Vanessa was still lying on the couch. She’d fallen asleep, her breathing even and slow. There were deep circles under her eyes, and even asleep, she looked tired. She’d been working nonstop, training first with me then Natasha. Guilt made me stumble on my way to the door before I took a deep breath. I closed the door and locked it. I grabbed the note from my pocket and unfolded it. It was from Bear. He had to leave to get some sleep and had left one of his employees with the note to pass to me in secret. Since he was working undercover for the festival without the casino’s knowledge and I was working for him without the festival’s knowledge, it was important that no one see even the note being passed.
He had a list of names of the people that had died. Previously, he had known locations but not names, except for the two missing performers whom he had been able to look up easily. The addition of names would definitely help me to snoop. He also asked that I call him when I got home regardless of the time.
At the bottom of the paper was an incantation that would make the note self-destruct. In an effort to memorize, I repeated the names several times. “Dorothy Robbins, Bathroom. Pris Lewis, Snakebite Room. Janie Wright and Stacey Droit, dressing room.”
The note also reminded me that I needed to talk to Bear very soon to update him on the fact that I had not gotten any reading in the dressing room.
Once I was sure of the names, I activated the spell, and the paper burst into flames and disappeared without even a puff of smoke.
I exited the bathroom, ran over to the couch, and jumped onto it, bouncing the sleeping Vanessa up and down.
She screamed and grabbed the back of the couch before sitting up. “You scared me to death.”
“Then don’t fall asleep.”
“I was just resting my eyes.” She stretched her arms over her head, tilting her body left then right.
Patagonia had been missing since the final bow, which she insisted on joining me on. She had even bowed her head slightly to accept the applause. But just then, she jumped onto the couch and walked deliberately across Vanessa’s lap, dragging her tail under Vanessa’s nose, resulting in a flurry of sneezes from Vanessa.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think she does that on purpose to annoy me.”
I didn’t “know better” and was certain that Patagonia loved to annoy Vanessa. Patagonia crawled up and smiled, her shiny white fangs gleaming.
Vanessa scooped her boots off the ground and slid her feet into them. “Do you want to catch any of the festival after the show? We have the late show tomorrow, so we have all evening to party and the morning to sleep in. Please? I think it—”
She seemed ready to start into a long plea, so I cut her off, excited to share. “We’ve been invited to a party!”
Blinking at me a few times, she seemed confused. “What? Who?”
“I ran into Sapphire, and she invited us to some party at the Snakebite Room.”
The confusion doubled. “Sapphire of the Gemtones? The super-exclusive band-only party at the Platinum Club? Who are you, and what have you done with my non-partying friend who knows no one?”
I laughed. “Sapphire invited me and said you and Natasha could come along.”
“Hold up. You are serious. How do you know Sapphire? Start from the beginning.”
Though I couldn’t tell why I had to get into the Snakebite Room, I could tell Vanessa about my ultra-weird encounter. Maybe she would have some insight. “I’m walking over here, and Sapphire comes running over, calling me Marie and hugging me. Says that we were best friends as a kid when my mom and I lived in her family’s pool house.”
“Whoa! What did you say?”
“Nothing. Someone came over and called me a Monza, and I used that as an excuse for not talking about my childhood.”
“Because you didn’t want to talk about where you really were.” She nodded. “Can I ask about your childhood? You never talk about what happened before your dad came into your life.”
I shrugged. “I don’t remember anything before that.”
“Oh, I thought you said you were eight when that happened.”
“Yeah, eight.”
Her eyebrows shot up, and she leaned in. “You don’t remember anything before that? Nothing before age eight?”
“Isn’t that normal?”
She gasped. “No, not even a little bit. I remember seeing a dragon in Wyoming for the first time when I was four. I remember preschool around the same time. I remember seeing the Eiffel Tower when I was five. I remember loads of stuff. What about your mom? What do you remember about her?”
