by E G Bateman
The vampire opened the French doors. “Lexi Braxton, I do believe you’ve gone native. Welcome to the dark side.” He wiggled his eyebrows and stepped out.
Lexi yawned. “I’m heading to bed.”
Scott looked at the lake. “I’ll be along soon. I’ll sit with Dick for a few minutes.”
She went to sleep listening to the low murmurs of the men talking.
The sorcerer was leaving the bathroom when Lexi stumbled out of the room. “Morning, sleepyhead. It’s ten-thirty.”
Lexi attempted to say, “Morning,” through a yawn.
She stepped into the shower, still half-asleep. As she washed her hair, she wondered about the magic apartment. Her eyes widened.
If the front is in Charlotte and the back is a shack on the edge of a lake, what are the water pipes and electrical cables connected to?
Suspiciously, she peered at the shower and shook her head. “Well, that woke me. It’s best not to think about stuff like this.”
“Sorry, dear?” Dolores was outside the bathroom.
“Nothing, only…thinking out loud.” She scrubbed her face.
Back in the room and dressed, she waited while Scott laced his high-tops and walked to the door.
Lexi cocked an eyebrow. “Where are you going?”
“Dolores has made bacon and pancakes.” He turned to her with a grin.
“What about making your bed?”
He frowned. “This room will disappear when we’ve finished with it.”
“That’s no excuse. Show some respect.”
His shoulders sagged but he rolled his eyes and returned to make the bed. He finished by plumping the pillow. “Happy?”
“Yep.” Lexi walked to the door.
Scott looked at her unmade bed. “Hey, how about yours?”
She smirked. “There’s no point. This room will disappear when we’ve finished with it.”
“Very funny,” he muttered.
With him on her heels, she wandered through to find coffee, piles of bacon, and pancakes waiting for them.
“You won’t get it if you don’t sit.” The vampire held a piece of bacon up and Marcel jumped to try to reach it. “Now sit.”
The puppy’s butt hit the floor and Dick gave him the bacon. “Good boy.”
They ate and prepared to leave. As Lexi stood at the door, she noticed that Dick’s bedroom door had disappeared but hers was still there. Curious, she walked down the hallway and glanced at the two beds. Hers was still untidy. She stepped in and made it quickly, then looked around to see if Scott had left his beanie or she’d left a blade somewhere.
Nothing was obvious so she stepped out of the room and walked past the bathroom. She turned to see if she’d left anything in there and grimaced when she faced only a wall. The bedrooms and bathroom were gone.
Dolores stood beside the front door to the little apartment.
“Call me if you need anything.” She opened the door and the others filed through. They immediately stood in a cozy diner.
A young woman smiled at them. “Welcome to Southwest Diner.”
Lexi glanced over her shoulder. The door to the fae’s living room had closed and was now a glass entrance door from the street.
Scott glanced at the specials board on the wall and didn’t miss a beat. “Cherry pie, please.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “You’ve just had breakfast.”
Dick raised an eyebrow. “He is a growing boy.”
The woman laughed. “Let me show you to your table.”
They sat at one with a pink check tablecloth next to the window and ordered coffees, one cherry pie, one Bloody Mary, and a bowl of water. Lexi glanced around the room. She noticed a guy who looked like a truck driver staring at the vampire with a perplexed expression from across the room. He saw her looking and returned his gaze to his newspaper.
Scott whirled his finger in a helicopter gesture, which indicated that no one could listen in on their conversation.
“Will your magic work when we get into Vegas?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Probably not all of it. That’ll be inconvenient, I guess.”
She looked out of the window. “I assume there are no casinos in Boulder, then.”
Dick waited for the server to put the drinks down and leave before he spoke. “There are casinos here but they have individual protections on them, the same way many banks and high-end stores do everywhere else. The problem with Vegas is that there are so many casinos, the protection spells clashed. It was a mess. That’s why they decided to set up the wards over the whole city.” He picked his drink up and looked at it. “It’s a mason jar. How quaint.” He stirred it with the celery stick, tapped it on the side, and took a large sip.
