I could read the emotional hologram of a magically caused death. It had given me a lot of insight in the past when I had helped investigate murders. “Last time there was an overdose, I wasn’t able to read anything, but it had been four or five months since it occurred, and I had just discovered my abilities. So Natasha doesn’t know that her coworkers are actually dead?”
“No. Someone notified security, and they took care of it. I assume it was in the dressing room they shared backstage. Someone from the casino told everyone that the girls took another job and quit. I don’t know how they plan to deal with it long term, but for now, they are covering it up.”
“Wow. How did you find this out?”
“I might have bugged their security office.”
“How?”
He smiled. “I have my ways.”
We had gotten to the crux of the issue. It should be an easy decision. I had no training partner for the next week and half, and it looked as though neither Bear nor Badger was going to pick up the slack. My heart was fluttering with excitement at the idea of going undercover, and yet I felt resistance to agreeing.
“This is the kind of thing you should be teaching me.”
“And if you work for me, you just might learn it.”
“What about Patagonia?”
At the sound of her name, she came bounding into the room from the kitchen and meowed.
“What about her?” He leaned over and scratched behind her ears. “She can go with you, same as always. This is a mage festival; no one will think it’s weird. And if they do, tell them that you’re a Monza and to get stuffed.”
I hesitated, trying to sort through my reluctance, but Bear had clearly had enough.
“The four girls that were killed were all from powerful families and in their twenties and thirties and beautiful. Both Natasha and Vanessa fit the profile. Do you feel comfortable with them being potential targets?”
“They don’t take drugs.”
“And you want to stake their lives on the fact that you don’t think they would ever try them?”
I knew Natasha wasn’t taking drugs, but would she ever? Or maybe she had in the past. Vanessa knew that you could overdose on Legacy, but sometimes she did stupid stuff without thinking. Was I willing to let them risk their lives?
“I’ll do it. But once this is over, I’m going back to training.”
“We’ll discuss it later. They have some cell-phone-blocking technology in the area where the festival is held, so you’ll need to call the Magia Casino and try to get ahold of Natasha. Then I’ll give you all the details I have so far, and we can pull together a plan before you head over there.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I pulled up to the dark-tinted door of the Magia Casino and Entertainment Complex and almost ran face-first into a middle-aged couple attempting to exit.
“Pardon me,” I said as I stepped back and held the door open for them.
They nodded and murmured their thanks as they stepped outside. Once they were a few steps away, the woman murmured to her companion, “Did you see that huge cat that lady had?”
“Such a weird town.”
I stepped inside and let the door mostly close behind me while straining to catch their words as the woman paused to dig into her purse.
“I don’t get why the Magia is such a big deal. The casino is crowded, and it’s so hard to see in there. There is just something off about it.”
“Very overrated. It’s—” The rest of his words were lost as a gust of wind sucked the door shut.
The couple hadn’t been mages—their confusion over my cat gave that much away—and it was interesting to see how the magic of the casino affected them.
The Magia was a newer casino. When I had first moved to Rambler, I had watched the final stages of construction on it before it opened. But I hadn’t realized how special it was until I started my mage training. That was when I learned that it was built to be a mage-only casino.
Rambler tourism was mostly of the mage variety, but there was significant-enough human tourism that mages couldn’t totally let loose. The Golden Pyramid had a mix of human and mage guests. The multiple convention halls hosted paranormal events in addition to any boring human conventions. That was pretty standard since mages found that humans made the best sources of income.
But I had learned that Magia took a completely different approach. They wanted only mage clientele. The goal was to make it an oasis for mage behavior in a town that already had a reputation as Vegas for mages. I had been inside before but was excited to see it in action.
I had already been told that in order to book, you needed to cast a small signaling spell that gave out just enough excessive magic that the phone call would go through to an operator rather than receiving an automated message stating that the casino was currently not taking clients. Then if humans tried to walk in, there was a series of spells that made the main casino floor unpleasant. It might seem too dark, too smoky, too loud—whatever would repel them.
Based on the couple hailing a taxi, it was effective. I stepped in through the door and reached out for the second set of doors, which kept the cold Nevada winters and hot summers from destroying the perfect interior temperature, but the door opened.
Out spilled the noises and lights of the casino floor. The gentle notes of the slot machines singing their enticing songs gently mixed with the cheery voices of knots of people around the roulette and craps tables. The room was much smaller than I would have expected and was mostly empty.
After a few moments, I caught the delicate but pervasive sensation of magic. The aura was slightly unpleasant, like the sulfur scent that comes out when you open a container with hard-boiled eggs inside. And much like a faint smell in the air, it slowly disappeared as I tried harder to focus on it.
“Monza Patagonia?”
I jumped and turned toward the voice. He used my formal title and naming system, which was my first name with the name of my familiar as my last name. While I had been gawking in the open doorway, I had neglected to notice that there was a man holding open the door.
“Excuse me.” I stepped out of the way so the door could close, a blush creeping up my cheeks. “I thought it was an automatic door.”
