Page 58 of Hers to Claim

Rio waited until the bodyguard was gone and then he gestured for Mari to get up. “You have a room here, Dante?” He had his phone out by the time she joined him.

“I borrowed Esmé’s penthouse for the night.”

Rio held the phone up to his ear. “Bellagio side?”

Dante nodded.

“We need a pickup. Penthouse. Fountain side.” The person on the other end responded, and Rio disconnected before picking up Mari’s hand and heading toward the exit of the bar.

“What’s going on?” Mari asked while looking around. “Don’t we have to pay?”

“It’s covered, sweetheart,” Dante answered as he walked behind her.

“We need to get you out of here now that we know that Vincent is here,” Rio said.

She struggled to keep up with him as he walked quickly out. More than anything she wished she’d worn more reasonable shoes. “He seemed much more interested in you than me.”

Looking around briefly, Rio stepped onto the escalator and then shook his head. “He wasn’t interested in anything but you. Causing me pain was just an amusement.”

She squeezed his hand to get his attention. “Was he talking about Tris?”

Rio swallowed. “Yeah. He was the last phoenix. They are only born every 500 years and it’s not anywhere near time yet.”

“So he’s not dead?”

Rio’s head swiveled, looking for threats as he led her across the casino floor. “I don’t know, Mari. Vincent certainly believed what he was saying.”

“Where are we going?”

“Good question.” He glanced toward Dante.

“Over there.” Dante pointed to an alcove with the words “Employees Only” painted across swinging doors.

Rio let Dante lead the way through the doors. Mari felt the tickle of strange magic over her skin as they stepped through. The dim area beyond was empty, and there was no way out.

Dante took a breath. “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” When Mari looked at him curiously, he shrugged. “Hyssop is a bigAlice in Wonderlandfan.”

On the wall behind Dante a portal shimmered into existence.

“I assume there’s a panic code too?” Rio asked.

Dante nodded. “That’s standard operating procedure.”

“Can I ask you to stay here and use it if anyone else steps through?”

“Absolutely.” He leaned to kiss Mari’s forehead. “Get her out of here.”

“What? No,” Mari started, but Rio cut off her protests by scooping her up into his arms and dashing through the portal. Hyssop’s magic tingled over her as they were moved between one place and the next, stealing her breath momentarily.

The portal shut behind them, not to be opened again unless Dante said the words downstairs. They were in a very fancy hotel suite with modern finishings and what was quite obviously mood lighting.

When Rio set her on her feet, she hit him in the shoulder. “That was a dick move.”

“I know. You’re right to be mad, but getting you safely out of here and back behind the wards at home is more important than anything else at the moment.”

“Explain,” Mari said, her tone gruff with annoyance.

“The only thing he cared about was getting his hands on you. He tried to play it off like it was about me, but it wasn’t.” He let out a slow and controlled breath. “And the idea that he might get you terrifies me.”

---