Hope and Vengeance (Saa Thalarr, book 1): Saa Thalarr, book 1 (11 page)

I cursed. In Spanish and Italian. "I agree," Anna said when I was done. "We need to find the kapirus, I think. This whole thing is going viral, and not in a good way. It's driving a wedge into the werewolf community, and you probably realize what the repercussions might be if that happens."

"It means their civil war will likely be televised," Joey muttered. "It'll only be a matter of time before the vamps and shifters are outed, too."

"Exactly. Humans will panic and nobody will be safe."

"Anna, do you have Cheek in your sights?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. Manuelo and Kirby Lee, too. Manuelo hasn't started the change, and that's a good thing."

"The change?"

"The change the spawn infection causes. They retain their human appearance for around two or three weeks. After that, the skin sloughs away, leaving leathery, scaly skin behind. Just before that happens, though, they get hungry. They'll eat anything humanoid in sight."

"There's a feeding frenzy?" Joey asked. "Like sharks?"

"Similar," Anna agreed.

"I'm pulling into the casino parking garage," I interrupted. "We'll discuss this later. When does the tournament start?"

"Tomorrow night. I figure Cheek has to stop gambling soon, to sleep and shower before it starts."

"Has he lost?"

"Very little. It's as if he's playing smarter than usual, losing some here and there so the casino won't be so suspicious."

"This isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer," Joey muttered while I parked.

"I agree," Anna said.

"Anna, we'll see you in a few." I reached over and tapped Joey's phone, ending the call. "Joey, don't even think about that discussion I had with Wlodek while we're around her, do you hear me?"

"This is scary," Joey murmured, stuffing the phone in a pocket of his jeans.

"We'll get through this." I hugged him and discovered he was trembling slightly. We were both beginning to care for Anna, and I had no idea where that road would lead.

Thanks for the hug. I needed it
, Joey sent as we stepped out of the rental.

I know
. I crooked an elbow around his neck and hugged him again as we walked toward the parking garage elevator.

* * *

"Sweetheart?" I leaned down to give Anna a kiss. She was sitting at the usual slot machine, playing now and then. I was surprised Kirby Lee never glanced in our direction. She kept her eyes pointed toward the poker room, now, whereas she'd at least looked about her the first two nights.

"She's exhausted, but Cheek probably wants her out here to stand guard," Anna said, pulling my thoughts away with ease. That sent a shiver of fear down my spine, but I schooled my face and hid my concern.

"So he doesn't sleep, she doesn't sleep? What about Manuelo?" Joey asked.

"They do what they're told. They really don't need a lot of sleep anyway—the viral reaction is a little on the hyperactive side," Anna said.

"Then why force Kirby Lee to stay up?"

"Because Cheek doesn't trust what Manuelo is," she informed me.

"An uneasy truce?" I asked.

"You could say that."

"It's logical," Joey agreed. "I wouldn't trust that, either, after seeing what we fought last night."

"He's greedy," Anna said. "This is his way of getting what he wants, and their way to get what they want."

"What do they want?" Joey asked.

"Everything," Anna shrugged. "Earth will be nothing more than a living buffet if things go their way."

"Do they eat vampires?"

"No. They'll kill you if they can. After all, they're rivals for the same food source."

"Will they eat all the humans?"

"Yes and no. They'll turn some to build up their army, but if they succeed, Earth will be overrun. Look, Cheek's leaving."

He was. I studied him covertly as he collected Kirby Lee and Manuelo before heading toward the door. The hotel was connected to the casino, and I assumed he'd already reserved a room.

"He does have a room—on the third floor," Anna confirmed.

"Should we take him while he's asleep?" Joey asked.

"No. He's our connection to the kapirus—and the bigger and badder," Anna said.

"There's bigger and badder?" Joey's voice quavered.

"There's always bigger and badder," Anna said. "Somebody brought the spawn here—or made them after he got here."

"How do we handle anything worse than what we saw last night?" Joey sounded worried.

"Let me deal with it," Anna said simply. "Let's go. Cheek's going to sleep the rest of the night and half the day tomorrow, before he has to get up, eat and get ready for the tournament."

"Feel like going to a water park?" I teased, attempting to lighten the mood.

"No. I think we need to pay Daniel's way into the poker tournament," she said.

* * *

"I've been known to play poker," Daniel said later, after learning I'd paid his ten-thousand-dollar entry fee in the high-stakes poker tournament. "This will get us a front row seat to see how Cheek is cheating."