They talked as they ate and drank, then the vampire pointed when a large white SUV parked outside. “Here’s our ride.”
Lexi gazed at the shining monster. “Holy smoke! Did Dolores order that?”
“Pfft! Dolores ordered a car. I upgraded it.” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “I know for a fact that some of her clients are really rich. I know that because, before I worked for her, I hired her. I don’t know why she’s so stingy with expenses.”
Scott shrugged. “She prefers us to be inconspicuous.”
Dick stood and dropped a twenty-dollar tip on the table. “Well, there’s being inconspicuous and then there’s catching nasty diseases from the motels she puts you in.”
The young man narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t you staying with us?”
He laughed. “Heavens, no. I have my own place.”
Lexi made a mental eye-roll. “Of course you do. Come on, then. Let’s go see what palace she’s lined up for us today.”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Dick pulled his car into the forecourt of the Vegas motel. Lexi remained silent and studied the building as he parked. They climbed out and the vampire leaned on his car door. “Dear God, it’s déjà vu all over again.”
Scott squinted with his hand above his eyes. “It looks better than the motel in Palm Springs. This one has a pool.”
She looked quickly at Dick. “Oh! You’re still here.”
He frowned in response. “Sorry?”
“I wondered, with this no magic rule in Vegas, if you’d go whoosh in the sunlight.”
His jaw dropped. “Jesus Christ! That didn’t even occur to me. Wait, you didn’t mention it until now?”
With a shrug, she stepped out and went to pull her small case from the trunk.
The vampire stared open-mouthed from her to Scott, who chuckled.
“She’s kidding. Dude, I changed your physiology on a molecular level.”
Dick glanced at Lexi as he walked Marcel to a flowerbed filled with weeds to relieve himself. “Are you sure she knows that?”
The sorcerer nodded. “Of course she does. You knew that, didn’t you, Lexi? We know that now.”
“Hmm?” She looked up as though she hadn’t been listening.
Dick raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by now?”
“I’ll be honest. That morning in Cabo after I’d done the spell and the sun was rising, my heart was in my mouth.”
“You were one hundred percent certain I was safe. You said so.”
“I was—pretty much.” Scott pulled his bag onto his shoulder.
Marcel sniffed the weeds, yelped, then ran to the car and peed on a tire.
Dick rolled his eyes and turned to the younger man. “I was about to ask if you’d rather stay in the guest room at my condo.”
Lexi took a few steps toward the office, then turned. “No, we’ll be fine. We’ll see you at the Mob Museum in the morning.”
“I wasn’t asking, I was rescinding the offer I hadn’t made.” The vampire stuck his tongue out at her and climbed into the car with Marcel.
The two friends continued to the motel office.
“We’re booked in.” Lexi took a credit card from her pocket.
“You’re in room fifteen. Groun
d level.” The receptionist placed a keycard on the desk.
Scott looked at her, surprised when she took the card. “You never want ground level.”
“I don’t mind. I’m still tired so I’d sleep right here standing up.” She wasn’t kidding and wondered when she would get her strength back.
They left the registration office and walked around the pool to room fifteen. She left Scott outside to hold the bags and gaze at the pool while she went in to check the room. The first thing she noticed was the sticky carpet and the Velcro-like sound and resistance when she lifted her feet to step. The walls were dirty, and the bed cover was decidedly threadbare.
She called him in. “It’s clean. Well…not clean. I mean it’s safe.” She added quietly, “On a non-microbial level.”
He entered and dropped his bag onto the innermost bed, then approached the bathroom door and pushed it open hesitantly. She retrieved her toiletry bag and shorts from her case when his shoulders relaxed. He stepped out, picked his bag up, and entered the bathroom.
