She sniffed. “What would be the point? I wanted my money, not his life.” She cocked her head. “And dead men don’t pay.”
Eep. I didn’t like the way she looked at me when she said dead. But it made sense. She didn’t have a motive for wanting to kill him if what she really wanted was her money.
Unfortunately, that didn’t get me any closer to figuring out who’d killed him. I bit my lip. What if Peter was wrong? What if it’d just been an accident after all?
Bora Kang leaned forward and laced her slender fingers together on the table. “Now you. Who’s cheating me?”
I pointed at sunglasses guy to my left. “He’s got cards up his pant leg.” I let out a woof. Now, Fifi!
I didn’t love being a snitch, but hey—a girl had to do what a girl had to do.
Sunglasses pushed back from the table, toppling his chair, and leapt to his feet. “This is preposterous!” He stumbled back a few steps toward the gold curtain.
The fluffy white dog trotted over, unnoticed by him, and gingerly pulled several cards out of his pants leg by her teeth.
The players at the table sucked in sharp breaths, and Bora Kang glowered. Sunglasses glanced down, realized what the dog had done, then paled. A half-second of pause followed, and then everyone reached for their wands. Everyone except me, who, of course, had no wand or magic.
I dove under the table just before the spells began flying. Green, blue, red flashes of light flew overhead. Oh snakes, this was bad! I cowered, hands over my head, as my chair, hit by a flash of gold, splintered and caught on fire. Oh snakes, oh snakes, oh snakes!
Fifi yapped and barked. Tell Rufio I’ll wait for him! And to meet me at our usual spot tomorrow night.
Yeah, sure thing, pup. If I made it out of here alive.
The men cursed and shouted their spells. Bora Kang shrieked out one of her own, and another table flew across the room and shattered against the wall. I’d started an all-out magical brawl. More beefy guys sprinted in from the casino floor, wands drawn.
I tensed on all fours, prepared to make a mad dash for the curtain, when I suddenly remembered that all Will’s money sat on the table. Even if I survived this shootout, I wouldn’t survive his wrath. I gulped. Or worse, his disappointment and silent treatment.
I nodded to myself, shook my hands and, with my adrenaline pumping, scooted out from under the table and rose on my knees to peek over the edge. Sunglasses, his arm grazed and bleeding, spotted me and pointed his wand at my face. I ducked, just in time, as his spell flew over my head and burned a hole in the worn carpet. That son of a beach!
High on anger and fear, I rose up one more time, snatched the leather pouch of merkles I’d brought from the clinic, and, just for good measure, picked up another heavy coin and chucked it at the overhead light. The only light.
Glass shattered and clinked to the table, and the room fell into absolute darkness. With no windows, the place became pitch-black except for the glow of the spells whizzing overhead and the sliver of light peeking under the heavy curtain to the casino floor. Muttering spells of protection (which were, of course, purely a placebo) I crawled on hands and feet toward that sliver of light.
I reached it, amazed I hadn’t been struck down by a spell or trampled on by one of the huge bouncers, and scrambled through. I lurched to my feet. It was chaos on the casino floor as everyone ran from the fight. I simply slid into the stampeding crowd and ran out into the night.
31
A THEORY
I lifted a brow. “You can stop petting it already.”
Will glanced up from his seat at the picnic table beside me. He straightened his spine and tucked the leather pouch of coins back into the pocket of his white lab coat. They dropped in with a clink and his pocket bulged. “I’m not petting it.”
He let a long arm hang by his side, then gave the pocket a pat.
“Snakes!” I punched his arm. “Stop touching it.”
He looked down his nose at me. “When I almost lose your life’s savings, you can tell me what to do.”
I rolled my eyes. “So dramatic.”
“You’re sure it’s all there?” He looked to his left and frowned down at the pouch. “Maybe I should count it again.”
I huffed and leaned closer, lowering my voice. “Do you see where we’re at?” I’d had him and Heidi meet me at a food pod around the corner from his clinic after I’d escaped from the gambling hall. More out of hunger than anything else.
We sat at a big community table, though my giant of a friend snarled at anyone who tried to sit near us. Steam rose from the food carts all around us, and the air generally smelled like a delicious medley of “fried.”
As I glanced around, I spotted Neo, Sacha, and Viktor threading through the crowd. I narrowed my eyes. I hadn’t seen them since our little trip through the sewers.
I gritted my teeth. I’d think about my issues with Ludolf later—first thing first. I had to help Peter solve this case and hopefully get him out of trouble with his bosses.
Will’s tacos and my stir-fry already rested on the checkered plastic tablecloth in front of us, but Heidi was still in line for her pho. Though the tables around us filled the air with the sounds of chatter and laughter and clinking cutlery, I kept my voice low. “You’re in the middle of the Darkmoon District. You really want to flaunt your pouch of money?” I flashed my eyes at him.
Will’s bushy brows lowered.
I looked him up and down. “You’re scary when you’re hoarding.”
“It’s not hoarding.” He glowered at me.
