Hope and Vengeance (Saa Thalarr, book 1): Saa Thalarr, book 1 (8 page)

* * *

"What I have is two rooms with a connecting door, with two beds in each room," the frazzled desk clerk informed us later. I didn't want that—I wanted one king-sized bed in each room. There wasn't anything I could do, unless I wanted to carry sleeping patrons out of their rooms and dump them in the hall.

"Adam, it's okay," Anna placed her hand on my arm.

"Then it'll do," I nodded to the desk clerk and handed over my credit card.

"At least it's livable," Joey muttered as we examined both rooms a short while later. Cheek hadn't chosen the best casino hotel in Shreveport, that much was evident. If the rooms hadn't been clean, I'd have gone elsewhere. Anna was exhausted, I knew that, and she hadn't eaten, either. I was about to remedy that.

"Sweetheart, there's an all-night diner downstairs," I said. "Leave the bags, I'll take you to dinner and then get you in bed. Joey and I can look for Cheek after that."

"Are you sure?" Anna turned to me, concern in her eyes.

"You're not worried for Joey and me, are you?" I pulled her against me.

"A little," she muffled against my chest.

"Don't be. We've done this before."

"Adam," she leaned her head back to look me in the eye, "you may not have done this—exactly—before. Be careful, all right?"

"I'll just expect my horse to get me out of a jam," I grinned at her.

"Schmuck," she tapped my chest as she moved away.

"Did you know that schmuck in Yiddish actually means penis?" Joey informed us.

"Joey." I glared at him. Anna laughed. I realized I enjoyed that sound very much.

"Adam's smiling," Joey grinned.

"Not for long." I schooled my face into the vampire non-expression. Joey scooted out the door as quickly as he could, making Anna laugh again.

* * *

My hand was at the small of Anna's back as we waited for a server to lead us to a table inside the diner. I wanted to put my arms around her, but resisted the urge. I'd do that later, when we had privacy.

The diner was less than half-f at three in the morning, and I'd already studied all the patrons by the time the waitress arrived to show us to an empty table. Roy Cheek wasn't there, and Joey, who'd gone to the casino to look for Cheek, hadn't found him, either. He'd sent mindspeech, informing me that he was going to check the poker room next. I told him to be careful and use compulsion sparingly.

Anna and I took seats at a booth just as Joey sent mindspeech again.
Cheek's in the poker room
, Joey reported.
With a big pile of chips in front of him
.
Kirby Lee and that other man are sitting outside at slot machines, but they're not playing. She looks normal and fidgety, but the man—Adam, I think there's something wrong with him
.

Why do you say that?
I accepted the menu from our waitress with a nod of thanks.

He's sitting there, completely still. Not moving at all. That's just not natural
.

Are they talking? Manuelo and Kirby Lee?
I reminded Joey of the man's name, and briefly pondered his kinship to Rita, Anna's assistant. Something was definitely wrong, here.

He's not talking. Kirby Lee talked with a man who sat down to play the slot machine next to hers, but he got up and left after a few minutes. Are you going to tell Anna?

After we order. The waitress is hovering.

Adam, you dog. Is she pretty?

Joey, stop.

Adam's got it ba-ad
, Joey responded.

Joey
. I put as much sternness as I could into my reply.

I've just never seen you get interested in anybody, and we work together a lot.

There was nobody worth my interest,
I returned, my mental voice cold.
Stop teasing. We have work to do
.

Yeah, but it's boring, watching these two. I don't want to be obvious about watching them, so I put money in a penny machine. I haven't won anything so far, but I'm only playing a penny per spin.

Up your bet. I'll pay you back.

You got it.

"I'll just have coffee and the special," I handed the menu back to the waitress. She was pretty, but I had no interest in her. Anna sat across from me, and that's exactly what I wanted.

"I'll have the veggie burger," Anna handed her menu back.

"Mustard or Mayo?" the waitress asked.

"Mayo. Please."

Anna and I watched as the waitress walked away, swinging her hips slightly. If she knew how many times I'd seen that suggestive walk and ignored it, she wouldn't have made the attempt.

Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed Joey.
Pretend I don't already know what's going on,
I sent as the phone rang.
This is for Anna's benefit
.

Gotcha
, Joey said, before answering his phone. He proceeded to tell me everything he'd already told me. I rang off and turned to Anna.

"Joey found Cheek in the poker room, and it looks as if he's winning," I said. "He says Manuelo and Kirby Lee are sitting outside the room at slot machines, but they're not gambling. Joey says that Manuelo hasn't spoken, but Kirby Lee talked to a gambler for a while."

"Manuelo may not be able to speak," Anna muttered, turning her head away.

"How can that be?" I asked.

"He may not be human. Not anymore."

"How can that be?" I repeated. In my experience, the only way to make a human not a human but still alive was to turn him vampire, and we had a photograph of this one in daylight. That couldn't be. Besides, Joey would have scented a vampire.

Joey
, I sent,
did you get any unusual scent off Manuelo?

He's wearing cologne, but there's something odd underneath
, Joey responded.
Why?

Odd? How? Have you smelled anything like it before? What about Kirby Lee?

Kirby Lee smells human, although she's wearing perfume. Manuelo, though, I don't know what that smell is
.
So far, I've lost a hundred dollars of your money.

Move to a different machine, but stay close to the targets.

Will do
.

The special turned out to be pot roast. In my human life, I might have enjoyed it. As a vampire, it was extremely difficult putting any part of it in my mouth. I chewed methodically, distracting myself by watching Anna and going over what Joey told me.