"You're convinced he's cheating?"

"He's cheating. This guy is known for losing. You don't have a winning streak like this without having some sort of edge."

"I'm surprised this casino allowed him to keep gambling, then," I said.

"Oh, they're looking," Anna interjected. "They just can't find anything. To them, he looks clean."

"How do you think he's cheating, then?" I asked her.

"Adam, I don't want to speculate at this time."

"But you do have suspicions?"

"Of course I do. I just can't explain them right now. It's too dangerous."

We were in a hotel room at the Sea Serpent, on the second floor. Surprisingly, Anna reserved one room for us, and an adjoining room for Joey. At least she didn't mind sleeping with me—our room held a king-sized bed.

Daniel took a room across the hall; I still watched him suspiciously from time to time, although he and Anna didn't appear to have any interest in one another—except a professional one.

"I'm going to bed; I need to sleep for a while," Anna announced. "Cheek isn't going anywhere, and his allies know that. They'll probably lie low while he's down."

"What about the ones we killed? Won't the ones who sent them be looking for us?" Joey asked.

"They expect some resistance," Anna said. "And the loss of a few of their youngest is of little concern. They likely believe vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters took down what they sent to help the rogue wolves take Daniel. Those things would have stayed in the water if we hadn't shown up to help. Those last four rogues could have taken Daniel down."

"They would have," Daniel admitted reluctantly. "I can handle four, maybe five, but seven was out of my league. The Grand Master sends his thanks, by the way."

"Tell him he's welcome," I nodded to Daniel.

"Look, you guys talk if you want, I'm getting into my jammies and going to bed." Anna walked toward the bathroom.

"I need sleep, too," Daniel agreed.

"Joey and I will keep an eye on things," I said. "We'll wake you if anything important happens."

"Thanks." Daniel headed toward the door. "You're good in a fight—all of you," he acknowledged. We watched him walk through the door and close it behind him. It was becoming harder and harder not to like the werewolf, and I had little love for most of that race. Things were changing—I realized that. I just had no idea how many more changes might lie in wait.

Chapter 6
 

"Anna?" I nuzzled her cheek and neck when I crawled into bed just before daylight. I received a sleepy
hmmm?
in response.

"We really need to get on the same schedule," I murmured before kissing the side of her neck and settling onto my back. While I had time—and energy—to fuck, Anna was still exhausted from too little sleep. She and Daniel would have to rise after a while and prepare for their part of this investigation.

Stay safe
, I sent to her, knowing she wouldn't hear my mindspeech.

"Okay," she mumbled before rolling over and curling into a ball. I only wondered at that for a moment—she hadn't heard me, she'd merely read me as she usually did. I stared at the ceiling after that until daybreak forced my eyes closed.

* * *

"What is happening?" Xavier demanded the moment I answered my cell phone.

"The werewolf is doing well in the tournament, but Cheek is still ahead. Anna is inside, in the audience," I replied, working to keep the contempt from my voice.

"Keep me apprised." The call ended abruptly.

"He really is an asshole," Joey said beside me. We sat in the sports bar, watching the tournament on one of several large screens there. Only a small audience was allowed inside the ballroom where the tournament was held, and all the seats were full. Once in a while, cameras panned the audience. Kirby Lee and Manuelo were also there.

Joey and I had drinks in front of us, but neither of us bothered to pretend we were drinking. "Anna was right to enter Daniel in the tournament," Joey nodded. "Looks like you'll get your money back. He's in third place at the moment."

"And still no clue as to how Cheek is cheating," I muttered. The tournament was down to the last four players, and the fourth was almost out. Third place was a guaranteed fifty thousand, so Joey was probably right. He usually was whenever math or numbers were involved.

"Maybe Anna or Daniel knows something," Joey sighed. "Looks like we'll be going to Vegas, just like the pruney old bastard said."

"Ask Anna to pick out a machine there for you to play," I ruffled his hair. "I hear they may pay better."

"There's a thought," Joey brightened momentarily. "I've never been to Vegas."

"I haven't been in fifty-seven years," I said. "I hear it's changed since then."

"That was before I was born," Joey leaned his chin on his arms while keeping his eyes on the screen in front of us. "There on vacation?"

"Assignment," I said. "A younger vamp thought to make money the easy way—by taking it from criminals. He was dangerously close to exposing us, in addition to murdering his way through crime bosses."

