Born To Be Wilde: Immortal Vegas, Book 3

by Jenn Stark

  “She’s going to be okay,” Brody said, squeezing my hand. “It’d take more than a horde of demons to hold their own with Nikki.”

  He was right, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

  The doors opened on a huge rooftop party floor that started inside, then spilled out to an unfenced patio, surely a safety violation in any dimension that didn’t feature giant flying creatures. Archways soared up and over the area, whether to serve as a framework for a retractable roof or for aesthetic appeal, I didn’t know. One thing was certain, though, there was no roof blocking the action tonight.

  “Here we go,” Brody muttered.

  As Armaeus had promised, no one bothered us as we moved through the writhing bodies. The dance floor was pulsing with music and energy, and I winced, wondering what kind of introduction the djinn were getting to the mortal realm. No wonder they were rounding up possible hosts.

  We moved out into the wide floor, and immediately I recognized where we were. This was the platform they’d dragged Nikki across. I pointed Brody in the right direction, and he nodded, then stiffened, his eyes riveting on a point in the distance.

  I followed his gaze. Two men stood at the very edge of the crowd, one of them completely losing his marbles. The other dwarfed the first by over a foot. There was no doubt I was staring at a djinn, though he didn’t possess wings. He had the rich blonde elegance of the Devil, and I wondered at the similarity. After tolerating the shorter man’s panic for several moments, he reached out and backhanded him.

  The smaller man dropped like a sack of flour, and the djinn picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder. He stalked away from us toward another section of the patio as if he wasn’t carrying a near-two-hundred-pound man on his back.

  We hesitated to follow him, in unspoken agreement that a lord of the demon realm would probably hear a couple of regular humans lumbering after him, despite the rave music in the background. Keeping our distance, we followed the djinn and his hapless cargo as he stalked through the darkness, bypassing the glittering lights and sounds for a separate sitting area flanked by giant cabana-style tented seats.

  He cleared those as we caught up to him, and we heard the raucous sounds of yet another party in progress.

  And one unforgettable cry.

  “Hey, sugar lips! Hoo boy, you found another one. Look at those shoulders! He’s totally a keeper.”

  Nikki.

  Brody heard it too. “What in the—”

  “Shh!” I cut him off. “She doesn’t sound right.”

  “Well, she doesn’t sound wrong either,” Brody grumbled, but we edged closer to the party area. There was enough of a breeze at this height to keep the cabana tents fluttering, and I gaped at what I saw. This couldn’t be possible.

  Beside me, Brody cursed tightly as he saw the same thing I did. “Why isn’t anything ever easy?”

  Apparently oblivious to the fact that she was surrounded by magical beings that made her seem positively petite, Nikki sat cozily ensconced at a baize-green table, deep in a game of poker. From the looks of things, she was holding her own, but barely. Her compatriots were all djinn, from what I could see. Three giant males, easily seven feet tall, and unlike the demon we’d seen first, they weren’t all blonde Adonises.

  They were, however, all in exceptionally good shape, at least to my untutored eye. Lean, battle-worn, and with the feral eyes of cats that had gone too long without their kibble, they watched the card game with an air of ferocious intensity. Nikki, for her part, was keeping up a nonstop stream of chatter.

  “There you go sugar buns, and boom, I’m up again on you. This would be the time for all of you to get worried.”

  The cards were shuffled and dealt around, apparently a standard game of five-card draw. Nikki tossed in a few chips, then the creature across from her grinned and added enough to raise the kitty to almost half her reserves. I felt my stomach cramp. “What are they betting on?”

  “I don’t think we want to find out,” Brody said. Nikki’s face was tight and flushed, the glass at her side barely touched. “You’re right, though. She doesn’t look so hot.”

  “How are we going to get her out of there?”

  Nikki played her cards, and the djinn surrounding her grinned, one of them drawing his hand lazily along her arm. That was the one she’d called Warrick. Had to be. She flinched but kept on smiling, and as she glanced up to meet his eyes, drawling something nonsensical, I shifted slightly in the darkness.

