Vegas Rules Page 4

  His father and mother had both been really happy when he got back home last week, and he'd managed to sneak off and see Cenna, which was nice, and he was surprised that Art of all people was happy to see him back as well. Stewart knew that his father didn't care much for Art, the wolf who ran all of the security for the council. But Harris trusted him and Stewart's mom seemed to like him well enough.

  Stewart was actually surprised at how upset his mother was when she found out that they were all gone. She even looked like she was going to cry.

  The biggest problem with replacing them was that many lycans cost a lot of money, and they couldn't just ship them out the way they normally did, as the trucks would have to pass through Reno, and everyone was starting to realize just how bad of an idea that was.

  Now there was talk going around the council about marching up to Reno, paying the Vestibulum back for what they'd done, putting down the lycan revolt, and then finding all of their lycans and bringing them back home. Or killing them. Stewart wasn't sure what exactly the plan was, he'd heard his father's own ranting go from 'teaching them a lesson' to 'bring them home where they belong' more than once.

  All Stewart knew was that his twenty-first birthday was coming up, and he wasn't expecting any cute fox-girl toys to play with. While the mission had been a failure, it hadn't been his fault! He'd done everything he'd been told to do, and after Allen got shot, Matt and Stan had screwed up big time and left Stewart in the lurch.

  And now Cenna was gone, and he didn't even have her to play with. But he had options, he always had options. He had his own connections, and he'd just buy his own slave. He'd sold the BMW and gotten a nice, but older, Accord. He'd sold off a few other things he had, and now he was off to Todd's place. He knew Todd from back in the private school that a lot of the mage families sent their kids to.

  They weren't exactly friends, Todd's family was with Gradatim after all, but they'd done business in the past; drugs, some contraband, stolen goods, and even a few of the simple magic items that Stewart seemed to have a talent for producing. That kind of stuff. Stewart had called Todd yesterday and told him he wanted a cute female lycan slave.

  Todd had told him to show up today with fifteen grand. Stewart was surprised, he figured it would be twice that, with the sudden loss of their own lycans, but Gradatim had plenty, and Stewart wasn't going to complain.

  Turning down the alleyway, Stewart pulled into the driveway for a small black and very nondescript building. Todd had never told Stewart how he got the place, but it was where he carried out all of his business dealings. Knowing Todd, Stewart bet he still lived at home, mooching off his parents while running a thriving black market business under their noses.

  Getting out of his car, Stewart walked up to Todd's door and knocked. Todd opened the door and smiled.

  "Stew! Great to see you! I heard a few nasty rumors that you got in trouble up in Reno?"

  Stew nodded to Todd and walked inside, "Yeah, it sucked. We got set up by those Vestibulum clowns and things got nasty. My dad's friend got shot in the head right next to me," Stewart shrugged again, "Not his day I guess."

  "Whoa! That's nasty, dude. So, let me show you what I've got. Sorry I had to hit you with such a high price, but the markets dried up suddenly, especially with your council trying to buy up everything they can."

  "Eh, yeah, it sucks. But you just gotta deal, right?"

  "Right! So," Todd led him over to his desk, and kneeling on the floor beside it, was a woman, "like her?"

  Stewart blinked and looked down at her, she was naked and had a collar on, which was chained to the desk.

  "Stand up, Rachel, let the man have a look at you!"

  Stewart watched as she stood up, eyes downcast. She was older than he was and looked tired and dejected.

  "I was hoping for something younger," Stewart said, and immediately regretted it when he saw her wince.

  "Stew, it's a seller's market right now. Rachel here is the best I can do. Besides, she's only twenty-eight, that's not old!"

  Stewart looked her over, she had a nice figure, she was good-looking, not gorgeous, not 'hot,' but she was attractive. He put his hand under her chin and raised her head up until he could look into her eyes.

  "I was just hoping for someone stupider than I am for a change," Stewart smiled. "You got any clothes for her?"

  "Just jeans and a t-shirt. You got cash?"

  "Course I have cash," Stewart pulled the money out of his pocket and passed it over to Todd.

