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The mage pulled my lunch out on his side of the portal, dropped it on the ground like he was afraid it was contagious and threw a fireball at it. The crowd roared in delight, apparently deciding that this was some unscheduled entertainment. I almost cried.
“That was my lunch, you idiot!” I yelled right before he stepped through the portal.
He appeared in my face, startling me, and I instinctively pushed him away. He fell back through the portal, stumbled out of the tower and landed on his ass. He glared, scrambled up and pulled a gun.
For a moment, I didn’t believe he’d do it. There were a couple hundred people around; no way would he risk killing one of them while trying to take me out. The Circle hadn’t impressed me with their sanity, but they weren’t that crazy.
Then he pointed the gun, not at me, but at the fallen tower.
I threw myself out of the way just as he shot at point-blank range into the portal. The bullet came out my side, ruffling my hair on its way past, and shattered a lighted sign on the other side of the street. I was still staring at the sparks and broken glass when he launched himself back through—and this time he grabbed me.
I panicked and shifted—and since he was still holding on, he came along for the ride. We landed on the roof of the opposite building, or rather, he did. I was left dangling over the side, and in his surprise, he let go.
I shifted midair and ended up back where I’d started, woozy and nauseous. Shifting two people on no food and maybe five hours’ sleep had wiped me out. I didn’t think I could do it again. That proved to be a problem when the other mage popped out of the portal practically on top of me.
I did the only thing I could. I grabbed his coat, swung him around and fell back through the portal before he could curse me. I rolled out of the tower a second later, into the middle of the street, adding another layer of bruises. The crowd applauded as I struggled to my feet.
“They do it with doubles,” I heard someone say. “The girl on the balcony was a lot more blond.”
“You’d think they’d check for something like that,” someone else said.
The mage stepped out of the portal and tripped over my body, kicking me painfully in the ribs. Down the street, his partner jumped from the roof and started for us through the crowd. I got my feet under me, kicked the still-burning remains of my lunch in the mage’s face and ran.
“Over here!” I saw Dee waving at me, her wig towering over everyone else. A hand grabbed the back of my sweatshirt, but she jerked me over the heads of the last few people and it fell away. She swiveled on a heel, plunged into a ladies’ restroom and shoved me into the janitor’s closet. I didn’t even have time to catch my breath before we fell through a wall.
We tumbled out into my room again a second later. I landed on the bed, but Dee hit her shin painfully on the side of the headboard. “Fuck it, that’s twice today!”
I lay there, staring at the wall, wondering who was going to come through next. But nobody did. I guess the mages hadn’t been able to pass the gauntlet of outraged women in line.
“Here!” Dee threw a package on the bed and pulled my shoes out of her bra. “God, what I do to look good,” she said, clutching them to her heaving bosom. And disappeared.
Chapter Twelve
I tried room service, but after getting a busy signal for ten minutes straight, I put my new sneakers on and decided to go out.
There are things I am never going to like about Vegas: the relentless sun that reflects off sand and glass and concrete everywhere you look. The constantly changing skyline, where housing developments and gaudy tourist traps seem to pop up and fade away overnight, as if the whole city is set on fast-forward. And the crowds of tourists that are constantly underfoot. But you have to love a place just a little that serves up pizza and beer to go at midnight.
I reentered Dante’s through a side entrance, intending to find a quiet place to picnic. But apparently someone else had other ideas. A meaty hand reached out of a stairwell and grabbed me around the wrist.
“If you want some pizza, you could just ask,” I told Marco.
He glowered at me out of red-rimmed eyes but didn’t say anything. Just breathed heavily and stuck a phone in my ear. “Cassie? Are you there?” a voice asked.
Damn. It was Mircea. And I hadn’t even started to figure out what to say to him yet—about a lot of things. “What did you do to Marco?” I demanded, deciding to go with a good offense.
“Assigned him as your permanent bodyguard.” Mircea’s usually warm voice was cold steel.
“I meant as punishment.”
“So did I.”
/> I stared at the phone for a moment and then clicked it shut.
It almost immediately rang again.
I tossed it at Marco and continued walking. He followed. “You gotta take the boss’s call.”
“Or what?”
