by A. L. Larsen
“Think they killed each other?” I asked conversationally.
“Nah. I can hear them both breathing.”
“Vampire hearing never ceases to amaze me.”
We sat inertly for a while, before Joey stuck his fist out and shook it three times, then released his hand in the shape of some scissors. I joined in wordlessly, and we rock-paper-scissored away the next few minutes.
“You ever been to Las Vegas before?” Joey asked after a while, covering my balled up fist with the flat of his hand.
“No. You?” I shook my fist three times and made a rock again.
He made a rock as well, and bumped my fist with his. “Nope. Always wanted to come here, though. I wonder if I’ll be able to sneak in any fun while we’re here.”
“You have a burning desire to play the slots? Roulette? Poker?” I shook my fist and again made a rock.
He covered my hand with his imaginary piece of paper again and said, “You totally suck at rock paper scissors. You make a rock every time.”
“It’s too much effort to make anything else.” I was still completely exhausted.
“And no, to answer your question,” Joey said, again shaking his fist, “I don’t want to gamble. I’d love to go to M & M World, though.” We both made rocks again, and he again bumped my fist.
“If you know I’m going to make a rock each time, why do you only choose paper half the time? And what’s M & M World?”
“Because if I win every time, you’ll give up. And then I’ll be denied even this, the most feeble of all forms of entertainment.” His hand shot out in the form of paper again and covered my fist. “And M & M World is exactly what it sounds like. A world of M & M’s. Duh.” He shook his fist again.
“You know you don’t eat, right?” Another rock, another fist bump from Joey.
“Really? No, it slipped my mind.” I knew he was rolling his eyes even without looking at my best friend. “Can you imagine how it would smell, though? A whole building full of chocolate. It’d be almost as good as eating it.”
We heard the door to the suite open and close, and Bryn breezed into the hallway, wearing a big straw hat, sunglasses, the world’s tackiest Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts and maybe a dozen leis, all piled around his neck so high they rode up over his chin. When I looked closely at the shirt, it appeared for a moment that the volcanoes in the illustrations were actually exploding – so either I was going bonkers, or Bryn had bespelled his shirt. “Thought you were sleeping,” I said.
He was holding a hollowed out pineapple, brimming over with tropical flowers, and took a long drink from the straw protruding from the top of it before saying, “I was. Until I wasn’t. There’s a brilliant tiki bar downtown, clearly I had to go there. I just came back to change, and let those two out.” The door reappeared, and Bryn turned on his flip flop-wearing heel and waved over his shoulder as he took off down the hall.
The door swung open, and a disheveled Alastair came out into the hall. “Thanks a bloody lot, mate!” he called after Bryn.
I got to my feet and asked, “Did you hurt Athos?”
“No, he didn’t hurt me,” Athos said, appearing in the doorway. “And thanks for the vote of confidence.” He smiled a little, then winced at his split lip. He looked worse for wear than Alastair, his cheekbone bruised and his shirt ripped.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Did the two of you seriously just spend all night beating the crap out of each other?”
“Not all night,” Alastair said.
“We were pretty evenly matched, so it became clear after a while that beating each other up wasn’t going to get us anywhere,” Athos said, dabbing at his split lip with a fingertip.
“We weren’t evenly matched,” Alastair told him. “I was completely holding back.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Athos said, and Alastair grinned and took a playful swipe at him. They were bickering like brothers now, instead of fighting like enemies.
“I can’t believe it actually worked! You spend a few hours fighting, and now all is well between you two? Guys are so weird,” I said.
Bryn was back already, now dressed like a mafia don in a black-on-black-on-black suit, shirt and tie. His dark hair was slicked back, and he wore a pair of mirrored sunglasses. “Here’s what you need to know,” he said. “I sent out feelers for Jin. He’s definitely around this hotel somewhere, but has managed to obscure his trail. Just a matter of time before you find him, I’d imagine. As for the Order, I warded the entire perimeter of the Bellagio to keep them out. Soon as they realize that, they’ll know we’re here, but they won’t be able to do anything about it. As long as you don’t leave the hotel or its grounds, you won’t have to deal with them.” Bryn straightened his tie, which did not need straightening, before saying, “Right, I’m off. If you need me, call my cell and I’ll be back here in two shakes.”
