“How the flying fuck did you do that?” She looked up at me, and it was the first time I saw what she’d look like all primped and proper. I mean, okay, I knew she’d said she was a former Miss Tennessee, but daaaamn.
“I told you, I am something of a magician.” I smiled at her right before she leaped on me.
“No magician could do that,” she said, running her hands all over me. “So how did you—” She stopped speaking as her hands moved under my shirt. Then she swallowed and looked at me. “No fucking way.”
“Eh?” I asked right before she pulled my shirt up, revealing my rock-hard abs.
“You’re fucking built.” She did a little shimmy of joy. “Oh, it’s my lucky day.” She nodded at me. “I was gonna ride you so hard that your dick would’ve broken off for a lot of bad reasons, but now?” She licked her lips as she dropped down to my stomach. “Now, I just want to fuck you ‘cause you’re super-hot, and I don’t give a flying fuck if that makes me a bad person.”
“I thought you wanted to wait until we got to the room?” I asked right before she licked my stomach, sending a shiver of pleasure running through me.
“Yeah, well …” She looked up at me, and her eyes were awash with lust. “That was before I realized that your body is better than his.” She pointed out the window at the statue of Poseidon in all his naked glory. “Now, I kinda wanna see it.” She touched her chin, thinking. “But I don’t think it will be as fun here because we can’t stay in bed all day and order room service.”
“I feel like you’ve got this all planned out,” I said as she slid away from me, letting me know I wasn’t going to get one of my favorite things just yet.
“I’m just going on whiskey and adrenaline.” She smiled at me as the chauffeur opened the door, causing the bright sunlight to spill into the limo. “It’s either that or heartbreak and fuck that noise.”
“I agree,” the chauffeur said, holding his hand out so he could help us out of the limo. “Fuck that noise. Sadness is for the birds.”
“See, he gets it,” Ronnie said as we climbed out of the limo and I pulled out a couple of the hundreds. I handed them to the limo driver, who pocketed them before heading back to the front of the car.
“So, I had a thought,” I said, glancing from Ronnie to the casino. “I thought it’d be fun to show you off a bit.” I put my arm out. “It’s not often I have a super-hot girl on my arm.” I waited for a beat. “Is it selfish of me to want to be seen with someone like you? I’ve never really strutted my stuff with a hot girl on my arm.” I looked at my feet sheepishly. “You know, let the old geezers inside get jealous?”
“You want to show me off?” she squeaked, going stone still. “No one’s done that in fifteen years.”
“Well, then they’re fools,” I said right before she leaped into my arms and kissed me.
When Ronnie finally released me, we stepped through the doors of the casino, and I was once again assaulted by how damned loud it was. Sure, it was a weekday, and only about mid-afternoon, but even still the place was crowded, and the swell of humanity felt suddenly overwhelming.
7
As I made my way to the roulette table with Ronnie on my arm, I smiled at the dealer. He was a tall black man with a gold earring in one ear and a shaved head, and as I approached, he looked at me for a second before shrugging.
“Minimum bet is five hundred dollars.” He smiled at me like he expected me to walk, and when I slapped down fifty grand on the table, he nodded once and continued without missing a beat. “The maximum inside bet is fifteen hundred dollars any way to the number.” He pushed a stack of chips to me. “Maximum outside bet is two thousand dollars.”
“Right, okay.” I nodded to him before turning to Ronnie. “What number should we pick?” I asked, picking up a stack of chips and handing it to her.
“You want me to pick?” she squealed, taking the chips like she was afraid she might break them. “I don’t know anything about roulette.” She swallowed. “And this is a lot of money.”
“It will be fine.” I patted her hand. “Pick a number.”
“Um …” she bit her lip. “How about twenty-two?” she looked at me for confirmation.
“Sounds great,” I said, nodding to her. “Do what I do.” She nodded as I took fifteen hundred dollars in chips and placed it on twenty-two. Then I added another three grand between the twenty-five and twenty-two and an additional six grand on the corner.