I scrunched my face into a frown to think, but there was nothing there, like if someone asked you about your flight but you fell asleep the whole time. “No. Okay, that is weird. Why can’t I remember my mom, and why haven’t I ever realized that I can’t remember my mom?”
“You didn’t go to her funeral?”
“No.”
“What is the earliest thing you remember?”
“I was in a pink fluffy dress with lots of white lace on it and little black shiny shoes. It was a lilac room with these hideous green leather chairs. I was swinging my feet back and forth because I couldn’t reach the floor. I waited a really long time. Then my dad came in, though I didn’t know who he was. He got down on one knee and hugged me for a long time.” The memory flooded back to me.
“Well, that, you remember. Anything else?”
“He told me that my mom was gone, he was my dad, and he was going to look after me from now on. He picked up my bag, a little green leather suitcase, and we left.”
“Did he say your mom was gone or dead?”
I thought it over, replaying the memory. “Gone. Huh.”
“So your mom might still be out there? This is crazy. How are you feeling?”
“I feel… fine.” I tipped my head to the side. “That seems weird, but I do. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
She shook her head. “That’s not right. You shouldn’t feel fine.”
“I know. I should be… upset?”
She gaped at me. “Yes, very upset. What is wrong with you? You’re so calm.”
“Something about this is really off. The best person to talk to is your mom, and she’s out of the country. We’ll figure it out when she gets back.” I could also ask Bear and Badger, but Vanessa didn’t know about them. It was getting more and more difficult to remember who knew what.
She eyed me for a long time, as though she was expecting me to burst into tears at any moment. Finally, she accepted my answer. “Fine. We’ll do that. But you promise you’ll let me know if, later on, you start to get upset. You can call night or day.”
“I promise.”
“Obviously, you don’t want to go to the party under the circumstances.”
“I want to go. It will be fun, right?” The truth was that I needed to see if I could get a reading. I would have to avoid Sapphire as best I could.
“Um…” Vanessa pulled her legs to her chest and looked uncomfortable. “I need to apologize. I was kinda mean yesterday in our training room. I totally overreacted. I mean, you totally came around, but Natasha figured you just needed some time to adjust to the change in plans. And you did come to help Natasha, and now you are dragging me to parties to have fun. I really misjudged you. So anyways, I’m sorry.”
It was my turn to shift uncomfortably. She shouldn’t apologize, or at least not that much. I didn’t change my mind. I was undercover and essentially lying to her. For a second, I debated coming clean, telling her the truth about what was going on, but then the moment passed, and I doubled down on the lies. “Hey, no problem. All’s forgiven.”
Natasha popped in the door. “Done. You ready to grab some food?”
Vanessa grabbed my arm and dragged me to my feet. “I’m starving, and you won’t believe where Ella got us an invite to after dinner.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Several hours later, we had eaten at the sushi fusion place, a new favorite of Patagon
ia’s, who had eaten her fill of fresh fish, and waited in a long line to get into the party. The Snakebite Room was inside the Platinum Club, and my ears were pounding from the dance music. Almost everyone was turned away at the door, but it didn’t seem to keep people from trying their luck at bribing the grim-faced bouncer. One gal flashed the bouncer, and though I saw his eyebrow quirk a little, he still shook his head and refused her entrance.
A visiting DJ in a large banana costume was in the booth, playing music. At least, I assumed it was music. The steady beat of the thundering bass was familiar, but the cacophony of blenders, car horns, and cat shrieking was unlike anything I had ever heard. The club was already overflowing with dancers moving to the sounds, so they must have enjoyed it.
When I stepped up to the bouncer, I passed into a sound-dampening spell, the sound of silence ringing in my ears. I opened my mouth to give an explanation of who I was, but he was already flipping through the papers on his clipboard.
“Monza Ella and guests. I have a note here that Sapphire asks that you meet her at the front bar.” He opened the door and pointed into the room. “Enter then follow the wall around to your left.”
