by S. L. Baum
“Anything?” I asked as we stepped out into the night air.
“Burke and Delilah unquestionably paid a visit to that office earlier this evening,” Eve stated. “The young man helping you two with your license was definitely dazzled by Dee. His mind keeps replaying a scene with her laughing at some silly joke he told them, then Delilah brushing the hair out of her eyes. And he can’t stop thinking about her touching his hand. It was actually kind of creepy going through Lawrence’s memories.”
“How long ago?” I asked.
“About an hour, maybe a bit more,” she answered.
Link drummed his fingers on his leg. It was a tick that he was starting to display when he was thinking about his next move. “Did they talk to anyone about where they were staying or maybe where they planned to tie the knot?” he asked.
“Lawrence barely paid attention to her prattling on about her whirlwind romance and windfall of money. He was deeply jealous of Burke. He even pictured himself up at the altar with Dee. His mind is full of the image of her, but there were no actual words. A hotel starting with the letter M was all I could pull out of his muddled head. Sorry,” Eve shrugged.
“Well that’s better than nothing. How many M’s are there?” I wondered.
“Four or five, on The Strip, I think,” Link answered, fingers still tapping.
“She will stay at a big name hotel on The Strip. That you can be sure of,” I said, and pulled out my phone to call Catherine once again.
After repeating all of Eve’s findings, we decided that Catherine should get in touch with Elizabeth and ask for her help. Eve, Link, and I would get Summer from the airport and then we would all meet back at our hotel. Then we’d come up with a plan of attack. The tricky part was going to be keeping Summer occupied and out of ear shot, as we talked about which of our skills needed to be utilized in the finding of my two bratty friends!
“This is friggin’ trippy, Emily,” Summer stared at me with wide eyes, as the yellow taxi cab pulled out of the airport.
I had just filled her in on a few of the details we had gathered, leaving out our collection methods.
“Which part?” I laughed.
“The whole thing!” she exclaimed. “I am in Las Vegas, searching for my iDot friends, who ran away to get married, with my other friends, who were already here to get married. What are the odds?”
“iDot?” Eve looked at me for clarification.
“Idiot,” I answered her.
“Hmmm, that one’s new,” Eve shrugged.
“I called Dee’s mom again, right when we landed, and she said that she called the credit card company again and someone told her they couldn’t verify any other usage on Dee’s card until the morning. Their system is having some maintenance issues and there was a glitch. They told her that she should check back in a few hours. Las Vegas is a pretty big city. How are we ever gonna find them in time?” Summer worried.
“We’ll find them,” Link assured her, “and then we’ll get you back home soon.”
“Hey, don’t hurry on my account. This is proving to be one of my most interesting weeks ever,” Summer smiled at me. “You look hot, by the way. When you are all dressed up this way you seem... kinda older.”
“Thanks, I guess I clean up well,” I ran my hand through my hair nervously and turned my head.
We are all here and waiting. Meet us in James and Catherine’s room, Marcus broadcast a message. Link, Eve and I nodded our heads at the same time, the moment we received it.
“What?” my perceptive friend asked, taking note of our simultaneous motion.
“Nothing,” I shook my head.
“Wow, Emily! These lights are amazing. This is my first trip to Las Vegas. Crazy! So, where to now?” she asked.
“We are going to meet my aunt and uncle back at our hotel. Have you heard anything else from Delilah, or Burke, or even Rusty?”
“Not a word,” she sighed and leaned back in the seat. She closed her eyes and yawned. “I just need to keep my eyes closed for a minute or two.”
“No problem. Rest,” Link told her.
“Thanks, Link,” Summer yawned again.
Summer’s head lolled to the side and she quickly fell asleep. I guessed the stress of the trip had caught up with her. She stayed that way for the duration of our cab ride back to the hotel. I whispered back and forth with Link and Eve, trying to figure out which “M” hotel Delilah and Burke were staying at. We would have to team up and spread out after we regrouped. I was exhausted just thinking about it.
