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“It’s pretty simple,” he said, his gaze fixed firmly on the other man, whose eyes looked blurry and muddy behind his thick-lensed glasses. “What’s Aegis’s stake in all this? What are they really up to?”

Paul Reeves’ features twisted then, and Delia wondered if she needed to splash some more holy water on that sigil, just to make sure it was effectively blocked. But then his face went almost blank, and he said, “Some kind of ritual. I don’t know much about it.”

Somehow, Delia guessed that whatever “ritual” Aegis was cooking up didn’t involve anything benign like making sure they had a nice, wet spring or raising enough funds to sponsor a food bank or something.

And since Caleb’s jaw had tightened upon hearing Paul Reeves’ words, she guessed he’d been thinking just about the same thing.

“Well, tell me what you do know.”

More perspiration dripped down the man’s forehead.

His nostrils flared, but then he responded, “They plan to use the tournament’s final round to activate a network of supernatural energy collection points.

I don’t know how, and I don’t know where any of those points are.

I was just in the tournament to see if there was anyone playing who might cause some trouble. ”

“Like me?” Caleb inquired, expression amused.

“Yeah, like you. They don’t know for sure what to do about you, so the word came down to watch what you were doing but not interfere.”

Well, Delia supposed that was encouraging. It also explained why they hadn’t worked harder to make sure Caleb was knocked out in the first round.

He crossed his arms. “Do you know who broke into my house?”

Paul Reeves frowned. “What house?”

Undeterred, Caleb pressed, “What about the brakes on my Porsche?”

The older man’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know about any Porsche.”

Of course he didn’t. As far as Delia could tell, the man didn’t seem to know much about anything.

However, even though he’d been shot down twice, Caleb didn’t appear ready to give up. “What do they plan to do with all the energy they’re collecting?”

“I don’t know.” Sweat had begun to drip off the man’s face and onto his already blotched T-shirt.

In that moment, Delia almost felt sorry for him.

She had no idea how he’d gotten tangled up with Aegis or why they’d targeted him, but it sure seemed as if he was an unwitting pawn more than anything else.

Caleb appeared to have come to the same conclusion, because he shook his head, saying, “Then I guess we’ll let you get back to work.”

Once again, he looked over at her, and she got the signal right away.

Time to get out of there.

They both turned and walked away. Even as they exited the house, Delia couldn’t help tensing a little as she wondered if Paul Reeves was going to do something to stop them.

But either the holy water was exerting enough influence that the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind, or he’d decided getting into a physical altercation wasn’t a very good idea, not when Caleb was at least ten or fifteen years younger than he and in much better shape.

And the man might also have been wondering exactly how many vials of the blessed liquid Delia still had stashed in her purse.

Whatever his reasons for not going after them, she could only be glad that he’d decided discretion was the better part of valor.

“Now what?” she asked after Caleb had fastened his seatbelt and she’d begun to pull away from the curb.

He glanced over at the clock on the dashboard, then grinned.

“Now I’ve got a semifinal to win.”

Caleb knew his outward nonchalance about the tournament was all show.

As Delia pulled into the casino’s parking lot, his mind was already racing through everything they’d just learned.

Aegis Holdings had its fingers in way more pies than he’d initially thought, and if Paul Reeves had been telling the truth — which he suspected was the case, thanks to the holy water temporarily breaking the sigil’s hold — the plan somehow involved the poker tournament itself.

“You sure you want to go through with this?” Delia asked as she guided her little white Kona into a spot someone had just vacated. “If those Aegis creeps are watching you….”

“That’s exactly why I need to be there,” Caleb replied, his tone firm, then glanced at the dashboard clock again.

“The semifinal starts in thirty minutes. If what Paul told us is true, then the final round is when they’re really planning something big.

I need to make it to the finals to see what they’re up to. ”

Delia didn’t look convinced by this argument. “And put yourself right in the middle of whatever supernatural energy collection scheme they’re running? That seems risky.”

“I’ve always been a gambling man,” he said with a grin. “Besides, I’m not exactly what you can call your run-of-the-mill poker player. Maybe that’s why they’re not sure what to do about me.”