A few minutes later, he emerged with a towel over his shoulder, wearing swimming shorts and a big smile. “I’m going for a quick swim.”
“Is your beanie waterproof?” She smirked when he clapped his hand on his head.
“Oh. Ha!” Scott pulled the hat off and threw it on his bed.
When he opened the door, two boys of about ten years old stood at the balconies above, one on either side of the pool, and began a shouted conversation from one side of the motel to the other.
“Hey, Jaden.”
“Yeah?”
“It looks like they fished the body out. You wanna go swimming?”
“My mom says I gotta wait until they clean the pool but Mr. Casey says they ain’t gonna do that ’til October.”
Scott took a hasty step back and flicked the door. It swung shut. He stared at it for a moment before he returned to the bathroom.
When he had dressed and entered the room again, Lexi waited for him with her case in one hand and his beanie in the other. He looked around, confused. “What?”
“This place is a hard no for me. We’re not doing it. Let’s find somewhere else.” She shoved his hat into his hand and marched out of the door and past the other rooms.
He followed hurriedly. “Where will we go, then?”
“We’ll get a cab to the Strip. I can’t promise the nicest hotel but we’ll go somewhere with a halfway decent pool.” She rounded the corner to the parking lot and came to a halt so suddenly that he bumped into her.
Dick stood with his sunglasses on, sunning his face as he leaned against the car. Marcel lay in the scant shade at his feet.
Scott backed away and walked around Lexi to the car. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ll be honest, it took longer than I expected.” The vampire looked at his watch. He opened the passenger door and Marcel jumped in and scrambled into the back of the car. “I contacted a friend who owns the condo next door to mine. We bought them at the same time. It’s free for a few days.”
They hesitated and Scott said, “Er…we were going—”
Dick put a hand up to stop him. “There are two pools and three hot tubs in the complex.”
The young man took several steps forward and wrapped him in a huge hug. “I love you, man.” He jumped into the back seat next to Marcel, clicked the seatbelt into place, and grinned.
The vampire looked into the car while he smoothed an eyebrow. “And just like that, the chase is over, the battle won, and the spoils laid at my feet.”
Lexi chuckled. “Sorry, Romeo. I think you have a way to go before you can mount that prize…on your wall.” She climbed into the car. “So, where are we going?”
He clicked his seatbelt and started the engine. “The complex lies a couple of blocks from the Strip. I’ve never actually been there.”
Scott leaned forward. “I thought you said you owned a condo.”
“I do, but I rent it out through an agency. It was a business purchase, but I’m interested to see how they’ve maintained it.”
They arrived at the complex and he ran into the office. When he came out, he dropped a key into Lexi’s hand. They walked through the gardens and finally, he pointed as they reached the buildings. “That one’s yours.” He returned to the car for his case.
Scott stood at the door while she walked around the condo. “What’s it like?”
She popped her head around the door. “I feel like I should have taken my boots off. Everything’s white.”
He followed her through the hallway into the plush living room with its white rugs, white walls, and white furniture. His jaw dropped. “This place is nice.”
“Good grief!” Dick’s voice reverberated through the wall.
Lexi ran out with Scott at her back and they burst into Dick’s condo.
She had her katana in hand the moment she was through the door. The vampire stood in the middle of the living room. It wasn’t as nice as theirs but nice enough. “What’s wrong?” Her gaze darted around in search of potential problems.
His face was a mask of horror. “I paid for top quality furnishings. It looks like Ikea stumbled in drunk and threw up everywhere.”
Scott looked around the room. “It looks okay.”
The vampire gazed incredulously at the furniture. “Pfft! Okay—okay for you.”
Lexi stared at him, amazed that he seemed completely unaware that he was being rude. “Gosh, no. It’s not okay for us. Ours is much nicer. Come on, Scott. Let’s get those swimming shorts on you.” She marched out as she slid her katana into the pocket.
He followed. “All right, but I think I can manage that myself.”
