Free Born To Be Wilde: Immortal Vegas, Book 3 by Jenn Stark Page B

existed. As Sara Wilde, I had things to do where I couldn’t take a cop along for the ride. Not unless I wanted to put him literally in the line of fire of Viktor.
    Viktor Dal.
    Images lined up in tight formation. This, I could focus on. This, I could claim as my own. Viktor had stolen six children from their parents, their families. He’d also stolen the only family I’d ever known from me. Sheila Rose Pelter might have been a drunk and a borderline addict, and might simply have been doing her job acting as my mother, but she’d kept a roof over my head for seventeen years before Viktor had come along. She hadn’t known her life was in danger from some maniac she’d never met. And Viktor had killed her in cold blood.
    I didn’t know much of who I was anymore, but one thing I did know. Viktor needed to pay for that crime.
    And Brody couldn’t be any part of that. He needed to stay the hell out of the way. If Dixie helped that happen, great.
    Even knowing all that, forcing myself to walk over to the table was harder than I would have expected. Smiling brightly, I slid in next to Nikki, inviting Dixie to join us. Brody’s smile tensed but got easier as more drinks arrived and food was discussed. It took only a few minutes for me to realize that I was relaxing too, no more bourbon required. This was…easier, I realized, thinking of Brody and Dixie together. This felt right.
    I had enough problems to manage without adding Brody to the mix.
    It didn’t take long for Nikki to steer the conversation back to the problem at hand, but when she asked about Viktor Dal, Dixie’s response surprised us all. “Viktor! Well, bless my stars. I haven’t heard that name in an age and a half.” She blinked her big eyes at our startled faces. “Why are you asking? Do not tell me he’s dead. He was the sweetest man.”
    “Sweet, huh?” Nikki grinned, leaning back, her face wreathed in “I told you so” smugness. “How’d you know him?”
    “Well, he was one of Roxie’s friends, at least for a while, back when she was entertaining and all. The last party, gosh, maybe would have been fifteen years ago?” She chuckled with a blush that only added to her charm. “I swear, time passes far too quickly when you’re not paying attention.”
    Brody reached out and squeezed her hand, the move so unselfconscious that my new-found detachment had its chain yanked. But I kept my face neutral as he spoke. “You said he was a nice guy?”
    “Nice as pie. Handsome, in an austere, chilly sort of way. Light blond hair, light skin. Wispy beard. But it was his eyes that were his best feature. Kind eyes, gentle. The kind of eyes that made you feel you could trust him, you know?”
    “Sounds like a likable fellow,” Nikki said. “What’d he do for a living?”
    “Ran a relief organization in India, maybe? I mean, I don’t know that that was his job, job. But it certainly was his passion. He and Roxie were very tight.”
    I didn’t choke on my bourbon, but I should have as all the dots connected with a bang in my head. Holy Mother of Crow. Up until a short while ago, Roxie had been the Empress of the Arcana Council. Which meant that Viktor—devious, despicable, disappeared Viktor—had to be linked to the Council as well. Maybe more than linked. Maybe a lot more.
    Brody’s eyes narrowed on me across the table, but I didn’t have time for him. I didn’t have time for anyone other than people who could give me answers, and those people were not in this room.
    They were, however, in this city.
    “Guys, I think I’m going to—”
    “No, wait, I wanted to tell you!” Dixie brightened and turned to me with beseeching eyes. She did beseeching very well. Brody didn’t stand a chance. “You remember you asked about Jimmy next door?”
    I blinked at her. “Who?”
    “Next door! Jimmy Shadow. Darkworks Ink? The tattoo parlor?”
    “Oh! Sure, right.” The tattoo parlor next to Dixie’s wedding chapel was every bit as Vegas kitsch as