AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Unfortunately, they lost her scent before they could track her back to wherever she’s staying,” Shay added, as if she’d guessed what I was about to ask. “There’s a big concert in town this weekend, so the Strip is extra crowded. All those tourists, plus the heat—she’s using it to her advantage.”
“Every stinking tourist body she passes is an opportunity to cover up her trail,” Ellie grumbled. “It’s clever of her if she meant to do it on purpose. Unfortunate for us, if not.”
Mikey gave me an apologetic look. “I tried going back and tracking her myself, but her scent was hard to follow. Denny’s nose is a little bit better than mine—”
“A little?” Denny said dubiously, and Mikey shot him a sour look. It was the same face Dylan pulled when I gave him a hard time.
“—but we figure until the tourists clear out a little more, it’ll be too difficult to track her outright,” Mikey finished.
“Did she have a baby with her?” I asked, ever hopeful. If Ryder was here as well, then we were close. Close enough, it didn’t matter to me how difficult it might be to find him, or what lies I’d have to tell Melony to get to him.
“It looked like it,” Shay said. “No one’s been able to get very close to her, but two of our betas have confirmed she was carrying something swaddled in her arms. If it’s not your boy, I’m not sure what else it would be.”
“You bring Ryder’s scent with you?” Denny asked.
I nodded. “It’s packed in a zip lock in my bag.”
“Then, our first order of business tomorrow is seeing if we can catch his scent anywhere,” Denny said. “Our second is getting an audience with Mama Striga.”
“Mama Striga operates at the Bellagio,” said Mikey. “Best hotel on the Strip. She’s got a suite booked there with no check-out date. Swanky place, or so I hear.”
His gaze trailed over to Denny, who turned his full attention back down to his bowl of chili and began shoveling it into his mouth.
“Can we nab Melony there?” I asked Mikey.
“If we can catch her en route, sure,” he said. “But it’ll be harder to get to her once she’s inside. Mama Striga has a whole host of bodyguards, not to mention her devoted followers.”
“Fanatics,” Shay said. “She’s surrounded by true believers—some who would happily kill or die for her. They treat her like a god. Between their offerings, and the payments made by her clients, she’s able to fund an impressive security detail. No one gets into Mama Striga’s suite without her say-so, and her muscle escorts her clients on and off the property.”
“That’s a lot of precautionary measures for an honest businesswoman to take,” I noted.
Denny had made it clear he didn’t like this woman. Could it be because she was up to something more sinister than just faux curse-breaking? He’d told me she was a hack, but what Shay and Mikey were describing sounded more like a cult.
“Honest? Ha,” Ellie barked. “Striga is many things but honest is hardly one of them.”
“Her precautions are necessary, though. Her clientele is made up of curse victims, and you don’t pick up a blood curse without breaking a blood oath,” Mikey explained. Again, his gaze trailed to Denny, who was still intently working his way through his meal.
Shay reached out and put her hand on top of Mikey’s. “When it comes to oath breaking, some alphas don’t think a curse is punishment enough.”
“It’s unlikely that we’re the only ones with eyes on the Bellagio,” Ellie explained. “You can bet that there are other Melonys out there, too, running from alphas far more vengeful than yourself. Striga has to promise some level of protection for them, or they wouldn’t come to her at all.”
“So, we can’t pin her down off-premises, and we can’t get to her once she’s inside the Bellagio.” My brow furrowed. “How do we play this?”
“That’s where you come in, isn’t it?” said Mikey. “Denny says the woman’s obsessed with you. Thinks you’re her mate?”
“She’s convinced herself that my kids are hers, too,” I added. “Couldn’t tell you why.”
“It’s to our benefit now, at least.” Shay gave me a small smile. “You’re our in.”
“And I’ve made my peace with that.” I still didn’t like the idea of speaking to Melony. It would take all of my restraint not to snap her neck on sight. The promise of having Ryder in my arms again was her only saving grace. “But I don’t see how I can charm her if we can’t even find her.”
“We don’t need to find her,” Ellie said with a mischievous grin. “Once she knows you’re in town looking for her, she’ll find you.”
Chapter18
Felicity
The first morning at the lodge without Xander had been uneventful. Rylan’s hungry wail woke me before the sun rose. I took him from his bassinet and put him in bed with me so he could eat before we did anything else. After he was burped, changed, and a little less surly, I took him downstairs to lie on his play mat while I checked my phone for updates. Xander had called just before I went to bed last night, and texted me a second goodnight while I slept.
