Page 13 of Hero & Villain
“Hey, are you okay?”
Wrong unexpected hero. Also, I had no intention of being one of the girls passed around on the strip. I gripped the straps of Toni’s backpack tighter and kept plodding towards the MGM.
Dirk Dagger wouldn’t notice that my eyes were a slightly different shade of blue than Toni’s had been, not with all the black and blue going on. Being here, feeling so incredibly lousy, like I was coming down with the flu on top of my self-inflicted bruising, I wasn’t so sure about my plan. I wasn’t sure about anything, though, like what day it was, or whether these buildings were real or just a mirage.
A big sign said, ‘Mirage,’ and I stopped for a second just staring before I shrugged and continued forward.
I kept walking, one slow step after another, past the big buildings. Everything was so new but already dead. No, not dead, undead. These zombie buildings came to life at night and ate people, spitting them out in the morning.
My head ached, and buzzing filled my ears. I shook my head and wished I had music to calm me down. I’d play Bach. Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach to be exact. But no. I had resigned myself to life without a cello for ages.
I finally got to the back of the MGM. I walked down the alley towards the side doors, past a guy leaning against the wall.
“Hey, baby!” He grabbed my arm and spun me towards him. He reeled drunkenly and pointed at my hair. “It’s pink!”
Ow. My whole arm was a bruise. I jerked away and glared at him. “Yeah. Real quick, Sherlock.” I tried to channel Toni’s ‘screw you’ voice, but my head pounded and I shuddered with cold in the deeper shade between buildings. Maybe I was sick. I hardly ever got sick. Would a hero want to rescue me from the flu? I could still remember the warmth of his hand cupping my face as he chased away my fears. Or maybe that was a throbbing bruise. Either way, he’d love taking care of the delicate female. I was so delicate.
The drunk leaned closer to me, so I got a good whiff of his breath. Wow. That probably wasn’t a hallucination. I winced and shook my head to see if I could dislodge his scent. Nope.
“I can deduce that you want to have a good time.” He winked very slowly.
His face swam in my vision. I should have kicked his balls and kneed his face, leaving him a bleeding pile on the sidewalk, but any physical contact would hurt me, and if I moved too fast, I might fall over. Also, I didn’t want to touch so much ew. I was supposed to be a damsel in distress, not the offal in this dress.
“Hey! What are you guys doing back here?” A bald guy built like a brick wall came down the back drive chewing his gum aggressively.
The drunk backed off. “Nothing, man. Later pink!” He ran back down the alley laughing like he was getting away with something. The guy couldn’t run in a straight line. Was he going to knock himself out when he tried to turn the corner? He hit his shoulder on the wall, spun around, but somehow kept to his feet as he staggered out of sight.
I shook my head and focused on the gum guy. I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to act like. Toni. I knew how Toni acted, but I felt so terrible. How did she act when she’d gotten beaten by a man? Like that would happen. She’d kill him with her bare hands.
“Hey, you with the pink hair! You got a reason to be here? State it or take off.”
I looked up at the bouncer, and his face softened.
“You came down this way to get away from that yak? Look. I’ll let you hang here for five before you’ve got to head out. They’re coming in soon, and we don’t want anyone to get run over.”
He turned and headed back to the garage doors.
I followed quickly. “Wait. They? Are you talking about Death-Hammer’s team?”
He crossed his arms and flexed his enormous biceps. “Yeah. They come in hot, particularly Dragon. Stay away from her wheels.”
“But that’s who I want to see.”
He frowned at me. “You want to see Trixie ‘Dragon’ O’Hara?” He gave me a different kind of look, like he was trying to put me with the other woman. Did I look butch? Maybe I wore too much leather, but the pink screamed Barbie.
“Not, um, Dragon. Nix. The leader. I want to talk to him about a job.” If I didn’t pass out first. What was wrong with me? I was supposed to appear delicate, not actually be five seconds from unconscious.
He frowned and then shook his head. “Sorry, hon, you’re too young for Nix’s team. He only takes the best and the most serious. I’d tell you to head over to Horse’s Band of Demons, but he doesn’t take chicks. Not unless you want to be eye candy. No offense, but you don’t have the right look.”
Seriously? I curled my lip just like Toni would have and let her rough Boston accent get stronger. “Wow. Thanks for that. I’m actually a makeup artist.” This was my excuse, but they’d only hire me if they felt guilty about Nitro’s death.
“Huh. Not really advertising your skills, are ya?”
I was supposed to look like a mess. My makeup was perfect for my performance. I really was going to hurt him if he wasn’t careful.
He glanced around and then took a few steps closer to me. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but you need some time to figure out what you’re doing before you approach Nix. You aren’t going to get anywhere in this town looking like a run-over rat. Appearances mean everything in Vegas.”
“I just walked from the bus stop after taking a three-day bus ride from Boston! You think I should look fresh? I’ll give you fresh!” I unslung my backpack and kicked his knee out.
