9. Nine

nine

We burst out of the club and into the main thoroughfare, the noise quickly falling away to be replaced by the babble of running water and the low drone of conversation.

Nathan was already standing in front of the bar cart selling yard drinks, procuring one for himself.

Deborah tugged me in the opposite direction. “You’re going to love this.”

We tramped along the thoroughfare, our surroundings morphing from drywall and plaster to something much closer to nature. Trees sprouted where the walls had once been. Deadly looking plants flourished at their feet. The ceiling fell away, giving way to what looked like the night sky. If that sky was on another world and ripped from the mind of an artistic genius.

Swaths of blues and purples danced along the black of night, their shades so deep, dark and luscious that I doubted anyone without superior night vision would be able to discern them. Stars twinkled in the night’s depths, reminding me more of fireflies than actual stars due to the way they flickered.

Ephemeral clouds floated by, concealing and revealing the world above.

As impressive as the night sky was, it was nothing compared to what lay before us. Brooks and ponds divided the space, creating small island grottos. Each with a different theme.

Bridges, like those you might imagine in a fairytale, traversed the streams. Small boats skimmed the waters, heading for larger pools.

Deborah tugged on my hand again. “Over here.”

She led me across a bridge, past the lush fauna of a grotto, until we reached another pool. Deborah crouched at the water’s edge. “Watch.”

She dipped her fingers into the liquid, trailing them from side to side. Everywhere she touched changed color. Pink and fuchsia spread on the current.

Caroline joined us. “Whoa.”

“Pretty cool, right?” Deborah removed her hand with a shake before rising. “A little discovery I made during my last visit. Deeper in, people go skinny dipping.”

There was a loud slurp as Nathan took a large pull of the drink hanging from around his neck. “I wouldn’t recommend that.”

“Why’s that?” Caroline challenged.

Nathan looked down at us from where he leaned against the bridge’s railing. He jerked his head at the water. “Take a look.”

Deborah, Caroline and I looked down at the pond.

Not so much as a ripple disturbed the surface. It was as calm as glass. Its blue green color almost opaque. Because of that, it took a second to spot the problem.

Shapes moved within the water’s depths. I caught the flash of a tail that could have belonged to a mermaid. Or a Sturgis. A second later something much longer and more serpentine slid past.

I shivered as I imagined myself caught in its coils and dragged below the surface.

“Anyone who trespasses in these waters agrees to abide by the rules of those who dwell below,” Nathan intoned.

The water rippled, my reflection wavering.

I squinted, hypnotized as the face of another woman, her eyes seeming to plead with me, slowly came into focus. She had a fragility that made me want to protect her. Her hair swayed around her face, the same pastel pink as her eyes, as she held her hand out to me.

Uncertainty prevented me from immediately reaching for her. That niggling voice at the back of my mind that said something was off. Before I could make a decision, the creature’s mouth stretched wide, exposing serrated teeth. There were tiny strips of flesh caught in them.

She exploded upward, water splashing as she went for my throat.

I threw myself backward, somehow managing to knock Deborah and Caroline to the ground with me. We toppled onto the bank. Safe but with our dignity in shreds.

The siren clicked her tongue at us in disappointment. “Pretty vampire, why don’t you come over here?”

Her voice throbbed with a melody that attempted to lull me closer. Its pull butted up against my mental defenses, failing before it could fully manifest.

Deborah wasn’t so lucky. Her eyes developed a glazed look as she fell under the siren’s spell.

I caught her shoulder, preventing her from going anywhere as I shook my head at the siren. “No thanks. We’re good.”

The siren swept her arms around her, colors spreading out from her body like a peacock’s tail. “Are you sure? The water’s warm. Perfect for a late-night swim.”

“As lovely as that sounds, these aren’t clothes that wear well wet.”

It was an excuse. A polite one. Something I could be on very rare occasions.

If by some strange turn of luck I ended up in her watery kingdom, I didn’t want her to remember me as the rude asshole who’d rejected her offer.