Thanks to the way she didn’t respond right away to that comment, Caleb was pretty sure he’d scored a point.

They got out of her SUV, and as they were walking toward the casino entrance, Delia’s phone buzzed.

“I’d better get it, just in case it’s a client,” she said. But when she pulled out her iPhone and stared down at the screen, her expression grew troubled. “It’s Pru.”

“Then put it on speaker so we can both hear,” Caleb said at once. He had a feeling that Prudence wouldn’t be calling if she didn’t have something important to share.

“Go ahead,” Delia said as they paused by a couple of palm trees just outside the casino entrance. No one was hanging around there, making the spot private enough.

Hopefully.

“I’ve got you on speaker,” she added. “I’m here with Caleb.”

That clarification didn’t seem to bother Pru very much, since she immediately launched into the reason for her call.

“I’ve found something weird,” she said. “Those Aegis properties? It looks like they’re all sitting on some kind of grid, but I can’t figure out what it is.

The pattern doesn’t line up with anything I recognize. ”

“There’s no rhyme or reason to it at all?” Caleb asked.

“Not that I can tell,” Pru replied. “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep hacking at it, trying to figure out what it means.”

“But it’s not random,” Delia said.

“Definitely not. But whatever’s going on with it, I did notice that a bunch of pieces of the grid seem to converge here in Las Vegas. And guess what’s at the very center?”

“The casino where the tournament is being held,” Delia said, which was exactly what Caleb had been thinking as well.

“Exactly.” A small pause, and then Pru added, “Be careful. I still don’t know what we’re dealing with here, but it sure feels as if this was all planned well in advance of the competition.”

Most likely. And even though none of them had a very clear idea of what they were facing, Caleb doubted any of it would be good.

After Delia promised Pru they’d take every possible precaution and then ended the call, the two of them entered the casino and headed toward the tournament area.

Caleb spotted Ty Carter near the entrance, looking tense and not at all Zen the way he usually did.

The part angel…or whatever he was…obviously noticed him and Delia approaching, because he immediately made his way over to intercept them.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Ty said in a low voice, then sent a glance around their immediate area as if to make sure no one was listening. “Something feels especially off today. Multiple supernatural signatures are converging on this casino — more than I’ve ever felt in one place before.”

Well, that wasn’t good, even if his warning echoed what Pru had just told them. And while Caleb still wasn’t sure whether he could trust the guy, he also knew that Ty Carter was probably the closest thing to an ally that he and Delia had at the moment.

“Any idea what we’re dealing with?” he asked.

Ty shook his head. “Different kinds of energies. Some demonic, some…I’m not sure yet.

The one thing I do know is that they’re all focused here, on this building.

You’ll need to watch yourself in there.” He glanced toward the VIP viewing area, an accommodation that hadn’t existed during the earlier rounds of the competition, and then over at Delia, addressing her directly as he added, “Including your friend Aaron Sanchez in the spectator section.”

Delia frowned, her gaze tracking to the spot where Aaron sat among the high-roller spectators.

He wore a black dress shirt and was chatting with the man sitting next to him, an individual with an impressively bald head and a large diamond stud in one ear.

“What about him?” she asked. Although she looked calm enough, a certain edge to her voice told Caleb she wasn’t thrilled to see the guy making a return visit to the competition today.

Ty’s mouth tightened. “There’s something off about him. He feels like an entirely different person.”

Again, not the sort of news Caleb had really wanted to hear, although he supposed he should count himself lucky that Sanchez was only a spectator and not a fellow competitor.

“Anyone else I should keep an eye out for?”

Ty was silent for a moment. Although he didn’t move, Caleb got the impression that he was using his own special abilities…whatever they might be…to scan the crowd and see if he detected any anomalies.

Then he shook his head. “Hard to say. The energies in here are chaotic enough that I can’t get a clear impression from anyone else. But you obviously need to watch yourself.”

Something Caleb had already been planning on doing, so he wasn’t sure how helpful any of this had been.

Except, of course, to put him even more on edge.

“Well, thanks for the heads-up.” He looked over at Delia. “We should probably get moving.”

She gave a reluctant nod but didn’t protest, and Ty, seeming to sense he’d done what he could, melted away into the crowd.