He caught the eye of a security guard hovering near the table and jerked his head then turned to me. “Are you sure? From where I stood, it looked like you tripped over that piece of carpeting that came loose.”
A corner of the luxe carpet poked into the air. The errant fabric stuck up in approximately the same place I had tripped, and it would make the most sense for what had happened, but I was quite sure that it wasn’t the culprit. Something firm had caught my ankle, perhaps a shoe or shinbone, plus the flare of emotions that rose as I fell were definitely connected. The fact that the three men were now missing sealed the deal. I nodded. “That is definitely what I experienced. Maybe magic was involved to make me feel something else…” I trailed off at the end. What did I know about magic?
Vin looked me in the eyes and seemed to be weighing my words against what he had seen. After a moment, he nodded and turned to the security guard that had come to his side. “There were three men here at the roulette table that are now gone. Find them and detain them. I'm going to do an interrogation.”
Half the security team raced from the room. Vin turned to me. “Wait here. I’ll send someone down to take you to the next assignment.” He didn’t bother to get my agreement before leaving.
The other half of the security team started gently clearing the room of gamblers. They offered to make reservations for them at restaurants, provide a personal shopper at one of the many stores, or even find tickets to sold-out shows later in the day. Anything to keep them happy.
Gertrude and Ralph slowed in front of me. This time I could see they had matching rhinestone boots and belts, giving them an upscale cowboy look.
Gertrude patted my arm. “Don’t worry, honey. I stumble over things too.”
Ralph laughed loudly and gave his bride a hearty kiss on the cheek. “You always have been a bit clumsy, but you’re as beautiful as the day we met.” He patted my shoulder with one wrinkled and veiny hand. “You are more powerful than you know, even without training.”
My eyebrows shot up. There had been no surge of magic power around him. “Is that a vision?”
He barked with laughter before breaking into a phlegmy cough. “No, not this time. I can see that with my own eyes. You can take care of yourself, sweetie. Don’t forget that.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Natasha kept me company as the staff cleared the entire high-end gambling room. She had assured me not to be embarrassed and said that a few weeks ago she had also tripped over a piece of carpeting and spilled an expensive drink on the mayor.
The conversation had gradually drifted to local restaurants and her life on the sitcom show. We were making loose plans to grab a meal together in the future, my first real plans since I'd moved to the city, when Vanessa joined us in a waitress outfit.
“Hey, Natasha. Picked out your next big acting gig yet?”
“Not yet. Still figuring out my goals. I’m going to take off. My shift’s been over for twenty minutes. Ella, I’m serious. You, me, fondue, soon.”
“Absolutely. Looking forward to it.” Once Natasha was out of earshot, I leaned over to Vanessa. “What’s going on with the outfit?”
She bounced on her toes and spun in a circle. “Doesn’t it look great? This is going to be so fun.”
“What is?” I reached over to pet Patagonia, who had just woken up from a nap.
“I’m going to be your investigating partner. We can go undercover together.” She squealed and reached down to scoop Patagonia into her arms. She scratched the black fur covering Patagonia’s belly until the cat bit into her hand and yowled in displeasure. Vanessa danced over to a craps table and dumped the cat onto the felt.
“I’m not sure she is supposed to be up there.”
Patagonia pounced on a set of dice and flipped them across the table then chased after them to repeat the game.
“She’s fine. Who’s going to tell me what to do? I practically own the place. I mean, not me, but the family. Anyways, there are people to fix it. That’s their job.” She was far more animated than I had seen her before.
Patagonia jumped off the table and meowed at my side. “Is Vin coming back?”
She rolled her eyes at the mention of her brother. “No, he’s interrogating some dudes and needed someone to go with you to the Ristorante. Come on. Let’s head down there.”
We exited the room past posted security guards and pressed the button on the elevator. “He’s not, like, magically breaking anyone’s kneecaps, is he?” A chill went down my spine. If anything like that was involved, I was ready to skedaddle.
