Oddly enough, the stranger wanted to meet her at the Lynx, the same club where Julian and her brother had both worked. With the exception of her prior visit to talk to Julian, Andi had never gone there before, and she only knew it as a dance club.
Going in blind felt frustrating. Any time she and Danny had hustled in the past, they’d always done due diligence—one or the other of them cruising through the joint beforehand to figure out an exit strategy and seeing if there were even any potential marks. Danny’d told her once that his boss there was ruthless and guarded his reputation at all costs. Danny told her a lot of things, and not all of them were true. But she couldn’t not go if the man had information about Danny that might help her uncle now.
She caught an Uber back to her apartment. Her uncle’s rental had seemed strangely empty except for Elsa and all the taxidermy, and no one had come to stop her. She texted him a line once she was safe at her apartment’s door. Just grabbing a few things. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be right back! and then darted quickly inside.
She was hoping beyond hope to get away without running into Sammy, but there was no such luck.
“Andi?” Sammy guessed, peeking out from her bathroom down the hall. She had her hair pinned up and one set of eyelashes on. “I thought you weren’t coming back today!”
“They cancel the overtime people first, alas,” Andi lied, sweeping through their kitchen for a bag of chips to stuff her face with. She was starving, now that cruel Nordic women weren’t going to watch her eat. “Where are you going?” she shouted.
“Out with Tasha!” Sammy shouted back. “I would’ve invited you, only I thought that you were busy.”
Andi walked down the hall and looked in. “All this for a weeknight?” Sammy was in a light gray dress that made the blue of her eyes pop and the red of her hair look fantastic as she took the rollers out.
“Tasha’s brother’s gonna be there,” Sammy said, shimmying her skirt down.
“That lunkhead?”
“Shhhhhh,” Sammy said, giving Andi a sly look. “I don’t need him to talk.”
Andi snickered and offered the chips out to her. Sammy waved them away. “Can’t mess up my makeup. Plus, this dress is so tight it’ll show the outline of anything I eat—which is why tonight’s gonna be a liquid diet night.”
“Vodka tonics?” Andi guessed.
“With cranberry,” Sammy said, teasing out her hair perfectly. “I’m not an animal. Plus, I like to preload on vitamin C. Keeps away the UTIs.”
“Vitamin cock is more like it,” Andi teasingly muttered, knowing Sammy would still hear her. Her best friend cackled.
“Let’s hope. I don’t know what the recommended daily dose is, but I’m sure I’m under.” She turned to present herself to Andi. “Yes?”
Andi made a show of checking her out, but as usual, Going Out Sammy was flawless. “Yes. One hundred percent. What time will you be home?” she felt compelled to ask, even if she herself might not be.
“I’ll be home by midnight or ten a.m. tomorrow, no in-betweens,” Sammy said with a wolfish grin. “So don’t wait up.”
“I wouldn’t dare. But what if you’re feeling rambunctious?” Andi teased, using her own former safe-friend-word.
“Always,” Sammy leered at her, and then picked her purse up from the bathroom counter to head for the door. “Also, you got a package. I tossed it on your bed, bye!” she called back, and closed the door behind her.
With Sammy gone, Andi rushed to her room. How much money was this mysterious stranger going to ask for tonight? She still had the envelope of cash from working for Damian. She was glad she hadn’t spent it on Danny’s bail bond yet. She ripped it open and put half of it—a wad of hundreds—into her smallest purse.
And then she noticed the box on the bed. There was no return address, so technically, it could’ve been a bomb.
But whatever David wanted her brother for, even if it was just to hold them for ransom or hostage against her uncle or whatever, Andi had a feeling that he wanted them alive. So, she sat down on the edge of the bed and opened it, finding it full of soft tissue paper, even softer black silk, and a note that said: Not from your Uncle – D.
Andi pulled the familiar dress out and held it to her chest. Even just a week and a half ago seemed so far away, like it was a simpler time. She let the dress unfurl onto her bed and pet it gently, letting the sensation of the silk against her bring back visceral memories of who she’d been when she’d last been wearing a dress just like it—fearless and strong. Of a man who couldn’t get enough of her and who wanted her to be his—no matter the cost. What was it Eumie’d said, that relationships took work?
And a relationship with a man who had a dragon inside him, maybe doubly so.
She’d worn a dress just like this one for a recently important part of her past. Maybe she should wear it again—like a talisman—for a hopefully important part of her future.