Even though I was pretty sure she’d just tried to eat me.

The siren gave me a sultry look. “You could always remove them.”

I suppressed the tart response that wanted to rise. Apparently, graciousness wasn’t easily achieved.

“Thank you, but I’m far too shy for that.”

Seeing she was getting nowhere with me, she switched her efforts to Caroline. “How about you, wolf? Care for a swim?”

Caroline’s lip curled to expose a row of fangs. “No.”

“Are you sure? Perhaps I could tempt you with the thing you desire most.”

Caroline went very still beside me. “What would you know about that?”

A cruel playfulness appeared in the siren’s expression. “Come in and I’ll tell you all about it.”

I caught Caroline’s wrist. “No.”

As much as we needed answers, I didn’t believe this siren had them. The water fae were notorious for their deceptions.

The risk wasn’t worth the reward.

Caroline patted my hand. “Don’t worry, Lena. I’m not that dumb.”

Relief had me relaxing my grip as I nodded an apology at her. Of course, she wasn’t.

Caroline turned her attention back to the siren. “I’m afraid I’ll also have to pass on your offer.”

“The human then,” the siren tried.

“Absolutely not.”

I no longer sounded anywhere close to friendly. A promise was in my voice as to what would happen if she continued to push.

She wasn’t the only one with sharp teeth.

Courtesy went out the window when you targeted one of mine.

“That won’t do,” she crooned, her voice rising and falling to an unheard melody. “At least one of you must remain behind as entertainment for me and my siblings.”

There was a barely detectable humming that underpinned every word, making it hard to concentrate. If my mental barriers weren’t so developed or my other sight hadn’t shown me what she was doing, there was a chance I might have fallen prey to the web she was weaving.

As it was, it took effort to martial my focus.

“I said no,” I snapped, sinking power into the statement.

The gossamer strands of the song she’d been trying to twist around me fell away as if they’d been snipped in half by an invisible pair of scissors.

Her sharp indrawn breath warned me she’d felt what I’d done. As did the outrage that bled away her beauty to reveal the monster underneath.

“I wouldn’t,” Nathan drawled.

He waited for the siren to look at him before gesturing with the bottom of his yard drink to Connor standing half concealed by the foliage, unnoticed until now.

His body was coiled and tight. His weight shifted just slightly forward as if waiting to spring. A notched arrow sitting on a bow string, anticipating the moment it was let loose.

“He gets a little irrational when it comes to her.” Nathan smiled, the tips of his fangs denting his bottom lip. “Then there’s what I’ll do if you lay a finger on so much as a hair on her head.”

I wasn’t sure the siren heard the second part of his threat. The fear on her face at the sight of Connor consuming all else. She dove beneath the water’s surface. A flick of her tail and she was gone.

“That was easy,” Caroline said, impressed.

Deborah looked around in confusion as the siren’s enthrallment dissipated. “What just happened?”

Nathan straightened from the railing. “You almost ended up as lunch. I suggest you be more careful next time.”

“I thought this was supposed to be a playground,” Caroline complained.

“It is. But I never said who it was for.”

In other words, this place was intended for the biggest, baddest monsters. The ones mostly whispered about for fear that speaking their names too loudly might draw their attention. Everyone else was just fodder for their amusement.

“Come on. Anton went ahead and procured us a table. We don’t want to be late,” Nathan instructed.

“More and more, it feels like we’ve put a paw in a hunter’s trap,” Caroline complained.

“Really? You’re just now getting that?” I asked.

I’d figured that out the moment we stepped on the plane to find Thomas waiting for us.

“Stuff it, Lena.”

I chuckled lightly, enjoying her sharp retort before turning my attention to Deborah. “You okay?”

The human was still staring at the pond where the siren had disappeared.

“Last time I was here, I went swimming in that water. My master was the one to suggest it.”

There was a bitterness Deborah didn’t often show when it came to her past. She’d always been matter of fact about what had happened to her. When she shared at all.