He turned to go, but then remembered something else. Bryn pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket, grabbed Athos’ hand, and stuck the money in his palm. “You need to do some shopping, mate. Can’t have you going around looking like you were mauled by a bear. There are several shops downstairs, go buy yourself a few things. And for those of you that aren’t on a liquid diet, there are several excellent restaurants in the hotel as well. Just charge your meals back to the room.”
Athos tried to hand the money back as he said, “Thank you Bryn, but I can’t possibly accept—” and Bryn grinned, waved, and disappeared. “It’s still shocking that he can do that,” Athos murmured. He tried to give me the money next, saying, “Here Luna, maybe you can give this back to him when he returns.”
But I put my hands up in an ‘I surrender’ position. “Bryn doesn’t really take no for an answer, so just accept it. And he’s not wrong about you needing clothes. I’ll help you shop after we get some dinner if you want.”
“Come on, little brother. I think I have a shirt you can borrow so you have something to wear downstairs. Because Bryn’s right – you do look like you were mauled by a bear,” Alastair said with a grin.
“Little brother! I’m a good two inches taller than you,” Athos exclaimed.
“But more importantly, you’re only a hundred and fifty nine. I’ve got seventy years on you.” Alastair looked smug as he turned and went to find his luggage, and Athos sighed and trailed after him.
“Awesome,” Joey said, crossing his arms over his chest. “So now those two are buddy buddy. You and Alastair have a knack for letting untrustworthy people into your lives. First Augustine, and now that.”
“Athos is a good guy.”
“Yeah, of course. I mean, what’s a little drugging and kidnapping among friends?”
“And we never let Augustine into our lives. He just sort of wormed his way in.”
“Details.”
“Ok, showering now,” I said, stepping around Joey. “Why don’t you come to dinner with us? You and Alastair can play what’s-in-the-soup while Athos and I eat.”
I’d been kidding, but that’s exactly what Joey and Alastair did over dinner. They ordered a trio of soups off the menu of the far too swanky restaurant we somehow selected on the ground floor of the Bellagio, and proceeded to analyze every last ingredient while Athos and I ate our meal. Not surprisingly for a guy built like a tank, Athos ate like a ravenous wolverine, polishing off two entrees, three bread baskets, and each of the soups as Joey and Alastair finished their name-that-ingredient game.
When the meal was concluded, we went out into the lobby and scanned the crowd.
“Remember that Jin might have figured out how to make himself look older,” I said. “He wouldn’t be allowed to gamble if he still looks like he’s fifteen.” I’d texted Tyler, the warlock’s brother, and he’d sent me a photo of Jin, so we all knew who we were looking for. And he barely looked his age, let alone old enough to wander around unchecked in a casino.
“This hotel’s huge,” Joey said. “We should split up to cover more ground. First one to spot Jin wins a
trip to M & M World.” He smiled brightly.
“I’ll go with Athos,” I said. “He still needs to buy some clothes, and he probably won’t do that unless I make him. Afterwards we’ll search around the shops, maybe we’ll get lucky and run into Jin. While we’re doing that, maybe you two want to look around the casino. Because I’m thinking a fifteen year old warlock is doing one of two things in Vegas: winning money, or spending it.”
Joey said cheerfully, “Then when that all fails miserably, we can try to get kicked out of the hotel by breaking into the high roller suites.” And he and Alastair headed off toward the casino.
