Taking my hand in his, he leads me back through the lobby and outside to an empty alcove along the front of the hotel. At least here we’re not in the middle of a crowd, and with our avoidance glamours still up, no one will pay us any attention.
Satisfied with our position, he removes the cork and tips the vial to let the small roll of paper slide into his palm. Then he carefully unrolls it, revealing faded ink in penmanship that matches Moira’s in the letter and clue Finn received.
As Lugh dips low on LOVE’s cascade,
two reveal where secrets fade.
Past the veil of waters bright,
the sovereign sleeps devoid of light.
With the treasure will be three,
unlocked for thee with destiny’s key.
“It’s another clue.” Excitement thrums in my veins. I look up to gauge Finn’s reaction, but his mind appears to be a million miles away. Half a minute goes by and still nothing. “Finn, you okay?”
He blinks hard as though coming back to himself. “I’m good. Just wish she’d been a little less cryptic this time.”
“Well, whatever these lead to, it’s clear she didn’t want to make it easy for anyone to find. Any thoughts on what’s waiting for us at the end of this mysterious rainbow?”
Finn blows out a breath as he carefully puts the rolled-up parchment back in the tube and corks it. “In the first clue, I wasn’t sure what the last half of the third line meant, since it didn’t describe what we found.”
I nod in agreement. “A vial can be called multiple things, but ‘spire’ wouldn’t be one of them. And since this is our second clue, I’m guessing ‘two then three’ means we’ll have a third and final clue, and that’s how we find the spire. Whatever that is.”
“I was thinking about that, and it could be another word for spear.”
My eyes widen. “She’s leading you to the other half of the Spear of Assal. That’s why you’re the one who saves Faerie, because you make sure Edevane never gets his hands on it.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense. She hid that half in Faerie where neither Edevane nor I can go.”
“Are we positive that’s what she did? Maybe she fae-truthed her way into convincing Cormac that she’d already hidden it before the exile. That’s what I would do.”
“Holy shit, you’re right.” He rubs a hand back and forth over his head a few times, then laughs as though in disbelief of the revelation. “The spear is here. In Vegas.”
SEVENTEENFINNIAN
Life is weird. One minute you’re an expendable royal spending all your time training with your friends in the elite squad of warriors that act as security for the crown. Then the next, you’re on some kind of prophetic scavenger hunt to save faekind and possibly having hallucinatory visions. This was not on my bingo card for this year, that’s for damn sure.
We’ve been back at the penthouse for a couple of hours, trying to crack the next clue without much luck. The only part we figured out—or think we did—is the when and where based on the very beginning. As Lugh dips low on LOVE’s cascade…veil of waters…
The fact that ‘love’ is in all caps was notable. Adding that to the cascade and veil of water, she has to be referring to the giant art installation that spells LOVE backdropped by a waterfall inside the Venetian. Lugh is the sun god, and if he’s dipping low, it means the sun is setting. So, we need to be in the Venetian’s Waterfall Atrium at sunset.
Beyond that, we have no ideas.
“Ugh, I can’t think of what else to Google that could give us answers.” Taryn sets my laptop down on the couch cushion beside her and collapses back in defeat next to me. “I hate unsolved mysteries. I couldn’t even watch that show when it was popular. Who wants to know about fascinating phenomena that can’t be explained? It’s so anti-climactic.”
I stop scribbling thoughts in a notebook that by now looks like an ink war zone and shoot her a crooked grin. “Are you saying after all these dead-ends you’re in need of a good climax?”
She answers with a coy smile and climbs into my lap, straddling my thighs and resting her forearms on my shoulders. “Now that you mention it, I am full of a lot of pent-up frustration.”
Taryn presses a hard kiss to my lips. “Mmhmm,” I hum in agreement.
“And since we can’t do anything until tomorrow evening…” Kiss. “And we did such a good job solving the first clue today…” She kisses me again, nipping my lower lip at the end that makes me growl in anticipation and my cock harden beneath her round ass. “You could help me work out the frustration or we could go out and you can show me how you celebrate a job well done in this city.”
