them.”
“Sucks to be him?” Scott’s eyes were wide in near-alarm. “Are you seriously taking his side on this one? The dude made his choice. He was a villain through and through.” He frowned and looked at the body. “Where did the gun go?”
I glanced back at the corpse. Casino security was poking at him, probably looking for the weapon, but it was pointless. “Don’t you get it? There was no gun. It was an illusion.”
I took the slow walk away, around the next row of slot machines. Security kept an eye on me the whole time, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t leave the scene because I needed to talk to the cops. Give a statement. Spout some bullshit that would preserve our identities and cover up what happened here. I had an idea about that.
I took one last look back at the body laid out in front of the roulette wheel. I heard a voice, deep in my mind, from Bjorn, and I let him speak through me. For me. Because he couldn’t.
“Goodbye, Loki.”
Chapter 17
“What are you still doing in Vegas?” Senator Foreman’s voice was stern and tight, laced with disapproval through and through.
“High jinks, mostly.” I was sitting in my suite in the Palazzo, in bed. Management had comped us the cost of the place for the night. I’d done some delicate manipulation of Century’s telepath by twirling her exposed bones around, and she’d helpfully kept the swarms of LVMPD that came to investigate from remembering to check the security feed. In return, I’d stopped twisting her tibia. It was not exactly my finest hour, but when you’re tasked with keeping a secret, sometimes you have to use whatever means you have at your disposal. “Actually, always high jinks.” I felt a frown coming on. “How’d you even know I was here?”
“Las Vegas PD called the Minneapolis FBI field office to verify your credentials,” Foreman’s terse reply came from the other end of the line. “Because apparently you trashed a casino.”
“That is an exaggeration.” I twirled my index finger along the edge of the sheet, felt the satin against my skin. It was nice and cool in here, thankfully. “It was one slot machine. And maybe some water damage to a roulette table.” I paused to think about it. “Bloodstains aren’t permanent, are they?”
“You would know better than I would.” When Foreman spoke again, it was with even more tension. “What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be protecting your people in Minneapolis?”
“I fell into the middle of the extinction here,” I said. “Some of Century’s goons made a run at us, so we took care of it. If they’ve really only got a hundred people, we’ve successfully lowered that number to about ninety now.”
“Forgive me for not being ecstatic that you’ve solved ten percent of our problem,” Foreman said, employing more than a little sarcasm himself. I wondered if he ever spoke like that on the Senate floor. C-Span would be much more exciting if he did.
“You’re forgiven,” I said breezily. “Anyway, I’ve got one last loose end to tie up here, then I’ll be on a plane back to Minneapolis.”
There was a long pause. “What’s really going on, Sienna?” All sarcasm had been laid aside.
“I’m just …” I looked up. Scott was still in the bathroom, and I could hear the shower running. “You’ve put me in charge of an awful lot, Senator. I’m doing the best I can. We’ve had some … setbacks, that’s all.”
“You mean how you met Sovereign and couldn’t lay a hand on him?”
I tasted something sharp and acidic in my mouth, and it wasn’t the blood that I was still getting tastes of every now and again. “I’ll be the first to admit that didn’t help.”
“I recruited you to this job because you were the only person I had run across that was all-in on beating Sovereign and Century.” I tried to peg his tone, but I wasn’t sure if it was quiet disappointment or a low rumble of accusation. “If your commitment
“Sucks to be him?” Scott’s eyes were wide in near-alarm. “Are you seriously taking his side on this one? The dude made his choice. He was a villain through and through.” He frowned and looked at the body. “Where did the gun go?”
I glanced back at the corpse. Casino security was poking at him, probably looking for the weapon, but it was pointless. “Don’t you get it? There was no gun. It was an illusion.”
I took the slow walk away, around the next row of slot machines. Security kept an eye on me the whole time, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t leave the scene because I needed to talk to the cops. Give a statement. Spout some bullshit that would preserve our identities and cover up what happened here. I had an idea about that.
I took one last look back at the body laid out in front of the roulette wheel. I heard a voice, deep in my mind, from Bjorn, and I let him speak through me. For me. Because he couldn’t.
“Goodbye, Loki.”
Chapter 17
“What are you still doing in Vegas?” Senator Foreman’s voice was stern and tight, laced with disapproval through and through.
“High jinks, mostly.” I was sitting in my suite in the Palazzo, in bed. Management had comped us the cost of the place for the night. I’d done some delicate manipulation of Century’s telepath by twirling her exposed bones around, and she’d helpfully kept the swarms of LVMPD that came to investigate from remembering to check the security feed. In return, I’d stopped twisting her tibia. It was not exactly my finest hour, but when you’re tasked with keeping a secret, sometimes you have to use whatever means you have at your disposal. “Actually, always high jinks.” I felt a frown coming on. “How’d you even know I was here?”
“Las Vegas PD called the Minneapolis FBI field office to verify your credentials,” Foreman’s terse reply came from the other end of the line. “Because apparently you trashed a casino.”
“That is an exaggeration.” I twirled my index finger along the edge of the sheet, felt the satin against my skin. It was nice and cool in here, thankfully. “It was one slot machine. And maybe some water damage to a roulette table.” I paused to think about it. “Bloodstains aren’t permanent, are they?”
“You would know better than I would.” When Foreman spoke again, it was with even more tension. “What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be protecting your people in Minneapolis?”
“I fell into the middle of the extinction here,” I said. “Some of Century’s goons made a run at us, so we took care of it. If they’ve really only got a hundred people, we’ve successfully lowered that number to about ninety now.”
“Forgive me for not being ecstatic that you’ve solved ten percent of our problem,” Foreman said, employing more than a little sarcasm himself. I wondered if he ever spoke like that on the Senate floor. C-Span would be much more exciting if he did.
“You’re forgiven,” I said breezily. “Anyway, I’ve got one last loose end to tie up here, then I’ll be on a plane back to Minneapolis.”
There was a long pause. “What’s really going on, Sienna?” All sarcasm had been laid aside.
“I’m just …” I looked up. Scott was still in the bathroom, and I could hear the shower running. “You’ve put me in charge of an awful lot, Senator. I’m doing the best I can. We’ve had some … setbacks, that’s all.”
“You mean how you met Sovereign and couldn’t lay a hand on him?”
I tasted something sharp and acidic in my mouth, and it wasn’t the blood that I was still getting tastes of every now and again. “I’ll be the first to admit that didn’t help.”
“I recruited you to this job because you were the only person I had run across that was all-in on beating Sovereign and Century.” I tried to peg his tone, but I wasn’t sure if it was quiet disappointment or a low rumble of accusation. “If your commitment
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