Page 21 of Flame and Fury

I nearly fall backward when Turtle opens his mouth and a deep bass voice comes out. “Follow me. Walk where I walk. Don't take any detours.”

I toss a look over my shoulder at Atlas with a raised brow, but his mask is back in place. I bet if Greer were here with me, this dude would give her a chuckle. I murmur a thanks to Sylvie as we leave, hoping I’m not thanking her for sending us off to be thrown in the Boar’s jail. I don’t doubt my ability to win in a fight, but that doesn’t mean I’m in the mood to have a showdown.

The back door of Hades Hideaway empties out into a small courtyard. There are pathways cut along the walls to allow people to walk through the snow. They must have to transport piles of snow out of Vegas on the regular, because it never stops. And in an enclosed space like this, there’s literally nowhere for it to go.

I’ve never thought about the logistics of it, but maybe they dump all the snow from the city into some kind of water reservoir for the desert areas around Las Vegas. Then again, that sounds like something that would benefit everyone in the area, so probably not. I bet the clerics ration out the water supplies and only give it to the highest bidders.

The overhang from the roof stretches far enough that anyone looking down from above won’t see us at first glance. Although, if the drones decide to fly into the courtyard, they’re going to spot us right away. Thankfully, we don’t stay outside very long. Just long enough for the wet fuzzy wool of my coat to freeze into hard spikes.

Turtle leads us into another building, using the same knock on a paint-chipped steel door. An older guy with a crown of gray hair around a bald spot opens the door and ushers us inside. Turtle does some secret handshake bullshit with him and then keeps walking until we reach a storage room of another bar. Boxes of empty bottles are stacked up along the wall with some kegs. Turtle weaves through the room until we reach another door on the opposite side.

This door takes us back outside, but we’re in an alley this time instead of a courtyard. We do this same song and dance for a good ten minutes, knocking on doors before being let inside. I keep my eyes on the sky every time we’re back outside, but so far, I haven’t seen any of the drones.

The buildings get progressively nicer the longer we walk. We’re heading back down to the center of the strip. At first, we were just walking through bars, but the last few places have been bigger, and the dull chime of bells tells me we’ve made it to the casinos.

Turtle doesn’t knock on the door this time. Instead, he pulls out a key and unlocks it, waving Atlas and me inside after he tugs it open. We walk into a hallway that smells faintly of cigarettes and a weird air freshener scent that makes my nose itch. Turtle doesn’t say anything to us as we make our way down a dimly lit hallway. Dark maroon carpet with a diamond and fleur-de-lis pattern covers the floors. I hear the same bells and dinging sounds from the front of the building, but we're obviously somewhere off-limits to customers. Although, I haven’t seen any staff around here either.

Turtle leads us to a bank of elevators. They aren’t the deluxe kind but the industrial, back-of-the-house type. Heaven forbid paying guests have the illusion ruined and see how things get cleaned or that there’s labor involved in running a hotel and casino.

The elevator doors slide open with a soft ding, and we file into the large car. Turtle presses a button for the lower level. I didn’t know they had lower levels in Vegas.

The doors retract and reveal a floor just as extravagant as the level above. Except where everything is maroon upstairs, down here the carpets are beige. They have the same diamond and fleur-de-lis pattern, but it’s less plush. The walls are painted an off-white that matches the carpet.

I keep expecting Turtle to lead us to an office or a meeting room, but he marches us down another hallway identical to the last. It would be easy to get turned around.That’s probably the point.

It’s much warmer inside, even in this basement level. I’m tempted to take off my coat, but for all I know, we’ll be outside again in another minute. Or we could be heading into an ambush.

We stop in front of another set of elevators. Turtle still has his hood up, but he’s unzipped his coat. I wouldn’t call him relaxed, but he doesn’t appear worried that Atlas and I might jump him either. Once inside the elevator, he pushes the button for the thirty-third floor.

At this rate, I’m going to need a snack. Those peanuts didn’t cut it and I’m about done being led on a wild goose chase.

There’s a soft ding when we reach the thirty-third floor, but the doors don’t open. Great. If we’re stuck in here, someone better have some food stuffed in their pockets.

Turtle has his keys back out and inserts one into a little keyhole on the elevator panel. A tiny green light flickers on and the doors open. Lucky for Turtle.

Once again, we’re walking down another hallway. This one has doors on either side, spaced out every fifteen feet or so. They don’t have any room numbers or identifiers on them, like a typical hotel. Turtle must be counting because there’s nothing to differentiate one door from the next.

Atlas and I walk shoulder to shoulder, his hand occasionally brushing the back of mine. On purpose? When Turtle stops, I hold back my sigh and say a prayer of thanks to Hades that we’re finally here. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if Turtle had us shimmy out a window and climb up to the rooftop next.

I get it. This Boar guy is like a national treasure to the people of Las Vegas. He doesn’t want to be found, and Atlas and I both have drones following us that had to be ditched. Besides, the Boar is doing us a favor by agreeing to see us. At the same time, we could’ve met him anywhere, since it sure seems like he’s waiting for us.

The door opens, but Turtle’s puffy coat blocks my view. I can’t see who’s on the other side. A low rumble of a voice comes from within the room, but it’s too quiet for me to catch their words.

Turtle turns, stepping to the side of the door. “You can go in. I’ll be waiting out here.”

I guess he's going to be the lookout.

I take a step forward, but Atlas throws an arm out and shoves me behind him.

What now?

CHAPTER13

WREN

“What the hell?” I hiss at Atlas under my breath.

“Do you always walk into a room without taking two seconds to see what’s waiting for you inside?” Atlas throws me an exasperated look over his shoulder.

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