  Nikki’s smile blossomed across her hard face. “Well, baby, I think my luck has turned. Anyone for another round?”

  “You are almost out of markers,” Warrick said. “When you fall out of the game, one of us claims you.” He leered at her. “I’ve decided it will be me.”

  Nikki’s skin went a little paler, but she tilted up her chin. “The one thing you can never afford to do in poker is count your money at the table, sweet pea. Deal the cards.”

  That elicited a round of jovial excitement around the table, and I flinched as Brody touched my arm. “Get a load of the action by the palms.”

  Two djinn stood next to two kneeling humans, and argued with a third djinn. I could barely make out their words over the pounding beat, but I got a lot of “No’s” and “Impossibles” mixed in with several colorful expletives.

  “What’s that about?” Brody asked.

  “Hosts,” I gestured. “The rule is if you’re a demon, you can’t stay here in your natural form, not for long. You have to find a body.”

  “And once you do, you’re stuck with it?”

  “That’s…an interesting question. It appears so, at least for a while.” I frowned. “But they’ve got twenty-four hours, Armaeus said.”

  “And he knows that how?”

  “Shh. Watch.” The djinn reached out to yank one of the humans to his feet, a well-built gym rat with wild eyes, his mouth agape in terror.

  “What are you going to do with me?” the man asked. “What do you want?”

  In response to his bluster, the djinn laughed—a soul-sucking, mirthless howl that made the dark-skinned man blanch with fear.

  This wasn’t right. “I have to do something—” I began, but Brody reached out and held me close.

  “Chill,” he hissed. “We don’t know how many of them there are.”

  “I do. There are six.” Energy sizzled along my nerve endings, and I whipped my gaze back to the tight cluster of men and djinn. Suddenly there was one fewer of the demons, and the man was on his knees, howling into the night, his screams keeping eerie time with the music wailing out over the deck.

  “What the hell?” Brody growled.

  “They made the transfer,” I said. “And if the guy can keep his sanity, it looks like the take was good.”

  With that, the man convulsed on the ground, once—twice—then reared back, regaining his feet with a scream of rage and power.

  “What have you done to me!” he screamed, but his human voice was wild, almost exultant, and another voice crested the wave along with it, two voices singing the same song. The second voice quickly moved to the fore, drowning out the first. “It is done!” the man shouted, flinging his arms wide. “It is done.”

  There was a commotion at the table, and we looked back over to Nikki, who in the intervening few minutes had seen her stake of chips dwindle significantly. “I don’t mind playing all night,” she drawled. “There’s no need to go all-in.”

  “The transfer has worked, and the strong survive,” grinned Warrick. The other two sat back, one already out of chips but drinking amiably, the other with an appreciably smaller stack than Warrick. No matter which way you sliced it, the game was coming down to the head djinn and Nikki, and Nikki did not look like she’d be ending the day a winner.

  “And you’re sure you don’t want to pick someone a little more your own size?” Nikki asked with a saucy grin, batting her heavily mascaraed eyes. “Think about it. With you in human form, you and I could go a few rounds, right? Some
thing to consider.”

  “Oh, we will, human,” Warrick leered back. “There is no closer connection than possession.” Nikki’s smile wobbled, and I felt my stomach twist with fear. For all her bravado, even Nikki had her limits. She reached for her glass, draining half of it with a single gulp. Instantly, a foil-wrapped waitress was at the table to refill her drink, and I somehow didn’t think the cool slide of clear liquid was water.

  “We have to get her out of there,” I said. “If that asshole sitting next to her is planning to possess her, we’re going to have a problem. I don’t know how to undo that.”

  “Hang tight.” Brody scanned the floor. “Nikki’s not finished yet.”

  Across the wide space, Nikki laughed with delight, and we both glanced up to see her raking in a large pile of chips, her stash suddenly restored. “I told you that arrogance would get you in the end, sweet cakes,” she cackled. “If you’re going to win in Vegas, you’re gonna have to learn some patience.”

