Please, let this work.
At last, my back meets the water with a splash, and I feel Ethan’s body on top of mine, but his weight doesn’t push me down into the pond. Instead, warm, silken darkness surrounds us, and we float weightless in it. I can’t believe it. It’s working. I’m moon shifting us. I wrap my arms around Ethan’s waist and hold on as though my life depends onit. The silence around us turns into the sharp howl of wind, and we’re propelled through the abyss.
Air rushes out of my lungs as I’m plunged into the water, much too deep to be the pond in the wilds of Northern California. I thrash around for a second before I realize it really worked. I moon shifted us to Las Vegas.
I’m not quite surewherein Vegas, though. I just aimed for a body of water in Sin City with the moon reflected on it. I guess I’ll see. I kick my legs toward the light above my head and break through the surface, gasping for air.
Well, I’ll be damned. I brought us straight into the Fountains of Bellagio. The luxury hotel and casino’s fountain show is one of the most spectacular sights in Las Vegas. More than a thousand water fountains line the 8.5-acre man-made lake, and the water shoots up as high as 460 feet in the air, dancing in time to music and light. There is no magic in the human world, but the Fountains of Bellagio have always seemed a little magical to me.
I might’ve accidentally orchestrated the coolest moon shift in the history of high magic. But it also means we don’t have much time. Bellagio’s highly trained security team will soon descend upon us for swimming where we shouldn’t be.
“Come on, Ethan. We have to get out of here.” But I don’t see him anywhere. “Ethan?”
Oh, gods. Did I lose him in the abyss? I whip around in a circle in the water, scanning the lake.
“Ethan.” His name rips out of me. “Ethan!”
Before the scream building inside me breaks free, he bursts out of the water a few yards from me. His head spins left and right until he spots me, and relief spreads across his face. I can’t help it. I smile like a dork.
I tread water, still smiling, as he swims toward me. He grabs my face between his hands, and I stop breathing. Then I resume breathing ... really loudly. I’m positively panting as anticipation courses throughme. Ethan lowers his head, holding my gaze. I know what’s about to happen, but I’m not even tempted to turn my head. My lips part of their own volition, and my eyes start to slide shut. But the shrill blow of a whistle jerks me out of my daze.
“Shit.” I push him away before I can grab him to cross out thealmostfrom that almost kiss. “We have to get out of here.”
Not waiting for him to respond, I swim across the lake toward the side farthest from the Bellagio security guards running toward us. Ethan thankfully is right beside me. Glancing around, I adjust my course to head toward the roped fence surrounding a small portion of the lake.
My lungs burn in protest, but I don’t slow down until I reach the edge of the water. I heave myself out on trembling arms and climb over the ropes with the grace of a panda bear, the innate elegance of my fox eluding me in my exhaustion.
As soon as our feet touch dry land, the fountains blast to life as though we timed it. I release a tiny huff of relief. The towering streams of water will hide us from the guards’ view and give us enough time to get away. More importantly, the suhoshin won’t be able to moon shift after us because the dancing water dispels even a hint of the moon’s reflection. It’s a short reprieve but a reprieve nonetheless.
Ethan’s jaw drops. “Did we just take a dip in the Fountains of Bellagio?”
“Yup. Come on. We’ll catch the show later.” I grab his hand and race toward the crowd of tourists clogging the Strip. “We have to get somewhere safe.”
Bysafe, I mean where there is a shit ton of humans around. Maybe—oh, I don’t know—someplace like a casino? I wonder if Vegas has any of those. As I halt my loopy thoughts, I remember I didn’t get to finish my steak. An adrenaline rush coupled with blood loss isn’t a good combination for mental clarity.
I need to focus on getting us to safety. Nothing confounds magic more than the humans’ disbelief of it. And there is no one as hardheaded and cynical as my favorite bartender, Ford. So it’s decided. I’mgoing in to work. I might even put on my sexy leprechaun dress for old time’s sake.Yeah, hard pass.
We fight our way through the Strip, weaving in and out of the throng. I worry Ethan and I’ll get separated in our headlong rush. He must have the same concern, because he has an iron grip on my hand. I wince when a man passes by too close, jostling my still-tender shoulder. He shoots me a dirty look, like I’m the one who rammed into him. But he pales and raises his hands when Ethan cuts him a lethal glare.
“Let’s go.” I tug on his hand, and he follows reluctantly.
“Asshole,” he mutters under his breath. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” My insides turn mushy at his concern, so I shoot him a moody scowl. “Tamp down on the testosterone, eh, big guy? The point is toavoidattention.”
“Sure. No problem.” His voice is as dry as the Mojave Desert. I flinch like an idiot when he reaches for my face. His hand pauses for the briefest second. Then he arches an eyebrow and picks up a strand of my dripping hair. He drops it almost right away, but not before his knuckles brush my cheek. “Because we’re not noticeable at all.”
“We aren’t.” Fighting back a blush, I try to free my hand from his grip, but Ethan holds on tight.Fine. Whatever.I press my lips together to stop them from curving into a smile. Why do I want to smile, anyway?
But I’m right. People don’t give us more than a cursory glance as we move past them, sopping wet. They probably think we did something idiotic, like jump into a hotel pool with all our clothes on. Just for kicks, you know. In our case, we had good reason to jump into the Fountains of Bellagio fully dressed. But for everyone else, there’s a reason why what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
“Where are we going?” Ethan asks after a few blocks.
“My work.” I pretend to look at my nonexistent watch. “I think I still might make my shift. I wouldn’t want to mess up my perfect attendance over a silly evil mudang.”
Ethan gives me a bland look that makes me feel like an immature ass. I heave a sigh.
“Present company excluded, the vast majority of humans don’t believe in magic.” My side-eye makes it clear I think he’s weird. “Magic and disbelief don’t mix. When all these people stomp over my trail with their skepticism and mundane logic, they’ll scatter the magic enough to make it hard to track.”
