Agent Dark- Vegas Read online

  “The De Bello Estate sounds classy. I like that name better,” Kat said.

  Dexter raised an eyebrow. “You preferring the classy description? Your reports don’t suggest that to be the case.”

  “Whatever,” Kat replied. “So when do we leave for the De Bello Estate to meet up with Chucky the supernatural snitch?”

  “Tomorrow you fly to Minneapolis, and then you’ll have a couple hours’ drive to the estate. You might be there a day or two, depending on how the trial is going. Once we have word that it is getting close for Chuck to be on the witness stand, you’ll drive to Vegas. You’ll be coordinating with Henry, who will be monitoring the drive with a drone and through traffic cameras along the route he gives you.”

  “Wow, this is quite the mission.”

  “This court is a big deal. It has huge ramifications here and on Unreha. If you’re lucky, it will be smooth sailing, but with things this big, it is hard to keep secrets. And as you already know, the MBI is not great at secrecy. It is still a government agency, which means it has leaks.”

  Kat nodded. She knew what he meant. She’d already encountered a scenario where one of the director’s computer files had been hacked into. “Plan for the worst, hope for the best.”

  “Exactly. You are flying on an MBI private jet tomorrow. Trying to get all your weapons and Vesper’s potions on a commercial flight isn’t worth the hassle, so take extra rounds.”

  “This is sounding less and less like a vacation the more details you give me.”

  Dexter grinned. “Like you’d have it any other way. Don’t worry, you should have plenty of time for fun once you get to Vegas. Besides, a little training time with Daemon will do you good. He may have been taught by a group of zealots, but he knows his magic.”

  “And his fashion. Who ever would’ve thought a man raised by monks would turn into a hipster?”

  Dexter laughed. “I have to go. I’ll see you in Vegas.”

  Kat frowned. She hadn’t even finished her burger yet. She’d been so curious about the De Bellos that she hadn’t eaten fast enough. She tentatively grabbed a fry and bit into it. Yuck. How could something that tasted so good hot taste like ass once it got cold?

  The waitress returned to the table. “How you doing here? All done?”

  Kat shook her head. “My friend distracted me with work talk and now my fries are cold.”

  “Oh, that is not good. Cold fries are the worst.”

  “Right? I am still pretty hungry, though. So I’ll get another burger and fries, same as last time.”

  The waitress took her plate of unfinished fries. “Sure thing. Would you like some more coffee too?”

  “Yes, please.”

  As the waitress left to order her second burger, Kat texted Vesper. Ready for a road trip?

  Hell yes! VEGAS, BABY!!

  Kat laughed. Vesper’s reply left little room for interpretation. Despite the danger involved, she was ready and willing to go.

  I’m at the shop getting organized. We’ll talk tonight. Sorry about this morning. That was so awkward.

  It was so awkward. I hope the sex was worth it! Kat texted back.

  When her second plate of food was delivered, Kat attacked it. This time she made sure to eat her fries first. She bit into the first hot and crispy fry and smiled. Balance in the food universe had been restored.

  After devouring her food, Kat decided she needed to make a stop before going home to pack for the trip. She jumped in the Dodge Demon and weaved her way through traffic until she arrived at her destination: Gerald’s Guns and G-strings.

  “Agent Dark,” said Gerald as she entered the shop. “So lovely to see you again.”

  He opened his arms to give her a hug. “Here for more accessories? I have a new leather motorcycle jacket that is perfect for you.”

  Kat returned the hug and gave Gerald a kiss on the cheek. “I’m afraid I won’t be needing any motorcycle accessories anytime soon. The Ducati is dead. Long live the Ducati.”

  “The king is dead. Love live the king,” Gerald replied. “So what replaced it? Surely you’re not driving anything so droll as a Suburban like every other federal agent.”

  Kat grinned. “Do I look like the droll kind of girl to you? That is the new king outside.”