The part where she got her brother back.
Andi stood up quickly and disrobed.
Damian couldn’t hear what Mills was saying as she navigated through Rax’s club, but he could see her spending money. She was wearing a small shiny disc on a choker around her neck, and Damian was channeling whatever reflected on it to show on the piece of mirror that he held.
In general, men were thrilled to meet her—and who wouldn’t be? Mills’s age hadn’t dulled her beauty. If anything, it’d made her half-smiles and knowing glances more teasingly wise and temptingly sly. He knew she seemed sophisticated, and she definitely had cash to spend. And when she leaned in to whisper to one of them—he could tell that’s what was happening, as they visualized a close-up of the man’s collar—Jamison physically tensed.
“Easy,” Damian counseled. “She’s got to make her way to the back.” Mills didn’t have the connections to just show up there; she’d have to work her way into Rax’s casino over the course of the evening.
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Jamison muttered. “Good thing I’ve got eyes on her.” He was watching a screen on his lap, having infiltrated Rax’s security system, and he had a camera over the mirror Damian held, picking up everything Mills saw in the reflection. Cables from Jamison’s wrist were plugged into a processor at his feet, so it could work as fast as his thoughts did, and Damian knew everything was linked to a satellite up above. “But…she’s walking down the hall…no cameras. Fuck! I’m going to lose visual.”
“I’ve got her,” Damian said. Mills twisted sideways, sure to give them a clear view of the man she was standing beside—the ruggedly unshaven type—before turning back to face an unmarked door that had a small black-glass window. The man raised his hand within view of Mills’s collar, rapped on the door, and then placed his hand atop the pad.
Jamison communed with his electronics. “Damian, that guy’s got warrants in three separate states.”
“If they wanted her dead, she would be already; they just want to take her for her cash.”
“Fuck me,” Jamison muttered, sounding pained, as the door on Damian’s metal plate opened to reveal a shorter hallway with a flight of stairs.
“Airlock system, makes sense, hold the course,” he muttered to Mills, even though she couldn’t hear him and his men.
And then the second set of doors opened to reveal Rax’s casino. Mills took a long pan around, twisting herself with deliberate slowness for their sake, like she was taking it all in.
Rax’s basement was seven times the size of the club upstairs and would’ve looked perfectly in place in any upscale location in Vegas. It had dark wood paneling and soft ambient light. There was a pit with tables running in the center. Damian could make out craps and roulette and card games which were probably blackjack or poker. Slot machines were lined up across two walls, while the other walls had alcoves in them for socializing or private games. There was a gloriously stocked bar in a corner of the room, and scantily clad women delivering liquor from it—and even a shirtless man or two, for equal opportunity eye-candy.
Two men—with shirts on—came up to Mills and patted her down. Damian’s mirror clearly showed their hands roving over her as Jamison sputtered.
“She’s got this,” Damian said, to calm him. “She’ll follow the plan.” The plan was for her to play a game, walk a bit, then play another. Staying natural, nothing dangerous, just keeping an eye out as she made the perimeter of the room, taking in the locations of any doors or exits, and anyone guarding them. Rax’s mirror wouldn’t be on the casino floor; it was too valuable an item. But if they could find out what doors had armed guards—presumably the important, mirror hiding ones—and which doors additional armed guards might come out of ahead of time, everyone on his crew would be much safer.
Mills settled herself down at a poker table after making a slow partial walk, waiting to be dealt cards. She made small talk with the people beside her, and a waiter brought up a drink she hadn’t ordered that she didn’t sip. Mills’s collar focused on the dealer, and the camera over Damian’s mirror reported information to Jamison.
“Facial recognition—that dealer’s wanted in three states; the woman beside her runs drugs through an international shipping conglomerate, and the man past her is a were-tiger wanted for art theft.” Jamison’s human hand kept clenching and unclenching repeatedly.
“Well, it is an underground gambling ring, so, color me surprised,” Austin said. “When do we go in?”
“We might not tonight,” Damian said, standing down. Mills was doing her part, but even this early in the evening, there were too many bystanders. Rax’s people knew they’d signed on for occasional violence, but the other gamblers in the casino hadn’t—wanted or not.
And then Mills swiveled suddenly as if surprised.
“If someone grabbed her ass, I swear,” Jamison growled, but then the reason Mills had twisted became clear as a face familiar to Damian resolved in the mirror.
“Oh, fuck,” Austin whispered.
