Free Aces Wilde: Immortal Vegas, Book 5 by Jenn Stark Page B

man’s fedora above oversized aviator sunglasses. Over Nikki’s shoulder was slung a hobo bag that looked like she’d wrestled it off an actual hobo, and her wrists and fingers, ears and neck sported enough turquoise to open her own mall kiosk.
    Beside her, the much older Asian woman held herself perfectly straight in her cream linen suit and elegant pumps. She’d focused on me the moment I’d entered the wide corridor that birthed the next generation of tourists into Sin City. Her eyes were a fathomless black, and her gaze only sharpened as I approached. She was petite—barely coming up to Nikki’s bicep—and she appeared dressed for an international law conference, down to the expensive leather briefcase.
    In contrast to the two of them, I probably looked like yesterday’s lunch bag. Which would have been fine with me, since I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. My little face-off with the Magician had healed up my hands nicely but hadn’t quite rid me of my need for food.
    “Dollface!” When Nikki smiled, her entire face lit up like a neon WELCOME sign, and the icy fist I’d clamped around my guts the entire way to Vegas unkinked a notch. Then she was striding forward, engulfing me in her arms and turning me around.
    “Nikki!” I managed. “I’ve only been gone a week.”
    “I’ve lived through a typical week with you. It’s like a lifetime in other people’s worlds.” She swung me toward the woman in cream. “This is Madam Peng—Jiao to her besties. She showed up this morning at Eat and wouldn’t leave, so we communed over shrimp and grits. She’s one of Soo’s people, which I guess are your people now.”
    Nikki’s voice could have held a note of accusation in it, but didn’t. I hadn’t had much time to process the events of the past few days before Armaeus had offered Simon and me the rush job in Israel, and I hadn’t debriefed her on Annika’s unexpected legacy to me. I’d barely debriefed myself.
    “You two talked?” I asked.
    “Nikki was gracious enough to bring me up to speed on your travels,” Jiao said. Her face was eerily unlined for someone with such bright white hair, and her eyes were coal black. But her smile was open and authentic, and I found myself warming to her for no reason. “Madam Soo would not have wanted you to journey so far without protection, however.” Her gaze scanned the airport behind me. “Going forward, you’ll need to accept additional security. Especially given the events of this past week. Your role with the organization is precious.”
    I hitched my messenger bag higher on my shoulder and considered her. “You called in Nigel Friedman, didn’t you? He and I aren’t the best of friends, you should know. But I appreciated his help.”
    Jiao bowed. “Mr. Friedman was the closest option for assistance,” she said, though it felt like there was more to that story. Nigel, for his part, hadn’t tried to reach out to me after putting me on Soo’s plane, so maybe he had simply been in the area. But still…
    “You call on him a lot?” I asked.
    Jiao patted her bag. “There are many arrangements Madam Soo made during her tenure as head of the House of Swords. If you have time for a quiet conversation, there is much we should discuss.” She unlatched the top of the bag, and I saw two thick folders of papers inside. Papers I had a sinking feeling I was supposed to read.
    “Sure.” I glanced at Nikki, but she’d pulled out her cell phone and was tapping furiously on it as she glanced at Jiao over her aviators.
    “Jiao here said she’s been in Vegas since Tuesday,” Nikki said. “Lucky break that she found me when you were heading into town, yeah?”
    I didn’t miss the cautionary riffle in Nikki’s words this time. Sadly, I was too tired to process it. “Right.” I knuckled the grit out of my eyes, savoring the fact that my palms were no longer sliced up. The Magician could seriously chafe my chaps, but he beat Neosporin any