Page 8

As I did, we passed the last of the marble columns.

I blinked at two more security guards in black uniforms and red armbands, standing on either side of twelve-foot, gold-plated double doors.

Bowing to us unsmilingly, the guards grasped thick, dragon-shaped handles on either side. They opened the doors in tandem, like the move had been choreographed.

The explosion of sound shocked me.

The inside of the casino was loud, nothing like the quiet of the poolside area or the marble decks covered with palm trees, statuary, and fountains.

It shattered the relative quiet of my mind.

Revik didn’t slow his steps.

We entered the casino’s lobby and walked past a twenty-foot-tall lucky cat statue surrounded by pink and white orchids, virtual flamingos and pandas, and a coin-filled reflecting pool. More virtual images floated overhead: pink and white clouds covered much of the upper ceiling, which had to be eight stories above.

I fought to get my equilibrium back as we ventured deeper.

Leaning into Revik slightly as we walked, I tilted my face up, taking in the dramatic height of the glass atrium and its curved dome stretching easily a hundred feet. Blooming cherry trees lined the promenade inside, on either side of plush red carpets. Tropical birds winged through the indoor area and perched on branches, mostly parrots and macaws, but I also spotted love birds, cockatiels, peacocks, at least one bird of paradise.

Waterfalls and rock gardens softened the sounds of the slot machines and drunken guests. Pagodas sat on islands in man-made ponds, decorated with velvet benches and visited by cocktail servers. Steeply curved bridges looped decoratively over a number of indoor streams. Koi flashed in streams, giving me a brief pang for the House on the Hill hotel in New York.

When I gazed up to other floors, I saw hints of different motifs.

The floor directly above us had some kind of French or European theme.

I saw a replica of the Eiffel Tower and holograms of balloons floating between balconies. The floor above that one, a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge spanned the width of the room, complete with holographic whales. The floor above that had a floating image of the Taj Mahal, and the one above that had a snowy peak that looked like Mount Everest.

It looked more like an amusement park than a casino.

On a lawn we passed, a real gold, black, and red hot air balloon perched, its basket decorated with gold tassels. I watched a couple climb in, grinning as they held hands, presumably to ride it up to the ceiling.

Revik kept his poker face a lot better than I did.

He walked us past shops and gaming tables, barely looking at the twenty-foot screens and elaborate holograms that kept pulling my eyes. He focused on people instead, scanning faces and light on everyone we passed. Most were gambling, of course, not riding balloons or lounging in pagodas. Those not parked at slot machines were throwing dice or hunched over cards.

Some of the men looked me over.

I saw women and men pause on Revik, too.

I tensed when I saw those eyes on us, wondering how long it would be before someone recognized us. I braced myself for the approaches we’d gotten in other places?seers and humans either cursing us, accusing us of mass murder, or wanting our autographs or even pieces of our clothing or locks of our hair.

Here, everyone appeared to be thankfully preoccupied.

I was still staring around when Revik tugged me sideways, guiding me to walk in front of him. He pushed me gently into a recessed corridor behind a black curtain.

I recognized where we were the instant we were inside.

The carpeted, high-ceilinged corridor was the same one the guard at the dock showed us.

It housed two sets of gold elevator doors and not much else.

Four guards appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

Two females and two males, they approached us directly, and after a few polite smiles and hand gestures, the two males frisked Revik and the two females frisked me.

They were thorough.

While they patted me down, I noticed we were being watched by two additional male guards, both wearing expensive suits. Both looked like professional boxers. Noting the headsets they wore, I figured they were there to make sure we didn’t try to leave.