She sneered, the mockery on her face aimed inward where it would slice the deepest. “I was such an idiot. He must have got a kick out of my ignorance.”

“It is unlikely you would have been targeted with your master standing by,” Connor offered.

An ugly sound came from Deborah’s throat as she turned toward the bridge. “That’s what makes it worse.”

Connor and I watched as she stomped over its planks and to the other side. Caroline followed.

Moving slowly in the same direction, I tipped my head at the water in a change of subject. “Our scaled friend had quite the reaction to the sight of you.”

She’d beat such a hasty retreat that she would have left skid marks if she’d been on land.

“My reputation continues to precede me.”

I gave Connor a startled look. “I sense a story there.”

The grin he gave me as we walked over the bridge was lighthearted. “Maybe just a small one.”

“You’ll have to tell it to me some time.”

I was genuinely interested. For more reasons than just because I wanted to know what I had to do to get the same reaction. More and more, I was coming to understand that fear was a powerful tool that could smooth away a lot of nuisances.

In this case, I was more curious to hear about Connor and his experiences. He didn’t talk much about the time he’d spent trapped in a stag’s body. It might be good for him if he did.

We wound our way through the mini islands, enjoying the different climates and seasons that marked each one. From a desert to a tropical forest. Winter to summer and everything in between. Each one its own tiny world. Vast but small at the same time.

Every layer we peeled back offered something new and fascinating.

I would have enjoyed the experience if lives weren’t at stake. Maybe I could come back when I wasn’t so distracted. Perhaps Liam could come with me. This wasn’t a bad place for a romantic getaway.

“Here we are,” Nathan declared as we crossed one last bridge.

The island we stepped onto was nestled into the trunk of a massive tree. One that could have fit several houses inside. Gambling tables had been set up throughout the space. I recognized some of the games. Craps and roulette. Others were foreign to me. They didn’t rely on cards or dice, but some other method that eluded me. Those tables saw the most patrons, people leaning over and shouting as they placed their bet

“See something interesting?” Nathan probed, noticing my distraction. “I can teach you later if you like.”

I did. Just not what he thought.

Rather than the gamblers, it was the archway behind them that lit up my other sight like the fourth of July. Even with how hard I was shielding. Magic flowed from it. Pure and raw. On a level that eclipsed everything else I’d seen in the Playground.

Nathan must have realized his mistake as he followed the direction of my gaze. “I’m saying this just in case. Stay away from there. It’s the entrance to a barrow. Trust me when I say you can’t handle what you might find in there.”

“It’s not like I haven’t been in barrows before,” I pointed out, trying to distract Nathan from noticing Caroline’s reaction to the “b” word. She’d come to point like a hunting dog who’d just spotted her target.

“Not like this. Our barrow is relatively shallow compared to this one. The only place it connects to is this world.”

“You’re saying this barrow reaches other realms?”

Realms were exactly what they sounded like. Self-contained worlds whose size varied. Some were relatively small while others were as vast as the one we lived in.

I knew of two.

Noctessa and the Summer Lands.

There were others, but I didn’t know their names.

It was unlikely that Nathan was talking about Noctessa being the realm in question. For one thing, it was only recently reopened. For another, they were a secretive lot.

For good reason.

I couldn’t see them opening a pathway for their enemies to exploit.

That left the Summer Lands as being the most likely point of connection.

A lead. Finally.

If Muiredach really had taken Brax and the rest of the pack captive, that would be where he’d take them. The way point between his world and this one.

We needed to get in there.

Somehow.

But not with Nathan watching me like he expected me to strip off my top and run straight toward certain death.

“I mean it, A. Stay clear of that place. This isn’t one of those times you can bumble your way toward the outcome you want. The Fae in there aren’t like the ones you know. They’ll tear you apart mind, body, and soul. Even if we get you back physically intact, you’ll never be the same.”

