Courts and Cabals 2 by G.S. D'Moore (warren buffett book recommendations TXT) 📗

her new troll stood there, blocking any light that tried to leave the room with his sheer mass.

He stepped aside, and she entered a space that looked more like NASA mission control than a resort suite. Humans and changelings on laptop’s and tablets moved between the rooms with efficiency. The doors between rooms had been thrown open to ensure as much space was available as possible. Cameras with telescopic lenses covered by camouflage and magical wards lined the windows, along with directional microphones and other technological doodads she knew nothing about.

“I’ve got cameras twenty thru twenty-three coming online,” announced a man with a pronounced South African accent. He had a rough look about him that would have screamed soldier if not for the man bun, thousand-dollar sunglasses he continued to wear inside, and a “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” t-shirt he picked up in the giftshop.

“Throw them to me, and configure them with the algorithm,” Saffron stated. The dryad was strutting around the room like she owned the place in a skimpy little outfit that was doing its best to create a wardrobe malfunction. Even from here, Aveena could smell the pheromones the Fae was putting out to the South African man. If they were ever left alone, Aveena was going to see a huge bill for room damages.

Saffron was in the process of throwing the man a grin, and licking her lips, when she spotted Aveena. “Ma’am,” she blushed a little, but not enough to show she was really embarrassed by her behavior. It was just enough to acknowledge that she’d been caught and her extracurricular pursuits wouldn’t fuck with the mission.

Aveena might know Saffron, but if she screwed this up, Aveena would have her head, and the head of everyone who failed her. “And then mom will take mine.” It was a cruel circle of death she was working with.

Aveena watched a man in the next room disassemble, clean, and reassemble a deadly looking assault rifle. That they were ready for imminent violence reassured her. “Give me an update,” she stood her ground in the center of the room and made everyone come to her.

“We’ve got all the entrances and exits of Caesars, the Bellagio, and the MGM Grand covered. The cabal has an interest in just about every place on the strip, except here and the Nugget, but we’re pretty sure the target is at Caesars.”

The Flamingo had tried their best to stay out of the cabal’s business for decades, and the Golden Nugget was the only foothold real organized crime had in the city. They’d been backed into a corner by the cabal since they set the foundation, but there was a détente in place. As long as no one fucked with the other’s business; it was all live and let live.

“We’ll run facial recognition on everyone in and out of those resorts. We’ve got a backdoor to the LVPD systems and will be able to piggyback on them to the federal servers as long as no one looks too closely at the data usage,” Saffron grinned. “I’ve also got cameras up in the places the cabal actually runs people in and out of. They’ve got a couple secret entrances; all very cloak and dagger, but I’ve been around the block a time or two. You wouldn’t believe what a man will do for a quickie,” she shot a saucy look over her shoulder at the South African mercenary. “I’ve also got eyes on a few of the safehouses, and have tagged the imps I know who work courier duty to see if they’ll lead me to anything interesting.”

The dryad was practically salivating over all the power at her fingertips, and that was fine, as long as she didn’t lose sight of the mission.

“What are our chances?” Aveena asked the only question that really mattered.

“If the target comes out of one of these exits, we’ll spot him. We’ve got pictures loaded and I have a high confidence we can identify and track,” the South African obviously made the pitch his client wanted to hear.

“Fifty-fifty,” Anna Seatwig gave a no-nonsense reply. The selkie was sitting on the bed just staring at the ceiling. After a few days in the desert, she was getting restless. She’d been able to arrange a few photo-ops and interviews in the city to explain her reason for being here, but being so far from the sea was clearly grating on her.

Saffron shot her a glare, the two Fae clearly didn’t get along, but they knew to put their shit aside when the boss was here. The dryad nodded her agreement. “From what I’ve heard, the target took a Fae’s gifts.”

“That’s not exactly how it happened,” Aveena thought, but if it got her people to take the issue seriously, then she was fine with them spreading that rumor.

“The thing is,” Saffron looked down at the floor and shifted her feet guiltily. “The Usurper lives at Caesars. If the target is able to learn our secrets from him . . .” she let the rest trail off.

Aveena tried not to let her anger show. It wouldn’t help her accomplish the mission if she snatched the tablet off a passing human and smashed it over his head; thereby cracking several of his cervical vertebrae. That would just be a waste. Still, her glamour rippled as rage coursed through her. “It would have been nice if someone told me WHO THE FUCK I WAS GOING UP AGAINST,” she seethed, but got it under control.

“We won’t be able to catch him on camera,” Aveena came to the same conclusion as the dryad, and fifty-fifty were not good enough odds to bet her life on. “See if we can get some of the cameras to recognize a Fae glamour.”

She knew it was possible. Human mages had created runes at the immigration checkpoints around the permanent portals. It