“Like this?” Ronnie asked, copying me. “And wow, I can’t believe I just put down over ten grand. That feels crazy.”
“Oh, we’re not done yet.” I smiled at her and dropped another two grand on second twelve.
“Jesus, this is insane.” She swallowed, and when the dealer swept his arm over the table ending the bets, she clung to me. “I’m so nervous.”
“Don’t be,” I said before looking right at the spinning wheel. “The ball will land on twenty-two.”
There was a ping in my ear, and as the ball settled in the slot for twenty-two, I smiled. I always liked roulette because it was such a game of chance. There was no way to get caught counting cards or whatever else. Because you know, pure luck, right?
“Oh my god, we won!” she screamed as the dealer smiled at us and pushed a massive fuck ton of chips toward us. “How much is that?”
“Just over three hundred thousand.” I smiled as I looked at the board. “Each.”
“Each?” Her jaw dropped. “That’s … insane. I’ve like never had that much money ever … not that it’s mine.”
“You can keep it,” I said with a shrug. “You’re my muse, after all.”
Her mouth opened and closed a couple times as I nodded back to the table. “Pick another number.”
She did, and we continued.
“Fourteen!” the dealer said, looking right at me five rounds later. “That is some incredible luck, mister.”
“I know, right?” I smirked at him and tossed him a hundred-grand chip. “How about we go again?”
He snatched the chip from the air and stared at it for a second, rolling it over in his fingers. “Are you being serious right now?” He shook it at me. “With this?”
“Uh … yeah.” I shrugged, and his grin widened to titanic proportions.
“Thanks.” He swallowed hard and put it with his tips even though I could tell he wanted to pocket it. No, he wanted to run off and cash it.
“You’re welcome.” I nodded at Ronnie. “How about you pick one more, then we go get you some nice clothes with our winnings?”
“That sounds like a dream … this whole thing is a dream.” She looked at me wide-eyed as she sipped her Jack and Coke. “An absolute fucking dream.” She leaned in close then, so her breath was hot in my ear. “Does it make me shallow that I’m super attracted to you right now because I totally am.”
“That was the idea,” I said, glancing back at the table. “So, what’s the last number?”
“Eighteen,” she said, and as we started laying out chips, the dealer smiled sadly at me.
“I’m almost sad to see you go, sir. Your tips have been great.”
“Hey, you know, it’s no biggie” I shrugged as he called for bets. “It is going to land on eighteen.” I paused until I heard the ping in my ear. “So, it’s almost not even gambling.”
“If you say so—”
The dealer went completely slack in mid-sentence as did everyone at the table. No, it was more than that because the entire casino was suddenly unnaturally silent. Sure, I could hear the machines and whatnot, but I couldn’t hear people. Not talking, not moving, not doing anything.
“Um… what’s going on?” Ronnie asked, gripping my arm tightly as she looked around. “Everyone just stopped moving.
“Give me the pen, Roger Stevens.” The dealer looked straight at me in a way that made me think he couldn’t actually see me. “If you don’t, I will kill you, your friends, and everyone you’ve ever talked to.” Everyone in the immediate area turned to
look at me with the same blank expression.
“Roger, what is he talking about?” Ronnie practically shrieked, but I was fixated on the dealer. I didn’t know what was going on, but this shit wasn’t cool. Not even slightly.
“No.” I glared at the dealer even though I was pretty sure he was a patsy for another pen bearer. One who thought he could fuck with me. Well, he was about to see how wrong he was.
“You think you can keep your pen from me, don’t you? You think you can hide in your base beneath the Medallion? That I do not know precisely where you are? I know everything, and I have used my pen a lot longer than you have, Roger. I own this world.” The dealer’s face turned into a smile. “Think about what I have said, Roger. Dwell on it if you must, but know that this entire state is mine, and I will not allow you to steal from me any longer.” He waved his hand at the casino. “You have twenty-four hours to decide, I suggest you make the most of them because after that, I will crush you beneath my heel should you resist.”
