by Lesley Davis
“Oh my God, Pagan. Who would do such a thing?” Melina asked over the comlink.
Pagan didn’t answer; she was too busy looking down at the ground floor and wondering where to start.
Rogue appeared by Pagan’s side. She removed a small breathing mask from her utility belt and gestured for Pagan to do the same. They then attached their flashlights to their wrists to light their way.
Her breathing mask in place, Pagan gingerly picked her way across the room, treading over smashed tables and chairs. She spied a fire extinguisher and wrenched it from the wall. With a swift twist, she prepared it for use. She looked around curiously. “Rogue, why are there no bodies up here? The place is decked out with every poker table imaginable, why weren’t they using this floor?”
Rogue directed them to the stairs below. “I don’t know. Maybe casino security saw what was happening and evacuated the floor. Or maybe the fun doesn’t start up here until later in the evening.” Rogue made her way down the stairs.
Pagan was still able to hear her through the comlink they shared.
“Or maybe everyone was herded down here for the party and that’s when the bomber struck.”
Pagan stepped onto the staircase and could barely take in the sight of the ground floor carnage. The casino floor was a tangle of broken furniture and glass. Pagan could make out the charred remains of bodies buried deep beneath the wreckage. She closed her eyes to the sheer horror of what she was seeing. In her years as a Sentinel she had never had to witness such carnage firsthand. Pagan looked at her extinguisher and then at the burning car.
“I don’t think this is going to touch that.”
“The fire trucks are here. They can deal with the car.” Rogue set off across the floor. “I think we’re too late for many of the people in here. The fire doors are back there, though.” She nodded toward the back of the room. “Maybe the rest of the partiers got to safety. I’m going to check it out.”
Pagan picked her own way through the wrecked roulette tables, her flashlight reflecting through the smoke. She looked up. The floor above was creaking ominously. She found it was easier to keep checking the ceiling than to watch where her feet were treading.
“Keep moving, Sentinel.” Rogue spoke softly in her ear. “It’s not going to get easier. Some bastard locked the fire doors back here to keep everyone in.”
“There’s nothing we can do,” Pagan said. Broken slot machines flashed erratically, their reels racing wildly. The gaming tables were destroyed and multicolored chips were scattered everywhere. The mournful sounds of the trapped began to filter through over the roar of the fire, and she tried to pinpoint their locations. She spotted Rogue gathering up a few people who were hurt but mobile. Rogue got them to another exit at the back of the room.
Through a shattered window Pagan spotted a team of firefighters trying to get over the rubble outside. She quickly made her way over to help them in. Smashing more of the window out with the help of the extinguisher, she called the men over and helped them enter the casino.
“What the hell happened in here?” a female firefighter asked, accepting Pagan’s hand as she scrambled through the debris.
“A ram raid with lethal intent.” Pagan saw a small fire start to take hold nearby and sprayed it out quickly. She then handed the extinguisher to the firefighter. “You might have a better use for this.”
“How many Sentinels are in here?” another firefighter asked.
“Just the two of us down here. Two others are helping to evacuate the hotel above us.”
“You’ll need to leave for safety reasons.”
“We will. We won’t get in your way.”
The firefighter nodded and rushed off to help his teammates find anyone who had survived. Other firefighters came in through the window and started checking out the structure while others fed through hoses and began tackling the blaze from inside.
Pagan wiped at the water that was stinging her eyes. The sprinklers were doing very little to put out the flames that still raged at the casino’s door. The smoke was thick and cloying, the air hot and scorching to breathe. She stumbled over the debris and then heard a sound from above. She moved quickly and managed to dodge a piece of broken ceiling that crashed down behind her.
“Are you okay?” Rogue called over their comlink.
“The ceiling is getting weaker.” Pagan started as a gush of water suddenly pounded the burning vehicle, and she berated herself for being so jumpy. “The fire crews are in here.” She watched them trying to tackle the blaze. For a moment she flashed back to another burning car, but Rogue’s voice in her ear brought her back to the present.
“Looks like some people managed to escape by going through to the hotel stairs. I think they realized something was wrong before the car hit the building. I really don’t think this was just some random act against the perils of gambling.”
Pagan set off to find Rogue. She tracked her to a doorway marked Executive Suite situated at the very back of the ground floor. Rogue beckoned her closer.
She aimed her flashlight through the door at what Rogue could see. The office room had been trashed. The desk drawers had been tossed, their contents littering the floor. Photos had been ripped from the walls and the glass smashed to pieces.
“This room is too far back from the blast. The noise in here must have alerted the revelers to something not being right. This definitely happened before the car exploded.” Rogue pushed the door open a little further. “As, I think, did this.”
A huge Big Six Wheel, the Wheel of Fortune, stood in the room, clicking around and around courtesy of a motor attached to it. An ornate brass roulette rake speared through the body of a man, pinning him to the wheel. As he spun around, dice fell to the ground.
Rogue stepped closer.
“There are dice shoved in his mouth.” She leaned nearer and touched his throat. “I think he was choked on them.” She spared Pagan a look over her shoulder. “Somebody sure was a bad loser.”