  Twenty minutes later they were in Stewart's car and heading for a clothing store. He still had a fair deal of money left, and the last thing he wanted was his girl looking like a slob.

  "Why did you buy me, Master?" Rachel asked after a few minutes of silence.

  "Call me Stew or Stewart, unless my father is around. As for why I bought you? Why do you think?" Stewart sighed and smiled at her.

  Rachel blushed, "Well, I know that, Stewart. But you said you were looking for somebody younger. But you bought me anyways."

  "What would have happened to you if I hadn't?"

  "Todd had some other people who were interested, but they didn't offer as much or look as nice as you did, and there were several of them."

  "That's why," Stewart smiled, "because I figured that maybe you'd be grateful and not hate me so much when we sleep together."

  "Why would I hate you?"

  Stewart shook his head, "Why wouldn't you? I just bought you. I have the power of life and death over you, you're my slave now and you'll be sleeping with me."

  Rachel shrugged, "I was born a slave, I'll die a slave. You're an attractive young man, sleeping with you will be enjoyable, I'm sure." Rachel looked out the window as he pulled into the mall parking lot, "Where are we going?"

  "To a clothing store to get you some nicer things to wear, then to a motel, so we can get you cleaned up and presentable. I don't want my mother to have a fit when she sees you."

  "But I'm just a slave, Stewart."

  "That's still no excuse to treat you poorly."

  Rachel smiled at Stewart for the first time since he'd bought her. He was young, probably spoiled; she'd heard him tell Todd that he'd sold his BMW to buy her. But the comments about Reno and that man getting shot next to him had made her a little nervous. But he'd been nothing but nice to her since the moment they'd left.

  Todd had told her Stewart wanted a sex slave, maybe a companion. Now that she'd met him, she was okay with that, she'd slept with worse after all. Maybe this would work. She'd just have to be a bit more careful this time around. Her last master hadn't been very nice to her, and she'd been very happy to see the last of him.

  Maybe this time, maybe it would work. Once she got him in bed, she was sure he'd be putty in her hands.

  Stewart smiled back at her; she really looked so much nicer when she smiled. He'd have to try and get her to do more of it.

  Stewart was rather happy when he parked the car in the driveway at home. All cleaned up and in a nice dress, Rachel was very attractive looking. She'd come on to him in the hotel room, but he wanted the first time he took her to be in his own bed, not some cheap hotel.

  "Hello, Stewart," His father said as he came into the house, "who is your friend?"

  "Dad, this is my new pet, Rachel. Rachel, this is my father and the master of the house."

  "Pet?" Kurt, Stewart's father, said as Rachel curtsied.

  Stewart smiled and nodded, he'd rehearsed what he was going to say, so he said it.

  "Father, I figured with everything that happened, I shouldn't expect anyone to be buying me anything that I couldn't provide for myself."

  Kurt nodded and looked over the slave his son had bought. He was a little surprised she wasn't younger than him and said as much.

  "I decided I wanted someone with experience," Stewart said and did his best to look embarrassed.

  "Well, those fox girls are experienced," Kurt chuckled.

  "And well beyond my price range," Stewa
rt said and then shrugged, "I'm going to take Rachel up to my room."

  Kurt waved his hand, "Go ahead son, I'll have your mother call you when dinner is ready."

  Stewart nodded and taking Rachel's hand he led her up to his room. He'd reset the code for her pellet in the hotel, he'd done it in front of Todd when he'd taken possession of her, but he didn't want anyone to know it, so he'd changed it again.

  Rachel looked around as they went upstairs to Stewart's room; obviously, this kid's family was loaded. She thought her last master had been rich but compared to Stewart he was a piker.

  When they got to Stewart's room, she looked around and smiled. It wasn't a kid's room; it had more of the look of a young man trying to become an adult. The art on the wall was an understated mix of some nice car photography and some reproductions of some of the esoteric art that was used to depict the magical forces and other worlds.

  It was clean, the bed was large, and everything was put away.

  Smiling, she turned to Stewart and started to slowly strip for him.

  "First time?" she asked.

