Blood Red Roulette

by Jana Denardo

  “Oh? More hunting training?” Luc wasn’t sure he was up for that. The night was young, but the lessons didn’t appeal at the moment. He wondered if he could live on stuff from butcher shops.

  “No, I was thinking a little gambling at the Golden Nugget or the Four Queens.” Arrigo grinned.

  “I’ll bankroll you,” Siobhan added. “If you’re willing to take over my household chores for a week.”

  “Yeah sure… wait, you’re a guest. He makes you do chores?” Luc narrowed his eyes at her.

  “No, not really, but he gets lazy when there’s a woman in the house. Suddenly it’s 1950 again, and he wants me to do his laundry and cook his meals.” Siobhan arched her eyebrows at him. “Told you he has a jerk side.”

  “She’s lying.” Arrigo reached over and ticked a finger off her dangling earring. “I’m too picky about my laundry to let just anyone do it.”

  “Oh boy,” Luc groaned, palming his face.

  “Yes, that’s a warning, Luc.” Siobhan laughed.

  “Want to run away with me, Siobhan?” Luc beamed at her and winced when Arrigo pinched his side.

  “Behave,” Arrigo said.

  “I can’t believe your lips formed those words.” Siobhan laughed, grabbing Luc’s hand.

  She pulled him toward the door, taking Arrigo with them. True to their word, his mentors wended through the crowd, heading toward the Golden Nugget. Luc realized both of them could have been there when Fremont Street was the main center of gambling back in the early days. That’s what he liked about the Nugget, the history. He didn’t get into history too much, mostly what he could watch on the History Channel, but there was something cool about a place that could hang in so long. It’s what he’d loved about New Orleans.

  With the pressure of a lesson off his shoulders, he enjoyed the crowded street more. Above them people zoomed under Fremont’s canopy on zip lines. It looked like fun. Maybe he could get Arrigo to do that with him. He’d never been able to zip-line before even though it wasn’t particularly expensive, unless you considered how fast your trip was over with.

  They sat three abreast at the Golden Nugget’s dollar slots. He’d never played those before; too rich for his blood. He didn’t feel as bad taking Arrigo and Siobhan’s money, knowing they honestly had so damn much of it. As he mindlessly pushed the spin button, Luc felt eyes on him. Normally he wouldn’t think much about it, but with his new, improved senses singing, he thought maybe he should at least be sure no one was watching him. Eleni remained at large after all.

  It took a moment to spot an average-looking, dark-haired guy who seemed to be looking at him. Of course he could be ogling Siobhan. She was lovely. Still, there was something familiar about the guy. Luc couldn’t place it, but it made his insides quiver. He tapped Arrigo’s shoulder. Arrigo glanced over at him.

  “I think that guy is watching us,” Luc whispered. “I think he was with Eleni. His hair’s wrong, but Eleni wore a wig. Could he be doing that? Or maybe he’d dyed his hair darker brown.”

  Arrigo glanced over, his dark brow furrowing. He stood up and headed for the man.

  The guy took off. Arrigo followed, and Luc decided to do the same, but an old couple got up from their slots, walkers in tow. They couldn’t get around them in the tight, packed row of slot machines. It wasn’t worth bowling over old disabled people to follow the young man. By the time they got around the old folk, the guy was out of sight, swallowed by the press of bodies running around in the street.

  “Luc, was that him?” Arrigo asked at last, stepping out into the pedestrian street.

  “No, maybe, I dunno. I never got a good look at the guy in Eleni’s house, only saw him for a second in the middle of the attack, and I don’t really remember much of that.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He shook his head. “Not even a little. It’s more a feeling.”

  “Maybe the Chiaroscuro archives will have something,” Siobhan said, worming her way through the crowd.

  Luc turned, not apparently surprised she followed them.

  Siobhan waggled her phone at them. “When Arrigo got up, I took a few pictures of him.”

  “Good. Show them to Michael too. He thought he and Hanako had spotted Eleni with her Renfield in the Vinyl Coffee shop,” Arrigo said.

  She tucked the phone away. “Michael will be happy to have another lead to track.”

  “No, he won’t. He’ll be mad I wasn’t more helpful, again.” Luc sighed.

