Cush smiled his best wolfish smile. “Want to find out if I bite?”

“Oh, dear,” Elora breathed out.

“Could we please get moving before you two rip each other’s clothes off in the middle of the damn airport,” Oakley’s voice interrupted their private conversation.

Cush fought the urge to reach out and clock him.

“He’s my brother,” Elora reminded him, having picked up on his thoughts.

“You are my Chosen.”

“Want to tattoo it to my forehead so I don’t forget?”

Cush smirked. “I can think of a better place to tattoo it.”

“Ass,” she growled.

“Exactly.”

“Crap, I totally walked into that one.”

“Hello!” Oakley said again. “People are beginning to stare.”

Elora pulled back, but Cush wrapped an arm around her waist before she could get too far. Cush looked at her brother again and reached for all the self-control he could muster. “I would only remove your sister’s clothes in public if she asked nicely and since Elora doesn’t seem to ask nicely for anything, you have nothing to worry about.”

Elora nearly choked as she caught the laugh that bubbled up at Cush’s words. Her brother’s face glowed bright red with a mix of embarrassment and anger and she should be outraged at her, her what? Boyfriend? But she was too shocked to be outraged. And frankly, it was pretty freaking funny. She glanced at her mom who was chuckling as she looked at Cush, all the while shaking her head and attempting to look disapproving but failing miserably. Rin was watching in amusement and for a second she thought he was going to say something to Oakley but then seem to think better of it. He caught her looking at him and must have seen the question in her eyes.

“It’s too entertaining to say something,” he explained with a smile.

Elora snorted. “You are easily entertained.”

“True enough.”

“I think a good place to start would be at the casino, Iniquity,” Cush interrupted them. “There is a contact there who is human, but he has deep connections among the dark elves.”

“What makes you think he’s going to help us and how do you know this?” Elora asked.

“Everybody has a price,” he repeated her sentiment. “Trik wasn’t the only spy in our world, Love; he was simply the best.” Cush left it at that. It wasn’t the time to give her a history lesson of his life and he preferred that they be alone once they finally did have that conversation. He wasn’t about to share his skeletons with her family.

“Lead the way,” Oakley said.

The constant ringing of the slot machines, the soft fanning of the cards, and the steady rumble of the voices at the card tables were the constantbackground music to Tony’s life. As he walked the floor of the casino, nodding to regulars, greeting new customers, and reminding employees of rules that were never to be broken, he felt the fire in his blood begin to ease. This was something that was familiar to him, something that he knew and enjoyed. For the moment there wasn’t someone trying to kill someone else over that blasted drink, and there was no one crying desperately at the bar for an extension on their tab. For now, things were as they should be. Money was being put in the machines, chips were being exchanged with the dealers, and regular drinks were being consumed thanks to his executive decision to have a Rapture free happy hour. If that wasn’t ironic, he didn’t know what was.

He had tried to get in touch with the top dogs, but none of Lorsan’s elves were returning his calls, and he couldn’t even get in touch with Trik. With the risk of his casino being destroyed and his employees quitting, he had decided to close the bar to Rapture in the early evenings. He would love to do it later in the evening as well, but he knew that it would never fly. Lorsan would come down on him with an iron fist.

Just as he rounded the last row of penny slot machines, he came face to face with the front doors of the casino and with a group of people that he knew immediately were not there to gamble. He saw one of his security guys heading towards them, no doubt going to card the youngest one decked out in black. She might be twenty-one, but only just. These days it was so hard to tell age based on looks alone. He caught the security guard’s eye and shook his head, indicating that he would handle this himself.

“Hello,” he said walking up to the tallest male of the group. Tony was immediately on guard when the male turned to look at him and he saw his face for the first time. His unearthly beauty clearly marked him as not human. “Something tells me that you aren’t here to spend money,” he continued in his most charming voice.

The girl all in black stepped around the tall, stoic male and held her hand out to him. “We’re actually looking for the owner of this fine, upstanding establishment.” Tony instinctually reached out to shake her hand and was quickly reminded of why he usually made it a policy not to touch women in any way in his casino, ever, because you never know when there’s a pissed off elf on the other end of that woman. The girl gasped as the large male grabbed her waist and put her behind him, moving with a quickness and grace that was innate among the elfin race.

Tony held up his hands in a peace offering gesture and took a step back. “I meant no disrespect. I’m Tony, and I’m the manager of Iniquity.” Suddenly, behind him there was a loud crash and then a male voice yelled out. Tony turned to see one of his security guys pulling down a man who was attempting to climb over the bar.