Elementally Priceless (5 page)

Other than Giselle and Milly, no one knew I was an Immune. That ability kept me safe from a lot of shit in the supernatural world, and it was the ace up my sleeve, so to speak.

“You were the hot guy next door. I couldn’t just come over and fucking well talk to you.” My head spun with carnal, dirty, naughty thoughts, almost blocking out the threads of Jonathan’s fear. Talking to Caleb was not what I was thinking about, not at all. I couldn’t help the smile that slid across my lips as I reached for him.

“Watch your mouth,” he said, frowning at me and stepping back. “I’m serious, that is foul coming out of your mouth.”

I gulped down the next thing I was going to say and lowered my hand. “We should get going. We are getting closer to him.”

Caleb frowned, and then gave a sharp nod. “It’s really unattractive, sounding like a sailor instead of a lady.”

Shit, he was not going to let this go. Blushing, I ducked my head. “I’m trying not to swear.”

“Try harder.”

He walked back to the bike and slung his long leg over it, and I followed, shame and embarrassment tingling along my spine. He didn’t understand; it was honestly not something I had control over. Like the words had minds of their own. Giselle even seemed to think it was a trait tied to being a Tracker, but still, I couldn’t help it.

I slid my leg over the bike and put as much distance between our bodies as I could. Slipping the helmet on, I pointed at the road sign ahead of us. “Go that way.”

“Las Vegas?”

I nodded. “Yeah, he’s that direction, for sure.” Of that I had no doubt. But Vegas was a big, bustling town and it was going to get interesting finding Jonathan in it, even with the ability to Track. Caleb didn’t ask any more questions, just took off, the bike rumbling underneath us.

The night air was cool against my skin, easing the burn of embarrassment that still heated me. I wanted Caleb to like me, wanted him to want me as much as I wanted him. I was going to have to really work at keeping my mouth in line or I was going to scare him off.

An hour into our ride, I saw the lights of Vegas lighting the sky even though we were a long ways off. Two more hours and we passed the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign, complete with drunk tourists taking pictures in front of it at barely five in the morning.

Caleb, who hadn’t said a word since the gas station incident, pulled over next to a hotel. Or at least, I assumed it was a hotel. It was a giant pyramid with a light shooting out the top and sphinxes sitting at the front edge.

Sphinxes whose eyes rolled to get a better look at me. I nearly swallowed my tongue, but still managed to sputter out, “We need to find another spot.”

“Why?”

“Please, just trust me.”

“Rylee, don’t be difficult,” he said, exasperation heavy on his tongue. Fucking hell, how did I get a mere human to see a pair of rather large sphinxes eyeing us?

I couldn’t, that was just it. So I waved at them. “Sorry, we’ll go.”

Caleb twisted to look at me as the sweat poured down my face. “Who are you talking to?”

I didn’t look at him, just kept my eyes on the sphinxes who both seemed satisfied with my acknowledgment of them. Their eyes drifted closed and a part of me wondered what they were protecting. Sphinxes were rare, like ridiculously so if what I’d studied was correct, and they were only ever used for protection.

You didn’t want to piss them off, either, because they had taken out cities in the past. Once they had the scent of an intruder, they were unshakeable. Not a good thing.

“Rylee, you seriously need to consider if you want this or not.” Caleb’s voice turned me toward him.

“Want what?” I blurted out, not sure I understood. He waved at his own chest.

“Me. Us, whatever this relationship is. You can’t get all weird on me now. I’m not going to date someone who is a nut job.”

Weird? Of course, that’s what he would see. “I’m not getting weird.” I bit off the ‘fuck’ I wanted to add to that line.

Barely.

“Good.” His hand drifted from my hip up to wrap around my neck, softly, not in a threatening way. “Where do we need to go to find your friend?”

Swallowing hard, I focused on Jonathan’s threads, Tracking him was easier now that we were much closer. “That way.” I pointed down the main strip and Caleb laughed, his eyes lighting up.

“You don’t even have an address?”

If he thought I was being weird talking to a Sphinx, how would he handle me telling him I was a psychic bloodhound? Yeah, that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

“I just know the general direction.”

“All righty then, let’s get this show on the road, we have things to do.” He reached over and touched the tip of my nose, a glint of lust flaring through his eyes.

A pang in the back of my head, a little red warning light, went off, but it was smothered under the barest touch he bestowed on me.

We drove deeper into the city until we stopped at the far edge of Freemont Street.

“Historical Freemont Street, the very beginnings of Las Vegas,” Caleb said as he parked the bike and paid the guy who ran the parking lot, giving him enough money for days instead of hours. I thought it was weird, but I sensed Jonathan so strongly that Caleb’s voice was a distant noise and the weirdness of what Caleb did faded. The fatigue of being up all night fled as I started down the middle of the street. No cars were allowed; foot traffic only, and the lights over our heads were bright and beckoning.

Still a little dark out, the light show projected onto the canvas covering the sidewalk like a ceiling was going above our heads, flashing and dancing in patterns. Yet I barely noticed it. What I did notice was the large blue ogre who mixed drinks at the outside bar next to one of the old hotels. My eyes fairly bugged out as I watched him flirting with the humans, his grin wide and open, his skin giving him away to me, at least. Even at that distance, I saw multiple piercings on his ears catch the light as he threw back his head to laugh.

Ogres were not supposed to be so… jovial. I found myself walking toward him, forgetting Caleb was there.