“Any idea who he is?”
Rogue looked around the room and scooped up a smashed picture frame. She held it up against the man’s head. “I think it’s Louis Miller, the owner of this casino.” Rogue turned the machine off, and the wheel clicked softly to a halt. “And it’s safe to say his luck has just run out.”
Pagan could hear Rogue talking to Melina over the comlink, but she was distracted by something out on the casino’s main floor. For a moment she was certain she could see someone sitting in the front of the burning car. Pagan didn’t hesitate; she scrambled over the rubble and debris to check. As she got closer she realized she had been mistaken and it had just been the reflection of a firefighter trying to dowse the front of the car. She took a deep shaky breath and closed her eyes for a second.
The sound of cracking caught her attention, and she looked up to see a large piece of ceiling break away right above the firefighter. She yelled at him, but he was too involved in trying to put the fire out. Pagan leapt forward, knocking him out of the way. She sent him sprawling to the floor, his hose flying from his grasp. The falling debris smashed into her right shoulder and knocked her across the room, where she landed with a sickening thud against a row of slot machines. One spewed out coins at the force of the blow. Pagan remained deathly still for a moment, in so much pain she feared she’d pass out. She could hear Melina screaming in her ear and Rogue yelling from across the casino.
“I’m okay, a little bruised and banged up, but I’m fine.” Pagan tried to smile as Rogue skidded to a halt beside her.
Rogue carefully ran her hand over Pagan’s neck and shoulder. “Well, you didn’t ruin your jacket, so that’s one good thing.”
Pagan gasped as pain rolled through her shoulder. She looked around her at the coins still spilling from the machines. “I hit the jackpot without spending a dime, how lucky is that?”
Rogue carefully helped her to her feet and looked around for the firefighter Pagan had saved. He was getting back to his feet a little
shakily, but he tipped his hat to them in gratitude. Other firefighters were already trying to get back out of the window with a few survivors in tow. “Let’s follow their example and get out of here. We’ve seen enough for one night.”
The casino parking lot was a mass of activity. Fire engines clustered together, their hoses spraying every corner of the building. Ambulances were transporting the injured to nearby hospitals. Pagan saw Casper and Earl standing to one side. She and Rogue hastened over to them.
Casper quickly signed, his hands almost a blur as he asked how Pagan was. Pagan tried to assure him she was fine, but the pain was making her so nauseous she couldn’t speak. Weakly, she ripped her breathing mask from her face and sucked in clean air.
“Do you need help getting back?” Earl asked.
Rogue shook her head. “We have a ride coming to get us.” She tapped at her ear so the men knew Melina was coming for them. She looked back at the casino. “The Council will have plenty to talk about tomorrow.”
“We need to do some talking of our own, see what we can dig up.” Earl clasped Rogue’s free arm. “I wish we were parting with a happier ending.”
“I’m fine. I just got the wind knocked out of me,” said Pagan.
Rogue sighed. “Young Sentinels, they seem to think they are invincible.”
“I just have to dodge ceilings when they fall. I learned that lesson well tonight.”
Both men bid their farewells, then ran across the parking lot to wire ride their way back up to the opposite tower.
Pagan watched them go. “Guess I won’t be doing that tonight.”
Rogue carefully maneuvered her across the parking lot and into the darkness cast by a neighboring tower block. Once they were hidden in shadows and out of sight of prying eyes, Rogue removed Pagan’s mask.
Pagan watched her, silently wondering what Rogue was looking for and fearful for what she might find. She felt gentle fingers touch over her face. “My head wasn’t hit, Rogue,” Pagan assured her, realizing Rogue’s shaking fingers were looking for a blood trail. “The ceiling just smacked into my shoulder and sent me head over heels.” Rogue seemed to look inward, the look she got when Melina was talking to her in her earpiece alone.
“She’s okay,” Rogue assured Melina. “But we need to get her shoulder checked out by our friend at the hospital.” Rogue cocked her head as she listened to the voice in her earpiece. “Mel’s bringing us a change of clothes so we can go visit our Sentinel-friendly doctor at the local emergency room.”
Pagan took her mask back from Rogue. “Let’s walk a little closer to where Mel is picking us up so she can see for herself that I’m all right. I can almost hear her chewing your ears off.” She put her mask in place and then looked around the edge of the tower they were leaning against. Behind them the casino was in ruins. The once bright lights now served only to spotlight the damage caused by the explosion and fire. Through the smoke and flames engulfing the building were the remnants of the casino’s signatory large dice, shattered to pieces. The neon lights had been cracked, knocking out some of the letters in the casino name. Pagan read the message left to blink mournfully into the night.
Do Die.
She felt that message had been heard by all of Chastilian that night.
Chapter Seven
Pagan awoke slowly in her bed. Her head felt heavy, her whole body lethargic and leaden from the drugs she’d been pumped with the night before. She lifted her head slightly as she spied her bedroom door opening and saw Melina’s head pop around it.
