Chapter 3

Leandro

Trying not to show the irritation I felt, I followed Ludis as he made his way to the casino, past the main hotel bar. With whatever had gone wrong with his little party the following day now sorted, he wanted to gamble and destress. That meant I could relax as well. All his talk of betraying the elders had been shelved for now.

With any luck it would stay that way, but I wasn't holding out much hope. He was arrogant and ambitious. It wasn't a good combination.

Putting him from my mind for a moment, I made my way to the bar. A woman sat to one end, the stool beside her the only one not occupied. Our eyes met as she looked away from Ludis himself and I saw her react. Human, vulnerable, but there was a confidence and determination about her I liked. Of course, anyone who was human and in this place knew they were walking with trouble and had to have a good head on their shoulders.

She looked down just soon enough she made it clear she wasn't challenging me or trying to get my attention and that was also good with me. I didn't need some human trying to lure me into looking after her and offering her protection in exchange for what usually amounted to some kind of slavery and a fresh blood supply.

I could understand the appeal of having some blood on tap from a willing participant. It took a lot of moral ambiguity out of the equation for the few vampires who were uncomfortable with killing anyone or taking life force from an unwilling human, but it was also a power exchange that was misused by a lot of our kind.

When you could easily kill the human making the offer, many didn't dare ask for anything in return and didn't protest when a vampire went too far. I didn't need someone so meek and mild in my life. It just wasn't me to be pandered to all the time.

The girl looked around her as if she was looking for someone else and that made it easier for me to head to the bar. If she was another's then I was safe to get a drink and not be bothered by her. There was no way that she would endanger whatever meeting she intended to have with another vampire.

I sat down on the available stool next to her but I leaned away from her, leaving a gap so that whoever she was waiting for wouldn't think anything untoward was happening, but something about her kept drawing my attention.

She was sitting, looking as innocent as possible, and was aware of her surroundings, keeping an eye on the exits, something smart, but she was also not showing signs that she was truly waiting for anyone. She checked her watch several times, even though she didn't appear to care about the time.

After several a couple of drinks, both of which she drew out for as long as possible, she grew more fidgety. She was waiting for some one and two drinks was her limit, not time or any other constraint.

I found myself contemplating who she could be waiting for and why. Whoever it was, they weren't showing for her and I almost felt sorry. She was going through the fear of coming into the vampire world without full protection and she was having to deal with the pain of not being wanted as well. It was everything bad about being human and about vampires.

Taking some pity on her, I found myself grabbing her a third drink as I ordered. She lifted her eyebrows as the bartender put the drink down in front of her. Although he was one of the more discrete bar tenders, I knew this could get back to people if I didn't handle it right.

"You look like you're being stood up," I said. "Consider this a consolation prize of sorts. You don't deserve to be stood up."

With that I gave her a nod and walked away. I wanted to talk to her more and see if it was, but she didn't react or move and I had little choice but to make sure that I had my eye on Ludis and was nearby if he wanted me. He was still gambling and while I could see him from here, I couldn't hear him.

After finding a sort of middle ground by a slot machine, I perched where I could see Ludis and keep an eye on the beautiful young lady at the bar. She was everything enchanting about a woman, long legs, lithe body and it was clear she kept it in shape. On top of that she had those eyes that could cry at any moment but also fill with anger.

I had no doubt she could wield the full set of emotions, even if she sat where she was observing and taking in what she could now. A couple of times she also looked over at Ludis, noticing him.

In a lot of ways, I didn't blame her. He stood out, his clothing and mannerisms screaming for attention. I hoped that he wasn't why she was here, but it would be strange if she was. Ludis wasn't the kind of vampire to make any level of appointments, let alone ones he didn't keep.

After a while of studying here, I was pretty sure she had some reason to be interested in him, however. Was she some kind of messenger? Or did she have some kind of similar mission to me. Maybe one of the other dons wanted all problem half-bloods to be kept an eye on.

Either way, it did me no harm to keep an eye on her while I also watched Ludis. If nothing else, knowing what interest she also had in him was now part of my goal. If she was involved in some way, or trying to stop him, possibly even wanting to help him or get him a message then I needed to know.

Of course, I suspected that I was just wanting to watch her because she was hot and it had been a while since I'd enjoyed some female company. It was entirely possible that I was reading far too much into it.

