calamari.
I strolled up beside her, took a piece of calamari and ate it, not looking directly at her. She stiffened, recognizing me, and then looked down at the fried squid. I took another piece and ate it, licking my fingers. Mario made a strangled noise, and I could feel him tense. No doubt he thought walking up to some unknown being and eating their food uninvited was picking a fight. Not with demons. Stealing food, especially in this blatant way, was a social thing. Stealing anything else would result in immediate retaliation, but not food.
“Are you enjoying your vacation?” She offered me more of the calamari. Mario’s eyes widened and he released the breath he’d been holding for far too long.
She was Labisi, I finally realized. It took me a while since Labisi didn’t normally go in female form. She was one of Amaimon’s servants. I wondered if Haagenti had borrowed her or if he’d been owed a service. He and Amaimon were in the same peer group.
“Yes.” I took another calamari ring. “Although I assume by your and Sobronoy’s presence that my vacation is coming to an end.” A nasty, bloody end, probably.
She smiled cruelly, eating a couple of the rings herself and wiping her hands on the table felt, much to the annoyance of her minder and the dealer.
“Yes, I’m here as back-up. Although given Sobronoy’s reputation, I doubt my services will be needed.”
Lovely. Labisi wasn’t as good of a retriever as Sobronoy, but she was still formidable.
“My meeting isn’t until Sunday. Hopefully I’ll get the artifact and Haagenti will be less pissed off at me when you guys reel me in.”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. I’m enjoying myself, and I get paid whether Sobronoy brings you in or I do.”
I nodded, and stuffing another calamari ring into my mouth, walked away. Mario followed me closely, even as I left the casino and headed up to my room. I needed to think and plan before my dinner with Kelly.
The third demon was waiting for me by my door. Mario stood attentively by the elevator and watched as I approached the guy. This one I didn’t recognize.
“Let me guess. You have a witty speech about how doomed I am, and how the moment this meeting is over you’re going to snatch me and present me with a bow to Haagenti for my well-deserved punishment.”
He was amused. “No, I’m here to ma
ke you an offer.”
I looked at him with suspicion.
“The offer from Ahriman still stands,” he said. “One word and all this goes away.”
Ahriman. The breeding contract. Gregory would fucking kill me if I accepted that offer.
“Why me?” I asked him. “Wasn’t Ahriman alive during the wars? He’s ancient, powerful. What would he want with a troublesome imp?”
“He finds you interesting. You are the first thing since the war to jolt him from boredom. He thinks you will contribute to amazing offspring, that you will be an enjoyable partner.”
I stared at him in amazement. “Does he know that I take? That I devour?”
Bad things happened when demons got their personal energy too close to mine. I hoped I’d be able to breed without killing a demon, but I’d begun to wonder. If I’d really snatched part of Gregory and kept it, a powerful angel, what would I do to a demon? Even one as strong as Ahriman.
“Ahriman finds that an admirable trait in a partner.”
I stood for a moment, considering that statement.
“I’m rather occupied right now.” I repeated what I’d said to the elf’s messenger. “I will consider the offer though.”
He nodded. “He is ready to assist if you need.”
The demon turned and left as I went into my room and shut the door firmly behind me. That elf lord, and now Ahriman. Offers of protection with strings attached all around me. I wondered if Gregory would show up with a similar offer. Something inside me lurched a bit at the thought. It would never happen though. He’d probably be happy if Haagenti took me off his hands. He’d probably think I deserved the punishment. He’d probably laugh at the whole situation.
Chapter 20
I was surprised to be meeting Kelly that night in one of the resort’s Italian restaurants.
“Really?” I asked once we’d ordered. “I thought you guys didn’t do the garlic thing.”
We’d decided on a basket of garlic bread, and angel-hair pasta with clams and some butter-white wine-garlic sauce. Poor Wyatt wouldn’t want to be within five miles of me tonight.
