Of Death and Darkness (Forgotten Kingdoms #3)

Chapter 1

“Come on! We’re gonna be late, and you know Saphira will start to worry.” I held the door to our hotel room open for my sister, Rhode.

“I’m coming. Just a second.” She stumbled from the bathroom and shoved another small Band-Aid into her clutch purse. Her pale blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail that flailed about with each of her hurried movements.

“And everyone says I mother people. You’re the one with Band-Aids in your purse.” I chuckled as she spun in a circle looking around the room like she was forgetting something. It was a typical hotel room with two pristine white beds, a single TV, and our luggage sprawled out everywhere.

“Why are you laughing?” She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at me.

“Because your tits are pointing at me.” My sister had decided to go as Madonna to the world’s most notorious Halloween party in Vegas. It was pretty shocking we even got invited to The Portal Hotel and Casino, yet here we were: her with her huge cone boobs and me in my best Cher fishnet outfit, trying to turn back time.

She looked down at the golden cones, then did a little shimmy. “You know you like it.”

“I do.” And we both broke out into little shimmy dances for a moment.

“I still can’t believe so much of your ass is showing, but I’m kind of proud of you.” Rhode walked over to the dresser and grabbed a little packet of alcohol wipes and shoved them into her bag.

“It’s not that much.” My entire body was covered in a black fishnet bodysuit with some thick black strips of fabric over all the parts I didn’t want showing. “Besides, my jacket covers a lot.”

I did a half-turn, showing her where the jacket fell to my hips. Normally, my hair was dark and wavy, but tonight I teased and curled the hell out of it to get that huge eighties curl to top off my costume. We went big so we wouldn’t have to go home. Rhode and I were the same height at a towering 5’2”. Where she was slim and delicate, I was just a tiny bit curvier. Though we couldn’t remember our parents, I liked to think that our matching blue eyes might’ve come from our mother. I didn’t know why, but the thought comforted me.

I tossed my hair over my shoulder. “I’m here for our ladies of the eighties vibe.”

“Me too.” Rhode smiled, but there was a sharpness in her eyes that told me she wasn’t as relaxed as she looked. “Let’s get out of here. I need to shut my brain off.”

“I’m ready for a break.” As if on cue, my cell rang. I pulled it from my bag. “Hey, Janet, how’s it going?”

“Now who’s slowing us down?” Rhode teased as she sauntered past me with her giant cone boobs and bright-red lipstick.

I let the hotel door fall shut behind me as Janet spoke. “Hey, I know you’re on vacation, but do we need anything else for Jason’s adoption hearing tomorrow?”

“No, we should be all good. I made sure all the paperwork was done on our end. The future parents signed off on everything, and Jason can’t wait to officially be part of the Rojas family. Literally all that needs to happen tomorrow is for the judge to sign off and for the family to celebrate.”

Janet let go of a happy sigh. “Man, I wish our jobs were always like this: good kid, good family. Match made in social services heaven.”

“If only.” As a social worker, I’d seen a lot of good things but also a lot of bad.

“I know it’s the first vacation you’ve taken in years, but honestly, Mo, you deserve it. Now, go have a good time and forget I called.”

As we walked down the hall toward the elevator, my spiked thigh-high boots sank into the carpet, giving me the traction I needed to get to the elevator faster. “Don’t worry about it. Text me tomorrow. Let me know how it goes.”

“Will do. But, Mo, HAVE FUN. You always take care of everyone else. It’s your turn to take care of you.”

My turn to take care of me. Was there such a thing?“I know. And don’t worry—what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

“You wish,” Rhode whispered. “If you do anything awesome, I’m going to video it as proof you know how to have a good time.”

“I’m with her.” Janet chuckled.

“And I’m going . . . Byeeee. Good luck tomorrow.” I ended the call and slid my phone into the pocket of my leather jacket before Janet could respond to me.

We stopped in front of the bank of elevators, and Rhode hit the button. “I can’t believe we’re here. Like how did this actually happen?”

“I have no idea. I’m shocked we won these tickets.” I wagged my eyebrows. “But while we’re here . . . we gonna do the damn thing.”

Rhode chuckled. “Oh, I love when this side of you comes out to play. It’s so rare.”

The elevator gave a ding and the golden doors slid open, and we stepped inside. Out of habit, I moved to the side and hit the button for the lobby. Rhode moved to the other side and stood across from me.

“Hold the elevator!” a woman called from down the hall. “We’re coming!”

My arm shot out and stopped the doors from closing. Three women dressed as the chipmunks piled into the elevator. They each wore an oversized sweatshirt, knee-high white socks, and little hats. The one dressed as Alvin looked me up and down. “Cher, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Love it.” The other, dressed as Simon, shoved her big fake glasses up her nose.

The doors started to slide shut once more when a guy called out, “Hold on!”

Again, my arm shot out, and Rhode narrowed her eyes at me. I didn’t want to be packed in here anymore than the next person, but I couldn’t help it. Two towering guys piled in. One wore one of those blow-up T-Rex suits and the other a blow-up shark. When they got into the elevator, I got smacked in the face with a blow-up fin. I leaned away from him, pushing the fin away from my face.

“Oh, my bad. Thing has a mind of its own.”

“It’s cool.” I sidestepped my way to the back of the elevator as the doors slid closed and the elevator began to descend.