“Of course not. He knows when someone is lying. That’s why he’s in security. He’ll get to the bottom of it then drop them outside of town.” She entered the elevator as the doors opened, and pressed the button before spinning around to check her reflection in the shiny metal inside.
“Why not the police?”
“Eww. You don’t turn mages over to human police. They’ll be banned from town if they’re guilty. That’s enough. Unless they, like, kill someone.”
The elevator doors opened, and I snapped my fingers to get Patagonia’s attention before we exited. “And if they do, like, kill someone?” I strode purposefully toward the restaurant, trying to avoid the glances of gamblers hoping to order a drink.
“We call the Federal Order, and they take care of it. Hey, so what are we doing in the Ristorante? Like, what’s our mission?”
I stumbled in shock. “You don’t know? Didn’t Vin tell you what the plan is? All I know is that we are going to Isadora’s Ristorante.”
“Oh, yeah, I just left so quickly that he probably forgot to tell me. Hold on. I’ll call and find out.” She raced over to a nook and picked up a white phone with no dial pad. She held it between her left ear and shoulder. She tapped a foot and started snapping the fingers on her right hand, creating a little flash.
I moved in closer, sure that my eyes were deceiving me, but they weren’t. On each snap of her fingers, a little flame burst into life and danced on the tip of her fingers before slowly extinguishing.
I had made fire but only when being attacked by a jealous girlfriend or having a gun pulled on me by a madman. She was forming it while casually talking on the phone. It didn’t even seem that she was fully aware of what she was doing. Was that how causally mages could handle magic? Could I do that once I had practice?
She hung up the phone and came over. “I’ve got the plan. We’re—”
“Can you make fire just by snapping your fingers?”
Her cheeks flushed a little. “I didn’t realize I was doing it again. It’s a nervous tic, but Mom doesn’t want me doing it in public. I thought I had broken the habit.” She giggled.
“That’s amazing! Can all mages do it?”
She smiled broadly and puffed up a little. “If they train hard enough and have the natural talent, then yes, but I wouldn’t call it easy. But I can teach you. I’m sure you have the talent to do it.” She grabbed my arm. “I’m so excited to have someone else to train with. Mom said we can start next week.”
“What? Don’t you already have your training?” This was news to me.
She struck a falsetto and held up a hand that she moved like a puppet as she talked. “A true mage is never done training.” Rolling her eyes, she snapped her fingers, and a little yellow flame sparked into life again. “Or at least that is what my mom is constantly harping at me. I love her, I really do, but I just want to have fun. Is your mom like that?”
“Uh…” My mother, our relationship, and whatever happened to her so many years ago was not something I was ready to blurt out. Luckily, the question appeared to be hypothetical.
“They treat me like a baby. I’m a grown woman, and I want to start finding my own destiny, not just following Mom around the world, teaching rich, spoiled mages. Now that we’re settled here, I thought that I could have a real life, but instead I get to play secretary and study even more. Potions, spells, protections, talismans—”
; “So all that stuff is real?” There was so much to learn.
“Totally. Basically, most of the stuff you see in movies and TV or read in books is kinda true, but they also get it wrong. But it is so boring to study it. I want to do things. But finally, something interesting’s happening.” She squealed and did a little dance in her gold heels.
I would consider murders scary, not interesting, but to each their own. Speaking of which, it was time to get back on track. “Did you learn the plan?”
Her eyebrows flew up as she remembered. “Yes, totally. We’re not actually working in Isadora’s Ristorante, which makes sense since this is a bit much for a classy restaurant.” She gestured down at her outfit and laughed. “No, we’re working in the betting lounge. They serve appetizers and desserts from Isadora’s. The chocolate cakes are delicious and have a special ability.”
At the mention of chocolate cake, my stomach grumbled. “What kind of ability can a cake have? Water skiing?”
