Being led through a casino by a giant of a man called 'Moose'- who just happened to actually be a Weremoose- was a unique experience itself. But, combined with seeing flashes of other supernatural entities in passing, and the incredible amount of magical protections scattered throughout the building only half perceived, and the entire thing would have felt surreal... if Eve wasn't a vampire herself.

Carefully extending her senses, Eve tried to get an idea of what all the magic was for- not that she was an expert on the subject by any means. But it was something her Sire had mentioned to her a long time ago, trying to sense magic and get a hint of what it did- 'catching a whiff', as he called it.

Though she always linked it more to 'taste', with different magic having different flavors.

The magic throughout the casino was an interesting mix. Some of it was subtle, barely a flavor at all- kinda like that sparkling water crap some people drank that she had heard jokingly described tasting 'as if someone two rooms over was slicing a lime'... So, more like the idea of a flavor.

But, even as she tasted that particular magic, it was like her mind wanted to slip away from it. Like the magic itself was saying 'there's nothing here, pay no attention'...

'Some sort of misdirection or anti-scrying?' She pondered to herself as they walked.

Then there was a metallic taste around the craps and roulette tables, but... something more? A sense of solidity. Of security... Like a bank vault, or maybe a cage? The magic itself clearly wasn't metal based, so perhaps something to restrict magical interference? To stop people from using magic to influence the games of chance?

That felt right to her, even if she couldn't be sure.

Serving girls with glamours to make them look more attractive, dealers at card tables enchanted to be more charming... But, oddly enough, none of the magic seemed bent towards skewing the odds. She would never say that casino games were 'fair'; after all, the casino wanted your money, and they had no issue with taking it... But it didn't feel like they were using magic to cheat people.

The magic was simply there to protect the place- especially from the various supernaturals that passed through... Which said a lot about the owner of the place.

Leaving behind the casino floor, the pair entered a back halfway where the enchantments became more complex... To the point Eve would have had no hope of understanding them if they weren't common among all the supernatural communities: wards meant to keep out the mundanes. Some were relatively simple, as far as those things went, merely giving normal people the impression that nothing interesting was there and there was no point looking closer. A few were more nuanced, instilling feelings of dread to people that pushed forward, making them think that they were sure to get in trouble if they didn't turn around.

One was a flat out ban, making it so that a regular human couldn't go further, or even see past it. They would just think the hall dead-ended into a blank wall.

And, of course, the office they were heading to was just on the other side of the illusory wall.

Moose knocked twice and opened the door without waiting for a response, leading her into the plainest office she had ever seen. Beige carpet and clean wood walls, with an older looking desk set back near the wall... And no windows to speak of, the room being somewhere in the center of the building...

And, with a behemoth like Moose to hold the door, the room would practically be a death trap. If things turned hostile.

Sitting behind the desk in a simple, but well made, suit was the widest man Eve had ever seen- not that he was a large or heavy man, simply wide. Perhaps four feet tall, and just as broad at the shoulders, his build alone would have clued her in to him being a Dwarf- and the absolutely impressive bushy black beard, reaching nearly to his belt, only finished the image. Coal colored eyes met hers briefly, before her eyes flickered to the other man present in the room.

Standing ramrod straight at the dwarf's side was an old man in an immaculately pressed blue business suit. Slicked back gray hair, warm hazel eyes in a face lined with age, and each finger sporting gold rings inset with an assortment of gems, the older man looked more like the wealthy casino owner...

But his blood practically reeked of power- he smelled nearly as delicious as Oliver.

"Fucking figures. We need a job done and we get a fucking leech." The dwarf grumped unexpectedly.

Eve's nostrils flared in indignation at the insult. Calling a vampire a leech was one of the worst,tantamount to calling her a parasite, and almost always ended in violence.

"Nice to meet you too, Grumpy. Snow White give you a break from the mines?" She snapped with a glare, struggling to reign in her anger- she may not want to fight a Weremoose and a mage at the same time, but she damn sure wasn't going to take an insult like that!

Worst case, she rips out the dwarf bastards eyes before running... though, from the way Moose tensed at the exchange, that option would likely hurt. A lot.

"Ha!" The dwarf barked a laugh, slapping his desk as he stood. "See? This is what we've been missing! Someone with a fucking backbone!" Waving her to the seat across from him, he continued his mini-rant. "Back in the day, when shit went bad, you knocked a few heads together and all the idiots would get in line."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"But now? People threaten you with lawsuits, or the fucking government jumps down your throat with a bunch of fines or investigations, starts arresting your people... And you can't go to war with the government... And don't get me started on the fucking IRS! Hell, they're the ones that brought down Capone!"

Seeing the tiny woman still standing near with door with an aggressive scowl on her face, he chuckled softly while shaking his head. "Ah, just sit already, ya prickly bitch- well, I guess you aren't that bad. Most vamps would have already tried to rip my head off for calling them a leech, so good on you for not being a complete fucking psycho."

