Chapter Twelve
Sherwood orderedhis wolf minions to bring us to the dingy sub-basement of the casino. I’d never been down there before, and it didn’t take long to deduce why.
The space was lit with harsh fluorescent lights that illuminated the blood spatter on the floor. The only furniture to speak of were god-awful smelling buckets and chains that lay on the stone ground. I shivered. This was nothing like the hotel and casino above. Sherwood wouldn’t even want employees to know about this place. It was where he brought those who displeased him, who backstabbed him.
A vampire’s torture chamber. Fabulous,I thought as wolves relieved us of our stacks of cash and shackled our feet to the wall with thick iron cuffs. Once we were immobile, many of the wolves left the room with the cash, but three remained.
The brawny assholes prowled before us in their wolf aspect, deterring us from shifting and trying to escape. As if that was even necessary. We were tied to a wall and an ancient, very powerful vampire was in the room. Should he want to, Sherwood could kill us all in seconds.
Who was I kidding?Of course,he wanted to kill us. We’d tried to rob him. It was only a matter of time before he busted out his fangs.
“Now that you’re settled in, let’s have a chat,” Sherwood paced in front of us. “I have to say, this was a well thought out plan, but clearly not foolproof. Irregular trails were left, and I’ve been around a long time. I’ve learned to pay close attention to the smallest of irregularities.”
His eyes snapped to me, and my stomach dropped. Trails? The only thing that had been left was the letter in his penthouse. Had he found it already? Had I blown my chance to incriminate him?
“How did you discover that we were here?” I blurted out.
A million questions ran through my mind, but one resonated as the most important because it concerned the Merry Men in the casino too. Had their distractions failed, and he’d already captured them as well? Were they in jail? Escaped? Could we hope for a rescue?
Sherwood chuckled. “That bimbo Anna will stop at nothing to rise in the ranks of the Oasis. She told Albus that she’d seen you in disguise. Something about your hair.”
My hand landed on the bobby pins, once again askew on the top of my head. My stomach sank. I’d gone to such great lengths to disguise myself, but of course Anna would zone in on the single aspect of my appearance that she’d always snubbed.
Sherwood arched an eyebrow. “I’ll admit, at first, I thought her claims far-fetched, but Albus vouched for her. He scented foxes in the halls. Not you, Marian, butanotherfox. That assurance was enough to make me return from the Diamond early. After all, two foxes are suspicious. We all know how rare your type is in Vegas.”
“Because of you,” I spat.
“Moi?” Sherwood placed a hand on his chest.
“Did I stutter?”
Sherwood’s eyes latched onto mine before he turned to the wolves. “Leave us. Wait outside the door.”
As they couldn’t speak in wolf form, one tilted his head to the side, like a confused dog.
“Do as I say,” the vampire commanded.
I blinked, not sure where this was going. Two weaponless fox-shifters and two bird-shifters weren’t a threat against an ancient vampire—even if we shifted. But still . . . why dismiss his guards?
The door slammed shut as the wolves left, and Sherwood turned to me. “I wondered what your motive was, Marian. Truth be told, you’ve always been such a pliant employee that it shocked me to hear you were attempting to rob the Oasis.” His gaze shifted to Robin. “Someone has been telling tales. Stories that were better left forgotten.”
I sneered. “How dare you kill my parents and then hire me to traipse around your hotel like you did nothing wrong? That’s low, even for a heartless bloodsucker.”
Sherwood held up a hand. “My dear Marian. Do you forget the state you were in when you arrived at my hotel five years ago? You positively blubbered through your interview.” He shook his head as if I were the most pitiable creature in the world.
That pissed me off so much that I began to tremble. My fox wanted out. She wanted to fight the vampire, to tear him to pieces. Of course, she’d never win against him, but she didn’t care.
“Of course, I recognized you that day,” Sherwood continued. “Who couldn’t? You look just like your mother, and in beauty, you are second to only one other fox.” His eyes flashed to Robin. Horror welled up in me. He had to have found the letter if he knew that Robin was the son of his ex-lover. What had I done? What would Sherwood do to Robin?
“It might have been a touch tasteless of me to hire you.” A sheepish expression crossed the vampire’s face. “But I’ve always had a soft spot for foxes. And you were so pathetic that I truly wanted to help you out. Think of it as my form of penance, if you will.”
“Penance my ass! You should be in jail!” I shouted.
“True, many times over.” My boss gripped his hands behind his back and paced in front of us.
None of us said a word. I wasn’t sure that I could; I was seething.
“Marian, Marian, Marian.” Sherwood stopped to stand in front of me. “I truly tried to take care of you. At the pleasure house, you would have fetched a high price. It would have been far superior to washing dirty sheets. I kept hoping you’d come around, that you’d see I only had your best interest at heart, but . . .” He shrugged. “I suppose this was one of those instances in which modernism holds women back, just as much as it helps them.”
