It didn't work that way. Never once had he failed to notice someone on his tail. Unless ... "What are you?"
"Pardon?"
Jess raked a look over him, trying to find something to confirm his suspicion. "You can't be human, and I know you're not a Daimon or Apollite." Daimons, unless they partook of Clairol, were blond with lighter skin than Sin had. "You're no longer a Dark-Hunter, so..."
Sin gave a wicked half smile. "You're right. I'm none of those."
"What, then? Are you a god?"
Sin's smile went full blown. "Remember, Ray, whenever someone asks you if you're a god, the correct answer is always yes."
Jess snorted. "I saw that movie, and I think you misquoted it."
"The sentiment's the same."
Which meant Sin wouldn't answer. Fine. Jess wouldn't press the issue. He more than understood wanting to keep some things to oneself.
"Did you tell Ren about them?" Jess asked.
"Yeah. I caught him when I came down, then I went for you."
Thank God for that. He glanced at the scorched stain on the pavement that was the only thing left of the Daimons. He met Sin's gaze. "I appreciate the assist. And I have another question. Since I can't throw flames out of my hands like you did a minute ago, how do I dispose of these new Daimons we're fighting after I kill them?"
"We haven't worked out the kinks quite yet. But if you drop one, call me and I'll send out a cleanup team."
Jess shook his head. "Damn, you really can get anything in Vegas."
Sin laughed. "You have no idea."
No, but Jess was beginning to.
"Since you have so many of the enemy working in your casino ... Have you heard of a human working with Daimons to kill Dark-Hunters?"
Sin's eyes widened. "What?"
That expression answered the question. "My Squire got word about it from the Oracles. I was just wondering if they might have misinterpreted whatever they got from the Powers That Be. I keep thinking if there was such a beast, Acheron would have called all of us with a warning." As their unofficial leader, Acheron tended to watch out for them, and he had powers that defied belief and understanding.
"Ash's powers don't necessarily work that way."
"What do you mean?"
"Think of it like having a fire hose turned on full blast," Sin said. "The water flows so fast, it's hard to control. He blocks his abilities unless he needs something, so that he doesn't get overwhelmed by it."
Jess wasn't so sure he believed Sin. Acheron was a walking contradiction who never spoke to anyone about himself. He couldn't imagine Acheron having a heart-to-heart chat with Sin, never mind explaining to the ancient Sumerian how his powers worked. "How do you know this?"
"Married to Artemis's handmaiden, remember? She knows a lot about Ash."
Now, that he believed. Be hard for Acheron to keep secrets from the goddess they all served. Sin was right. If anyone knew some of those secrets, it was probably his wife.
"So," Sin continued with his explanation, "if Ash isn't focused on here, he won't know what's going on. You want me to call him about it?"
"Nah. I'll do it later." Jess never liked getting secondhand information. Too much room for people to forget something or get it misconstrued. He'd much rather have it straight from the horse's mouth.
Sin nodded. "Well, I won't keep you. I know you have a lot to do, and I have a casino to run and a wife and toddler to see to."
Yeah, but Jess envied him that last bit. A lot. However, he wouldn't begrudge Sin his good fortune. It was nice to know that life worked out for some people, and since Sin had been a Dark-Hunter, Jess knew the man must have suffered greatly in his first life. It did his heart good to see someone happy, even if it wasn't him. "Give the missus my best."
"Will do."
Jess went back for his coat while Sin took his leave. He glanced around at the remains Sin had burned and let out a tired breath.
New rules. New playing field. The gods must have gotten bored with them all. In the back of his mind, he could picture these new Daimons spreading like in a bad SF movie. Hell, he could even see the map with a superimposed image of a red horde spreading out like an epidemic.
And somewhere out there was a human playing vigilante on them.
Yeah, it was a good time to be in Vegas. He was so happy Acheron had reassigned him, and that was said with all due sarcasm.
He shrugged his coat on and returned to the street to continue his lonely patrol. As he walked among the crowd, he tried to imagine what it would be like to be one of them-an innocent person going about completely ignorant of the preternatural around him. A part of him had forgotten what it was like to be human.
Another part wondered if he'd ever really been human at all. His enemies and victims would definitely deny it. And he'd been nothing more than an animal.
Until Matilda.
"Gah, I'm maudlin again." Must be his lack of horses. Riding always made him feel better, and he'd been away from them for way too long.
Soon though, they'd be here and he'd be back to normal. At least as normal as an immortal could be.
Hours went by as he searched and found no target. It amazed him that the nightlife in Vegas didn't let up. The crowds did thin, but still ...
Totally different world from what he was used to in Reno.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, letting him know it was time to head back so that he'd be home a few minutes before dawn. When it came to that, he never liked pushing his luck. No one wanted to spontaneously combust into flames, especially not in traffic. The thought of going Johnny Blaze just didn't appeal to him in the least.
He headed back for Sin's casino to collect his ride.
Jess hadn't gone far when a flash across the street caught his eye.
It was two Daimons pulling a woman into a storm drain. Jess sucked his breath in. Underneath the city was approximately a five hundred mile maze of drainage systems. It wouldn't take much for the Daimons to lose him down there.
He bolted across the street, hoping to catch them before they killed their prey or lost him.
The minute he was inside the drain, he all but let out a sigh of relief from the soothing darkness.
After removing his sunglasses, he slid them into his pocket and made his way through the smelly tunnel, which had about an inch of standing water in it. He curled his lip at the rotten garbage and other things he didn't want to think about. There were a number of homeless people who called these tunnels home. Some of them were every bit as dangerous to the average human as the Daimons he was after.
"Please let me go! Please! Please don't hurt me!"
He followed the sound of the woman's petrified cries. It didn't take long to find them.
Only it wasn't what he'd expected.
It was a trap, and he'd just barreled right into it.