It was Andi. In the same dress that he’d had Mills buy her, standing by the airlock door. She was accompanied by a strange man, but it didn’t appear they were together. From the way her head was scanning the room, it appeared like she was looking for someone.
Damian started forward without thinking, and Jamison pulled him back. “What the fuck!” he complained, ready to take Jamison’s metal arm off.
“Oh, so, it’s different now when it’s your girl?” Jamison said, still blocking him.
“My girl—if Andi can be called that—is one hundred percent human and doesn’t have any backup.”
“Yeah, she does,” Jamison said. “Mills is smart. Hold off.”
Damian snarled but rocked back, unable to take his eyes off the mirror.
Mills did an excellent job of rearranging herself to keep Andi in her line of sight.
Damian forgot what seeing her did to him. In between sightings, his memories were bad enough, but in the flesh—even once removed by her reflection—she was so beautiful, and she was so in danger. Anything could come through Rax’s portal-mirror at any time if he allowed it, or if in the intervening years since he’d been out of the Realms, his magic had gotten shaky.
As if sensing Damian’s discontent, Mills finished her hand of poker, losing cheerfully, judging by her tablemate’s expressions and walked over to Andi to strike up a conversation.
For her part, Andi seemed relieved to have someone to talk to, even if the answers Damian could lip-read all were short. She hadn’t been here before—which Damian found incredibly relieving and was waiting for a friend—which he did not. Mills did her best to keep her talking and stay nearby.
Until Rax’s arrival interrupted them. He introduced himself to Mills first and then to Andi—and then escorted Andi away with a knowing wink.
“That’s it,” Damian said, hitting the roof of their ride. “Drive,” he told Austin.
“He was just winking at her,” Jamison said, willing himself to believe.
“The fuck he was,” Damian growled. “He was winking at us—she’s compromised.” He hit the roof again. “Go!”
Andi was so happy to have another normal person to talk to. The slightly older woman beside her was dressed sophisticatedly but seemed very down to earth, and it was apparently the first time inside the underground casino for both of them.
“Are you a gambler?” Andi asked her.
The woman nodded. “Oh, yes. It’s why I’m here. But I’m finding it hard to settle in.”
“What do you play?” Andi asked. Anything to keep the conversation going.
“Poker, although I can’t claim to be any good at it. Yourself?”
Andi shook her head. “I…used to.” Poker had been more Danny’s thing, but he’d played her often enough for practice that she’d gotten good at it too. Not as good as she’d been at pool though, and she heard the slapping smack of balls rolling into one another at speed. There was a pool table here somewhere. Already, she felt fractionally more at ease. No wonder Danny had come here to sell his car parts with Julian. How crazy was it that a place like this—so full of strangers—could even slightly remind her of home?
“Ladies,” said a suave man who walked over to their side. He was well dressed like Julian had been the other night, only he’d clearly spent more on it—his shoes sharper, his shirt and slacks more impressively tailored to fit his leanly muscled body. His dark hair was tamed into rippling waves, and he had eyes that reminded her of Damian’s—in that they missed nothing—only the stranger’s were more amber than Damian’s gold. “What a charming pair. Did you two come together?”
The woman beside her laughed and put a hand to her chest. “No! But I’m always happy to make a new friend,” she said, looping her other arm through Andi’s.
“I’m sorry,” Andi said, disengaging, looking up into the man’s oddly familiar eyes. “But I…got a text?” He looked like he was in charge, and she prayed he had news for her.
“Yes!” the man said enthusiastically, nodding strongly. “I believe I messaged you earlier. Shall we go someplace private?”
Andi knew she probably shouldn’t follow him anywhere alone, no matter that he looked pleased to see her now. But if she was going to get any news about Danny or Argento to pass along to her uncle…. “Certainly,” she said, squaring her shoulders.
The woman beside her caught Andi’s elbow again and surprised her. “Are you sure?” she asked.
Andi was well versed in all the nuances of the Girl Code and knew that the other woman was just trying to watch out for her—or to get her to watch out for herself.
“Yes, I am,” Andi said with a nod.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her,” the man told the woman beside her, before giving her a conspiratorial wink.
Andi let the strange man navigate her along the edges of the casino toward a door that two men in suits stood on either side of. They were well dressed, but not so well dressed that she couldn’t make out the lumps of what were surely weapons underneath their jackets.
They parted for the man leading her, and he strode into the room, indicating that she should follow, as he rounded a desk to sit down. “I’m Rax,” he announced. “And you are?”