He was taller than me and slender, all long, lean limbs and body. He had dark hair that fell over his pale face. His bone structure would make a supermodel jealous, and his eyes were a light shade of violet, a color I had never seen in person. With dark lashes, his eyes would have been so beautiful as to be feminine, except that they drilled into me with an intensity that took my breath away. For the first time since Vin had brushed my lips with his in a goodbye kiss, I felt desire.
We locked eyes for what felt like an eternity until Patagonia hissed and broke the spell. Her back was arched as she faced off with a cat at the man’s side. It was tan with large irregular dark spots like a jungle cat. It was letting out a low growl as it approached Patagonia.
The man barked a word at his cat, who stopped and slowly sat down.
I used the moment to gather my senses. No matter how handsome this man was, he also radiated power and energy that warned me to be cautious. Besides, I was a Monza, which meant I was celibate. That was like a wet blanket on my campfire, though I started to step toward him. I was within a foot of his chest, my hand rising to stroke it, when Patagonia bit my ankle.
I shook my leg to detach Patagonia, who had wrapped herself around my ankle and was kicking at my foot with her back legs. “I’m sorry, but how did you know my name?”
He smiled, showing off a perfect line of white teeth. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
The cat at his feet let out another growl, and he snapped his fingers without looking down. The cat turned, slowly walked off, and disappeared behind a slot machine.
“I apologize. He is not the most social of familiars.”
I was still reeling from the smile but wary. Something about him seemed familiar. His emotions were on strong lockdow
n, unlike most mages, but I could still pick up shadows of emotions: curiosity, interest and a hint of pleasure. Along with it, I picked up a magical aura around him that reminded me to be cautious. I had not done any warding spells, and if he had active spells, I could be affected.
I put up my shields, and the aura, which reminded me of pine needles, faded as whatever spells he had active were blocked. I felt like an idiot for forgetting to do so before I left my loft. The urge to press myself into him lessened, and I wondered if he was casting a spell that affected me or if it was just part of his unique magic.
When my shields reached their full strength, the man quirked an eyebrow. My desire was still there, and heat that had nothing to do with any magic rose in my cheeks.
“Please, call me Ella. I’m not normally so scatterbrained, but this is all such a surprise.” I extended my hand, determined to push forward.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Thomas.”
As his hand closed over mine, I felt a shot of electricity followed by a warm caramel sensation that slithered through my center and settled in places that I didn’t want to focus on too closely in public. Heat was rising in my core, and I had to clench my fists to keep from fanning myself. I clearly needed to get out more.
“When I heard that you would be working during the Cauldron Festival, I wanted to make sure you had a proper greeting, Ella.”
My name was beautiful coming from his mouth, soft and feminine. “That is so kind but unnecessary. Natasha made all the arrangements. I just need to find will call to pick up my wristband and employee badge.”
“Working a backup for Natasha is below your station. If you want a job at the casino, I can give you any position you desire.”
I stepped back and gave him what I hoped was an intimidating look at his suggestive phrasing. “Okay, Romeo, you’ve made your point.”
He chuckled and gave me a genuine smile. “Can’t I flirt with a beautiful redhead?”
“I took this job as a favor to a friend, and I am not interested in any other position here.” I crossed my arms.
He studied my face for a minute, and I could practically see the gears spinning as he evaluated his next step. “Understood. But please let me give you a quick tour of the casino then the Cauldron Festival. I am the event liaison for the casino, and I’m very proud of this event.”
I hesitated briefly before relenting. “I would love a tour.”
He smiled broadly at me. His eyes sparkled, and I could sense his sincere delight. “Wonderful.” He offered his arm. “Please, it will make it easier for us to talk privately.”
I held his gaze as I slipped my hand into the nook of his arm, my fingers resting lightly on his black silk shirt. The heat from his skin soaked into my hand.
A spell popped around us with an aura like pine trees. I recognized Thomas’s magic and turned to face him with a question on my face.
He jerked his head toward a human couple passing by on their way out the door. “Pardon me. I should have warned you. It’s a privacy bubble so we can speak freely without the undesirables hearing us.”
Before I could tell him how rude that was, he started off on his tour. “This main room is the only part of the casino open to non-mages. It has a few low-level spells that just make it unpleasant. The layout is meant to be confusing so as they move around the room, it seems much bigger than it is, allowing us to easily hide the immense mage-only area. It uses very light magic along with just plain boring interior design.”
I swept along beside him, marveling at how terrible the room looked. The colors were dull. The music was a bit off. The crowd cheered, but their hearts weren’t in it. The farther we walked, the more the place seemed to embody the epitome of blah. Even though I had set up my shield to block out most spells, boredom was overwhelming.
I stifled a yawn and blinked hard, urging myself to wake up.
Thomas chuckled and reached over to pat my hand nestled in the crook of his arm. “The designers are very good. We can’t keep employees on shift for longer than an hour out here. They kept falling asleep on the job.”