Still, it wasn't stopping me doing what I needed. At the moment Ludis was relaxing again and not trying to get a feel for if his hangers on were willing to commit the equivalent of vampire treason and try to take out a Brethren. Not that he had said which Brethren he wanted to attack.

Now and then a very overconfident member of the true-blood did go and get themselves killed. I was pretty sure that Ludis was insane enough to think he could take the amethyst dagger, however. The dragons had far too high an opinion of himself. But if I was going to confirm it and do something about it, I would need proof.

That wouldn't be so easy to get. So I would need to keep waiting and watching.

As the woman at the bar continued to sip her drink, it also began to run lower. I considered buying her another, but I really didn't want to hit on her and make it too obvious when she had stopped noticing me altogether.

Eventually, when she had about a quarter left, she picked it up and began to walk around the casino with it. She appeared to meander, as if she was considering what to gamble on, but at no point did she pull out a bank card or any chips in order to gamble at all.

It was strange and it made me wonder if she was eyeing up Ludis to steal from him or something else. See if she could hustle him. But if so, she was playing with fire. She had to know she was in a vampire casino, surely? But maybe I had been wrong about that part.

From the way she was dressed, the cross about her neck yet the way one side was enticing displayed with her hair swept to the other. It spoke of suggesting that she knew who she was among and what would appeal to them, but she also knew that they could be dangerous and she wasn't fully defenseless.

Many of the enthralled dressed in a similar manner, so he had assumed she was one. Or wanted to be. And she had done nothing to change his mind except for her strange actions with money. Enthralled were usually taken care of financially by their vampire owners and there was a chance that this was the angle she was going for far more.

As she wandered the casino, she came closer to Ludis and the blackjack tables nearby. I had considered sitting at them as well, gambling a little while I watched, but I had positioned myself so I could see her as well.

Despite looking as if she wanted to sit at the blackjack tables, she wandered past all of them instead, taking her time to sort of watch some of the games. She caught the eye of a few different men and returned some smiles here and there. I got the impression that she was working the room somehow, trying to find a way in.

Eventually she stopped near a blackjack table where one of the empty seats would give her a great view of Ludis and his gambling, but have her far enough away that she wouldn't be noticed by him. She stood near the empty seat and an older male human she had made eye contact with a few times.

"I don't understand blackjack and can't seem to figure it out," she said, her voice sounding even more innocent and lost than it had when he'd spoken to her. "Do you think I could watch you for a few minutes so I can try to figure it out?"

The man turned to her and looked her up and down before taking in the drink she carried and the way she had her eyes turned on him. She'd widened her eyes a fraction, making herself look even more helpless. It was enough of a difference in how she carried herself and appeared that I found myself imagining striding over to her, tilting her head to the side and sinking my fangs into her.

All the innocence and vulnerability she projected brought out the predator in me. It took all my restraint not to go claim her as an enthralled right in that moment whether she wanted to be mine or not. I could have her and make her mine for as long as I wanted. Maybe even turn her, teach her to be an obedient little half blood that I could enjoy as I pleased.

I blinked and cleared my throat as the man motioned to the empty chair. "I'll do you one better. Sit yourself down and I'll teach you."

"Oh," she replied, shocked, but taking the seat almost immediately. She somehow produced a few chips from a pocket or some area I couldn't see and placed them on the table. "Do you think these will be enough to play with?"

The man chuckled and pushed one forward as her initial bet. "Maybe not, but we'll see if that is the case shortly. If I make you lose and you're trusting me, I'll see you right, princess, don't you worry that pretty head of yours."

"That's very sweet of you," she replied, still sounding very different and more sweet and innocent than she had before. If I had doubted she was going to find a way to stay and play, I didn't now.

After watching her influence and manipulate the man beside her for a while and get herself a little stack of chips that grew now and then, I smiled to myself and got up. Before I could stop myself, I found myself at the table as well, sitting down in another empty seat.

She glanced over at me, a little startled but I ordered her a drink as well as myself as soon as a waitress came over.

"You don't have to do that," she said, her eyes genuinely widening at this.

"Of course I don't. But a pretty lady shouldn't have her glass run dry and I'm about to give you a challenge for your money. Least I can do is be kind in another way."