“Andi.”
“Ah. I only had your phone number, courtesy of Julian.” He gestured, and she took the chair opposite him. This was his office. They were separated by a desk, and behind him was a bookshelf with more items on it than books, mostly tiny bejeweled pieces of art. There was a framed map of the city with gilt edges on the wall behind her, and to her right, one wall of the room was occupied with a mirror so old the glass had fogged. On his desk was an old-fashioned worn deck of cards. “You don’t get tired of games?” she said, nodding her head at the deck.
He picked up the deck and shuffled them like a magician might, his fingers moving impossibly fast. “Never. So many things are predictable these days. Games of skill and chance, however, are always amusing.”
“Says someone who owns the house.”
“Would you expect any less?” He chuckled. “Skill is so rare these days. Chance, however—that’s a cheap hit anyone can take.” He smiled a white smile and put the cards in a drawer. “So, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” he said, in a companionably warm tone. He didn’t seem dangerous in the least, which was how Andi knew that he truly was. He reminded her of herself when she’d gone on the road with Danny.
“What’d Julian tell you?” Andi asked, tossing his question back at him. She needed to know if he knew anything, first. The man chuckled, clearly recognizing her technique.
“He told me you were in over your head. And that your brother—who I’ll admit, was an associate of mine—was in trouble with Argento.”
Andi sat forward. “Did he tell you why?”
“No, alas. I don’t recommend you go taking him on without an army, though.”
“That’s pretty much what Julian told me.” Andi frowned and shifted, making sure the skin of her legs didn’t show through the silk dress’s slit. “I hope that’s not why you texted.”
“No,” he told her. “I know where Argento is.”
“The docks?” she asked confrontationally, worried she was wasting her time.
“Which dock. Down to the warehouses he operates out of,” Rax said, gesturing at the map of the city behind her. “And what times he’s there.”
Andi fought to keep the excitement from her voice. “You mentioned a price?”
Rax’s eyes slid over her, clinically. “That’s a very nice dress.”
“It is,” she agreed. “And it is staying on me.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry, my dear, I’m only calculating how much you can afford.”
“Not much,” she said, hoping to head him off at the pass. “Why did Argento want my brother, anyway?”
Rax gave her a sly smile. “Knowing that would raise the price.” Someone rapped on the door from the outside. Rax stood up and opened it, leaning out. She didn’t hear what the man was telling him, but she did hear his response. “Demanding? To see me? That’s rich.”
It was all Andi could do not to melt into the seat. Goddammit. Damian again, following her! She was going to have to strangle him.
“I don’t want you. I need more power,” said a man with a British accent, bursting through the office door.
Andi’s jaw dropped in surprise at seeing him. It was David—dressed head to toe in bulky black. “David?” He had a sweetly-metallic smell about him. Andi recognized it from the hospital, like fresh blood from open wounds.
He wheeled on her. “Andi? What the hell are you doing here?”
“No…you first…Argento.” She stood up, shoving her chair back. “What the fuck have you done with my brother?”
David rushed for her. She shrieked and danced back. “Nothing that he didn’t want me to do to him! I swear!”
Andi gasped. “What?”
David whirled on Rax. “But when he’s changed, he’s out of control. I need more power!” He spotted the mirror past Andi, and his eyes went wide.
“Fuck you,” Rax told him with cold precision. “I paid your extortionate fees—my operation was off-limits. You were never supposed to come here.”
“That…it radiates power. I want that,” David hissed, advancing on the mirror behind her.
“Over my dead body,” Rax threatened, calmly moving around the desk to block David’s path.
Andi looked between them—utterly confused—but she had the presence of mind to edge toward the door.
“Give me what I want, or I will take it,” David growled at Rax.
Rax tilted his head as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I’m sorry?”
“You heard me. Give it to me.”
“You think your poor attempts at ritual magic with borrowed power threatens me?” Rax’s presence seemed larger now, and Andi had a feeling she knew what could happen next.
David reached up and pulled the fabric of his shirt down and off, revealing something raw and leather-like underneath. “I think I have access to dragon skin now.”
Rax’s eyes widened in shock. “What have you done?”
“What I needed to do, to protect everyone,” he said. Andi was almost to the door when David whirled and grabbed her. “And if Rax won’t give me what I need, maybe he’ll listen to you.”
Andi yelped as David pulled her through the doorway and back out to the casino floor.