I would definitely be going to the right, then. I had decided that I would try to avoid Sapphire then send an apology letter to her room later. I wasn’t ready to delve into my feelings about my missing memories, but I supposed if I was sneaky about it, I could find out where she had grown up just in case she was right. The information might be useful later. The most mystifying part was that I felt nothing about the missing memories. Logically, I knew I should be destroyed, scared, betrayed, or any number of other emotions, but I wasn’t. What emotion I did have was curiosity. If it weren’t for the overdoses, I would immediately start investigating.
But first, I needed to find the spot where the overdose had happened. I weaved through the crowd. The music was still dance but more of the style I recognized as music, and the volume was lower. There was a small dance floor with a few dozen people, but a majority of the room had armless couches pulled into circles and overflowing with people talking and drinking.
Calling it a room was literally true because it did have four walls and a ceiling, but it was far bigger than I expected, probably half the size of the entire main Platinum Club. Apparently, every visiting act, from DJs, to bands, to comedians, and to dancers, had been invited.
Natasha must have noticed the same things. She grumbled next to me, “My invite must have gotten lost in the mail. Everyone’s here, even Tiffany.”
I stopped dead, fighting between the urge to look in the direction she was staring and fighting to not look. But like a magnet, I was drawn to find Tiffany in the crowd and spotted her about a dozen feet away. And next to her, like a mountain in a white button-down shirt, was Vin.
Within a few seconds, his eyes snapped onto mine then widened in surprise before narrowing down. He stomped over, closing the distance between us.
“Uh-oh,” Vanessa said.
“You said it,” I quipped before turning to face Vin, some of my suppressed anger coming out in the form of snark. “Long time, no see.”
“What are you guys doing here?” He glared at me then Vanessa.
I crossed my arms and addressed Vanessa. “I guess you didn’t tell your brother about our new job?” I knew I was poking at Vin, but I felt this deep need to dig at him. He had gone out of his way to avoid me since I declared myself a Monza, even leaving his job at the Golden Pyramid Casino to get away. In fact, the last time I had seen him was when he kissed me goodbye.
My cheeks heated at the memory, and I was barely able to stop myself verbally goading him more, when Tiffany slid up to Vin, a smirk on her face. She was wearing a skintight black leather vest with nothing underneath. The neckline reached to her belly button, exposing most of her breasts. Equally tight black leather pants finished off the outfit. She must have used a shoehorn to wedge herself into them. She laid her left hand on Vin’s shoulder, showing off the large engagement ring.
I looked at her and put all of my acting skills to work. “I heard about your engagement. I wish you and Vin all the best in the world.”
The smile slipped from her face. Perhaps she had hoped for outrage or sadness, but I would give her neither.
After she recovered, her smile returned, a sure sign that she had something nasty to say. “Thank you. We would invite you to the wedding, but it’s very, very exclusive, and only our closest friends are coming. I do hope that someday you can find the same happiness. Oh!” She feigned embarrassment that I knew she wasn’t feeling and covered her mouth with her ring-encrusted left hand. “I’m so sorry. I forgot that as a Monza, you will be alone forever, but at least you have your cat. Just like all those jokes, an old lady and her cat.”
Vin shifted his gaze from us to her, snapping her name as both a correction and a warning. “Tiffany.”
I tried to get a read on his emotions, but his shields were stronger than I remembered.
Tiffany sulked, sticking out her lower lip at him. “Hey, let’s get out of here. Looks like this party is full of losers.”
Vin turned the full weight of his visible disapproval on her. “Go to dinner. I will meet you there, but first, I must speak with my sister and Monza Ella. Perhaps you have forgotten that my family is responsible for Monza Ella’s training.”
She stood on her toes and kissed him, an action that he did not return, then she turned around to storm off. Her exit was ruined when she tripped over Patagonia and fell down. Vin made a move to assist her.
