Logan dropped his hand on her leg. "Good speech, Riley. It really was, but I think you're missing the mark. We've split this up, everyone has a job to focus on, and we're going to narrow this down. Cyn's been doing this alone, and now he has all of us. Soul Reaper is out there, and he's online. No one goes online without leaving some kind of trace."
Cade suddenly sat up. "Shit, personalized advertising!" Then he began typing furiously on his phone.
"What the fuck are you on about?" Murder asked.
"Ads online," Cade said. "We have the back door to the KoG site. It's monetized, so there are ads. Probably pretty good revenue, too. That means they were different for each user, and the ones that came up when Soul Reaper logged in should tell us something about him. Even if it's just his location." He paused. "I'm telling Ripper to look into it."
"But how do we lure him out at the tournament?" Knock asked.
Riley countered with, "Are you so sure he's playing? Could be a journalist, run a booth, or something else. There are a lot of people at these things, and we've always just assumed he's a gamer, but Arturo wasn't."
"He could be too bad to play," Logan said. "I mean, would explain why he's so pissed at the girls. Wasn't that long ago that most giggled and said they weren't good enough. Now, they want to be the next Riley or Rhaven."
"So, we just treat this like any other tournament?" Knock asked. "Even with those threats still sitting on Twitter with all of our names? Well, yours."
"Yep," Riley said. "We drink the tequila, we fuck like bunnies, and we stop playing by the rules, Knock. It's a convention week. Not just a weekend, but a whole week of this insanity, and that means we put on our game brains."
"I like how she thinks," Murder said. "We do our best fucking work when we call it play."
"Then let's play hard," Knock decided. "Harder than we ever have before. Oh, and Riley? I'm gonna take you down this time. Gotta impress my guy."
Cade just chuckled. "Dream on, Knock. Not gonna happen."
"Watch me," Knock said. "I got my game face on."
Chapter 33
Rhaven wasn't that surprised to have a man waiting for her and Braden at the baggage claim. His sign had two little pictures on it: one was a black bird that could easily be a raven, and the other was very much a tank. That had to be their driver, most likely sent by Adam's hotel, just like he'd done for her in Denver. While Braden gathered up their bags, she went over to let the man with the card know they were here. After that, it was a quick trip to the hotel.
The place was massive, and without the crowd of gamers pouring out of it, actually rather impressive. They weren't right on the strip, but it was just around the corner, and within easy walking distance. The perfect Vegas vacation, so far as Rhaven was concerned. She could also understand why Zara wanted to get married here. It would definitely be something memorable.
The car pulled up right at the large entry doors, and an employee of the hotel stepped up to assure them that he'd get their bags. Then he directed the couple to the front desk. Rhaven grabbed Braden's hand and headed that way. The automatic glass door whooshed as it opened, revealing a sparsely-populated lobby. Elegant chairs and open spaces were meant to allow the clients breathing room. Come next weekend, all of this would be packed shoulder to shoulder with gamers waiting to get into the gaming hall, one of the demonstrations, or the many panels that were held. Yet for now, it felt like she got to be the fancy lady for once.
Just around the corner was the front desk. A small group of three stood there, and Rhaven immediately recognized Zara's long hair. They'd all planned to arrive as close to seven p.m. local time as possible, which meant they weren't the first, and hopefully not the last. Braden tugged her that way so they could sign in, Rhaven felt her lips curling into a smile, and then one of those people noticed them.
Psyc leaned out to look around Zara, then patted Jason's arm almost absentmindedly as he called out, "Rhaven! You made it!"
"Psyc!" she squealed, hurrying over to see him.
At the same time, he stepped toward her, and they met in