Trying to get Athos to shop was like trying to stuff a grizzly into a tutu – which is to say, he was a tad reluctant. Finally, he gave in to my relentless pestering and selected two pairs of jeans, some socks and two white t-shirts from the least pretentious men’s store we could find among the hotel’s shops. He actually blushed when he picked up a couple boxers, and tried to hide them from me under the pile of clothes on the checkout counter. “It’s ok if I know you wear underwear, Athos,” I grinned, and his blushed deepened.
As we paid for the clothes, Athos thrust the rest of the money into my hand. “Seriously, make Bryn take this back. I counted it, there’s over fifteen hundred dollars here, and that’s just crazy. Please? I already feel guilty that I’m letting him pay for my clothes, lodging and food.”
“No can do. Never question a warlock. That’s my piece of advice for you. If he insists on being way over-the-top generous, let him,” I said with mock-seriousness as I handed the money back to him, and Athos knit his thick brows at me.
The store clerk handed Athos his change, which he pocketed with a sigh, and we went out into the shopping concourse, deposited ourselves on a bench and watched the crowds.
After several minutes, Athos asked, “Is this really the plan?”
“Do you have a better one?”
“Let’s walk around. That way we’ll feel like we’re doing something, at least.” He scooped up his shopping bag, and for the next hour or so we did several laps around the shops, the lobby, and the pool area.
Eventually, one of our laps through the lobby led us to Alastair and Joey. They were sitting on a light colored leather sofa, facing the main entrance to the hotel. Athos and I took up positions with them, and we all sat and stared at the wall of doors.
“And now this is the plan?” Athos asked after a while.
“Pretty much,” Alastair said, scooping up my hand and holding it in both of his.
“And when you spot this warlock, then what?” Athos asked.
“We’re going to ask him politely to remove the spell he cast on me,” Alastair said.
“And when that fails, we’re gonna beat up the little nug and make him reverse the spell,” Joey added.
Alastair sighed and said, “He’s extremely powerful. Remember when he almost knocked Bryn’s house down? We can’t actually make him do anything. So our only hope is to reason with him.”
“I would suggest trying to buy him off,” I said, “but I’m guessing a powerful warlock in Las Vegas has already gotten himself more money than he can spend in this lifetime.”
“Probably,” Joey agreed.
Bryn swerved though the main entrance to the hotel, and rolled his eyes when he saw us. “Really? Is that the plan?” he asked.
“It is. Why did you change your clothes?” I asked him. He was now wearing an oversize ‘I Love Las Vegas’ t-shirt, swim trunks, and lime green Keds.
“The suit met with an unfortunate accident.” He grinned at me, his eyelids half closed.
“Exactly how drunk are you right now?” I asked him.
“Half as much as I’ll be later tonight. Good luck with the plan, mates. I need to go change. Bye-ee!” And he proceeded in a not quite straight line to the elevators. When one of the elevator doors opened, he sort of spun himself inside.
“We really should be keeping an eye on him,” Alastair said.
I spotted Augustine entering the lobby just then, wearing what I could only imagine was meant to be a disguise. He had on a black fedora, sunglasses, and a black trench coat with the collar turned up, and he was so focused on rushing to the elevators after Bryn that he didn’t seem to notice us sitting there. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing and glanced at my companions, who’d somehow failed to notice him, and said, “I’m going to run up to the suites for a minute. Be right back.”
I strolled over to the elevators, still pretending not to notice Augustine, who by now had spotted me and was doing a hilarious job of trying to casually cover the lower half of his face with his hand. He and I got on the same elevator along with several other people, and he tried to position himself as far from me as possible in the small space.
Floor by floor the elevator emptied, and finally it was just him and me riding up to the top of the hotel. A minute before the doors opened, I spun at him and yelled, “Boo!”
His reaction was priceless. He screamed and jumped back like he’d seen a mouse, and I almost fell over laughing. When I could finally speak again, I said, “Awesome disguise, Augustine. All you need is a newspaper with a square cut out of it for you to peek through.”
The doors slid open and we stepped out into the quiet hallway. “How’d you know it was me?” he asked, looking fairly mortified.