Half an hour later, he was in the pool and floated on a giant, triangular, inflatable pizza slice. Lexi lay on a sunbed in her leather pants and linen vest. Dick joined them in his Versace swimming briefs and held a tray of margaritas.
She squinted at him. “It’s good to see you’ve calmed somewhat.”
“I’ve spoken to the management company.”
“We heard.” She chuckled. “The walls are thin.”
“They’ll see if they can fix it before I can contact my lawyer on Monday. It’s like a race.”
“Yes, we heard. Who do you think will win?”
“Them if they have any sense.” He handed her a drink and walked to the pool, where Scott sat on the inflatable and paddled to the edge to take a glass. The two men clinked glasses and signaled a toast to Lexi, who reciprocated.
Dick settled himself on the sunbed beside hers. “I’ve been thinking about this case. Does it ever make you wonder…”
Lexi waited.
He took a sip of his drink before he continued, “Why do they insist on keeping magical objects in museums? This is our second in as many weeks, and that last one certainly wasn’t my first.”
“Delphine’s ring wasn’t magical until that boy cast a spell with it.”
“Ah, yes. Poor Jamal. But there must be thousands—maybe millions—of objects in museums that belonged to people who don’t need to be brought back. All it takes is someone to get hold of Hitler’s jockstrap and we’re all in trouble.”
Lexi coughed as her drink went down the wrong way.
“Are you all right?”
She took another sip. “I’m fine. You’re not wrong. That’s a thought to give anyone nightmares for all kinds of reasons.”
Dick tilted his head, his brow wrinkled. “Are you all right? You look tired—weary even.”
“The last few days took it out of me,” she admitted.
He rolled onto his side to face her. “What was it like wearing the possessed ring?”
“I felt incredibly powerful, but she didn’t take over and I didn’t feel a compulsion to do her bidding like Lorenzo did. She did talk too much, though. In the few minutes I wore it, she wouldn’t shut up. It was so annoying.”
He took another sip of his cocktail. “So, snapping Lorenzo’s neck like that was all you?”
Lexi recalled how easy it had been to break the vampire’s neck with a flick of her wrist. She smirked. “Do you think I should have done it with my thighs?”
“Well, that does seem to be your signature move. It surprised me, though. It all seemed so…casual.”
“In my defense, I didn’t know it would kill him—like, properly. I guess the zombie bite stopped him from healing. And he was about to die anyway. And if I hadn’t done it that way, I’d probably have done it another way.”
“Okay, calm yourself. I’m only saying that the ring must have had some kind of effect. Your eyes went completely black. That didn’t happen to Amy, Betsy, or Lorenzo.”
Scott walked up to them. “I still need to research the black eyes.”
Dick looked at the sorcerer. “Did you see it? I almost ran away after she threw me across the room.”
“I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t know how strong I was and you were crowding me. I only meant for you to give me some space.”
Lexi pulled the stiletto knife from her dimensional pocket and flicked a slice of lime from her drink onto the tray.
The vampire pointed. “Hey, how are you still able to access that pocket? It’s magic isn’t it?”
Scott sat in a chair next to them. “Some things are acceptable for mages and legacies. Not everything, though. I can’t translocate, which is annoying. We can’t portal into or out of Vegas and we can’t use objects with magical properties. Dolores has had to give us real paperwork for the job. I know it’s all so people can’t simply stroll in and magic the money out of casinos, but I feel like I have one hand tied behind my back.” He looked at Lexi. “Getting back to the black eyes. I’m sure I’ve read about it happening before. I’ll have to look into it.” He smiled but it looked forced. “Do you want a top-up?”
She knocked the rest of her cocktail back and held it out to him, and Dick did the same.
He looked at them both. “I meant a magical top-up, but I’ll do the drinks too.”
Lexi turned her arm to show him. “Look, I’m still full. I’m not leaking unused magic. It must be something to do with the restrictions in place.”