The entire scene shifted back to normal so suddenly, I still had the man’s words rumbling in my heads even as he called lucky number eighteen.
Thing was, as he pushed another six hundred grand in chips toward us, I realized I didn’t feel very lucky.
No. I was pissed off.
Really, really pissed off.
I didn’t know who this guy was, but I’d find him, and I’d kill him because no one threatens my people and me. That was for damned sure.
8
“Roger, what is going on?” Ronnie asked, tugging on my arm and bringing me back to the present. “What just happened to everyone?”
“Some asshole thinks he can fuck with me and mine,” I snapped, glaring at the dealer even though I knew it wasn’t his fault. He was just some poor schmuck who had been mind-jacked by some pen-wielding douchebag.
“Yeah … I sorta got that.” She tried to smile at me. “But how did that all happen?”
“Do you really want to know?” I asked, turning to look at her as I glanced back at the table. “Sixteen will win.”
As the sound of success in my ears pinged, and people rushed to bet on sixteen, I gathered up all our chips and headed to cash out. All in all, I had made a few million dollars. That would be enough for Marty and Skye to start, and besides, I wanted to let them know what was going on. The sooner we found this guy, the better, and I wanted the whole team working on it. Then my next call was going to be to Agent Smith at the FBI. She’d help me, or I’d march over there and make her.
“Yes. I want to know.” Ronnie swallowed hard, moving to keep up with me, and as I glanced back at her, I saw the roulette table had indeed landed on sixteen. Good. He wasn’t actively thwarting my powers. Whether that was because he simply hadn’t or couldn’t remained to be seen.
“Are you sure?” I asked her, making a point of staring at her dead on. “Once I tell you, there’s not really unknowing.”
“That person threatened all your friends.” Ronnie’s face went pale. “That includes me, doesn’t it?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” I heard a creak in the ceiling above me. Glancing upward, I saw one of the ceiling tiles move. It wasn’t a lot, just barely a few centimeters, but it was enough to let me know someone was up there.
“I believe that.” She nodded. “I want to know.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. The ceiling above creaked again, and as it did, I wondered what was up there. I wasn’t really sure, but something told me it was bad. After all, why would that asshole give me twenty-four hours? I sure as shit wouldn’t do that. I’d say I’d give it and then attack immediately…
“Well?” Ronnie asked, looking at me expectantly.
“Take these chips and deposit them into my account.” After the command pinged in my ear, and she nodded, I handed her the bag before rattling off my account number. “You can still keep that three hundred grand I promised you, by the way.”
“Thanks.” She looked at the bag for a moment. “I’ll go do that.” She spun on her heel, making her way toward the cash out booth. “But don’t think this means I’ve forgotten you promised to tell me.” She gave me a wink.
“I won’t,” I said as the tiles creaked again. Ronnie said something as she headed off to deposit the money, but my mind was already going into overdrive.
As I opened my mouth to turn the ceiling into solid steel or something, three of the ceiling panels exploded inward, spraying me with debris as two black-clad assassins unloaded on me.
“Guns are empty,” I growled, throwing one arm up and moving to block the shots spraying into the ground around us. The bullets stopped coming right as a garrote slipped around my neck, and for an instant, I was grateful it was thicker rope. Otherwise, it could have severed my carotid artery.
As it stood, it kind of sucked because even though I got my fingers up in time to keep it from completely strangling me, it was almost impossible to breathe, let alone talk. No voice commands. Dammit.
“You shouldn’t have made that last command,” the assassin said, his voice close enough to my ear that I knew no one else could hear him. Not that it mattered because no one was paying any attention to us whatsoever. “Do you yield? Just tap out, and I won’t kill you.” He cinched the garrote tighter, shifting his weight to pull me from my feet.
Stars started to flash across my vision as two more assassins dropped from the ceiling, letting me know that there were three total. Not the best odds, but I’d dealt with worse.
