Vengeance (Night Roamers) Book Three (9 page)

“Yeah, but it’s
something
,” I said. “Sitting around here isn’t going to help. We’ve already established they’re not even in this hotel.”

“Unless that Maximus guy is lying to us,” replied Duncan.

“I don’t think he is,” said Ethan. “He has no reason to.”

“Why stick around if they aren’t here?” I replied. “I don’t understand.”

“Think about it; Celeste and Caleb know that I’m aware of this place because of Faye. I mean, I stayed here once with them, about five years ago. Obviously, they would have to believe we’d check it out.”

“Makes sense,” said Duncan.

“Of course it does. Plus, we have an advantage,” he replied.

“
How so?” I asked.

“We
know
we’re being hunted,” he replied. “And that’s why –”

“We let them come to us,”
finished Duncan. “Either Celeste will or she’ll send the Lycans.”

“I hope it’s Celeste,” I replied, clenching my fists as I thought about the way she was always goading me.
Now she’d hired someone to kill me? “I’d love to get my hands on her.”

Ethan sighed.
“Nikki, she’s pretty powerful. She’s been doing this vampire thing a lot longer than you, and I’ve seen how vicious she can be. I’d rather you let me handle Celeste.”

I didn’t say anything. I knew he was right, although
, I’d never seen her in action. Still, I wanted nothing more than to wipe that haughty grin from her face, the one she seemed to reserve only for me.

“I have to agree with Ethan,” said Duncan.
“I’ve seen Celeste’s strength back in Shore Lake. She’s nobody to mess with. Heck, I’m sure I’d have problems trying to handle her.”

“I think you’ve handled her enough already,” I blurted out.

“It was the other way around,” he said tightly.

“Back to matters at hand,” said Ethan, raising his voice. “Since t
hey’re specifically after you, Nikki, Duncan and I should lay low while you hang out in the open. We’ll keep an eye out, and if one of them approaches you, we’ll intercept and do some major interrogating. Find out what they know.”

“
Wait a second… what?” snorted Duncan. “How’d you come up with that idea?”

“
They won’t attack her. Not in a busy casino,” said Ethan. “They wouldn’t risk the attention.”

“Great,” I mumbled
, picturing a pack of Lycans surrounding me, slobbery drool dripping from their muzzles. “Basically, I’m going to be bait.”

“Don’t worry,” said Ethan, grabbing my hand
and squeezing it. “You’ll be safe. Trust me.”

“I guess we don’t have
any other choice,” I replied.

“Exactly,” said Ethan, releasing my hand. “Now, let’s
get you some coins and set you up at a machine.”

“
You know, don’t you think that will look a little odd? Me, playing the slots while my mom and brother are missing, and I’m supposed to be searching for them?”

Ethan shrugged. “We need you out in the open, what better place than the
machines? These mongrels won’t care what you’re doing. They’ll be too caught up in their bloodlust to think that hard.”

“
Thanks,” I replied dryly. “Nice way to pump me up for this.”

He chuckled. “Sorry.”

Duncan hit the elevator button. “I hope you know what you’re doing. I still think this plan sucks.”

“She’ll be fine. Do you really think I’d put Nikki in real danger if I
didn’t think we could handle it?”

“Considering how well you’
ve been handling things up until now?” he replied. “In the last few days, you’ve had the life sucked out of you by a shape-shifter and barely survived a gunshot wound. Frankly, I’m not sure if I really trust your judgment.”

“
You know, I don’t give a shit whether you do or not,” he snapped, and then turned to me, his eyes softening. “What about you? You trust me don’t you, Nik?”

“Of course.”

Ethan turned to Duncan and gave him a cocky grin. “See. She trusts me and obviously knows if anyone can protect her, it’s this guy,” he said, waving both of his thumbs towards his chest. “I guess you could say in this group,
I’m
the Alpha.”

Duncan snorted. “Unbelievable.”

“Don’t be a hater, Dunc,” said Ethan, getting into the elevator. “Tall, dark, and handsome always trumps guys like you.”

“Ethan, Duncan is
incredibly handsome, too.” I turned to Duncan. “Don’t listen to him.”

Duncan
shrugged. “Considering his charms are all fake, I take what he says with a grain of salt.”

“
You can believe what you want,” said Ethan, looking towards me, “but the end result appears to be in my favor, though, doesn’t it?”

“We haven’t reached the end,” replied Duncan, smiling coldly. “Don’t
go and jump the gun now.”

I rolled my eyes. These two were definitely getting on my nerves. “Please quit goading each other? You’re both driving me crazy.”

They didn’t say anything, just continued sizing each other up as the elevator went down. When we reached the bottom, the doors opened, and they followed me out towards the busy lobby.

“
So… what am I supposed to do?” I asked.

“Here,” said Ethan, pulling out his wallet. He took out a hundred dollar bill and handed it to me. “Get yourself some change
, and then find a machine. We’ll follow you around at a safe distance.”

“W
here
do
you get your money?” I asked, staring at the bill. He always had oodles of it, but I had no idea where it actually came from.

He smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve had many years to save. Just because I’m a vampire doesn’t mean I’ve never held a job.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t listen to him,” replied Duncan. “I’ll bet he’s stolen as many bills as he has lives.”

“I’ve never stolen money,” he replied.

I thought about our free upgraded suite he’d gotten for us
, which many people would label as stealing. I kept it to myself, however. I was sick of the fighting, and had other things to think about. Like staying alive and finding my family. I thought about the movies I’d watched and how vicious Lycans appeared on film. This was real life, though, and these creatures were obviously much more dangerous.