  Siobhan patted his arm. “Probably true. Like you said, you know how to handle hard men. Swat him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper.”

  Luc took a second to imagine how badly that would go. “Have you lost your mind?” he asked, sincerely believing she had.

  “You’re stronger now than you ever were. You can’t go around hitting Normals, but a shape-shifter can take it.” She smiled.

  “Uh-huh. Can you be both vampire and loup-garou?” Luc rubbed his neck, feeling Michael’s teeth tearing into it.

  “No. Lycanthropes are immune to the virus,” Arrigo replied, and a nearby couple gave them a look. Arrigo grinned. Luc wondered if they assumed Arrigo was a geek in the middle of a nerdy conversation. “And shifter abilities are genetic, not transmittable.”

  “I’ll be sure to remember that while Michael’s using me as a chew toy.”

  “Michael’s like most wolves. They huff and they puff, and if they try anything more, nail them in the nuts.” Siobhan punched the air at crotch level.

  Luc took a step closer to Arrigo. “Remind me never to get in a fight with her.”

  Arrigo nodded, wrapping an arm around Luc. “Smart decision, lover. She always goes for the nuts.”

  “A little grab-pull-and-twist usually levels the playing field.” Siobhan provided a graphic hand description to go along with her words.

  Luc felt queasy. “More like blows it up with dynamite. Guys, I kinda want to go home now.” He leaned into Arrigo’s one-armed embrace.

  “Sure.” Arrigo cast his gaze around before walking, as if unsure where he left his car in all this mess.

  “And if you’re nice, I’ll give you back all the money you left in the slot machine.” Luc teased.

  “Hmm, might be easier to let you keep the money,” Arrigo replied.

  “Spoilsport. Besides you’re always nice, mon beau,” Luc protested.

  Arrigo tightened his grip on Luc, spinning him so they were face-to-face and not side by side. He sealed his lips over Luc’s, the kiss demanding. He thrust his tongue into Luc’s mouth, exploring first, then conquering as Luc yielded, all but melting against Arrigo, too happy and shocked to be worried about being in public. The overhead lights seemed to blur into a multicolored swirl by the time Arrigo let him go, leaving Luc all too aware of how tented his brand-new trousers were.

  Before he could be embarrassed by it, Siobhan slid her arms around his back and kissed his neck. Surprised, Luc didn’t know what to do with himself or why she was doing this. Her soft lips nuzzled the pulse point as she squeezed him tight. Luc thought she’d bite him, but then she moved her mouth away, closer to his ear. She ran her fingers up and down his chest.

  “Those are your brother’s friends over there by Binion’s, aren’t they?” she asked, breaking off any questions he might have about what she was doing. His whole body stiffened in panic. She pointed toward the blue columns of lights outside the Binion’s Gambling Hall.

  He spotted Travis, Clark, Lisa, and Carrie, his stomach flipping over, and his erection flopped. “Yeah, they come down here a lot.”

  “We better go before they decide to get in a little gay bashing for fun,” Arrigo said. “I’m not in the mood to flatten pain-in-the-ass Normals.”

  “I could gladly hunt them,” Luc growled.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Arrigo tugged Luc past the casino.

  Luc squirmed out of Arrigo’s grip so he could face Travis. He gave him a little wave. He knew he should be glad no one said anything, neither Tr
avis nor Arrigo and Siobhan.

  He turned his attention back to Arrigo and Siobhan. “That’s why I was down here that night, when I caught you two at Shifty’s. They wanted to come here. And I knew they wouldn’t argue when I saw you and took off after you. Da wanted me to get close to you.”

  Siobhan’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

  “He sent Luc to set me up to be burglarized,” Arrigo said.

  Luc felt his face flush. “Mais la! I warned Arrigo and he was planning something to stop them. Then things went sideways after I saw you. That’s why Da hit me so hard and broke my cheek. He was pissed because I said I wasn’t gonna talk to you again. He saw all that money sitting where he couldn’t get to it.”

  “Your family sucks,” Siobhan said, wrinkling her nose.

  “Yeah, big-time.” Luc looked over his shoulder. “Bet they’ve already texted Henri about this.”