  Stewart shook his head, but she noticed his eyes were locked on her as she started to sway sexily.

  "I meant, first time here, in your room?"

  "Oh," Stewart blushed and nodded.

  "Then, let me make it special for you."

  Yawning, Stewart looked at the clock, it was after seven, almost time for dinner. He was a bit surprised that his mother hadn't called him yet. Maybe his father had told her about his new pet and she'd decided to let him be? Stewart looked down at Rachel, who was cuddled up against him and smiled. She really had made it special. She'd put him through his paces, and he'd loved every minute of it.

  "How in the world did I manage to get you so cheap?" Stewart asked her, "Hell, why were you even for sale? Any man who parted with you would have to be a fool!"

  Rachel smiled up at him, yeah; she had him on the hook. She'd let him have it all, and she'd do it all again tonight, after dinner. He was young, attractive, and he'd actually gone out of his way to treat her nice. By the time he got bored with her and started looking for a younger girl, she'd have wormed her way so far into his confidence that he wouldn't even consider selling her. He'd put her in charge of his house, and she'd be set for life.

  "My previous master died suddenly," Rachel sighed. "His family didn't want me around, because I reminded them of him, so they just sold me to the first bidder they could find."

  "Oh," Stewart said and gave her a hug, "I'm sorry to hear that."

  Rachel looked up at him, and blushed, "Now that I met you, Stewart, I'm not sorry at all."

  Rachel smiled and almost laughed as Stewart suddenly looked incredibly proud of himself. She really wasn't sad that her previous master had died. She wouldn't have poisoned him otherwise. His family suspected her, but rather than kill her, they figured they'd sell her off on the black market to some horrid fate and make some money in the process.

  But she was happy she'd met him, though she would have to find out what happened to the family's lycans. That might be a little troublesome.

  "Stewart!"

  Stewart sat up suddenly, that was his father's voice, and he didn't sound at all happy.

  "Stewart! Get down here! Your mother is gone!"

  Swearing, Stewart jumped out of bed, and grabbing his pants he pulled them on as he stumbled towards the door.

  "Clean up, don't leave the room," Stewart said to Rachel. "If my father is in one of his moods, I don't want you anywhere near him."

  Closing the door behind him, Stewart ran down the stairs to where his father was standing in the hallway, holding a letter in his hand, with a stunned expression on his face.

  "Father?"

  "Your mother. She's gone. She left us." Kurt said and looked around the room.

  Stewart grabbed the letter and looked at it. All it said was: 'I've gone to Reno, I'm not coming back. Ever.' and his mother's initials were on the bottom.

  "That cheating, lying, filthy, bitch!" his father screamed then and as Stewart watched his father began to rant and swear, calling his mother every foul and vile thing that Stewart had ever heard said about another human being, much less a woman. When he started on the insinuations of his mother having an affair with the council's wolves and how he should have known that was why she was always so nice to them, Stewart headed back for his room.

  "And just where do you think you're going, son?" his father thundered at him.

  "I just lost one parent today, Father. I don't want to watch as I lose another one," and running up to his room, he closed the door and tripped the locking spells.

  "What's going..." Rachel stopped as Stewart held up a finger and picking up his cellphone made a call to Harris.

  "Stewart! What a surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

  "Harris, my dad's losing it. You need to get over here, or send someone over here before he kills himself."

  "What? What happened?"

  "Mom left us. She went to Reno, said she isn't coming back."

  Stewart heard Harris swear on the other end of the line.

  "Sit tight, I'll be right there."

  Sighing Stewart went over to sit on the bed with Rachel.

  "What happened?" she asked him.

  "All of the lycans that belonged to everyone in our council were stolen last week. They're all in Reno now. Apparently, my mother has gone to be with them."

  "Why would she do that?" Rachel asked, surprised.

  "Right now, I'm afraid to find out," Stewart said shaking his head.

  GTA

  Sean was snoozing in the back of the van; they were heading back to Roxy's parent's house for dinner. They'd spent the last few hours visiting with a couple of Roxy's friends so she could show off Sean.