My fight or flight reflex kicked in. Only, that wouldn’t help me now. No. I needed to think, to try and do something in the next few seconds I had before I blacked out completely.
Making my pen slide into my hand was nearly the hardest thing I had ever thought of, but as it touched my fingers, I jammed it into the attacker’s thigh.
He cried out, releasing his hold on the garrote enough for me to suck in a breath. My vision cleared a touch as my feet hit the ground and I threw myself forward with all the strength I could muster.
The cord slipped from my strangler’s fingers as I shouldered into one of the assassins in front of me. We crashed to the ground in a heap as the pen retracted into my sleeve again.
His fist lashed out toward my chin, but I parried, pushing it aside before slamming my fist into the underside of his jaw. He went limp as I rolled off him and scrambled to my feet. My throat felt raw, but I could breathe, which meant I could talk.
Time seemed to slow down around me as the assassin to my right raised a Taser toward me, and I knew that even if I dodged, I’d still have to contend with the last one. Worse, I had no idea how many more there could be in the casino.
That’s when the best idea in the world hit me.
I ducked as the Taser fired. The bolts smacked into the space where I’d been as the guy with the garrote lunged forward, trying to grab me. I heard him cry out in pain as I rolled to my feet and took off running toward Ronnie.
As I turned the corner, I found she had already finished making her deposit and was coming toward me, oblivious to the commotion. As my arms wrapped around the former Miss Tennessee, I threw my left hand out toward the knob of the service closet to my left and cried out, “The door breaks, causing us to fall into an escape waterslide.”
The moment my fingers touched the knob, the door hinges shattered, causing the motion to push the door outward. It fell, its massive weight pulling Ronnie and me through it. Only instead of crashing into a supply closet inside Emperor’s Palace, water surged up around us.
The shock of the sudden chill wrapped around me as we plunged into the darkness. We hit a sharp turn a second later, throwing me on top of Ronnie, and as I shifted our bodies to torpedo downward through the slide, so we wouldn’t be bounced around like ping pong balls, I heard more assassins jump into the slide.
Worse, I could see the exit coming up, and call me crazy, but I did not want to slam into a parking lot at this speed.
9
“The ground
is a ball pit,” I cried out right before we crashed into what used to be cement. Only, instead, we plunged down into the ball pit as water washed over us, drenching me in a second. Balls flew up past me as we torpedoed down into the depths of the pit. I heard the first assassin crash into the ball pit a second later, and as he cried out in shock, I shut the water slide with a verbal command so that whoever had followed would crash into solid cement.
My feet touched the bottom of the ball pit a second later, and I wrapped one arm around Ronnie’s waist, dragging her toward the wall of the ball pit. The moment I reached the wall, I pressed my free hand to it.
“The secret door opens.” As I spoke the words, the wall in front of me shuddered before opening wide like the aperture of a camera. The force of the balls around me pushed us forward as I stepped through.
It wound up being more like riding a wave of colored plastic balls through it, but that was fine. As I landed on the ground outside amid a bunch of balls, I used a quick command to shut the door, causing the avalanche to immediately cut off.
As I stared back over my shoulder, I smirked.
“The ball pit’s door vanishes, and the bulletproof walls reach to the ceiling.” At the sound of my words, reality complied, and like magic, the ball pits walls stretched upward until they melded seamlessly with the roof above.
Taking a deep breath, I turned to face Ronnie who was doing a super good job of not freaking out, all things considered.
“What the hell just happened?” she asked, turning to look at the pit. “How the hell did you do that?”
“I know magic.” I took a deep breath. “Seriously.” She turned to look at me, but I waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t have time to go over it now.” I nodded toward the pit. “There will be more of them.”
“Okay.” She looked at me for a long time. “I’m going to trust you because the other option is to go insane.”
“It seems that way, huh?” I said, unable to hide a small smile. What just happened probably did seem insane. Not that it much mattered. Insane or not, it was time to get out of here.
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