Claimed by Shadow Page 0,33

just hoped I could keep up my end of the bargain.

The man waiting for us at the end of the long, stifling tunnel was leaning casually against a luxurious new BMW, arms crossed, obviously bored. I gaped, my mind immediately flooded with images of hot nights, rumpled sheets and excellent sex. It wasn't just the rich black curls, as shiny as the car behind him, which begged any female under eighty to run her hands through them. It wasn't just the lean, muscled body, dressed in skintight jeans and T-shirt, and tanned that beautiful burnished color only olive skin gets. There was an instant attraction, a pull from those liquid dark eyes, that I knew couldn't be real. I might admire a guy's looks, but I don't get that interested until I've known him a little longer than ten seconds.

Incubus, I thought, my mouth going dry. And judging by the level of interest my body was taking, a powerful one. I swallowed and summoned up a smile.

He immediately smiled back, taking in my abbreviated uniform with an appreciative eye. "Have you heard about our employee discount, querìda? Twenty percent off all services.”

"Casanova sent us," I clarified.

"Ah, of course. I am Chavez. It means Dream Maker-”

I cut him off before he could offer to make all my dreams come true. "We, uh, really need to go.”

I noticed that he'd brought along a friend, I guess to drive him back after he turned over the keys. The handsome blond was wearing a Dante's baseball cap and a mesh tank top that gave tantalizing glimpses of a muscular upper body. He sent me a cheerful, beach boy smile from the driver's seat of a flashy convertible. The expression managed to call up sandy blankets, salt-laced wind and sultry, passion-filled nights.

"I'm Randolph," he said in a broad midwestern accent, gripping my hand firmly in his big, suntanned one. "But you can call me Randy. Everyone does.”

"I bet.”

In the end, I had to take Chavez's card, three brochures and a flyer advertising an upcoming two-for-one night before they would listen to me. I persuaded Randy to take Pritkin to a tattoo parlor where he said a friend would patch him up. I found that story fairly fishy, since most of his wounds had already closed, but maybe his friend would have a change of clothes or a shower. All that blood made him more than a little conspicuous, and we desperately needed to blend in.

"And where are you going?" Pritkin demanded, looking suspicious.

"I said we'd talk and we will," I assured him, sliding into the BMW next to Chavez. "I'll meet you later. But I can't run around dressed like this.”

Billy had shown up while we were talking and started to flow in through the rear window, but I stopped him with a look. I didn't trust the mage. It sounded like Pritkin and the Circle were on the outs, but it could be a trap. I needed a pair of eyes on him while I was busy elsewhere, and ghostly eyes would do. Billy grimaced but floated back to Pritkin after dropping something small and metal in my hand.

"You can't go back to your hotel," Pritkin said. His tone made it a command rather than a recommendation.

"You think?" I pushed him back so I could close the door. "Chavez can run me by the mall. I need something to wear-even in Vegas, this outfit sticks out." Not to mention being really uncomfortable. "I'll even pick up lunch if you ask nicely." Pritkin frowned, but there was no way he could force me to go with him, as he seemed to realize. After a momentary pause, he moved back so Chavez didn't run over his toes. I decided that for him that counted as civil, so I'd grab some food after my errand.

"I need to go ice skating," I told Chavez as we blasted out of the lot behind the liquor store, salsa music blaring from the car's excellent sound system. He shot me an inquiring glance but didn't press. I guess working for Casanova, you learned to take things in stride.

Vegas has a good bus system, but there are no public lockers at the downtown station so I'd had to get creative for a place to stash certain items. Leaving them at the hotel hadn't sounded like a good idea, considering that the mages and vamps could locate my room any minute. We'd been switching hotels every day and I was using a fake