The T-Rex tried to turn to face the door but ended up smacking the Theodore chipmunk woman in the legs. She chuckled and danced to the side, bumping into her other friend. We were all standing there laughing when the elevator began to shake back and forth as if there was some kind of earthquake. The chipmunks began to scream and hold on to each other while our two blow-up guys rocked back and forth struggling to regain their balance. When I met Rhode’s eyes, her face was a mirror of my own. Both of us stood there with the oh shit, we’re in trouble faces. It sounded like wind whipped up the elevator shaft and then the elevator ground to a halt and everything stopped moving. Everyone felt silent for a moment before panic filled them all.

T-Rex shifted from one foot to the other. “Yo! What was that?”

“I can’t be stuck in here, bro.” The guy in the blow-up shark suit sounded like he was talking through a bubble.

The girl with the Alvin sweatshirt began to whimper. “Now would be a really bad time to tell everyone that I have to pee so bad.”

“Oh my god!” Theodore exclaimed. “Me too! We have to get out of here.”

She shoved her way toward the panel of buttons, but she tripped over the T-Rex’s tail and fell headfirst into the doors. There was a loud thunk, and she dropped to the ground and pressed her hand to her head. “Shit! My head.”

“Oh, bro! She’s bleeding, bro!” Shark guy tried to hit his T-Rex friend.

“Rhode,” I called past the Simon and Theodore chipmunks as they hovered over Alvin.

“You see? I told you.” She started rummaging through her purse.“Take back your mockery.”

“Okay, everyone, let’s calm down for a second.” I bent down and pulled Alvin back toward the wall and let her sit on the ground. “Just give it a minute. My sister’s a nurse. She can help you.”

Rhode bet over and her cones got a little too close to Alvin’s face. “Hey, don’t poke her eye out.”

She chuckled. “I’m a pro, even with these things.”

“I can’t breathe. It’s too hot. It’s too small.” Shark boy started shifting back and forth on his feet. “I can’t be here, bro. I gotta be free.”

“Free? What are you talking about?” T-Rex turned toward him and smacked Rhode and the other two chipmunks with his tail.

“Okay, guys, this isn’t working.” I stepped behind them and quickly pulled at the zippers of their blow-up suits. Shark guy practically leapt out of it. He was at least six feet tall, rotund, and a ball of sweat.

T-Rex was just as tall and round, except he seemed disappointed to be out of his suit. “I liked that costume.”

“Relax, dino guy. It’s just until we figure out what’s going on.” I glanced down at my sister. “You good?”

“Yeah, it’s not too deep.” She pulled a small tube from her purse. “I’m about to save you like three hours in the ER. I don’t think you have a concussion, but no drinking tonight, and if you get even the tiniest bit dizzy or out of it, you gotta go to the hospital. Okay?”

Alvin looked up at her with wide eyes and nodded. “What are you gonna do?”

“This is surgical glue. I’m gonna glue this together and throw a Band-Aid over it. You’ll never know it was there.” She pulled the cap off.

Alvin smiled and angled her head toward Rhode. “Cool.”

“Glue is not cool, bro.” Shark boy’s eyes darted around the elevator. “I gotta be free!”

“What?” His friend’s brow furrowed as he looked him up and down. “What are you talking about?”

Suddenly, shark guy ripped his shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground, revealing all of his rolls. His belly jiggled as he hooked his thumbs into his shorts.

“STOP!” I jumped around him and snapped my fingers in his face. “Hey, look at me.”

When his wide eyes met mine, I broke out my best do what I say voice. “Do not drop your shit in this elevator. No one wants to see that, dude.”

When he looked like he wasn’t going to listen to me, I snapped, “Hey.”

“Ohhh, you got mom-voiceeeeeddddd.” Rhode chuckled from her spot on the ground.

“His ass is about to be in your face. You want to keep teasing?” I pressed myself against the wall and slid around him toward the panel of buttons.

Rhode finished cleaning up Alvin with some antiseptic wipes, and it was like nothing had ever happened. She shrugged and eyed the guys. “I’ve seen worse.”

I shook my head. “Wise ass.”

“You still love me.”

I turned back to shark guy. “Okay, give me a minute, can you do that?”

He slowly unhooked his thumbs from his shorts and nodded.

I sucked in a deep breath and pressed the call button. It buzzed and a voice came over the intercom. “Yeah.”

“Um . . . hi. We seem to be stuck.”

“Well, yeah.” The guy sounded like he was chewing on gum.

I tried for patience. “Do you think you could call someone to help get us out.”

“I don’t think so,” the voice crackled.

“Why not?”

“Because you all pushed the stop button. Hit it again and the elevator will go.” The intercom clicked again, and it sounded like he hung up a phone.

“Really?” I smacked my hand against the button and the elevator rocked to life.

The guy in the shark suit hooked his fingers back into the waistband of his shorts and smirked at me.

I jabbed my finger into his face. “Do it and you lose a fin.”

The doors slid open and shark guy and T-Rex tumbled out of the elevator in front of me. Across from us stood the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. He was so much taller than me, with long dark hair that was cut in jagged lines at the ends. His eyes were so blue they nearly glowed in the dim light. His lips pulled up in a cocky half-smirk, and I felt my heart do a little flip-flop. He wore a long leather coat that covered a leather breastplate and old worn-in leather pants. I had no idea what kind of costume it was. All I knew was it was sexy as hell.

“Free! We’re free!” Shark guy rolled on the floor at my feet.

His buddy jumped to stand and pulled him up. “Come on, man. Let’s go.”

The two of them stumbled away, and when I glanced up looking for the sexy as fuck guy, he was gone. I glanced over to Rhode. “Now I could really use a drink.”