“You’re acting like I have a death wish or something.” Despite the bone deep chill his words left in me, I did my best to play off his warning, moving past him to where I saw Anton lounging beside what looked like a poker table. “Aren’t we here to have a good time? You don’t have to worry about me wandering into the scary barrow tonight.”

Tomorrow, on the other hand, was a different story. One I’d have to consider very carefully in light of the new information Nathan had provided.

Saving Brax and the pack was one thing. It was another if that meant a journey into the Summer Lands.

Too bad I had a feeling Caroline was already planning her method of infiltration.

“You took your sweet time,” Anton announced as we approached. “Any trouble?”

Nathan threw himself into the chair across from the other enforcer, stretching his legs out under the table to get comfortable. “They encountered a siren.”

Anton lifted his eyebrows. “You visited the water’s edge?”

The way he said it, as if that made us idiots, brought a flush to Deborah’s cheeks.

“Someone failed to warn us about the dangers,” I said, covering for her.

Maybe if they had we would have made different choices.

“It’s the Playground. The strong prey on the weak and the weak attempt to evade their fate. Both sides get something out of the struggle.”

If he said so.

I glanced down at the green felt table. “What’s this?”

Anton made a gesture for us to sit. “A visit to Vegas isn’t complete without a little gambling.”

“You dragged me all the way here to gamble?”

“Did you have something better to do?”

“I heard the shows are pretty good.”

“You want to see a show?” Nathan asked.

“You don’t have to be so negative. I can do tourist things too.”

Nathan and Anton shared a look, both silent for a moment before they broke into loud guffaws.

“I can!” I protested, looking at the others for support.

Caroline’s expression was sympathetic as she took a seat next to Anton. “Not really.”

“I used to do touristy stuff all the time.”

“Under protest and usually with threats involved. Remember that trip your family took to Niagara Falls?”

I shut my mouth, suddenly finding the green felt of the table very interesting.

“What happened at Niagara Falls?” Nathan asked.

“While the rest of the family made plans to see the falls and the river downstream, this one tried to wander off to do her own thing.” Caroline tipped her head in my direction. “Her mother had to threaten her with bodily harm and revoking her TV privileges for a month to get her to cooperate.”

Feeling sulky, I sank down into a chair. “I’m not a fan of crowds.”

“How do you know about this?” Anton asked.

An emotion flitted across Caroline’s face before it was concealed.

“Let’s just say I was a frequent tag-a-long on the Travers family vacations.” Caroline eyed me. “And it’s not just crowds. You hate doing anything people say you should be doing.”

“I don’t like being told what to do.”

That applied to the “popular” things to see or do on vacation.

“No one would ever dispute that,” Nathan drawled.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Not the most mature response, I know.

Anton lifted a hand, gesturing the dealer over. “You’re not getting out of this that easy. We’re here to play and play we shall.”

The dealer that approached was dressed differently than those I could see at other nearby tables, all of whom wore dark slacks and a brightly colored vest. This man’s fashion was more flamboyant. With a maroon coat that reached mid-thigh and bronze buttons on the front. His hair was strawberry blond and brushed back from his face, exposing pointed ears that indicated he had Fae in his bloodline somewhere.

I doubted he was full Fae though on account of the beard of the same color shadowing his jawline.

He also lacked their smug arrogance. His blue green eyes twinkled with a mischievous light.

He folded at the waist in a small bow. “My name is Dylan. At your service. May I know what game the sir would like to start with?”

“Let me think.” Anton tapped his chin before smirking. “A couple rounds of blackjack to break the ice. That should be easy enough.”

“Very good. And the tinder for the bet?”

Anton tapped the table next to a stack of chips. “We’ll stick with cash for now.”

“Understood. As always, you can change the method of payment at any time.”

I didn’t know if I liked the sound of that. Folklore told of many stories about humans who’d made wagers, not knowing the true price. Only to wind up selling their soul or first born.

Noticing my hesitance, Anton shot me a sharp toothed smile. “Worried, Aileen? You’re not going to back out now, are you?”