"That's a lot of fighting talk," the elder man on the other side of this entrancing woman said, trying to draw everyone's attention back to him. "You might be able to buy a girl a drink, but that doesn't mean you know anything else about the fairer sex."

Although I considered bantering words with the man, I knew it would just get him to be more aggressive and then I'd have him and his attitude to deal with as well. I didn't need another element to this dynamic. After all, I shouldn't forget that my whole purpose was looking out for Ludis and figuring out what he was up to.

Enjoying the company of a pretty female was one thing. Letting myself get distracted and missing my cue to take out Ludis was not acceptable. With that in mind, I inclined my head toward the other guy and acted as if he had a point. "You're quite right. Consider me a student and allow me to at least pay for the privilege of learning.

She looked between us and didn't seem to know how to respond. I had put her off her stride and made it difficult for her to pick up whatever hustle or con she had been selling. In some ways it made me feel smug, but in others I felt a little guilt. It was clear she only had the chips in front of her to her name right now.

The drinks arriving helped and I ordered one for the man beside her to continue to soothe the rustled feathers. Finally we got back to the game of black jack and she pretended to take instruction from the man beside her. To anyone with any observation skills, it was clear that she had a better idea of how to play, however.

Still, he helped her for some time. Although I was there, for a few hands she didn't say anything to me, but then the other guy finally worked out that he was losing, she was generally winning and I was sitting right where I wanted to be. In the middle.

As he lost another hand I finally decided I could say something to the woman next to me. "You're picking up the game well, ma'am. You must have an eye for it and a good teacher."

"If only the luck was favoring me as well as it was my student," the guy replied, sounding gruff. He looked at his chips and swept them toward himself. At the same time he put his cards down and made it clear he wouldn't be playing any further.

She immediately began to eyeball her chips as if she was counting them and then pulled a generous stack into her hand. "Here," she said, holding them out to the man. "You were so focused on helping me. These are yours really, not mine."

He shook his head and pushed her hand back toward her. "No, your friend is right. You picked the game up quickly, but I appreciate you caring. I look forward to seeing you here again sometime." He took her other hand and kissed the back of it before hurrying away.

On any other day I'd have called him smooth and suspected he'd have had more of a chance with her, but I was here and closer to her age. I was also wealthier. And this didn't even include the advantage my vampire pheromones gave me. Women were just more attracted to vampires than they were their own kind.

As she turned back toward me and picked up her drink, she paused midway and frowned. I followed her gaze and noticed that Ludis was no longer where he had been when we last looked that way. Although I knew there was a chance that he'd just gone off to the bathroom. I didn't know for sure that he would be back.

A few seconds later I heard a strange commotion and saw that Ludis wasn't at his gambling table because someone had bumped into him or something and then walked off. Ludis had gone after. I mumbled something by way of an apology, grabbed my chips and also hurried away.

Ludis was giving this man a piece of his mind, but the man wasn't intimidated and had squared his shoulders.

"Come on, man. Let's go for a walk or something. We don't need to waste our time on idiots like this, do we?" I had my hand on Ludis's shoulder, but at first he wouldn't even look at me too busy staring at the guy who had pissed him off.

I thought I might have to drag him away, but eventually he stepped back, looked at me and just walked toward the back exit.

I exhaled, irritated that this was yet another element of Ludis I had to deal with. He was so hot headed. A lot of the rest of the vamps went to follow him, one even bumping into the poor guy who had invoked Ludis's temper.

Although it appeared as if it might start a fight anyway, the vamps kept moving and the butch guy chose to stride off.

"Those sort better watch out," Hutch said, one of the skinniest and most frail vampires I thought I'd ever seen. "Ludis is going to take out some important people who like to keep us hiding in the shadows. Then it's going to be different in places like this. We'll all get a chance to show them what to be truly afraid of."

Before I could ask Hutch what he was talking about, the vampire hurried off after Ludis and left me standing in the casino alone. I needed to decide how to handle this. Did I follow everyone else, or keep the seat warm and wait for him to come back much calmer.

I glanced toward the blackjack table where I had left my own interests sitting and drinking the beverage I'd ordered her, but she was also gone.

Letting out a frustrated growl, I did the only option left open to me and stalked after Ludis and his band of half-blood idiots.