Melina’s face brightened when she saw Pagan was awake. “Rest easy. Rogue is taking over your duties for the day. After last night, I think Ammassari will be more than excited to have Rogue herself fitting his security cameras around the lot.” She sat on the bed so Pagan could read her lips more easily since her aids were out. Tenderly, Melina ran a hand through Pagan’s hair, just like she had when Pagan was a child.
“My shoulder feels terrible. I feel like the whole casino came down on me.”
Melina grimaced. “You were lucky you only got clipped by it. And that firefighter was very lucky you were there to save him.”
“At least there was someone I could help. We couldn’t do anything for the ones who were already gone.” Pagan closed her eyes. “I never want to see that many dead again, Mel.”
“I was watching you last night. I saw through Rogue’s lens what you did. You were amazing.”
“How? I nearly got my fool head smacked off by falling debris.”
“Your reaction speeds are phenomenal. And you react to sounds like no one else I’ve ever seen. That firefighter wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”
“I saw something,” Pagan mumbled, hating to have to admit it out loud.
“When?”
“I thought I saw someone in the car while it was on fire. All I could think of was Mom and Dad and what happened to them, and I just ran to the car like I did when I was small. You’d think I’d have learned from that mistake too.”
Melina cupped Pagan’s chin and lifted her head slightly so she could see her. “It’s a very natural reaction. You’re a Sentinel; your first instincts are to go help whoever needs you. I might have been more worried had you not reacted. You have feelings, Pagan. It’s what makes you human and alive.” She smiled softly at her. “I want you to sleep a little more and then come down for something to eat. Rogue says you’re to stay in bed all day. No wandering down to the office and messing with the computers. I’m looking after the office today.”
“Did the police get the remote wielder?” Pagan asked, her mind still buzzing with all she’d witnessed the previous night.
“No, he escaped in one of the other cars. Sergeant Eddie Cauley, the chief’s son, was on the scene. Like father, like son. He kept the Sighteds aware of all that was happening. They did get one of the drivers. He was too busy watching the show to notice that the police were gathering around him. Maybe they’ll get some answers from him.” Melina shrugged. “But I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Pagan snuggled back down to make the most of her sleep-in. “Maybe if I sleep a bit more my shoulder will feel better. If I’m a really good patient, do I get pancakes for breakfast?”
“You can have whatever you want.” Melina rose from the bed and tugged the sheets closer to Pagan’s chin. She took a step away, hesitated, then returned to kneel beside Pagan’s bed.
Pagan stared at her, wondering what was on her sister’s mind.
“My greatest fear was that, somehow, someday, you’d be hurt in a fight. Last night I watched that fear come true without a punch being thrown. Yet as I watched you save that man, I was so proud of you. That’s not to say I wasn’t hysterical, which I will freely admit to being. You’re my baby sister, after all. But you are a true Sentinel, just like Rogue said you’d be. I know Mom and Dad would be so proud of you. You are worthy of carrying their Sentinel mantle.”
Pagan blinked at the rush of tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Melina smiled at her.
“We’ll see you later. Rest now. You had a busy night.”
Sleepily, Pagan thought that Melina had an alarming penchant for understatement.
*
At the Ammassari Dealership, Rogue got out of the van and took in the large number of prestige cars and rows full of vehicles for sale. She spied Ammassari with customers and purposefully didn’t attract his attention. Instead, she headed toward the main office and strode down the corridor with one intention in mind: to see the face that bore the freckles that had Pagan so enraptured.
“Hey, Pagan O! I thought I heard the chariot that you just rode in on!”
A small red-haired woman bounded out of the office and very nearly bowled into Rogue.
Rogue looked down silently at Erith, who had stopped still and was staring up at her in confusion.
“You’re not Pagan,” she said in an almost accusatory tone, looking down the corridor in case Pagan was lagging behind.
Rogue rem
ained silent for a moment as she stared Erith down. She was surprised to see that she didn’t look away and instead stared right back with her own intensity. Rogue stuck out her hand.
“Rogue Ronchetti.”
Erith’s face lit up fractionally. “The sister’s lover! Hi.” She took Rogue’s hand and shook it firmly. “Where’s Pagan?”
Rogue was impressed by Erith’s one-track mind. “She couldn’t make it today.” She saw the disappointment color Erith’s pale face. Rogue handed her the small bag she had carried in with her. “She asked that you be given this.” It was a lie, but Rogue needed an excuse to meet Erith and felt that bringing lunch would suffice.
Erith took it carefully, obviously not trusting Rogue right away. She peered into the bag and smiled. “Lunch. She didn’t have to do that.”
“She said you should eat.” Rogue let her gaze drift down Erith’s slender form. She could see why Pagan was concerned. It was hard to see exactly what weight Erith carried when her body was hidden by the oversized shirt she was wearing. Rogue could still see that she wasn’t the healthiest weight for someone her age.
Erith thanked her and then leaned back against the door frame. Her sharp eyes sized Rogue up. “You made sure those guys that hurt Pagan were sorry for what they did to her, didn’t you?”
Rogue marshaled her face not to give away any reaction, but she started a little from the surprise. What does this girl know? “Guys?”