“What is this? Peer pressure Aileen day? Bring it on, Anton. I can take anything you dish out.”

Nathan’s soft snicker had me questioning my bravado.

But as sinister as these assholes were acting, I doubted either one of them would lead me too far astray. If only to avoid Liam’s displeasure.

I might come out the worse in this exchange—quite probable, in fact—but I doubt they’d do anything to cause permanent damage. It was more likely I’d simply learn another lesson about the perils of hanging around Anton and Nathan.

I might be a little salty afterward but I’d live.

Dylan gestured to the chairs around the table. “If all parties who plan to play would take their seat.”

Connor remained standing, making no move toward the chairs even when the dealer’s hand remained raised in a silent demand.

“If he doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t have to.” Anton sent Connor a warning look. “As long as he doesn’t interfere.”

“And the lady?”

Deborah shook her head. “No, thanks. I have a feeling it’s best I sit this one out.”

The dealer didn’t press her.

Dylan made a flashy hand movement before plucking a deck of cards out of thin air like a magic trick. “The players are decided. Blackjack will be the game and cash the prize.”

“Someone should have been a magician,” Caroline murmured into her drink.

“Someone is,” Dylan answered as the cards began shuffling themselves. “Dealing is my side gig.”

“Oh really? Where do you perform? Someone was hoping to catch a show.”

“Tuesdays and Thursdays I’m at a little tiki bar off the strip. New audience members are always welcome. Though I warn you. Once you’ve seen the best, you’ll find all other magicians sub par.”

It was Sunday now.

“If we’re still here by then, we’ll have to check you out.”

Caroline could speak for herself. I had enough magic in my life and no interest in seeing it used as a form of entertainment.

Cards flew before landing on the table in front of each of us. All without the dealer ever having touched them.

Magic indeed.

To no one’s surprise, I turned out to be rubbish at Blackjack. Anton and Nathan were card sharks. One or the other won nearly every hand. Caroline managed to hold her own. At least at first.

As the evening wore on, she began losing more and more until she ended up face down, humming softly to herself.

“How are you doing this?” I demanded, tossing my cards into the middle of the table a few minutes later, having lost yet another round.

They had to be cheating.

Nathan gathered the pile of chips that he’d just won. “I told you she’d be a sore loser.”

Anton tossed away his cards. “Good thing I didn’t take that bet.”

I took another chug of my margarita, startled to find it more than half gone.

“When did that happen?” I muttered to myself.

I could have sworn I’d barely touched it.

Caroline lifted her bleary-eyed face from the table, a card stuck to her cheek. “I’m bored with this game. Let’s do something else.”

She started dancing in her seat. She swayed to the music, throwing her arms into the air before rising to shimmy around the table toward Deborah.

“Dance with me,” Caroline demanded, grabbing Deborah’s hand and twirling her around.

I barely paid the werewolf and my companion any attention as I narrowed my eyes at my margarita.

“Wait a minute,” I said suspiciously.

Caroline’s face plant. Her dancing.

I knew what that meant.

She was shit faced.

She’d be climbing on the table before I knew it. Singing would soon follow.

I just now noticed the warm glow at my center.

Was I—yes, I was. I was tipsy. Maybe even a touch drunk.

Caroline bumped into me, nearly knocking me off my chair. “Oops. Sorry, Lena. Didn’t see you there.” She giggled as she draped herself over my shoulder. “The room is spinning. Spinning. Spinning. We have to dance to keep up.”

Deborah pulled the wolf off me. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s drunk.”

For that matter, I was too.

I glared at the culprit. “Someone is a dirty, dirty trickster.”

Nathan’s smile was lazy as he propped his cheek on his fist. “Harsh, A. My feelings are hurt.”

Like I believed that.

Nathan lifted his empty margarita container and shook it at me. “You’re forgetting that these weren’t my idea.”

Deborah looked physically ill at his words. “That’s not possible. There’s barely enough alcohol in there to make you feel it.”