I hated having to rouse Summer as the taxi pulled up to the curb. Thankfully, she merely blinked her eyes a few times and bounced out of the backseat. A few minutes later we walked through the door of James’s hotel suite, where three Immortals, four Witches, one Shifter, one tri-bred, and a mortal had gathered.
“You’ve arrived safely,” James said, and he gave Summer a hug. “Please do call your mother and let her know that you are here with me. I think that will put her mind at ease.”
“You’re right Dr. Johnston. She’s probably still freakin’,” Summer agreed. She sat on the couch and fished her cell phone out of her bag.
“It’s going to be too hard to talk about this without her overhearing,” Marcus whispered when Summer started talking to her mother. “Eve, can you block the sound?”
“I could use my sound blocking, but without exterior noise and with her being this close to us, she’d know something was wrong,” Eve said.
“It would be very similar with my sound bubble,” Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll just put her to sleep.”
Elizabeth waved her hand behind her back, in Summer’s direction. Summer’s mouth almost instantly opened and a huge yawn escaped her lips.
“Gosh, I’m pretty tired Mom,” she spoke through a second yawn and her whole body collapsed on the couch. The phone she was holding dropped from her hand and hit the carpet with a bounce.
I grabbed the phone. “Summer... Summer?” Mrs. Paxton’s voice could be heard.
“Ummm this is Emily, Mrs. Paxton. You are never gonna believe this, but Summer just completely passed out on the couch. She musta been totally exhausted. I’ll have her call you first thing in the morning. I promise,” I assured her mother, using my best teenager voice, then hung up before Nurse Paxton could say another word.
“Elizabeth! You could have let her finish talking to her mother,” Catherine shook her head.
“Hmmm, I guess I could have. I did allow her to finish her sentence. I didn’t have to. What’s done is done. I’m beginning to question why I agreed to help you find some spoiled mortal teens. Just... let’s get through this as swiftly as possible,” Elizabeth sighed. “This is not my idea of a fun night.”
Summer started to snore.
“Side effect. I always seem to evoke too deep of a sleep. Block that,” Elizabeth turned to Eve.
“Why me? You just said you could do a sound bubble. Put one around her. Block it yourself.” Eve raised her eyebrows at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth closed her eyes, balling her hands into fists at her side. She then opened her hands, palms up, and pushed the invisible bubble, away from herself and toward my sleeping friend. I felt the static charge as it moved through the room. “Done,” she smirked back at Eve.
The sound of the snoring stopped. Although Summer’s mouth still hung slightly open and I could see her chest shudder just a little with each breath, the noise had completely vanished.
Cozmo took a step forward and laid a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “Darling I see your powers have grown exponentially. What else do you have in your bag of tricks?” he asked. “If anyone knows that helping the mortals is a bore, it’s me. But if we all could just help Charity with this little problem of hers, then we can all get back to having our own bit of fun.”
“I’m doing this because Catherine requested my assistance, and for no other reason.” Elizabeth looked me in the eye as she spoke. Grudge holder.
�
�And we thank you for it,” Catherine smiled.
“It’ll take us too long to talk about all of this. Just come over here, Eve and Charity. Place your hands on my shoulders.”
Cozmo took a step back, as Eve and I stepped forward. I felt a jolt of current pass through my fingertips, at the exact moment my hand rested on the fabric of Elizabeth’s jacket. Physical contact, not necessarily skin contact, was the best way for Elizabeth to absorb all of the minute details, in the shortest amount of time.
Elizabeth closed her eyes again, this time scanning our minds. “Well, at least their location won’t be a challenge,” she said, when she blinked her eyes open again. “You didn’t pay enough attention to ‘ol Larry at the Courthouse, Eve. I thought your skills were more fine tuned than that. I glimmered a flash of hotel recognition. I’ll summon my driver. We can all fit into my limousine for the ride over. I’ll question someone in concierge, and we’ll go from there.” She glared over at the couch, where Summer lay in her Witch induced sleep bubble. “Can we leave that here? Or do I need to wake it up?”
