Sunset Strip: A Tale From The Tome Of Bill by Rick Gualtieri Page B
Authors: Rick Gualtieri
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that the death of her mentor and she obviously wasn’t firing on her usual number of cylinders.
Back when we’d first met, she and her asshole leader, Decker, had blindsided us for a summary execution. I hated to admit it, but had their little party not been crashed by some vampire assassins - also out to snuff us, oddly enough - they might well have succeeded.
Now, though, her just wanting to charge into Pandora’s Box, well...well, actually it was the sort of idiotic plan I’d expect Bill to come up with.
Dammit! There I go getting sentimental again. It really will be the death of me.
* * *
Christy cleaned up pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. How many other expectant mothers at the end of their first trimester could pull off the party girl look? Not many, I’d bet.
“I’m really not comfortable with this,” she protested.
“Neither am I. Those shoes don’t match, but it’s the best we can do. Here, take this.” I handed her a slip of paper.
“What is it?”
“A cashier’s check for five-thousand dollars.”
“What for?”
“Sexual services, of course.”
“What?!”
“Relax, Glinda. It’s just spending money. We’re gonna drop a small bundle at the tables, just like good little tourists.”
“I’m not exactly an expert at gambling.”
“Then you should be a natural at losing. When in doubt, go with what works.”
* * *
Christy and I stopped dead in our tracks the moment we entered the casino, and it had nothing to do with the spectacle that is Vegas.
“You sense it, too?” she asked.
“No, but I sure as hell smell it.”
I would’ve expected a variety of human scents to hit my nose, some more pleasant than others. I likewise wouldn’t have been surprised to find a few vampires amongst the crowd.
What I didn’t expect was the strange odor that hit my nose. Whatever the fuck it was, it wasn’t human. The closest my memory could come to placing it was a vague similarity to the otherworldly beings from up in the northern tip of Canada some months back. A peace conference had taken place there, one that would’ve caused the eyes of even the most seasoned UN negotiator to fall right out of their head. A near endless array of beings had gathered to witness what turned out to be a botched effort to avert a war.
But it wasn’t the same…whatever was here hadn’t been one of the parties present up north. The scent was pungent, but not too intense. It was definitely not my imagination, though. There were other creatures here, blended in amongst the mostly human crowd. The only question was, whose side were they on?
Christy’s arms instinctively went up in a defensive gesture, but I grabbed her before she could do anything and shook my head. Whatever the fuck was going on here, we did not want to make ourselves a part of it.
“What is this?” she asked.
I steadied my voice. “If I had to guess, I’d say this city was on the verge of being royally fucked.”
“Why here?”
At a temporary loss for words, I gave the best answer possible.
“Why not?”
Chapter 12
I am nothing if not resourceful. As the shock of the unanticipated non-human company wore off, my gears began spinning again.
Marlene had been in the game for about two-hundred and fifty years, having started out as a French courtesan. She’d never strayed far from her roots, but her power and influence on the West Coast were not to be denied. She’d established the Pandora Coven back in the nineteen-thirties and had kept it running strong ever since.
Even with my connections to the Draculas, I was going to have to do some fast talking if anything happened to her by my hand. I was fairly sure I’d be able to keep my ass out of the fire, but would almost certainly gain some enemies in the process.
But now...
Good, bad, or just plain bored, if there were beings from beyond the void gathering in this city, it meant just one thing: chaos. Accidents were bound to happen in such a state. I could work
Back when we’d first met, she and her asshole leader, Decker, had blindsided us for a summary execution. I hated to admit it, but had their little party not been crashed by some vampire assassins - also out to snuff us, oddly enough - they might well have succeeded.
Now, though, her just wanting to charge into Pandora’s Box, well...well, actually it was the sort of idiotic plan I’d expect Bill to come up with.
Dammit! There I go getting sentimental again. It really will be the death of me.
* * *
Christy cleaned up pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. How many other expectant mothers at the end of their first trimester could pull off the party girl look? Not many, I’d bet.
“I’m really not comfortable with this,” she protested.
“Neither am I. Those shoes don’t match, but it’s the best we can do. Here, take this.” I handed her a slip of paper.
“What is it?”
“A cashier’s check for five-thousand dollars.”
“What for?”
“Sexual services, of course.”
“What?!”
“Relax, Glinda. It’s just spending money. We’re gonna drop a small bundle at the tables, just like good little tourists.”
“I’m not exactly an expert at gambling.”
“Then you should be a natural at losing. When in doubt, go with what works.”
* * *
Christy and I stopped dead in our tracks the moment we entered the casino, and it had nothing to do with the spectacle that is Vegas.
“You sense it, too?” she asked.
“No, but I sure as hell smell it.”
I would’ve expected a variety of human scents to hit my nose, some more pleasant than others. I likewise wouldn’t have been surprised to find a few vampires amongst the crowd.
What I didn’t expect was the strange odor that hit my nose. Whatever the fuck it was, it wasn’t human. The closest my memory could come to placing it was a vague similarity to the otherworldly beings from up in the northern tip of Canada some months back. A peace conference had taken place there, one that would’ve caused the eyes of even the most seasoned UN negotiator to fall right out of their head. A near endless array of beings had gathered to witness what turned out to be a botched effort to avert a war.
But it wasn’t the same…whatever was here hadn’t been one of the parties present up north. The scent was pungent, but not too intense. It was definitely not my imagination, though. There were other creatures here, blended in amongst the mostly human crowd. The only question was, whose side were they on?
Christy’s arms instinctively went up in a defensive gesture, but I grabbed her before she could do anything and shook my head. Whatever the fuck was going on here, we did not want to make ourselves a part of it.
“What is this?” she asked.
I steadied my voice. “If I had to guess, I’d say this city was on the verge of being royally fucked.”
“Why here?”
At a temporary loss for words, I gave the best answer possible.
“Why not?”
Chapter 12
I am nothing if not resourceful. As the shock of the unanticipated non-human company wore off, my gears began spinning again.
Marlene had been in the game for about two-hundred and fifty years, having started out as a French courtesan. She’d never strayed far from her roots, but her power and influence on the West Coast were not to be denied. She’d established the Pandora Coven back in the nineteen-thirties and had kept it running strong ever since.
Even with my connections to the Draculas, I was going to have to do some fast talking if anything happened to her by my hand. I was fairly sure I’d be able to keep my ass out of the fire, but would almost certainly gain some enemies in the process.
But now...
Good, bad, or just plain bored, if there were beings from beyond the void gathering in this city, it meant just one thing: chaos. Accidents were bound to happen in such a state. I could work
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