“Beth’s the pastry chef and a mage that specializes in emotions. She has a special series of flavored chocolate cakes for different things like lust, happiness, and motivation. They’re a hundred and fifty dollars a slice but super effective. My mom keeps buying me slices of motivational mint mocha, hoping that I will get serious with my studies. They help, but mostly I just get antsy to find a purpose in my life.”
“I’m sorry.” I had been jobless for a few years, rattling around my father’s loft without a purpose. I was the last person to have advice for her.
Patagonia meowed and scratched at my calf. Several tourists were taking their picture with a cell phone and looked ready to approach.
I grabbed Vanessa and dragged her in the direction of the Ristorante. “I thought I was looking into the Ristorante, not some gaming room.”
“You were until I did some more digging. They all had charges to the Ristorante, but when I reviewed, I noticed that there was a weird asterisk next to Isadora’s Ristorante. It bugged me, so I went back to check, and sure enough, the asterisks meant that while the charge went to there, the order originated in the betting lounge.” She smirked at her own brilliance.
“Great catch. That’s a lot like what I do in my financial audits. Tell me about the betting lounge.”
“Just a huge room with like a million televisions playing games and races from all over the world. It is one of the only places in the casino with really good Wi-Fi and cell reception so people can research their bets. They have to be betting or eating. Otherwise, security uses a spell to make their chairs super uncomfortable.” She snickered. “But only the humans can bet here. The rest have to call their bets into Vegas, if a bookie will even take them. This way.” She pulled me past the front of the Ristorante toward the huge gold door.
“Mages aren’t allowed to gamble? I thought upstairs—”
“No, no, they can gamble at things like craps, roulette, slot machines, or card games. We have spells and security to enforce that they don’t mess with those. But betting on things outside our control? No way. There isn’t a way for us to make sure that all boxing matches, horse races, elections, and stuff weren’t meddled with. That would be a lot of magic to use just to win a bet, but we don’t risk it. That’s part of the reason that mages like it here. In Vegas, they could gamble and even cheat, but then they get picked up by security for being too lucky, and it’s a whole scene. There are some that still prefer Vegas, but most mages know that Rambler is where you come to have a good time.” She pulled open the gold door, and we stepped inside.
The room was enormous, and she hadn’t been exaggerating about the television sets. They were four high and ran the entire length of the back, one full side wall, and half of the other side wall of the room. The only wall not covered was the side that faced into the casino, and instead, that wall was solid windows to entice people in. On the closest side to the televisions were tables with piles of magazines and newspapers. The center of the room had a more casual setting, comfortable chairs gathered around tables.
Some of the people had on headphones, and each television had a large number pinned to the corner. The half of the side wall that wasn’t covered in live footage of various events instead had two kiosks, one marked House Bets and the other Off-Site Bets. Tucked in between was a door where a waitress exited, carrying a tray of drinks and a bowl of ice cream.
I followed Vanessa as she weaved through the crowd, her hips swaying significantly more as heads swiveled to watch her movement. A few heads might have swung my way as well, but my hips were locked as I marched behind her and followed her through the door.
After passing through the door, we followed a wide hallway into a kitchen through two swinging doors. It was bustling with activity as people moved to a window to call out orders or pick up plates to put onto trays and race out through another set of doors.
“Are you Ella?”
I turned to my right, where a petite brunette with her hair pulled into a tight bun stood waiting. She wore a stiff white jacket, white pants, and bright-pink leather clogs.
“Yes, and this is Vanessa. She will also work.”
“Fine, fine. I’m Beth. I make all the desserts. I don’t mean to be rude, but I really need to get back to work. The menus are here. Put in your orders at the window. Those orders take about ten minutes since they are appetizers, so go and get more orders before picking them up. That goes for everything except the special chocolate cakes, the hundred-and-fifty-dollar ones. I need those orders personally. Go to that window”—she gestured to a small additional window along a different wall than the main ordering window—“and ring the bell.” She leaned in close and whispered, “I need to spell those special. After you give me the order, please wait until it’s ready, and deliver it right away so the magic is strong.”
