Shattered (Alchemy Series Book #3) (19 page)

"
So you
did
think of that before dragging me into this. Thanks. And that's why we aren't getting Dodd. If we go to Rogo with a large entourage, it escalates it. It also makes him think I'm scared of him."

"He
is
a little rough around the edges."

"
He's a show boater. I can handle him." I laid a hand on Buzz's arm. "Unless I'm on the verge of dying…don't step in. Just stand by me and look scary."

"
I'm not sure I did the right thing," Buzz mumbled under his breath.

"Too late."

I needed to assert myself over these thugs if I wanted any chance of getting this under control. With them, you were either an alpha or you were stepped on. I couldn't turn to Cormac for every problem and I didn't know if I would ever leave this place. If I was going to stay, I was determined to be a force to be reckoned with.

I opened the
door to the fourteenth floor. It was strange how each level, which used to be almost identical, now had its own flavor. Burrom's was mystical but slightly seedy, almost like how I would imagine an opium den.

Rogo's floor
, on the other hand, was like stepping into a boxing club. Testosterone ruled this floor. It didn't matter how many women there were, it screamed boys’ club. All the tank tops displaying bulging muscles pissed me off from the moment I hit the floor. Didn't any of them own a shirt with sleeves?

No one guarded the entrance because no one in his or her right mind would want to be here.

They all stared at Buzz and I, as we took a few steps into what they thought of as their domain. That was their first mistake. This place wasn't theirs. If they were a little smarter, they'd realize that most of the people here, unless you were a Keeper, were tools to Cormac. They had no power, but that sort of thinking came down from the top.

Rogo thought their contribution made them special. They were as favored as the newest tool in the shed. And just like the tool, they would be used and abused and thrown to the curb when they had nothing left to give.

"I need Rogo," I demanded of the first group of guys I neared.

I got a coup
le sneers but one of them jerked his thumb toward the right. "Room sixty-nine."

I rolled my eyes. It w
as so easy I didn't bother commenting. My sarcastic mockery deserved loftier targets.

I walked past
several open doors and tried not to look into any, no matter what odd noises I heard. I didn't want to see anything. I already had too many bad visions stored in my "I wish I hadn't seen that" mental album.

The door
marked sixty-nine was closed when we got there and I rapped my knuckles on the surface.

When it cracked open,
I recognized the face but couldn't recall the name.

"What do you want?"
the goon asked.

I took a d
eep calming breath. Don't flip out, at least not yet.
You need to get in the room and near Rogo. No more stupid decisions that don’t get you anywhere.
Buzz, on the other hand, was ready to lose his shit completely and he was supposed to be the calm one.

"I
'd like to talk to Rogo."

His eyes slowly worked down the length of me. By time they hit my waist, I'd had enough.
There was being tactical and there was being a disrespected schmuck. "Now."

A little of the mist seeped out of my mouth
with the word. Anger. I had to remember the magic was linked to intense emotions. When I was upset around the humans, it might not be a good idea to speak. Right now, I was quite happy about it.

It didn't affect him like the rippers or make him do anything
, but it scared him enough to back away from the door and let us in.

Not surprisingly, this was one of the suites as well, ju
st as I'd expected. I looked around, eight men, four women. We were totally outnumbered. It was the story of my life. Why should this time be any different?

Rogo was reclined in the corner, a part of the group but somehow slightly removed.

"We need to talk," I said. There was a room off to the side. If he was going to play nice, he'd offer me privacy.

"Go ahead," he said.

He wasn't going to play nice. Fine by me. I felt many things about him, but nice wasn't on the list.

The jack
ass didn't even bother standing and he eyed me up like I was wearing a mini skirt and halter top instead of jeans and a long sleeve tee.

No problem. I walked over to him, stopping just within striking distance. If he caused a problem, I'd take the head off the snake.

"Stop scaring the humans and then taking their food for protection."

He snorted before he replied. "Why do you care about them? They hate your guts
, or haven’t you noticed?" The room filled with laughter, everyone there knowing. It would be impossible not to. Living in this casino was like living in a small town with lots of little old ladies staring out their windows and gossiping every day.

"
They hate us all," Buzz said. I cringed, knowing the opening he'd just handed him.

One, two, three…

"Not like her. They like anyone better than her."

T
here it was.

"I don't care who likes who.
I'm telling you to stop it."

"Cormac's the big man
." The way he said it wasn't flattering. "If he doesn’t like it, he can stop it."

"You don't understand
. This isn't a debate."

R
ogo finally decided to stand, thinking he could use his larger frame to intimidate me. If Cormac couldn't make that tactic work, Rogo had no shot. I felt Buzz move closer behind me but I threw him a look that told him he better stand down. I didn't want it to look like I needed protecting. I didn't.

Rogo
, at his full height, towered over me. It gave him the wrong impression that he had a chance of taking me down. He didn't. What felt like ages ago, I'd taken his predecessor down a couple of pegs and I'd take him down just as easily.

He stepped i
n a little closer and I felt his hand cup my ass. I choked on my nausea as I let him pull me close to him.