  Gerald went to the window and looked out to see the Dodge Demon. He gave a whistle. “That is definitely the car for you. But you need to accessorize better. You should have entire outfits designed to match that car. It is gorgeous. I would start with matching lipstick.”

  Kat laughed. She wondered if Gerald had watched Gone in Sixty Seconds. “Yes, that is a great idea. But accessorizing for the Demon is not why I’m here. I have to stock up on ammo for a little road trip.”

  Gerald frowned. “Let me guess... Vegas?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Let’s just say that there is a lot of chatter going on among the wrong crowds that something big is going on in Vegas these days.”

  “That’s not good.”

  Gerald shrugged. “Anything big is hard to keep under wraps, especially when you have a delegation from Unreha in town. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the International Magical Courts are holding a trial. It is a rare occurrence, to say the least. The Unreha council tend to deal with their own issues. To have them participating means someone has been very naughty.”

  “I don’t have many details. It seems you probably know more than I do,” Kat said.

  “Perhaps. But even what little I know isn’t going to help you. But I can certainly make sure you’re well-armed. Although if you end up fighting creatures of Unreha, guns won’t help as much as your magical abilities. But since this court is being held in Vegas, one can assume that you’ll be dealing with criminals from both Unreha and Earth.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking you need lots of ammo. And more firepower. I’m thinking a tactical assault shotgun with special rounds. Since you’re already adept with your wards, we don’t have to worry about Kevlar. And if you’re going to be in populated areas, we’ll want minimal scatter, and nothing that goes boom.”

  Kat’s eyes went big. “How much boom are we talking?”

  “I have weapons for every scenario, so I can make a lot of boom. But I only sell the good stuff to federal agents, and it isn’t cheap, so that is only for special scenarios. No, I think a shotgun with anti-magic rounds is exactly what you need.”

  “Anti-magic rounds? Are you saying there are bullets out there that will go through my wards?”

  “Possibly. But even good anti-magic weapons don’t work against strong magic. If you throw up a lazy ward, you might be in trouble, but anti-magic rounds aren’t cheap, and they are hard to get. Most criminal types don’t have access to them. We keep a tight inventory on them.”

  “Good to know. OK. Aside from anti-magic rounds, what should I be using?”

  Gerald took Kat into the back room, where he kept all the good stuff. He opened a box of shotgun shells. “These are for your normal paranormals. The vampires, werewolves, and most shifters for that matter. They are a combination of wood, iron, and silver. They’ll slow down even the most powerful troublemakers.”

  “Wood and silver? Like wooden stakes and silver daggers. I would’ve thought modern science would have something more effective.”

  “This is modern science. These rounds are highly effective. There’s a reason we still use wood and silver. They are effective. Wood and silver are like poison to most paranormals. They slow the healing process. And when you take one of these bullets, you get little pieces of silver and wood stuck in the wound.”

  “Sounds lovely.”

  Gerald shrugged. “There’s nothing nice about killing. But you do what you have to and move on. The key is minimizing collateral damage. The bad guys often don’t care who gets hurt, so it’s up to you to make sure civilians don’t get hurt, and that means putting the bad guys down as fast and as efficiently as possible. I’m n
ot recommending that you get into a shooting match every time you encounter a bad guy, but when you do need to shoot, make it count.”

  Kat nodded. What Gerald was saying resonated with her. She’d already killed several humans, but each time they’d been gang members trying to kill her. Killing demons didn’t bother her, but humans and paranormals were a different story. Perhaps she’d have to get over her qualms about her ice-web magic. The magic might be gross, but it was damn effective at stopping bad guys without harming them. But to use it more often, she needed better control of the magic—something she’d work on. Dexter’s recommendation to work with Daemon couldn’t have come at a better time. “Thanks for the chat, Gerald. What do I owe for the gun and ammo?”

  “I charge the MBI directly, so we are good. Just fill out the acquisitions form on your MBI app and tag Dexter. He’ll make sure it gets approved.”

  “That’s easy enough.”