  Warrick leaned back in his chair. With this haul, they were officially the only two players in the game. “Who is to say that I will honor this game of yours?” he asked, a thread of menace underlining his playful words.

  Nikki was unbowed, though from where I stood, I could see the sheen of sweat on her brow. “You wouldn’t play this long to chicken out in the end, if you’re even half the—ah, demon I think you are,” she said, winking at the creature.

  If anything, the demon’s smile grew deeper, more intense. Nikki was used to scaring people off with her bravado, not having them respond with greater interest. But again, not even she could handle this guy swimming through her bloodstream. Right?

  “Brody,” I said warningly.

  “Not yet,” he said, and sure enough, the demon signaled for another deal of the cards. “Until they line her up for possession, we’re better off waiting and watching.” He stiffened and pointed. “Time’s up. Does he know we’re here?”

  I turned to see Viktor Dal enter the wide space. Tall and whip thin, he walked with an imperious stride that forced his long, coal-black robes to billow out behind him. His face was classically beautiful—blade-sharp cheekbones, flawless porcelain skin, high winged eyebrows over sharp aristocratic eyes. Those eyes swept the gathering of djinn with relish, then he turned in my direction.

  “Come out, come out, Sara.” His voice boomed over the gathering, answering Brody’s question. “You should take pride in your accomplishments. I owe you a debt of thanks.”

  Eluding Brody’s grab, I moved into the open space. “You owe me? Fine. I want the children. And Nikki.”

  “Ah yes. The children.” He clasped his hands. “Had I known what you would become, I would never have sacrificed the children to the world beyond the veil. I paid mightily for that transgression, you should know. Every year they were lost to this world I will be subjected to a score more of torment, in the full space of time. It was part of the debt assigned.”

  “My heart breaks for you.”

  He shrugged. “It was a price I thought I had to pay. There is not enough magic in this world. The djinn will replace that magic.”

  I looked at the man at the far end of the room, who was now doubled over, weeping. “By possessing a human? That seems an imperfect solution at best.”

  He nodded. “I agree. When I first conceived this plan, I knew precisely how it must go. The children were chosen for their innate raw ability and a certain…malleability as well. Their power needed to be groomed, developed. Their minds needed to be open. Their futures here would not have allowed that.”

  I scowled at him. I knew a little bit about the children’s parents. They’d come from all walks of life, some quite poor, but not all of them. And they’d had parents. Siblings. Families that loved them. “What did you do to them?”

  “I gave them stability without heartbreak, learning without censure. They are fully open to their capabilities, and they are bonded to their demon hosts.” He gazed thoughtfully at the djinn, who stood at respectful attention…all except Warrick, whose gaze remained trained on Nikki. Nikki, who was doing her best not to notice the creature eyeing her with enough intensity that I was surprised she didn’t dissolve into a puff of smoke.

  The man who’d been possessed stood up again. But he shook, and tears streamed down his face, indicating that his body resisted the violation. He was fighting, I realized. He was trying to remain human—trying too hard. With a wave of Viktor’s hand, the man crumbled to the ground. Beside him, staring down, was the djinn who’d attempted to possess him.

  “Didn’t take,” the djinn said disgustedly.

  Nikki surged forward, blowing past Warrick as she strode toward the fallen man. “You touch another hair on anyone’s head,” she barked, kneeling down and throwing a protective arm over him, “and I will personally beat the undead shit out of all of you. Stand back.”

  “It seems we are at an impasse, Sara,” Viktor continued in his thin, cruel voice. “My djinn are here, and the children were not needed as their hosts after all. All that is left is to find Connecteds of sufficient abilities and strength to serve in that role. Fortunately, the demonstration you so capably performed for SANCTUS served to amplify the abilities of the Connected in the city. There should be many capable subjects. So it would seem I simply needed you to bring my dream to life, in the fullness of time.” He nodded to me. “My thanks.”

  I glared at him. “But what about the children?”

  He shook his head. “With the Syx gone, their time is short. They will die before… Well.” He tilted his head. “Soon, I think. I gave myself over to their deaths ten years ago. My debt remains the same whether they return to this plane or not.”