  “Sorry if I took a few liberties with you, Luc.” Siobhan smiled at him.

  “Nah, it’s okay. Wish I could be there when they tell Henri I was the middle of a really pretty sandwich.” Luc chuckled. “You know they didn’t believe me when I said we were all living together. They won’t know what to think of that.”

  “That you liked it.” Arrigo smirked, his gaze flicked down below Luc’s belt line.

  Luc snorted. “It’s a bit advanced for me, but I can’t say it wasn’t nice.”

  Siobhan slapped his butt. “You might want to leave it at ‘it’s a bit advanced,’ or Arrigo might get overexcited.”

  “Yeah, I will.” He grinned. “But I can let Henri and Da think I’m advanced, right?”

  “Oh hell yeah.” Arrigo beamed, giving Luc a long once-over as if considering the threesome seriously.

  Their teasing cheered Luc. It was almost enough to remove the hook from Luc’s mouth, set by the stranger in the Golden Nugget. Almost but not quite. What if he had faced the man who helped Eleni do this to him? Luc had no answer for that.

  “YOU’RE LATE.” Eleni looked up from her computer as George walked into the small office covered with posters of big-eyed people and Japanese words. It was better than plastic horses like the last house, but only just. At least the room was easy to black out so she could work in the day. George picked up one of the cats left behind by the original owner.

  George licked his lips, petting the black-and-white lardball cat. He had zigzagged all over Vegas in fear he’d been followed and rehearsed in his mind what he would tell Eleni about this, afraid to do it via text. Now that he stood there, he realized it was idiotic. He should have texted her and taken off on the first bus to anywhere she wasn’t. She was already in a bad mood because Arrigo had gotten to Luc quicker than she’d thought, snagging him out from under her long before he became a starved killer vampire. George thought she might have a plan to get Luc back, but he wasn’t sure he wanted any part of it.

  “They saw me tonight.”

  Her blue eyes went as hard and cold as the stare of a hawk. “What?”

  “They spotted me in one of the casinos, watching them.” George took a step back, knowing this little bit of space wouldn’t matter if Eleni came after him. She hoped they didn’t know what he looked like. She had said Luc wouldn’t be able to remember him clearly from that night, but he wasn’t sure that was true. She needed him to be able to move about and observe them, and now that was gone.

  “You’re sure?” She balled up her fists.

  “Yeah, that’s why I’m so late. I didn’t want to lead them right here.” George heaved, gulping air. “As soon as Luc spotted me, Arrigo was on his feet and after me. I got the hell out. They followed me for a bit, but Fremont is so crowded, I lost them. I think.” George steeled himself, figuring this might be it. Yes, he was totally stupid for not calling this in from Fremont and taking off. “They had to have recognized me.”

  Eleni pointed to the computer, surprising him. “Then pack up. We’ll leave for Reno at nightfall.”

  “Huh?”

  “I’ll have to give up my plan of eventually stealing Luc back once Arrigo settles into the role of daddy to him. Well, give it up for now at least. I’ve been researching places to move just in case something like this happened. I don’t want to go too far away because I want to come back in a few weeks to see the wreckage, but you might be right about it being too hot to stay here. I have a mole in the Chiaroscuro, and he said they’ve sent more people.”

  George widened his eyes. “You do?”

  “Of course. Most of them are as greedy as the next human. How do you think I’ve stayed ahead of them for so long? I thought Reno could be fun for a little while, until it’s safer to return here.”

  “I’ll go pack.”

  With that, he got to live another day. Maybe in Reno, he could go his own way. Maybe he didn’t want to, and George didn’t know what to make of that. She was the flame to his moth, and even knowing what happened when you got too close to the flame, George couldn’t leave her.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  LUC SAT back on the couch, his face hot and his head swimming. He touched his kiss-swollen lips, wanting more, but there were too many thoughts running through his head. He and Arrigo hadn’t been making out much, not since the mentoring began. It had been several really long weeks, and he was getting closer to being willing to share a room with Arrigo. He felt bad, though, since that would mean blocking off all the windows in Arrigo’s room too, and Arri loved his view.