"Interesting. You'll have to tell me that story, sometime."

"Not much to tell. Took him down the second night I was there."

"You're tough to fool," Joey said.

"Except in this case," I replied. "I still don't know what the hell is going on. I've never seen spawn before, but Wlodek and some of the others have. It puzzles me that they haven't bothered to tell me about them until now—when they show up again."

"I have resources. Maybe I can get some information for you," Joey offered.

"If you can, without raising suspicions," I said.

"I'll work on it. Look, number four is out."

The fourth-place player was headed for the door—he'd lost while Joey and I talked. He still made money—the top ten finishers did. He'd be interviewed by a television crew before he got away, just as the rest of them would.

"I wonder where this kapirus thing is, and how often it eats," Joey said. "If it eats often, then more people ought to be disappearing."

"A fair point," I agreed. "We'll have to ask Anna to see if she knows."

"What did you want to ask Anna?" Lion took a seat next to Joey and slapped him hard on the back while grinning hugely.

"Uh, how often a kapirus eats," Joey said, offering Lion an answering grin. Lion's slap on the back was nothing to a vampire, and he likely knew that.

"They eat roughly once every two or three weeks. That means it won't be long before this one goes hunting again. Unless the enemy has made arrangements to feed it—if that happens, look for it to be an enemy of the enemy, and possibly one of our warm-blooded allies."

"You mean they may have trapped someone already, to feed to that thing?"

"Easy way to torture them and get rid of them too," Lion shrugged.

"How do you know all these things? I hear that no shapeshifter is old enough to recall the last time spawn were here."

"I'm not surprised the vamps would see things that way," Lion shook his head. "At times, they can be just as shortsighted as anybody else. No offense meant, of course."

"None taken."

"I see our werewolf is doing well," Lion turned to the monitor on the opposite wall.

"Daniel's doing really well. If things were normal, he'd probably be winning," Joey said.

"Things are definitely not normal, kid," Lion said.

"Where do you think the kapirus is?" I asked.

"No telling. Could be still in the Corpus area, but my guess is he'll want fresh water. Farther inland, there are lakes, plus the river in San Antonio. He can stay out of water for a few hours at a time, but doesn't like it. Those things prefer to lounge in soft, freshwater mud instead of sand and salt water."

"Anna says they're not local," Joey offered.

"They're not."

"How not local?"

"As in not from Earth not local," Lion explained.

"You're joking, aren't you?" Joey said.

"No."

Adam, the hair on my arms is standing up
, Joey sent.

Mine, too
, I replied.
Do you think he's telling the truth?

"My kind can't lie," Lion said. "We may make origami out of the truth, but we don't lie." That statement made the hair on the back of my neck rise. "Look, if you know what's good for you, you'll take care of our girl in there." The camera panned the audience for a moment, and passed over Anna. "No matter what," Lion added. With that, he rose and walked out of the sports bar.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, but I intend to keep her as safe as I can."

"I want to, too."

"Look, the guy in second place is going all in. Adam, Daniel has a better hand." Joey almost bounced in his seat.

"You think Daniel might fold?" I gripped the sleeve of Joey's shirt as we watched the tension build on the screen.

"He's not folding," Joey whispered in excitement. "Oh my gosh, Daniel's gonna move into second place." He would, Cheek had folded early and waited for the outcome of this hand. The current second-place player had a full house, aces over queens. He thought he'd win. Daniel held four tens.

"Look, they're laying out their cards. He won. Daniel won." Joey's eyes widened as he grinned at me. "He'll make a hundred grand off this."

"You're assuming Cheek will win?"

"Yeah." Joey deflated. "I figure he will, because he's cheating. Daniel would take him, otherwise."

"He certainly has a feel for the game. Likely a scent, too."

"I always heard dogs could smell fear," Joey agreed.

"Perhaps our werewolf there has an especially sensitive nose."

"That doesn't matter, unless you have a hand to back it up and know how to play the game," Joey countered.

"There's my genius." I ruffled his hair.

"Oh, sure. The genius who doesn't know what the hell is going on," Joey's shoulders slumped. "The closest I could come when I researched kapirus is a kappa, and that's a mythical creature from Japan that responds to politeness. I get the idea that this kapirus thing won't bother with being polite."

"Seems he can drain more than one human at a time, too," I acknowledged. "That means he's rather on the large side."