  “Yes. MBI Boston has been lucky to have Henry and Judah. They’ve streamlined things to reduce the amount of paperwork you do. You should’ve been here the first few years of the MBI. The paperwork was a monstrosity.”

  “I’m surprised how much leeway Henry and Judah have to implement those kinds of changes. I thought bureaucracies moved slow.”

  “They used to. Even a newer agency like the MBI moved slow, but after the Ruton Affair, or the Ruton Incident as some call it, things started changing faster. The agency realized it needed to put more power in the hands of its agents. That and they needed better international communications between agencies. We learned the hard way that when paranormals become terrorists, they can be very effective.”

  “I never realized how bad things were. I mean, sure, everyone knows that a world war was narrowly avoided and that thousands were killed, but the more I hear about it, the more I realize we really were on the brink.”

  “A vampire apocalypse was literally days away from happening. Millions would’ve died if not for the MBI and agents like Dexter and Jared Butler. There were plenty of others who were involved, but those two took the battle to the vampire leadership. After that, the MBI got a lot of new funding and restructuring. While Dexter refuses to take a leadership role in the MBI, his word carries a lot of weight, and he’s still the best recruiter the MBI has ever seen.”

  “I hear he does more than just work for the MBI,” Kat said. She wanted to learn more about Safe Haven, but didn’t want to volunteer that part of her mission was to go there. The less people that knew about her mission, the better.

  “Yes. Dexter does much more for the paranormal community than just work with the MBI. I like to think of him as half cop, half social worker.”

  Kat smiled. She could see Dexter in that role, and it seemed a good description. “I like that.”

  “Don’t tell Dexter I said that. He doesn’t like sharing that side of his life. He likes his clients to have privacy, so he’s very secretive when it comes to that part of his world.”

  “I won’t say anything, but it does give me a better idea of the character of the man who’s basically my boss. I mean, sure, the MBI is technically my boss, but if it weren’t for Dexter, I would’ve quit already.”

  “You’re not the only one.”

  A door chimed from the front room. “It seems I have a customer. It was good talking to you, Kat. Come visit another time, and I’ll share more gossip with you,” Gerald said with a wink. He then pulled a case down from a shelf. “Your shotgun and ammo will fit in here. This case has a magical biometric scan. Put your thumb on the sensor and give it a tap of magic to open it. Can’t have these weapons being easy to steal.”

  Kat gathered her new shotgun and boxes of ammo and put them in the special carrying case. Now she was ready for anything.

  9

  Vesper

  “Are you sure?” Vesper asked. After learning that she’d be leaving town, Vesper had been worried about leaving the shop in Aldo’s hands. But it had turned out that Meg Anne was an old acquaintance of Dexter’s, and he’d asked her to help out. It seemed Meg Anne had once run her own apothecary, but was now too busy doing other things to be bothered running her own shop.

  “Like I said, it isn’t a problem. Dexter and I go way back. He helped a shifter friend of mine, so I’m happy to do him and you a favor. Besides, I have no problems spending more time with your sexy assistant. And to be honest, I sometimes miss running my own shop. It’ll be fun to make a potion or two for old times’ sake. These days I mostly buy the basic ones. Especially with you around. Your potions are too good for me to waste my time trying to make myself.”

  “Thanks, Meg Anne, I appreciate it.”

  “Ain’t no thang. How’d your night with Hector go?” Meg Anne asked with a wink.

  Vesper sighed. “It was intense. I’ve never had that kind of physical attraction to a supernatural before.”

  Meg Anne grinned. “Werewolves are primal beings, and I could tell you bring out the animal in him. I’ll bet you didn’t get much sleep.”

  Vesper blushed. “No, there wasn’t much sleep. But I did have the most awkward morning ever.”

  “Oh no. What happened?”

  “Well, I thought I’d have the house to myself, but my roommate Kat, who never is up early on weekends, was awake and happened to invite a mutual friend over.”

  Meg Anne laughed. “Let me guess, this mutual friend was an ex?”

  “Not an ex, but a super nice guy, and there might’ve been a lot of flirting before.”

