Page 5 of 3013: Dreamer
Well, now they knew where the thieves had gotten the damn devices.
As the security officers gave chase, a bunch of slot machines suddenly went off at once. People screamed and shouted as they began to celebrate, even though they hadn’t actually won. It wasn’t their fault since they were oblivious to what had really happened. In the ensuing chaos, the crowd obscured Charm’s view of Arnold.
But she still had a clear line of sight on Carla.
“I’ve got Wexler,” she growled.
“I’ll find Daniel Tan,” Gia promised.
They tapped fists before the D’Aire released her majestic white wings from her back and shot up into the air. Some of the people below gasped in delight as she took flight and soared up toward the third level to join in the chase.
Charm considered taking the stairs down, then decided to go for the faster route. Bracing her hands on the railing, she launched herself over it and dropped down to the main level. People screamed as she landed on top of one of the poker tables in a crouch, but most of the shouting stopped when they realized who she was.
Ignoring them, she jumped off the table and chased after her target. She was almost within range to reach out and grab Carla when the human spun around and swiped out with the knife she’d been hiding from view. Charm let out a hiss of pain as she raised her arm to block the blade. Thankfully, the cut on her forearm wasn’t that bad, but it was enough to fuel her rage.
Launching a spinning kick at the female, she knocked the blade out of Carla’s hand. Then, she followed up with a couple of brutal punches and an uppercut that knocked her right off her feet and into a dead faint.
Served the bitch right for pulling a knife on her.
Charm huffed out an irritated breath as she glanced down to study her injury. The cut was half the length of her forearm and extended down the side of her hand near her pinkie. It was a little deeper than she originally thought and had started throbbing with pain, but as she stared down at the female passed out on the floor, she had to grin.
She might be bleeding, but she’d still had fun.
Chapter Two
Charm got astrange sense of satisfaction locking the four detainees away inside the magical cages. As expected, none of them had wanted to answer questions during the initial interrogations, but they would try again after they had spent a little time inside their prisons.
The Reema male who had been taken into custody insisted he had simply made the bad decision to steal the tray of chips because he was drunk and claimed he didn’t know the others. In contrast, Daniel Tan had refused to say anything. He wouldn’t even confirm his own name, which meant he was probably the only professional in the group.
Arnold Meeks and Carla Wexler had demanded that they be allowed to contact their legal representatives. They’d made a lot of noise about their prominent families and their connections to high-ranking elites within the Alliance. It had been satisfying to point out that Alliance rules meant fuck all at Wonderland.
They had no rights since they had broken the rules of the sanctuary.
Once they were locked away inside the cages and the devices they had confiscated were being analyzed by Evo, Gia and Ruckus joined forces to convince Charm to visit the med-center inside the sanctuary. She had wanted to clean and wrap the wound on her arm herself, but her friends refused to allow it.
Gia sighed. “Will you stop being so stubborn?”
“I’m—”
“You are not fine,” Ruckus interrupted. “What’s the point of having a doctor and med-tech on call if you aren’t going to use them?”
Since they had a point, Charm gave in.
The slash on her arm was a little more serious than she had originally thought, which had earned her a painful round of healing treatment. They closed the wound with a dissolvable sealant before they wrapped it up again. The stark white bandage was pretty obvious. She was offered a stabilizer to wear since she chanced reopening the wound every time she flexed her wrist, but she passed on that.
She’d rather risk it than impede her movement.
By the time she walked out of the sanctuary, the sun was setting, and night was falling fast. She briefly considered just heading home, but she’d given her word to Raek, Fenris, and Juliet that she would show up to the Festival of Lights.
And her word was her bond.
Even though they weren’t real siblings, she had sworn a blood oath with Raek and Fenris to become family after their parents had been killed in the same accident. As orphans, growing up on Earth hadn’t been easy for them, and living in a group home with mostly humans had bonded the three of them even closer.
They had all taken Raek’s last name since he was the eldest of the trio and the only son of the former alphas of their pack. That made him their new alpha, older brother, and protector. It was a role that had suited Raek. He was a strong fighter with brute strength who had won the Baxxtora Tournament before, but he also had a kind, caring nature that made him a good leader.
Fenris had always been a creative soul. Charm tended to fight with him a lot, but that was simply because they liked to annoy and tease one another. She loved and respected him, but sometimes he drove her fucking crazy.
When they had all gone their separate ways after they had aged out of the group home, they had still remained close. The settlement they had received from the company after their parents’ deaths had allowed them to live comfortably, but theyhad each chosen a different profession to dedicate themselves to. For Raek, that had meant becoming a famous chef, and for Fenris, a celebrated tattoo artist.