Tossing the pen and notebook in the general vicinity of my laptop, I grip the sides of her face and take control. I crush my mouth to hers and part her lips with my tongue. I delve inside and stroke her with the force of every deviant thought racing in my mind. A tiny mewl escapes her as she becomes pliant in my embrace.
“Why don’t we do both,” I say, my voice tight with the amount of restraint it’s taking to hold myself back. “Interested?”
She sounds breathy and seductive when she answers, “Very.”
“Then let’s go, solnyshko. Your fun awaits.”
It’s nearly midnight by the time we get to our destination, but that’s early by Vegas standards. I grab my large duffel bag and walk around the cab to open her door and offer my free hand to help her out. Usually I drive my Rover and use the VIP parking garage, but if this night goes the way I’m hoping, Taryn will be curled into my lap on the way home, sated and sleepy.
She joins me on the sidewalk and stares up at the neon sign that says Devil’s Door. Arching a dubious brow at me, she asks, “You brought me to a strip club?”
I can’t help but chuckle at the disappointment on her gorgeous face. “What kind of male do you take me for?” Placing a proprietary hand on her lower back, I dip my head to speak into her ear. “I brought you to a sex club.”
She barks out a surprised laugh. “Well, color me intrigued. I can’t wait to see what all the rage is about.”
“Before we go in, give me an idea of how you want this to go. Do you want to simply observe and see where the night leads as two consenting adults, or…”
“Or?”
“Or do you want this to be a scene? Meaning we’re exploring things in a D/s dynamic, though a more relaxed version, since we haven’t established anything formal. It’s a way of testing the waters, seeing what calls to you.”
She chews on her lip as she thinks. “So nothing extreme, no whips and chains or any of that?”
“Nothing like that,” I promise. “I’m very good at being tuned in to what a sub is and isn’t comfortable with. But if at any point you don’t want to do something or you’re uncomfortable, say ‘red’ and everything stops. Observe or play, it’s up to you.”
An impish grin spreads across her face. “I’ve never been one to sit on the sidelines. I’m down to play if you are.”
Tipping her chin up with my thumb and forefinger, I say, “When it comes to you, I’m down for everything and then some. Come on.”
She lets me tuck her into my side and lead her next door to a place called Hell’s Kitchen. The storefront is designed to look like a café in Italy, complete with painted backdrops in the display windows that don’t allow you to see inside. But once we step through the door, it turns into the Red-Light District in Amsterdam.
True to its facade, this used to be an empty restaurant that served as the secret entrance to Devil’s Dungeon. But when the Marceau werewolf pack took over ownership a few months ago as part of a deal Tiernan made for their help in capturing Edevane, they decided to turn the space into a store. It was a smart business move. With the proximity to the strip club next door—which they also run now—and the club members having to come through here, there’s no shortage of customers wanting shiny new toys.
Hell’s Kitchen strikes a good balance between the seediest of sex shops and the discreet upscale boutiques, surrounding customers with an air of hedonistic luxury. Dim lighting casts a seductive glow on polished wood floors and velvet displays. Glass cabinets present a myriad of toys in smooth silicone and polished metal, and a lingerie section near the back features mannequins adorned in decadent lace and leather corsets. The scent of exotic spices and vanilla lingers in the air, enhanced by soft, sultry music that creates an intimate ambiance.
“Nice sex shop, Verran. Still not a sex club, though,” she says, her eyes scanning the products.
We’re not using glamours to disguise ourselves since Marceau changed the business to others only, but she’s changed her eye color to match the golden color of the Darks to blend in. She’s no less stunning for it, and yet I already miss the soft lavender that’s uniquely hers in this realm.
“I know that, brat.” I pinch one of her ass cheeks, and when she gasps in indignation, I shrug. “For the rest of the night, if you make a smartass remark you get an ass that smarts. Consider that your warning,” I say with a wink. “The club is downstairs and the entrance is through the back. But first, go pick out something to wear. No street clothes allowed.”
She bites her lip and hesitates. “You’re not going to choose for me? I thought that’s what Doms do with their subs.”