“For a human, perhaps,” Anton informed her with a sardonic twist of his lips. “Not for a supernatural. There’s a special ingredient that some spooks are especially sensitive too. It looks like the wolf and Aileen are two of them.”

I unhooked the container from my neck, setting it down on the floor by my seat a little harder than necessary.

There would be no more drinking any of that.

Though the damage was probably already done. It was getting harder and harder to think, my reasons for keeping secrets drifting further and further out of reach.

Why shouldn’t I tell Nathan about Brax and the rest of the pack?

He was my friend. I trusted him.

The more I thought about it. The more I liked the idea.

They had resources I didn’t. An army of enforcers who stood half a chance of surviving a battle with those Fae assholes who’d trespassed on my territory.

In fact, I didn’t know why I hadn’t contacted them in the first place.

“You can’t really be mad we got you drunk. It’s hardly the first time,” Nathan was saying.

I opened my mouth to share everything I’d been keeping bottled up. Only instead of the explanation I planned, something else entirely came out of my mouth.

“Usually you don’t have an agenda,” I heard myself say.

“You’re admitting you have a reason for being here in Vegas.”

This wasn’t right.

Even through the fog of alcohol, I could tell something was off. Had been for quite a while.

Was it magic? Was that it?

I looked down at myself with a puzzled stare. What was I doing again?

The question was forgotten as Caroline slammed into me. She hugged me around the neck, pressing her cheek against mine. “Listen, Lena! Do you hear that?”

I nearly choked from how hard Caroline squeezed me.

“Let go!” Deborah slapped at her hands. “That’s Aileen’s neck.”

Movement beyond Nathan’s shoulder distracted me from Caroline’s choking grip.

Liam?

I rubbed my eyes, wondering if that alcohol had hallucinogenic properties. Surely, I wasn’t seeing my lover exiting the barrow. That definitely wasn’t Alches beside him. A blot of shadow whose form went in and out of focus.

Maybe I was a little drunker than I had thought. Why else would I be seeing those two together?

Caroline shook me, breaking my focus. “It’s our song!”

Anton lowered his voice as he leaned toward Nathan. “Does something seem off to you?”

“It’s the fairy dance,” Nathan replied tersely, no longer looking so relaxed. “They must have succumbed to its song.”

Caroline’s hand was on mine, dragging me to my feet. I shot one last glance toward the barrow’s entrance, but the man I thought I’d seen and his hound were long gone.

“Should we intervene?” Anton asked.

“We can’t. The magic has already caught them,” Connor answered. “The best we can do is let it play itself out.”

“Crap.” Nathan sounded slightly aggravated. “Somebody grab them before they run off.”

In the next second, I found myself back on the dance floor from the beginning of the night. Strobe lights played over the crowd as the music pounded in my chest.

The party had grown since our departure. There were now so many bodies that it was hard to move. Their gyrations mimicking sex.

Not just mimicking, I realized as a satyr bent his partner over. His hips plunging forward to impale her on what looked like a monster cock.

Her mouth opened wide from pleasure or pain. I couldn’t tell which.

Looking around, it dawned on me that many of the dancers were in various stages of undress. All of them still swaying to the music.

“We should go back,” I slurred.

Despite my words, I made no move to follow through on the thought. My body felt disconnected from my brain.

“Pretty vampire, care for a partner this evening?” purred a man whose features were blurred out and indistinct.

I got the feeling he was good looking, but it would have been impossible to provide a description later. Not his hair or eye color. Let alone his facial features.

“No.”

The answer erupted from me without conscious thought, the idea of someone who was not Liam touching me in such an intimate way so abhorrent that it shredded the fog of magic I was under for a moment.

The stranger took my response graciously, bowing slightly. “Very well. The night’s magic is meant to lead you to your deepest desires. You must consent for them to take hold.”

Caroline was tugging at my hand again. The next thing I knew, we were on a different part of the dance floor. The stranger and the orgy distant memories. We lifted our arms in the air, catching the rhythm and falling into the dance for the second time that night.