"You're not making me feel better about it," Joey mumbled. "He took out a werewolf and two humans. You know the werewolf would be stronger and better able to protect himself, but he died, just like the others."

"You killed Ray Wilson," I pointed out. "Although he was one of those things we fought on the riverbank, so he wasn't human."

"I don't want to tell Wlodek that," Joey shivered.

"Let's shelve that topic for now," I suggested, turning back to the monitor. Another hand was dealt, and Roy Cheek placed a bet.

* * *

"I knew he'd win," Daniel said later, handing me a stack of U.S. currency. He'd taken the hundred thousand second-place prize. "That's my buy-in—to pay you back."

"Thanks." I handed the money to Joey, who forgot to breathe for a moment before shoving it into a pocket. "Where's Anna?"

"Here." Anna walked up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. "Cheek is covered in reporters and casino security right now, getting his picture taken. He'll get a round-trip ticket to Las Vegas, along with the winnings and the automatic entry into the tournament there next week."

"You think he'll go back to Corpus?" Daniel asked.

"I doubt it. I think he'll be on the first plane that can carry him to Nevada," Anna shook her head. "He'll gamble and have a high old time before the tournament starts in a week."

"Should we follow him?" Joey asked, moving to give Anna a hug. "We missed you."

"Joey, I was only away from you for one night," Anna hugged him back.

"Yeah. But it was a whole night," Joey whined. "And we have to go to bed soon."

"What's the move from the locals?" I turned to Daniel.

"I need to check in with them," he replied. "And with Winkler and the Grand Master. You may be out for the day by the time I hear back."

"Then we'll talk at sundown," I said. "Joey, Anna needs something to eat. I think we have time for that before bed." I offered Daniel a nod, took Anna's elbow and steered her toward the nearest twenty-four-hour restaurant in the casino.

* * *

"I'm almost too tired to eat," Anna sighed as she studied the menu. "They don't even have a veggie burger here. I guess it's French fries or a baked potato and salad."

"You always have trouble finding something to eat?" Joey asked.

"A lot of the time, yes," she agreed. "They even have bacon in their green beans." She flopped the menu on the tabletop with a sigh. "I need to find a place that sells protein powder."

"Do we need to follow our spawn-loving CEO to Vegas?" Joey asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. I don't have enough clothes with me," Anna buried her face against my shoulder.

"I have money," Joey grinned, patting his pocket.

"Joey, that's for your savings account," I countered. "And for showing up to help the other night. Use my credit card for anything Anna needs."

"I can buy for myself," Anna leaned away from me.

"And spoil my shopping spree? No way," Joey fussed. "We can shop in Vegas. That'll be awesome."

"Use my card," I said, pulling Anna close again. "I owe her my life."

* * *

"Adam, you don't owe me anything," Anna said later when I lay beside her on our bed and settled her in the crook of my arm.

"I beg to differ." Leaning in, I kissed her. Then kissed her a second time. The fucking sun rose at that moment and that's all I remembered until nightfall.

* * *

"Cheek is already in Las Vegas," Anna said. She'd walked back in the room shortly after I showered and dressed. I wouldn't have been as calm as I was if she hadn't left a note for me on her side of the bed.

She was learning. I smiled at her, although her words weren't what elicited my response. "I'll make reservations," I said.

"Already done." She handed an envelope to me. It contained flight information for her, Joey and me. "We have to be at the airport in an hour, and we change flights in Dallas."

"Not a problem," I said. "I just have to throw everything back in my carry-all."

* * *

Half an hour later, we were on our way to the airport. Joey sat in the back seat of the rental, his laptop bag clutched possessively in his arms. I'd discovered years ago that he really had no care for his clothing—it was his technology he clung to the tightest.

"Pack all your cords?" I teased, giving him a quick glance over my shoulder.

"I have my cords, and extras," Joey grinned. He was excited to go to Las Vegas. I'll admit I was happy to go anywhere with Anna, but there was a job to do.

I'd wakened earlier to an e-mail from Xavier, instructing me to be more forthcoming with information on Anna. Evidently, he'd heard from Wlodek and was looking forward to gambling with Anna's life. The bastard wanted photographs, too. I'd ground my teeth over that bit of information.

After dropping off the rental, I took Anna's bag, hooked mine onto it and pulled it toward the terminal. We had a small carrier for the flight to Dallas, where we'd connect with a larger carrier for the trip to Las Vegas. I hated small planes, but there'd been little choice at such short notice.