  They had been watching reruns of The Simpsons, needing a good laugh. How that led to kissing, Luc had no idea. He didn’t mind. It beat the constant worry about Eleni. Michael was out trying to track her now that he had a solid scent trail, not that Luc held out much hopes he could pick up a trail in the solid mass of life that crowded Vegas. It had been a month since she had attacked him with no signs of her and not a single death that could be pinned on her. Since the sun was still setting, all Luc could do was enjoy being there, kissing Arrigo. The thoughts that went along with the kissing made him kinda crazy.

  Like thoughts of how he wanted more than to just kiss Arrigo. He wanted to taste him. Luc wanted to put his new fangs into Arrigo’s throat and drink from him, like he was the fancy wine Arrigo kept around his place. Luc wanted to drink Arrigo’s blood while they fucked, and the idea frightened him, even though Arrigo said it was normal.

  “What’s wrong?” Arrigo brushed the back of his hand over Luc’s cheek. “You look overwhelmed.” He narrowed his dark eyes. “Oh, you are overwhelmed.”

  “Duh. That’s why you usually put me off trying,” Luc said, frustrated. He ground his fist against the couch pillow.

  “You want to bite me, don’t you?”

  Luc nodded, shame staining his cheeks. “You said it’s normal, right?”

  “Exactly. Remember me saying no looking outside this house for lovers? That wasn’t me being jealous.” Arrigo kissed Luc, then sat back. “I didn’t explain it well. I’m sorry. I’m being an awful sire.”

  “You’re not my sire, and you did explain.” Luc flinched at the bitterness in his words and regretted it more when Arrigo’s cheeks reddened.

  “No, but it’s the role I’ve assumed. And yes, that urge to bite is normal for us, and we indulge it if we’re with other Supernaturals. Not so much with the regular humans obviously.”

  Luc reached up and ran his hand over Arrigo’s hair. He liked it when Arrigo’s hair came loose from its tail. Maybe he should ask Arrigo to leave it loose once in a while. “Haven’t you ever been tempted to turn a lover?”

  “Of course, and I have on rare occasion with their consent. But I can count on my fingers how many times I’ve done this, so I’m likely to make mistakes. We’ve talked about this already.”

  Luc held up his hand. “Arrigo, is the reason we ain’t fooled around since this happened because of the blood thing, or are you mad I went off with her?” Luc couldn’t look his lover in the eye. He didn’t want to know the answer, but he had to ask.

  “What were we d
oing if not fooling around a little here? Luc, I’m not mad at you. You said you went off with Eleni because she offered you help after your father broke a bottle across your face. It’s not like you would have gone if you didn’t have a concussion,” Arrigo said.

  Luc stared down at the rug. He wondered if that was true. Eleni had been pretty, and he’d been crushed by what he thought Arrigo had been doing with Siobhan. “Guess so.”

  “You need time to get control of your abilities.” Arrigo sighed. “I probably shouldn’t have been kissing you now. I know better. I could have at least explained it to you first.”

  “You sort of did a little.” Luc stabbed a finger against Arrigo’s chest. He should be a little angry at him. Arrigo hadn’t lied; he was rusty at the whole mentor thing.

  “Told you I was bad at this. Maybe I should write down a list of things you should know.”

  “Yeah, especially since your ancient brain can’t remember them until a little too late.” Luc smirked. “And we’ve been at this for weeks, and you forget things all the time. I think you have that all-wizers thing.”

  “Alzheimer’s.” Arrigo slapped Luc’s thigh. “Keep it up, smartass, and there won’t be any kissing for a very long time.”

  Luc laughed. “Did I say anything not true?”

  Arrigo did the arched eyebrow thing, like Spock. “A very long time.”

  Luc shoved him. “So this desire to bite, does it go away?”

  “No, but it lessens, and you learn to control it. Obviously, you wouldn’t want to make out with someone who doesn’t know what you are, not until you learn control.” Arrigo licked his lips. “And I’m hoping you will want to stay with me until long after you get a handle on being a vampire.”

  Luc pursed his mouth, considering it. “But couldn’t I do those Jedi mind tricks and make them forget like you do? I’m not saying I want to be with someone else. Just trying to see what I’m capable of.”