She disappeared back through the door, leaving us to grab trays and menus and formulate a good game plan for faking the next few hours.
And fake it we did. Most of the people already had food and drinks, and only the occasional new customer came in. It was a more relaxed environment than the energy of the high-value craps tables before. The room held the same emotions floating around but to a more relaxed degree. In fact, it was so laid back that I was starting to feel sleepy.
Patagonia had found a chair and curled up. Her nose was tucked under a back leg, giving her the appearance of a fuzzy black pillow. I kept one eye on her and stopped to pet her a few times.
Vanessa came over and flopped into the chair next to Patagonia and reached over to pet her fuzzy rump. “Dude, I’ve gotten so many tips. Having a job is awesome.”
“You’ve never had a job?” I scanned the room as we talked in case anyone needed to place an order.
“Nope, never. Studying is my job but not for much longer. You figure out anything?”
I shook my head and held up a finger to wait to a young blond woman with barely any clothing who gestured. “Not a thing. I think this is a dud. How long are we supposed to stay? Anything special I am supposed to keep an eye on? Is Vin coming back?”
She jumped to her feet. “Oops, I totally forgot that there is an order waiting for me.”
I shook my head at her and headed over to the blonde that wanted my attention. She was young, with huge hair and boobs. Her outfit made my waitress costume appear demure, and my feet ached when I looked at her feet crammed into six-inch heels with black straps wrapping around her calves up to her knees. The leather was tight enough that her skin bulged out between them, and one pinky toe appeared to be making an escape.
Opposite her was a middle-aged rotund gentleman wearing dark sunglasses. He belched loudly, and the aggressive odor of three-day-old garlic overwhelmed me. He looked me up and down slowly then licked his lips.
I fought the urge to run. “How can I help you?”
She looked up at me, and I realized she was much older than I thought, probably older than me. Her makeup sat heavily in the lines around her mouth and eyes. But even more so was the bitter, j
ealous, and mean emotions and energy flowing off her. Additionally, magic wafted off of her. It was sickly sweet like cheap perfume. It was probably meant to be sexy but made my stomach roll.
I was getting faster at pinpointing magic and emotions. I smiled to myself, but the man must have thought it was meant for him, as he broke into a broad smirk. His emotions and magic hung around him like stale cigarette smoke. I resisted the urge to step back and wave it away with a hand.
She winked at him. “We’re going to have the lustful lemon chocolate cake.”
He chuckled. “You’re welcome to join us, doll.”
It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. I gave him an anemic smile that was mostly teeth. “I’ll get that for you.” I practically ran to the door.
Patagonia jumped off her chair and bounded along next to me as I went into the hallway and stooped to shudder from head to toe like a dog throwing water off a wet coat. “Gross, gross, gross.” I made a gagging motion. I continued down the hallway with an arm out to push open the left swinging door. “If a creepy man ever asks you—”
Halfway through pushing the door open, I felt sudden resistance then heard the sound of crashing plates and Vanessa’s shrill scream.
I gently pushed open the swinging door to the right and peeked in. Vanessa was covered in nachos, and had a cheese-smeared plate and several now empty glasses at her side. “Did I do that?
She burst into laughter, shaking her hands and sending blobs of cheese everywhere with each flick.
The windows to the various kitchens were full of people curious as to the source of the noise, and a few seconds later, Isadora stormed out the door before pulling up short in shock.
“My kitchen! What happened?”
Vanessa was on her back, clutching her stomach with laughter.
I shrugged. “I’m sorry. We collided. It was an—”
“That’s why there are two doors!” Isadora’s face was turning an alarming red, and a vein at one temple was throbbing. The subtle strumming of magic was building. “You go in one and out the other. Idiots! I don’t care what kind of investigation you’re running, but if you even step a toe out of line, I’m kicking you both out and banning you for life. You got that?”
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