Vanessa grabbed my arm and dragged me away, ducking behind a group. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about them being engaged. I’ve been waiting for the right time.”
Natasha, who had been silently watching the exchange, followed. “What is that about?”
I groaned. “I’ll tell you later. It’s a lot to unpack right now.” I turned around and could see Vin looking for us. “Vanessa, if you want to make it up to me, why don’t you go distract him and get him out of here. I don’t want to deal with him. And Natasha, if you go find a table, I’ll grab us three drinks.”
We agreed and split into three directions. This would be my best chance to get a reading alone. I had been working on a spell that should help me. In order to get a reading, I had to stand still, eyes closed, and focus on the environment—nothing too fancy, but it would draw attention if done in public. People that were sensitive to the use of magic or who knew my specific abilities, like Vanessa, would question what and why I was doing it.
In a previous case, I had seen a man use a spell that obscured his features just enough that the average mage just didn’t notice him. It allowed him to sneak into a building without anyone remembering him or recognizing him. I had modified the spell just enough so that people wouldn’t notice me. I could get the reading, and as long as someone wasn’t specifically looking for me, they wouldn’t notice how strange my behavior was. And I would make a point of telling Bear how my relentless training had made this possible.
I had come up with the plan the previous night as I drifted to sleep and had grabbed a cheat sheet with a few incantations that morning. None of the spells on the sheet needed a potion, but I wasn’t so experienced that I could do them completely unassisted just yet.
But I really needed to nail down the exact spot that Pris Lewis had passed away, and I had an idea of where to get that.
Despite the full room, the bar was relatively empty. I slid up to it and grabbed the attention of the bartender, who threw the rag he was wiping down the bar with over his shoulder and sauntered over.
“What can I get you?”
“Three of your house specials.”
“Sure thing.” He started pulling down bottles and mixing up the complicated drinks. He was vaguely interested in me, but mostly, he was radiating boredom.
That helped me pick the tack I would take. “Hey, so maybe this is gossipy of me, but a friend of a friend of a friend passed away in here not too long ag
o, and I said I would ask what happened. Pris Lewis? Were you working here?”
His sudden spike in interest told me I had picked the right approach. “Yes, I was. Just awful, wasn’t it? She was in that far booth. It was two nights before the festival, and it was dead around here. Oh, sorry. That didn’t come out right.” He stopped awkwardly.
I cut in before his embarrassment could end the discussion before it had even started. “Oh, how awful. Did you see what happened?”
“Not really. She slumped down, so I don’t know how long she was there before we noticed. She had been around for a while, though. She was from somewhere in Europe. I think Spain. Dark hair and eyes, really pretty but kinda immature. You know the type, high energy, very flirty but doesn’t mean it. Very well connected. She had been on several dates with big names here: Ben, the lead singer of the band in residence, The Blue Marks, DJ Wiz that works in the main room, Thomas—”
“Thomas? The same Thomas that is an event liaison?”
“Yeah, I think that’s what he said his job title was. Nothing too serious, just meals and a night out. She hung out here a bunch between dates. She liked the way I made her Salem Witch Ice Tea.” He stopped mixing our drinks and looked at his shoes for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts. “It was pretty sad.”
“What happened?” I was unsure of the official story.
He shrugged. “I heard she had a bad heart. One of those things that they don’t know about until afterward, I think.”
He passed the second of the drinks to me as he worked on the last one. Apparently, it was quite a fussy drink with many steps, which was perfect for my purpose. I took a sip. “Where did you hear that?”
“Just the news around here. Seems like that is what everyone thought. It was quite the topic around the casino. Why? Did you hear differently?”
“No, I hadn’t heard much at all. I just thought that there was a newspaper article.” I knew that there hadn’t been.
“They kept it really hush-hush. These things happen, but we don’t like to advertise it. People want to believe that when they go on vacation, they leave all their worries behind. We try to help them. Here you go.” He slid the last drink over and turned to ring up the drinks on a register.
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