Time to listen. He understood. Too bad he hadn't had these warnings before he was gunned down as a human. That would have been a little more helpful than vague warnings to someone who was basically immortal and impervious now. But then, life was ever a study in a day late and a dollar short. "All right. I'll pay attention."
Ren inclined his head to him. "Good, 'cause you're the only reason I'm here, and I'd hate to think I uprooted myself needlessly." When Jess had been transferred out here a few weeks back, Ren asked to come, too. "Don't make me have to spirit-walk to cut your throat."
Jess snorted at the threat. "Got to say, dying would really wreck my best day. Been there, done that, and now that I think about it, Artemis forgot to give me the T-shirt."
Ren rolled his eyes. "You're psychotic."
"And we're down a Hunter, so we need to get patrolling before the Daimons start feeding."
Ren waved his hand in front of him and spoke a blessing in his native tongue.
Jess didn't understand it, but he appreciated the gesture. "Same to you, di-na-da-nv-tli." And with that, he started for the infamous strip, which was teeming with clueless tourists just waiting to become a walking Happy Meal for a Daimon.
Jess kept his pace leisurely as he used every sense he had to feel for any unnatural predator that was out and about. There was a strange vibe to the city, and it made him wonder about the depletion of the DH here.
The owner of the Ishtar Casino, Sin, he discounted from that list. Sin had fallen in love with one of Artemis's handmaidens and been redeemed from their service. So his was a happy exodus.
Lionel, Renee, and Pavel had all died over the last few months. Supposedly by bad luck. Lionel and Renee by not making it home before dawn. Pavel had been decapitated in a freak car wreck. At least, that was the official story.
After what Andy and Ren had said, Jess now wondered how accurate that was.
Two other Dark-Hunters had been moved in to replace those killed in action. Syra, who was better known as Yukon Jane, and Rogue, an Englishman whose proper speech belied his extremely psychotic ways. That boy definitely wasn't right.
Made him wonder who they'd move in to replace Lionel.
Guess I'll find out.
A pretty blonde walked past him on the street with a come-follow-me-cowboy look that grabbed his attention away from that line of thought. He let out a slow appreciative breath at the sass in her walk. He'd always been a sucker for a woman who knew how to handle herself and, more to the point, handle a man who was aching for her.
She smiled at him over her shoulder.
You got work to do, boy.
Yeah, but she was delectable.
Work, Jess. If Andy's right, there's a killer on the loose, and you need to find it and stop it.
He actually whimpered at the fact that he couldn't follow after the blonde. In Reno, doable. Here ...
Too many Daimons.
Yet another reason they needed killing.
Sighing, he crossed Spring Mountain Road, heading north on Vegas Boulevard. He'd just passed the entrance to Neiman Marcus at the Fashion Show Mall and was nearing The Cloud when that familiar tingle went down his spine. One that was unmistakable.
There were Daimons nearby.
But where? People were all over the place. Hard to pinpoint a Daimon in a crowd this size. Not to mention the bright lights, even with his opaque sunglasses on, were hard on his light-sensitive Dark-Hunter eyes. Since Dark-Hunters were created long before the modern lightbulb, Artemis had given them incredible night vision that really hated anything bright. It was downright painful.
Closing his eyes, he focused his other senses. At first he was overwhelmed by everything he heard. But after a few seconds, it settled down so that he could pinpoint what he needed.
They were in the underground parking lot on his left.
Jess headed for it, making sure to keep himself away from any street cameras that the police might use for surveillance-that was one thing Rogue was the best at, since he'd come over from England, where their streets had more cameras than a fully stocked mega Best Buy store.
He ducked into the lot that was full of cars and vacant of people. At first he didn't hear anything more, and then ...
To his right.