The ogre grinned down at me. “What can I get for you?”

I said the only thing I could think. “Ogre beer.”

Around me, the humans laughed, Caleb included. But the ogre didn’t laugh. He smiled, but his eyes looked downright fearful. “All out up front. Might have some in the back if you really want.”

The first question that whipped through my mind was ‘Could I take him if I had to?’ He was a big boy, seven feet, leanly muscled and ogres were known for only two things.

Fucking and fighting.

I sure as hell wasn’t going to give into any advances, but I couldn’t help but want to know what he was doing here, slinging drinks. “No funny business.”

“Rylee, you can’t really want to go with him?” Caleb grabbed my arm, but I shook him off, a little irritation flaring. I could take care of myself, even if all my weapons had been confiscated. Stupid-ass O’Shea.

“I won’t be long.”

Leaving a grumbling Caleb behind, I followed the ogre into the hotel, through a mass of people and smoke, past the ringing of slot machines and more noise than I would have ever thought possible in a single room to a small door that led into a back room loaded with booze. I shut the door behind us.

“Who are you?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Name’s Rylee. I’m a Tracker.”

He frowned, which tugged a piercing over his one eye downward. “A Tracker? Are you sure?”

I burst out laughing. “As sure as I am that you are an ogre bartending in downtown Vegas.”

He gave me a wry grin and held out a hand. “Okay, fair enough. Name is Dox. What are you looking for?” I gave him my hand, watched it get engulfed in his blue fingers. So many questions, like how the humans didn’t see him for what he was, why he was here, and why he was so nice. I settled for the obvious.

“How the hell are you hiding in plain sight?”

“This is Vegas, kid. Everyone wears a mask here. They think I’m in costume, not realizing they are seeing the truth when they look at me. You get a lot of that here.”

What he said made a perverse kind of sense. Humans often didn’t see the truth of the world, even when right in front of them. They didn’t see what they didn’t want to.

Recalling what Giselle taught me, I launched into investigator mode, going for the most pertinent issues. “What kind of uglies could I be dealing with while I’m here?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Any number of things. What area are you going into?”

I Tracked Jonathan, feeling the pull of him moving away from me. Damn it all to hell and back. “South, I think.”

“As far as Death Valley?”

I shook my head. “Not sure.”

Dox pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in what I hoped was deep thought and not deep irritation. “We have the usual suspects. A small coven, but they tend to be pretty quiet, will-o’-the-wisps float about on the open desert, so you will have to watch for them if you get spelled easily.”

“Shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Good, because they draw people into the Minotaur’s lair. He’s a royal pain in the ass when he’s angry.”

Minotaur? “You’re shitting me.”

Laughing, Dox shook his head. “Nope, sorry. We have a couple of… what did you call them, uglies?” I nodded and he went on. “Uglies that are seriously old school.”

“I saw the sphinxes.”

“Yeah, they are more for show. Haven’t had a problem with them for a long time.” He paused, his eyes going thoughtful before he went on. “There are some sirens around, and even whispers of an elemental. But that last is more legend than anything else.”

I struggled to concentrate on Dox’s words. Jonathan was being taken further and further as we spoke, but it was a strange further. Like south, but deep. That didn’t make sense which meant I had to get going before I lost his threads. “Well, thanks for the help, Dox. Maybe I’ll stop by for a drink after this mess is done.”

“You even old enough to drink?” I blushed and he laughed, leaning over conspiratorially. “I won’t tell.”

“Thanks for your help. Really.” I turned for the door.

“Don’t tell anyone you met me. That’s all I ask,” Dox said, his voice quiet.

I paused and turned back to him. “Sure. You keep my secrets, I’ll keep yours.”

We both grinned at the same time, like a couple of fools. Which if I’d been thinking at all, I’d know I really was being an idiot.

I’d never faced anything big, bad, and ugly without Giselle and Milly by my side. And now I didn’t even have a weapon.

I was a fucking moron.

Lark

I WAS A
 damn moron.

Sweat dripped down my face, and it had zero to do with the heat of the desert and everything to do with the fact I stood on the boundary line between my imposed prison and the free world. My fingers traced the small bag draped across my body. A few essentials were in it, things I always took with me. A piece of charcoal, a slice of leather, a few small tools, and several packs of herbs; all things I’d need at one point or another and had learned to take with me.

The katana was strapped to my back since it wasn’t for me to use, but for this person I was going to run into. I didn’t think it was the Writer, the kid who needed rescuing. Then again, what the hell did I know anymore?

The flash of tawny wings and a red tail caught my eye, giving me an excuse to stand still while the hawk landed on my shoulder. “Red, what are you doing this far from your nest?”

“Could ask you the same thing, Lark. You know I have to tell your father if you… wander off.” The hawk tipped his head and looked at me, black eyes unblinking.

Teeth gritted, I turned my head and stared at the boundary line only visible to me. Like a humming band of energy, the second I took a step over it everyone in the elemental world would know.

“Tell him then.”

“I rather like your company. Makes this place bearable.” He flapped his wings and his talons gripped, digging into the muscle.

Hearing a sharp yip made me want to groan out loud, but I kept it together.

The panting of a long tongue and pattering of small feet could only mean one thing.

Kit had found me too. “You two hate each other, how is it you managed to get a job as my wardens?” I glared at the dusky red fox who snorted at me.