I shuddered.

“You okay?” asked Ethan, a tender look in his eyes.

“I
’m okay. Just nervous.”

He raised my chin with his finger. “You’ll be fine. I swear I’ll kill them with my bare hands before they harm you.”

I smiled. “I’m counting on it.”

He stepped back.
“Now, just try and act normal. We’ll hang out here for an hour, and then take a break,” he turned towards Duncan, who was frowning. “Obviously, grumpy here needs to feed.”

Duncan flipped him off.

I smiled and walked towards the entrance to the casino. When I stepped inside, I noticed that it was modest compared to some of the other casinos in Vegas, but still bustling with activity. After getting carded and charming the attendant into believing I was really twenty-one, I traded the bill in for smaller ones and glanced around the busy room. In no time, I found an open slot machine next to an elderly woman wearing a blue sun hat and cardigan. I sat down next to her and groaned inwardly. Her perfume, probably subtle to most people, was making me dizzy. I cursed my new sense of smell and hoped she’d be moving on quickly.

She smiled at me.
“Hello.”

I smiled back. “Hi.”

“You’re lucky. I was thinking about taking over that machine. Another gentleman lost a quite a few coins in it, earlier. It’s due to spit something out soon. You might just get lucky.”

“That would be nice,” I said, staring at the machine.
I’d never gambled before and I wasn’t exactly sure what to do.

“You can put coins in or bills,” said the older woman
, noticing my hesitation. “It gives you credits to wager and then you can decide how much you want to risk.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“First time in a casino?”

I smiled. “It’s that obvious?”

She laughed. “It’s okay. There are many people who have their cherry popped in Vegas. Both gambling and other things, if you get my drift.”

I giggled. “Yeah, I do.”

“I’m Hilda, by the way,” she said, holding out her hand.

I shook it. “I’m Nikki.”

“Your hand is cool,” she said. “You should bring a sweater with you next time. They have the air conditioning cranked in these places.”

“I will. Thank you.”

A redheaded cocktail waitress walked up to us and asked if we wanted something to drink. She reeked of cigarettes and vanilla. It was obvious to me that she wasn’t just passing out the drinks, either, as I could smell alcohol oozing out of her pores.

“No, thank you,” said Hilda. “I’m on too many medications.”

“
Oh, okay. What about you?” asked the waitress, her eyes slightly glossy.

“I’m good,” I replied
, trying not to gawk at her costume, which looked more like a piece of sequined lingerie.

The waitress lowered her voice. “A guy playing roulette wants to buy you a drink. He
’s the tall one with the shoulder-length brown hair, and white polo shirt. Kind of cute, if you ask me.”

I turned to look towards the roulette table and lo
cked eyes with the stranger, who looked like he was in his twenties and, just like she said, kind of cute.

He smiled and raised his
glass in salute.

Not wanting to give him any encouragement, I quickly looked away.

“Uh, tell him, thank you, but I’m good.”

“No problem,” said the waitress.
“To tell you the truth, he’s already purchased drinks for two gals earlier, so he’s definitely a player. I normally don’t give this information out, but guys like that just pull my chain.”

Hearing that
, I relaxed. Definitely not a Lycan searching for little old me.

“Thanks for the war
ning.”

“No problem,”
she replied, walking away.

“I heard,” said Hilda
, out of the corner of her mouth as she pulled the lever on her machine. “But you know, it is Vegas and I’m sure he’s just looking for some action. Hell, if I was forty years younger, I’d give it to him myself. He’s a hunk.”

I smiled. “Maybe
you
should buy
him
a drink. He might like older women.”

She chuckled
and waved her hand. “My cougar days are over, dear. I’m lucky if I can get my underwear on in the morning, let alone take them off only to scare the hell out of a good-looking guy like that.”

I
laughed and glanced around the casino, wondering where Ethan and Duncan were hiding. As my eyes took a second pass around the room, I noticed the guy who wanted to buy me a drink was no longer at the roulette table.

“Damn machine,” sighed Hilda. “Well, I’m done for the day.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” I replied. I had to admit, her grandmotherly presence had actually been comforting.

Hilda stood up and grabbed her cane. “I’ve allowed myself a daily losing limit of one-hundred dollars. Today I went over by fifty, so I’m leaving before I spend tomorrow’s money.”

“I don’t blame you.”

She patted me on the shoulder. “Good luck
, Nikki, and watch yourself. There are a lot of crooks out here in Vegas. A young girl like you shouldn’t be all by yourself, even in a busy casino like this. It’s dangerous.”

“
Oh, I’m fine. I have friends looking out for me,” I replied. “And really, I’m not as delicate as I may look.”

She smiled in amusement. “O
f course, dear.”

I knew she didn’t believe me. To her
, I probably looked like a petite, young woman, one who was barely over five-feet and probably looked like a gust of wind could knock her over. But, with this new and improved body, I was a force to be reckoned with. Whether or not I’d have the guts to do it again, was another story.

“
Thanks for the advice,” I replied.

“You’re welcome, Nikki. Good luck on that machine,” she said, walking away.

“Thanks.”

For the next half hour I played the slot machine, while watching out of the corner of my eye for anything
odd or suspicious. As I slid a five dollar bill into the machine, I caught another strong whiff of alcohol, and turned my head to find an older gentleman holding a drink, standing right next to me. From the way he was swaying, he was obviously tipsy.

He smiled widely.
“Winning anything?” 

“Uh, nope,” I answered,
trying not to gag. The guy seriously reeked.