I couldn't tell Anna about the scent—that would betray the mindspeech I had with Joey. There wasn't any way I wanted that secret out; Wlodek would punish both of us for hiding such a desirable talent from him and the Council.

"Adam, you can stop chewing, I think that bite's done for," Anna said. She wasn't looking at me when I blinked at her, she was stacking crisps on her plate instead.

I swallowed with difficulty before nodding as she looked up at me. "I'm done, then." I shook my head at my plate—I'd gotten through half of it while I considered my current set of problems. I still hadn't heard anything from Xavier regarding the Corpus Christi Pack and the rogue werewolves.

"I'm ready whenever you are," Anna said, breaking into my thoughts.

"You only ate half your food," I pointed out.

"I could say the same for you. But I won't."

"That is much appreciated." I waved to the waitress, to bring the check. At least Anna let me pay this time.

* * *

"Sweetheart, you need to get in bed," I whispered against Anna's ear as she watched Kirby Lee and Manuelo from a distance.

"Yeah. Joey, stop playing that machine," Anna said. Joey turned to her in surprise. We'd been standing behind him for fifteen minutes, pretending to watch him play while we surreptitiously watched our targets.

"But," Joey sounded confused.

"Move to this one over here." Anna indicated another slot machine a row over. We'd still have a view of our targets, so I nodded to Joey. We moved. Anna handed Joey a hundred-dollar bill and told him to play the maximum bet. He slid the bill into the slot. He and I were both surprised when he hit a jackpot for a thousand dollars around sixty dollars in.

* * *

"I don't think Cheek is going to move from his spot as long as he's winning and as long as the casino lets him sit there and gamble," Anna said as I escorted her into the elevator a few minutes later. I'd cashed in Joey's winning ticket so he could keep gambling, and Anna and I left him there, at another machine she picked out.

"Sweetheart, you look exhausted," I murmured, pulling her against me as the elevator doors closed.

"I am tired," she admitted.

"Then you won't fight me if I do this." I leaned down to kiss her. I wasn't satisfied with a quick peck. This was a real kiss. A deep kiss. My tongue probing her mouth, exploring the scent and taste of her. She whimpered. I stroked the back of her neck gently to calm her before pulling away.

"I won't hurt you," I whispered. "You can count on that."

"Adam, I," she began, concern in her eyes as I leaned against the back wall of the elevator.

"It'll take time, sweetheart. I understand that. Just don't shut me out, all right?" I offered her a smile. "Sex is meant to be pleasurable. A consensual give-and-take between us."

"Adam, I'm not saying I don't want it. It just scares me. Brings up bad memories."

"I know. We just have to find a way to get you past that." The elevator doors opened and I ushered her out. The door to our shared room was at the end of the hall, near the stairs.

"Brush your teeth, I'll be right back," I said, once we were inside the room. After the bathroom door was closed, I walked through the connecting door into Joey's room, heading straight for the toilet. There, I eliminated the food I'd eaten earlier, rinsed out my mouth with Joey's mouthwash and went back to find Anna.

"Nice," I smothered a grin. Anna was dressed in a white T-shirt easily four sizes too big and pajama bottoms decorated with small tigers.

"Don't laugh, a friend bought these for me," she huffed, pointing at the pajama bottoms.

"We won't need this," I said, jerking the bedspread off the bed and tossing it in a corner. Those things were generally crawling with bacteria anyway.

"What if I get cold?"

"I'll send Joey to buy you a blanket."

"Adam, don't approach Cheek, all right? Just watch him for now. We need the ones behind him, in addition to him and his minions downstairs."

"What might be behind him?" I asked.

"Can we talk about this later?" She yawned, reminding me of my manners.

"Sure. Get in bed, I'll tuck you in."

The bed creaked when I sat on it. "Anna," I said, "We may argue and disagree. Most couples do. But I will never, ever, force you. I will never ask for anything you can't give. Deal?"

"Deal," she whispered.

"Good." I leaned in for a quick kiss before pulling away. "Pleasant dreams," I said, and turned out the light.

* * *

"Any change?" I took a seat beside Joey, who handed me another ticket—this one for seven-hundred-fifty dollars.

"Anna knows how to pick slot machines," Joey said, pressing the button again. "I don't understand why she isn't the richest person ever, if she can do this."

"I don't understand it either, except that she does have a serious secret to hide."

"There's that," Joey agreed. "Kirby Lee got up to visit the restroom, but that's it. Oh, and she got a soda from the cocktail waitress."

"How is Cheek getting along?"

"Still winning," Joey said. "I hear some groaning from time to time. That lets me know he's won another hand."

"I'll go stand by the door for a moment," I said. "I'll be right back." I walked away from Joey, making it almost to the door leading into the poker room as a gambler came out.

"Tell me what's going on in there," I laid compulsion. The man was middle aged, slightly overweight and looked to be a professional at gambling.

"That asshole is taking everybody's money. I don't know how, but I think he's cheating," the man said.

"How much has he won?"

"He's sitting on half a million right now. I lost fifty grand in there."

"High-stakes?"

"It is now."

"Has he said anything?"

"Not much. Talked about taking his winnings to another tournament across town. The winner there gets an automatic entry into the big tournament in Las Vegas next week."

"How long will the casino let him play?"

"Probably another four hours or so. Figure he'll quit just before that and sleep for a while. Unless he's an idiot."

"I haven't seen much evidence otherwise," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. Thank you for the information. You'll forget you spoke with me."