James immediately answered, “I’m afraid you’ll need to release her from her slumber. She’ll need to have a memory of this night.”
“I could just implant one,” Elizabeth countered.
“I would be more comfortable with an actual memory. I work with the girl’s mother. I am accountable for her.”
“As you wish,” Elizabeth shrugged and blew out a breath of air in Summer’s direction, which burst the sound bubble.
Summer gave a small quick snort and then slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the room and hurriedly brought herself back up to a sitting position. A deeply confused expression appeared upon her face.
“Well, that’s just embarrassing. I was talking to my mom and then I felt myself slipping away. I totally just passed out. Didn’t I?” Summer looked to me for answers.
“Yeah, you kinda did,” I nodded.
“I took a power nap in the taxi and then I pass out here. I really didn’t think I was that tired! How long was I out?”
“Not very long,” Link assured her.
Summer was staring intently at Elizabeth. I realized that she had been put to sleep before any proper introductions had been made, so I sat down on the couch beside her and gestured to the only two people in the room that she had never seen before. “I never got to introduce Elizabeth. She is a friend of Aunt Rachel’s. And I know you met Cozmo once in Telluride... well this is his girlfriend, Lizabelle.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Summer said through a yawn.
“It’s nice to meet you too.” Lizabelle smiled and gave her a small wave.
Elizabeth walked across the room and stood by the door. “Let’s get moving.”
“Where are we going?” Summer blinked in surprise.
“I’ll explain on the way,” I said, stood from the couch, and reached out my hand to help her up.
****
chapter seven
NIGHT AND DAY
“They’re on the twentieth floor,” Elizabeth said, walking back to the spot where we all stood in the casino lobby. She turned her head, looking over her shoulder, and continued speaking. “Daniel, back there, was very helpful.”
I didn’t know what she had done, after she had insisted on visiting the concierge desk alone, but apparently she was able to get the information we needed out of Daniel. The poor guy just stood there, behind his computer at the concierge desk, and blankly stared straight ahead. His eyes were completely glassed over.
“How long will he look like that?” I wondered aloud, keeping my voice at that whisper level that Summer would never be able to hear.
“Damn, I forgot about him. Thanks,” Elizabeth replied, and raised an eyebrow. She sent a breath of air his way.
I watched as Daniel blinked his eyes rapidly and looked around. It was obvious he had no recollection of the last few minutes. He looked pitifully confused.
“I can’t believe I fell asleep again,” Summer yawned.
Her body swayed, as she tried to remain steady on her feet. I was holding her hand, to assist in keeping her balanced. Elizabeth had promptly sent her back to sleep the second we’d all entered the limo, after her driver had shut the door. She’d refused to wake her until we arrived at our current location. It was only a fifteen-minute drive between the two casinos, but the Elizabeth induced power naps seemed to be taking their toll on my friend.
“Don’t worry about it,” I squeezed her hand. “It’s not a big deal. You’re just super tired.”
“Well who wants to go up and see if Delilah and Burke are still in the room, and if they’re not then search for clues?” Cozmo inquired, staring straight at me. “The ten of us traipsing around everywhere together seems a bit unnecessary. I don’t mean to be rude, Charity dear, but this isn’t quite what I was expecting when we were invited to join you in Vegas. I think you can handle this part by yourself.”
“Did he just call you Charity? Who’s Charity?” Summer looked at me.
“Um yeah, he did. It’s sort of my... well, it’s my middle name, and these guys have always called me Charity,” I answered with the first story that I could come up with. I wondered how she would take it. It sounded pretty plausible and I recently had acquired the necessary ID to prove it, I reassured myself.
I glared at Cozmo. “Nice one,” I whispered.
“How come I didn’t know that? Why haven’t I heard it used before? I mean, I’ve never heard Jason or Rachel, or even Marcus or Eve, call you Charity back in Telluride,” she puzzled with a yawn.