  He sighed a word, and the djinn froze—even Warrick. While Viktor seemed to grow in stature.

  “But it has been worth it, so worth it. Look, and behold,” he said, turning away. “A world made new with magic.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Still captured in their thrall, all six of the Syx reached straight upward with both hands, and the electrical grid in Vegas bucked like a bronco. Light crackled up through the Syx’s bodies and burst into the sky. My third eye flicked open, and I saw the energy waves flare out from the Black Tower like a shower of Silly String, visible all the way to Spain. The explosion rocked the entire raving floor, and an enormous cheer went up in a roar of drunk, happy revelers.

  Brody, Nikki, and I watched as the fireworks blasted over Vegas. The djinn remained frozen, but there was no doubt that they were fueling Viktor’s little demonstration. Electricity arced over and around them, pulsing with a living fury. Beneath us I could feel the hiss and sputter of ley lines. Somewhere in Vegas, Danae and her coven of Deathwalkers were losing their minds, I was sure of it.

  A moment later, Viktor and the six djinn disappeared from the rooftop rave.

  Just…poof.

  How powerful was this asshat, anyway?

  “’Bout time you people showed up.” Nikki had rolled to her feet and handed off the crying man to two willing females in the crowd. Now she strode over to us, grinning ear to ear, though I couldn’t quite respond. My throat was choked with apologies. “You sure do know how to show a girl a good time, dollface. How are you doing?”

  “Nikki.” My voice cracked as Nikki held open her arms. Tears sparked mutinously behind my lids, and I squashed them by moving into her hug, holding her close as she laughed and patted my back.

  “It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay. They didn’t hurt me. They only scared me. A hella lot, but I’m okay.” She stood back as I recovered myself, and I searched her face. Her eyes were steady, her smile genuine. “I’m frankly not entirely sure how I feel about what just happened, truth be told. I should be…disturbed, and I’m not. That’s not right, I know it isn’t.” She blew out a long, disquieted breath. “I could go for a drink, though. And definitely a new set of Spanx.”

  “Do we need to warn the community?” Brody asked. “If Viktor was serious, the Connecteds need t
o watch out. Especially the big ones.”

  “I think we have the full twenty-four hours, actually.” I considered Armaeus’s words. “You saw their first attempt. They won’t want to repeat that until they have to. The children will remain safe for that time period too, I suspect. No matter how smug he sounded, if this infestation doesn’t take, Viktor’s going to need them to make another run at the djinn.”

  We couldn’t talk for a while as we made our way back through the crowd. I considered the problem from every angle. We had maybe twelve hours to affect a rescue, I thought. That was too long to leave the children in limbo, and not nearly long enough to warn all the Connecteds in Vegas about a possible assault. Even with Dixie Quinn’s impressive communications network, we couldn’t get to everyone. And with the ley lines amped up to a million and two, no one was safe unless they were on the Council. That meant Danae and her coven were at as much risk as anyone.

  Something else was nagging at me too, despite it not directly applying to the problem at hand…yet I had the feeling it did matter. Armaeus had healed me without touching me, which sort of seemed like cheating. But beyond that, I once again hadn’t felt any fear with his approach. Only lust, frankly, and a whole lot of it. There was something important about this. Something I needed to figure out, and quickly.

  The answer seemed to be there, out of reach, but I knew better than to ask Armaeus about it. He’d only redirect me. Death also was a no-go. Her answers came with a price, and after getting cooked from the inside out once today, I needed to keep up my strength.

  But I did have options.

  We broke free from the Paris crowd and onto the sidewalk, the typical throng of tourists on the Strip somehow seeming less oppressive than the crush of people inside Paris. From the looks of the scene above us, the party was still going strong. Whether the revelers would ever have any idea they were actually dancing their brains out in an alternate dimension as Armaeus had indicated, I couldn’t imagine. Then again, with technoceutical street drugs available on every corner, there was probably more of that going on than I’d like to believe.