  Sean didn't mind, though there was one embarrassing moment when Roxy's friends learned that Sean knew sign language. Under Jolene and Roxy's instruction he'd been learning it steadily because as Jolene had pointed out several months ago, it was a better system for casting spells, as it was a lot more flexible than what most mages used.

  He just had to be careful when talking to Roxy's one deaf friend that he didn't accidentally cast a spell while talking with her. She was one of the few friends of Roxy's who was a mundane, but who knew all about the world of mages and lycanthropes.

  Sean had almost fallen asleep in his seat when suddenly the van shook.

  "What the hell?" Jolene swore, and for a moment Sean flashed back on the last time he'd been in a van and there'd been an accident. Breaking into a cold sweat he shifted into his hybrid form without even realizing it as the van shook again, and Daelyn swore.

  "Some asshole in a large sedan is ramming us from behind!" She said and Sean heard the engine rev as the van leaped forward. "There's too much traffic to lose him just yet."

  "It's that idiot from the gas station," Cali said, looking out the back window of the van.

  "But that's not the same car," Daelyn grumbled and swerved around a truck.

  "Maybe he rented a new one? He's driving this one, and it has Nevada plates on it."

  "How'd he find us?" Sean grumbled. "He couldn't have scryed us!"

  "We just passed the gas station we filled up at this morning," Roxy told him. "I guess he just sat there until we came by."

  Sean sighed and shook his head, "Anyone else in the car with him, Cali?"

  "One of the guys from the earlier car, that's it. But he's got a gun."

  "What?"

  "Yeah, he's trying to shoot our tires I think," Daelyn said and swerved again.

  "Head for someplace where I can deal with him," Sean growled. "Don't lose him."

  "I know just the place!" Roxy said and started giving Daelyn directions.

  Moving to the back door, Sean looked out through the other window. The kid driving the car was the one he'd paralyzed this morning, and from the look of rage on the kid's face, Sean didn't think he was going to be going away anytime soon.

&n
bsp; The kid in the passenger seat did have a handgun, and he was trying to prop it on the mirror on his side of the car to take shots at them.

  Sean watched as the kid took another shot and only succeeded in putting a hole through the top of the mirror as the other car swerved. Right now Sean was a lot more concerned with the kid hitting some poor innocent bystander than the van. Apparently, someone was discovering that shooting a gun was a lot harder than it looked in the movies.

  The road they were on now, however, no longer had any traffic on it, and just like that it turned to gravel, and suddenly they were throwing up a huge cloud of dust.

  "Put on your seatbelt," Sean told Cali and pushed her back towards one of the seats away from the doors.

  As soon as she was seated Sean reached down to grab the door handle for the back doors.

  "Let him catch us!" He growled to Daelyn as he called up his defense framework, it was time to beat these kids to within an inch of their lives.

  Daelyn slowed down for a moment, and suddenly the nose of the other car appeared from the dust, the triumphant look on the drivers face turned to one of complete shock as Sean opened the back door and as the kid watched, a large lion lycan jumped out, landing on the hood of his car.

  Sean immediately punched through the windshield and grabbed the steering wheel with his right hand, while his left he grabbed one of the windshield wipers to steady himself so he wouldn't be easily thrown from the car.

  The kid driving hit the brakes, causing the other kid who had pointed the gun at him, to miss and shoot several more holes in the windshield as he slammed forward into the dashboard. Apparently, he wasn't wearing his seatbelt, unlike the driver.

  Sean yanked the wheel hard to one side, easily overpowering the kid who was trying to regain control, causing the car to swerve suddenly to its left as it began an out of control slide off of the road. The tires on the right side of the car must have caught on something for a moment when it left the packed gravel road, as the car suddenly launched up off the ground, sideways, and it started to flip over onto the roof. Letting go of the steering wheel, Sean quickly jumped off the hood, clearing the car as it came down on the roof and continued to roll across the desert. The kid who had been in the passenger's seat was ejected out of the open passenger's window he'd been shooting out of, flying a good thirty feet into the air before he came down on the ground, hard, rolling and sliding after the car like a broken ragdoll.