Eve sighed, knowing how right he was. Most vampires would have gone off just at the word leech, or any insult at all, really. Bunch of prickly, uptight bastards...

"Do you greet everyone with an insult?" She huffed, stalking over to the offered chair.

"Pretty much." The dwarf grinned, plopping down in his seat once more. "How they react can tell me more about them than they think..."

"Pretty shitty way to learn about someone, but I'll bite: What did my reaction tell you?" Eve asked slowly, a hint of curiosity in her voice- in some ways, it was a tactic she had used before... And it was always interesting to hear what others thought they had figured out about her.

"You..." The dwarf said slowly, studying her. After a second, he shrugged slightly. "You're the sort that sees violence as the answer to almost everything. Or you did, I'm thinking, and something happened to change it."

"Maybe you finally met something bigger and badder than you-" He paused, eyeing the petite woman for a moment before snorting a laugh. "Ok, there is probably plenty bigger, but you probably met something dangerous enough to give you pause... And you started to reevaluate how you handle things."

"Oh? And how do you figure that?" Eve asked coyly, propping her chin on her hand as she leaned against the armrest of the chair.

The dwarf just shrugged. "You started to snap, even threw an insult back, but then you held yourself back. That makes me think you ran into trouble, snapped at it... and it snapped back."

"And that is when you started to restrain yourself."

Eve shook her head, a soft sigh escaping her. "Close, Grumpy. Very close, but not quite."

"Oh? What part did I get wrong?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "And don't call me grumpy- unless you want to be called 'leech'. My name is Angus Stonehammer. You've already met Moose; the man beside me is Magus Joshua Brighton."

"Nice to meet you all. You can call me Evangeline Cotton, or Eve for short." Eve said through a toothy smile- the sharp points of her fangs glinting wickedly in the light. "As for what you got wrong... Well, it wasn't something 'badder', as you said. If anything, it was something substantially weaker than me..."

"So, what? You decided to play with your prey and got attached? Developed a soft spot for it?" Angus smirked. "Not what I would expect out of a vamp, but I've seen it happen before."

"Oh, no. Not that at all!" Eve giggled maniacally before correcting herself.. "Or not exactly, I should say. I wasn't particularly interested, at the time. But I was playing with my food... Until they 'snapped back', as you said, and showed how crazy they could be. A 'complete fucking psycho' that made even vamps look restrained!"

Eve sighed, relaxing slightly- normally she wouldn't reveal so much about herself... But, sometimes, it just felt good to talk shit with someone. And it wasn't like she would ever see these people again once the job was done, so what was the harm? Plus, she was using a fake name again...

"But enough about that." She said, waving away the conversation. "You have something you want done, and I'm here to do it. So, how about you fill me in on the details?"

Strictly speaking, meeting the employer wasn't really necessary; the mercenary app she used gave a lot of information about the job, as well as handling the entire payment process... But, as she had learned from experience, it didn't always have all the information. And sometimes these little meetings would simplify the problem... or highlight some more dangerous aspect of the job.

"Right, the job." Angus nodded, folding his hands on the desk. "As you already know from my request, I want you to make an example of someone that ripped me off- a local mage named David Agan. How you do that, I don't really care. I just want it to be a clear warning to everyone else not to fuck with me and my business anymore."

"Ok, I can work with that." Eve nodded thoughtfully. "What sort of magic can he do? And how did he rip you off exactly?"

Instead of answering, Angus waved to the mage beside him- who sighed deeply before he spoke, his voice sounding tired and pained.

"I can answer both of those questions, unfortunately... You see, David and I... Well, we had a 'thing'-"

"You were fucking, got it." Eve interrupted with a smirk.

Joshua huffed in annoyance, but pressed on. "Anyway... After we broke up, he used some of the things he had learned from me to circumvent our magical protections- and cheated one of our games."

"Took us for a quarter million dollars!" Angus exclaimed, slamming his hand on the desk.

"Yes, and I've apologized for my mistake." Joshua sighed. "And I'm working to correct those flaws..."

"But, back to the point at hand... As far as his magic; While he was able to bypass some of our wards, he does not specialize in them- if anything, he's actually fairly bad at wards and enchantments. He's just clever enough to get past them using some inside information he stole when he left..."

"His primary magical aptitude is for telekinesis, which he used to cheat at craps. He also is decent at illusion- he isn't quite able to turn invisible, but is very skilled at obscuring himself otherwise, as well as changing his appearance, or the appearance of unprotected mundane items... Which is how he cheated at blackjack..."

"So, not much in the way of combat applications then?" Eve tilted her head in thought.

Angus snorted derisively. "Nah, nothing like that! Fighting him ain't the problem, it's finding him- slippery bastard that he is! If I had a Werewolf on staff, I would have just sent them after him..."

"Oh, I think I can work with this." Eve grinned. "Just give me all the information you have on him... And, if you have something that belongs to him so I can get his scent, that would help- though a sample of his blood would be even better!"

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