“I guess it’s because I had decided to just go by Emily when we made the move to Telluride. Old habits are hard to break for Cozmo.” I shrugged.
“It suits you. I like it,” Summer smiled. “So, is it like a secret nick-name that I can start to use too?”
“Sure, Summer. You can call me Charity if you want to,” I told her and then turned my attention back to Cozmo. “I’m sorry, Oz. This isn’t exactly my idea of a fun time either.”
“Look, I am taking Lizzy to that Pai Gow table over there and then we’re off to find a club. I swear this is not me abandoning your cause, it’s just me needing to unwind with my girl. If you require my assistance, just let me know and we’ll show up as fast as I can get to you. I promise.”
I knew he wasn’t trying to make me feel bad, but I did anyway. “You’re right. This is my issue, not yours. Go have fun,” I told him.
Cozmo started walking away, holding hands with Lizabelle. “Marcus, call me on your special phone if you guys need either of us. Just say the word, brother, and we’ll be there.”
“I know you will. Later, bro,” Marcus saluted his brother.
“Special phone?” Summer asked.
“Twin inside joke,” I told her.
“Well, come on. Let’s go up to the room and figure this out,” Eve said. She immediately started walking in the opposite direction that Oz had taken. “Come on, guys. The elevators are this way,” she called over her shoulder.
When we got up to the twentieth floor and located their room, Summer knocked on the door. I listened for voices, but heard none.
Elizabeth spotted someone from housekeeping, pushing a cart down the hall, and waved. As the woman approached, Elizabeth took a step forward. She positioned herself so that all I could see was her back and not the housekeeper’s face.
“How may I be of service?” the uniformed woman asked.
I heard Elizabeth whisper something so quietly that even I couldn’t tell what she said. Then she spoke in a clear voice, “I seem to have locked myself out of my room. Would you be a dear and open up the door for me?”
“Absolutely,” the housekeeper responded in a voice that was devoid of any emotion. She pulled the card key up from her belt and slid it into the door lock. The light on the door turned green.
Catherine guided Summer into the room first, followed by James, Marcus, and Eve. Lincoln and I lagged behind; we were mesmerized by the
trance that Elizabeth had put this woman in. I decided that she must have used a similar technique to get the room number out of Daniel, down in concierge.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth smiled and then added, “Now, remember to forget us,” as soon as Summer was out of earshot.
“Absolutely,” she responded again in the same monotone voice as before. Her eyes glazed over, and she walked back to her cart.
“Wow, the security in this hotel must just suck,” Summer exclaimed, after everyone had entered the room and I shut the door behind us. “Did you see how easily that woman let us in here? She didn’t even ask for ID or anything!”
“Shameful,” Elizabeth tisked and shook her head.
“I found something,” Catherine said. She stood by the desk, holding a slip of paper in her hand. “I’ve got the name of a twenty-four hour wedding chapel, and an appointment time that is...” she paused to look at her watch, “thirty-seven minutes from now.”
Catherine clasped her hands, and smiled with satisfaction.
“See how easy that was. Well, you’re on your own then. I’m off. It’s been grand.” Elizabeth arched her eyebrows and turned toward the door.
“Thank you, my friend,” Catherine called out as Elizabeth exited the room.
“She’s kinda strange,” Summer whispered to me.”
“You have no idea,” I winked back at her.
Within fifteen minutes, the seven of us were all seated in yet another limousine that Elizabeth had provided for us. I thanked her silently in my head for that lovely convenience. It was so nice to not have to wait in a taxi line. If we continued with this runaround much longer, it would benefit us to hire our own car and driver. I wondered how many she had at her disposal.
It was getting close to three a.m., and I wondered how much longer Summer was going to be able to handle the pace we were keeping. She’d had a few naps, but I had no idea what kind of effects Elizabeth’s “sleeps” would have on her. Teenagers were hardy creatures, I reminded myself. They often stayed up all night.