“Why not just ban non-mages completely?” I tried not to think about his hand still resting on mine when he removed it, trailing his fingertips across my knuckles. My fingers tightened on his arm in response, then I forced them to loosen, hoping he hadn’t noticed.
“That would raise more questions. We tried that in a hotel in New Orleans, but all that did was make the undesirables more eager to get in.”
My eyebrows knitted together, and I removed my hand. “I wish you wouldn’t call them that. It’s not their fault that they don’t have magic.”
He watched me. “I apologize. I had expected you to be very different. Stern faced, serious business, and scary. You’re still scary but in a very different way. You’re special and gifted. I can feel the power radiating off you in a way I have never seen before, even from a marshal. I know that you need to find Natasha and will be very busy working, but I hope you will allow me to take you out to eat soon. I can get us a table at Le March. They’re booked up for over a year.”
I stuttered. Had he asked me on a date? Maybe he didn’t know about the vow of celibacy. “Thomas, that is very sweet, but as a Monza—”
His magic pressed against my shields, and desire ratcheted up around me. “I know. No kissing, no dating, nothing fun, but there is nothing to say that we can’t go enjoy a good meal and each other as friends, is there? Come along. We’re here, and now it’s time to impress you.”
We were at a nondescript door next to a window where a bored young blond woman was filing a nail. When she spotted us, she leaned over to look me over from head to foot. “This Ella? I thought Monzas wore long white dresses and were really old.”
“The times are a-changing. Can you grab the things for Ella and buzz us through?”
She slid a packet into the tray under the window. “You got it, boss.” Then she pressed a large button.
The door buzzed, and Thomas pushed it open. “Welcome, Ella, to the most exciting place in Rambler.”
CHAPTER SIX
I followed him through the door and paused to take it in. Instantly, I felt energized by the combination of the absence of the dissuading spells of the front room and a new kind of magic along with the heady dose of mage emotions. The area was beautiful but empty, reminding me of a quaint European city at dusk. There was a cobblestone surface and tiny lights hanging in trees that looked to be real and planted in the ground. Some chairs and tables were dotted around with a few patrons relaxing. There was a large map and a light post with arrows pointed either right or left as the path was split.
But most noticeable was an aura I was picking up. The magic was like an undercurrent of warm, happy feelings, the aura soft and comforting, though it shifted. One moment, it reminded me of a campfire and hot dogs on a clear night, then it was mac and cheese, before reminding me of burying my head and breathing deeply the scent of my favorite teddy bear from childhood.
The emotions were much the same. I felt security, comfort, and happiness but mostly a sense of excitement. Something wonderful was happening and would be happening, and I could barely keep my feet still as I wanted to race forward and find it.
“Wow. The magic is very nuanced.”
He quirked an eyebrow over a smug grin. “I knew you would be able to appreciate it. It’s a bit different for everyone. Not everyone can, which is a shame because it is world-class. I worked very hard on it and wish it got more recognition.”
He looked around and took a deep breath.
“You worked hard?”
He inclined his head and attempted to look modest, but the pride welled off him even with his shields up. He had a tight control on most of his emotions but not on his certainty that he was responsible. “I am just a small but important cog in the machine. I believe that the events we host and the entertainment we provide is what is most responsible for the success of the casino. I mean, the rooms are nice, but you can get a nic
e hotel the world over. But this feeling, this sensation, this experience can only be had here. I could stand here all day.”
He looked around, his eyes dancing and his full lips pulled into a lopsided smile. I shoved down my feeling as I found myself wondering what his lips would feel like on mine. If his strong hands would be gentle or aggressive as they grabbed me in an embrace.
He cut his eyes to me. “You’ll enjoy it. Like nothing you have ever experienced.”
I gasped and stepped back, thinking that he had understood my thoughts.
He tipped his head to the side. “It’s a big party. No reason to look so shocked.”
I fumbled for an explanation that would cover my confusion, when Patagonia turned and ran off, her tail whipping back and forth as she pranced ahead of us.
“Your familiar wants to look around. Shall we follow?” He took a step then paused. “Son of a… I forgot to warn you. You don’t have anything electronic on you, do you? If we go any farther, into the loop it will be destroyed. A security measure.”
I nodded. Bear had warned me. “No worries. I left everything in the car. What if someone has a hearing aid or pacemaker?”
He gave me a strange look. “Why would a mage use technology when they could use magic?”
I shrugged. “I’d never given it much thought. I don’t need them.” I tried to be casual but hoped I hadn’t given away anything. I was still new to mage culture, and no amount of reading over the past six months could fully prepare me for every nuance.
Thomas started walking counterclockwise around the loop. “Where did you grow up?”
I kept a tight smile. As a Monza, I was not expected to answer any personal questions about my family or background. It was part of the reason that it was the perfect solution to hiding my identity.
He chuckled. “Fine. But it must have been somewhere rural or isolated. You don’t have big-city ideals toward humans.”
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