  “Of course. And I’ll bet you weren’t able to sneak Hector out without anybody noticing.”

  Vesper sighed. “His phone was in the living room. And he waltzed in to grab it, so they definitely noticed.”

  “Meh, whatever. Just because you flirt with a guy doesn’t mean anything. You’re a grown woman, there’s no shame in taking home Hottie McHotpants.”

  “I’m not ashamed, it was just awkward. And to make matters worse, the nice guy might be moving to Boston.”

  “Ah. You’re conflicted.”

  Vesper sighed. “Yes. Hector is like this sex god, but he’s a bit of a player, and he’s a werewolf, which comes with its own set of issues. While Judah is sweet, nice, funny, loyal... actual boyfriend material.”

  “Has he made a move?”

  “Like I said, lots of flirting, but we were both so busy at the academy that we never went there, and then I got the boot and moved to Boston. So it felt like a missed opportunity. We’ve kept in touch, casually.”

  “Interesting. But I think you’re over-analyzing things.”

  “I am?”

  “Yes,” Meg Anne said. “Nice guy might be boyfriend material, but if he lives somewhere else, he can’t expect you to be sitting around waiting for him. In the meantime, you happened to meet Hector, sex god of the wolves. Don’t stress out about the nice guy. If he does move to Boston and grows a pair of stones, he’ll make a move. Sometimes those nice guys will surprise you. In the meantime, enjoy yourself with the bad boy.”

  “I guess. At least I’ll have a few days out of town to sort out my thoughts before I have to deal with either of them. This trip couldn’t have come at a better time.”

  “Wimp,” Meg Anne said.

  Vesper shrugged. “I prefer the term drama adverse.”

  “Ha.”

  “OK, enough about me. Tell me about the rest of your night?”

  Meg Anne grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Are you sure you want to know? It might be a little too scandalous for you.”

  “Oh, I think I can handle it. After watching you and Raye grinding up on him all night, I can only imagine how the rest of the night went down.”

  Meg Anne laughed. “What can I say, Aldo has moves. And I don’t just mean on the dance floor. You weren’t the only one who didn’t get any sleep.”

  “And Raye?”

  “You won’t hear any complaints from her, either.”

  Interesting, thought Vesper. It seemed Aldo was quite the ladies’ man after all if he
kept two witches happy all night. That, or Meg Anne was pulling her leg. Vesper wasn’t sure what to think. The two witches were a bundle of fun regardless of what they did with Aldo. And the fact that Meg Anne was going to help watch the shop while she was away was perfect. She’d fill the basic potions while Aldo dealt with customers. She trusted Aldo, but as good as he was at renos, dancing, and god knows what he did to make Meg Anne grin so much, he was still shit at potion making. Having a proper witch there while she was gone was a relief. “OK, you have everything you need?”

  “You’ve already shown me how to use your computer, and I know my way around a cauldron. Anything else I can ask Aldo about, and you’re not leaving the country, so if I run into any problems, I’ll just call you.”

  “Did I tell you you’re the best?”

  “Not nearly enough,” Meg Anne said with a grin. “Now get out of here so I can sexually harass your employee.”

  10

  Kat

  After three hours of flying, Kat was ready to stretch her legs. The nice thing was that they’d been flying on a private MBI jet, and didn’t have to suffer coach seats. Being able to stretch out and have a nap had been wonderful.

  They were barely out of the jet when a black Suburban pulled up. Out of the passenger side stepped Daemon, the gorgeous black elven-blood MBI agent who bore a striking resemblance to a certain rock star.

  “Ladies. It’s good to see you,” Daemon said.

  An equally attractive woman stepped out of the driver’s side and came over. Kat wondered if everyone Dexter recruited looked like a model. She’d have to get to know more of his friends if they were all so damn hot.

  Kat hugged Daemon. “It’s good to see you too! How’s New York?”

  “Tame compared to what you’ve got going on in Boston. Dexter updated me on all the goings on as of late.”