“Gee, I dunno. Because that’s the worst disguise ever?”
“Does Bryn know I’m here?”
“Of course. Bryn knows everything.”
Augustine sighed and pulled off the sunglasses. “You probably won’t believe me, but I really am just trying to look out for him. I think he’s already drunk the equivalent of his body weight in alcohol since he’s been here, and—”
“I’m actually glad you’re here,” I interrupted. “He needs someone looking out for him. And you seem to legitimately care about him, so keep doing what you’re doing.”
“If you’re ok with me being here, why did you follow me upstairs?”
“To make fun of you for having the most clichéd disguise ever,” I said with a grin, hitting the elevator button.
Augustine smiled a little. And then he said, “By the way, there are a couple members of the Order sniffing around outside the hotel. Alastair knows that, right?”
“He does. We’ve got the situation under control. Wait though, how’d you get past them? They must know you’re a vampire, even with that awesome disguise. Don’t most supernaturals identify people by scent?”
“Of course they do, but I used spell to obscure my scent. It’s a bad time to be a vampire in Vegas.”
“Because of a few Order dorks? They can’t be that tough.”
Augustine knit his brows at me. “Do you seriously not know what else is going on out there?”
“Um…drinking? Partying? People getting married by Elvis impersonators?”
“And, the annual meeting of the Alliance.”
“So, the Alliance is what, exactly?”
“It’s a yearly summit with almost every vampire hunter in North America, usually held at the Luxor, for whatever reason. And every year, it also draws hundreds of vampires looking to take out the hunters.”
“Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack, Lu. And you know the one thing both those groups have in common.”
He and I spoke in unison. “They all want to kill Alastair.”
Chapter Twelve
“That’s awesome. Because we needed more bad stuff happening right now!” I exclaimed. “And why didn’t you warn us the summit was happening this weekend? We could have come some other time!”
“I didn’t know until I got here. The Alliance moves the date around every year and doesn’t actually send announcements out to the vampire community. The local vampires figure it out when they start seeing Alliance members around town, and then they put the word out. It always ends up as quite a bloodbath, from what I’ve heard.”
“That’s really special,” I said, cr
ossing my arms over my chest. “So how do you propose we keep Alastair safe with his fan club assembled?”
“Just don’t let him leave the hotel. The spell Bryn cast is pretty broad, it keeps out anyone that would want to harm Alastair. If any hostile vampires or vampire hunters try to enter this place, they’ll bounce right off the barrier like a dumb pigeon off a screen door.”
“Wait, how did you get in if that’s the spell?”
Augustine rolled his eyes and held the elevator door for me when it opened. “Tells you a little something about my intentions, doesn’t it?”
I stepped onto the elevator and watched him with a raised eyebrow as the door slid shut.
My companions were right where I left them. “Hey guys, guess what?” I said as I flopped down on the couch. “We timed this trip perfectly to coincide with the annual Let’s Kill Alastair Convention at the Luxor.”
“With the what?” Alastair asked.
“There’s a summit here this weekend with pretty much all the vampire hunters on the continent, and that brings in tons of vampires that want to kill them in turn,” I explained. “And, of course, all of them want to kill you. Neat, huh?”
“That’s special,” Joey muttered.
“They apparently can’t get past Bryn’s spell, though. So Allie, you’re under house arrest,” I said.
“Why didn’t Bryn tell us this when he saw us a minute ago?” Alastair wanted to know.
“I don’t think Bryn knows. Augustine told me. He followed Bryn to Las Vegas and is keeping an eye on him,” I said. Joey started to protest, but I held my hand up and said, “Yeah, I know. Untrustworthy, yadda yadda yadda. You know what? He really is looking out for Bryn, so go ahead and skip the rant.”
Speaking of Bryn, he returned to the lobby now in full pirate regalia. “Hey, Captain Hook,” I said. “What’re you up to?”