"Why's a pretty little thing like you running around playing cop anyway?
You should be with a real man who knows what a girl like you needs, a man who could protect you."

I laid a hand on his chest as if I were being compliant. Please, Buzz, just give me a minute. I turned my head down a moment, playing at being coy to buy time.

Sweat started accumulating on his brow and his shirt grew moist. I got a little nervous I'd given him a bit too much umph. I knew the gist of what I was doing, swelling the cells in his chest near his heart, making it harder for the blood to flow, but I didn't have any real practice. Up until now, I'd just thought of it in theory. If I actually killed the guy, it might not look too good. I stopped quickly, hoping it hadn't been too much.

He dropped his hands from me at almost the same time and tried to back away out of reach, but I just followed him backward.

"What's wrong, Rogo? You not feeling good? You look a little pale and sweaty." My voice was pitched higher than I normally talked.

He looked down at me, the light in his eyes going of
f. He tried to shove me away but I locked my free arm around him while I kept my other hand near his shoulder, not too far from his heart.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I think. "I thought we were just getting familiar with each other. Now that we’re all cozy, do I have your word you'll back off the humans, or do I have to get a little more personal, maybe a more permanent relationship, until you learn?"

"I'll stop,
" he whispered, barely getting the words past his lips.

"Somehow I knew you would
." I let go and stepped back from Rogo. "Would anyone else care to get friendly?" I looked around the room, meeting each stare, assessing who had the balls to come for me at some later point. A slightly smaller wolf stood in the back of the room. He looked a little more scared than the others did. Petrified might have been a good description. I'd have to remember him and check into that.

"Let's go," I said to Buzz.

We walked from the room, wolves jumping out of the way to avoid me. The wolves in the hall had all planted themselves against the wall as we passed, proving they'd been eavesdropping.

"If Cormac hears about this,
when
Cormac hears about this, he's going to have my head on a fucking platter," Buzz groaned next to me as we entered the stairwell.

"Cormac doesn't own me and we aren't like that
."

"I am so
ooo fucked," he continued, ignoring me as he banged his head against wall.

"Are you hearing me?"

"Yeah…I know. You're not Cormac's. You and Cormac are nothing. Uh huh," he said but then banged his head again. "The only people that believe that are you and Cormac."

I stopped and rested a hand on Buzz's shoulder and spoke in the nicest voice I could muster up after almost killing a man.
"Can you stop banging your head before more people see you? It's not a good look."

Luckily, he turned around and started acting normal before we
entered the lobby and saw Crash. He stood in front of the spot the elevators used to be, no longer dressed in fatigues and in the bright lights of the casino. A couple thoughts popped into my head, competing for attention. One, couldn't we dim these things? We didn't have this kind of fuel to be wasting. The second was I hadn't realized Crash was good looking.

He didn't smile, but the way
he was eyeing me up, I could tell it was a mutual appreciation.

"I was looking for you," he said as we stepped into the lobby area.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, not slowing my stride as I headed through what used to be the casino gaming floor.

Crash fell int
o step alongside me and Buzz fell back but not out of sight.

"I don't know where Cormac is
, but I'm going back, with or without him. He can't just disappear and think we're going to wait. When we came back, the agreement was we would get reinforcements, not sit on our asses."

"It's barely been a day. He'll be here tonight."
I hoped, because Crash wasn't going to be held off for long, and neither was I.

I eyed up the crowd as we walked
. I was looking for wolves that seemed to be up to no good, but avoided any direct eye contact with the humans.

"Why do you walk through here when it makes you so uncomfortable?"

I stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh…I think you do."

I stopped in the middle of what had become the town center of our little civilization with all eyes on me. They were always on me, haunting my every step. "You want to get all chummy? Fine, answer some of my questions."

"Some
, not all." He looked around. It was obvious we were the center of attention. "Here?"

"
No," I said and started walking again. "There's a place on the seventh. It's a nonhuman hang out that…"

"I've heard of it."

"You work quick."

"Have to."

"Be there at ten."

He walked away without answering.

"What are you doing?" Buzz asked as he came up next to me.

"Getting info."

"Seemed like he was looking to get more than that."

"
Just because he looked at me? Don't worry about him. I can handle this."

This was the first time I'd come here since it had opened. It was Burrom's, or had been. He'd opened it a day or so after he had gotten settled, knowing instinctively that the Fae and wolves were going to need a place like this to blow off steam and try to feel normal. From what I'd heard, there was a similar place that catered to the humans somewhere on the main casino floor.

I got several looks as I walked into the place that used to house one of the many casino
restaurants and I knew that I'd picked the right outfit. The small tight black dress hugged every curve I had, of which there were many.

I sp
otted Crash across the bar, hanging near a door that opened onto an abandoned balcony. It used to be the most packed area of the joint but the new view left a lot to be desired. When you were looking for escape, not reality, ruins could really dampen your mood.

His eyes roved over me as I approached, but not in a
sleazy way. Just a man who knew his worth, letting a woman know he knew hers.

He wore a button down
shirt and slacks, similar to what Cormac liked to wear and it made me sad. Crash was an attractive man, but he wasn't Cormac. The similarities in clothing just made me think of all the differences.