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“Leave her be,” Mircea told him sharply.We do not need to look weak—or divided, he added mentally.And loudly enough that it resonated along the bond.

But Alphonse wasn’t playing along.“She almost barbequed half the guys here.I don’t think any of ’em are mistaking her for weak,” he said aloud and didn’t bother to lower his voice.

Do not provoke them, Mircea thought at him, hard enough to make me wince.

“I’m not provoking anybody, and you don’t command me,” Alphonse said.“Nobody does anymore, and if I wanna guard Cassie, I’m gonna guard Cassie.”

“Yeah, only I can’t see where I’m going,” I said before Mircea decided to do more than talk.

Master vamps didn’t take that kind of defiance from a subordinate, especially not one who belonged to a master of his own family line.In the absence of Tony, Alphonse was Mircea’s unless he’d been emancipated because Tony had been Mircea’s.Or at least, that was how it used to work.I had no idea what the protocol was now.

“You don’t need to see.You need to live,” Alphonse told me.“Which you’re damned well going to, or I’m gonna start ripping off some limbs.”

Great.

You are going to remember your place, Mircea told him, and Alphonse abruptly dropped back.

“Mircea—” I began, twisting my head to see what he’d done to poor Alphonse, but the tall-ass fey were in the way.

He’s all right,” Mircea assured me, “and will be along pres—

The communication cut out as quickly as a radio going silent as the bond flickered hard.

We exchanged a look because that could be inconvenient on our upcoming mission, like trying to discuss our crappy bond in the middle of a crowd of enemies.

“It will be all right,” Mircea told me softly.

Yeah.

Sure.

Okay.

“How are they shielding so many?”Enid asked from somewhere behind me, sounding awed.

“They aren’t.”Pritkin stuck a hand slightly out from his side, palm down, and frowned.“There are no wards here.”

“Don’t need ‘em,” Jonas said, catching sight of us as we surmounted the hill and striding over.

The old man who walked stoop-shouldered and frail was gone, and in his place was someone who exuded primal energy.He no longer had the wild mane of white hair, but if he had, it would have been crackling around his head to rival Zara’s.He did have the disconcertingly sharp eyes, however, which felt like they were boring a hole through me.

“Don’t,” Pritkin warned him, something his old boss completely ignored.

“Come to your senses, have you?”Jonas demanded.

I decided to ignore that because obviously not.

I was here, wasn’t I?

“What is the plan?”Mircea asked, attempting to change the direction of the conversation.To my surprise, it worked.

“You tell me.”The gimlet-eyed gaze skewered him and then me some more.“I know you have one.Spill it.We’re your allies, Cassie, whether you believe it or not,” he added before I could say anything.“Help us help you!”

I glanced at my two companions, but Pritkin was still frowning at the non-wards, and Mircea looked noncommittal.It was up to me.“I don’t need your help getting into Vegas,” I said evenly.“We’re using...another path...into the city.I need you to pull whoever Zeus has sent to guard Rhea off Dante’s.”

“Yes, he has her well-guarded,” the old man confirmed, turning back and leading us to the table where maps of Vegas were scattered around.“That’s why we don’t need wards,” he added.“The bastards know we’re here but haven’t come out.They’re clustered in the city, waiting for us to come to them, where they have the upper hand.And, no doubt, some very nasty shocks prepared.”

He glanced up at me.“You’re walking into a trap.”