Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
LAUREL
Jule glanced at me from across the room and nodded. Claudia’s back was turned, and it was our chance to slip away. I followed him as he silently opened the apartment door, and we both stepped out into the corridor and started running.
Once we were in the stairwell, we were safe.
Claudia wouldn’t be caught dead doing stairs, and she never looked for us that hard, anyway.
We descended to the upper casino floor with happy grins as we entered the smoky, loud slots area.
No one paid us any attention as we stepped around tipsy patrons and past tables where dealers were passing out cards. It was a good place for two kids to get lost in a crowd.
We headed to our favourite place—a small bar area tucked away in a corner that was mostly forgotten. Jule helped himself to some pop, and I hopped up to sit on the counter, only to find it sticky.
“Ew,” I said, jumping back to the floor. Jule snickered, and I stuck my tongue out at him and made sure to splash him as I rinsed off in the sink.
He was already pulling out the bottles of nail polish and makeup we stashed down here.
“Wanna try that sparkly red again?” I asked.
He frowned. “Nah, it didn’t come off properly last time. Prince saw it and threatened to tell his dad.”
“He did?”
“Yeah. I punched him in the nuts.”
I laughed, and he grinned at me.
“It would have come off better if you didn’t get it everywhere,” he added.
“Puh-lease,” I retorted. “I’m way better at doing nails than you are.”
I was interrupted from picking colors when Jule grabbed my arm. “They came back,” he hissed.
I perked up, looking in the direction he had pointed. A small figure was winding their way through the busy casino floor, a stained hoodie covering their head.
“Told you so,” I said, elbowing him.
He shoved me back, grinning as we started after them. “I’ll cut them off,” Jule said. “Get them to the Rose Room.”
“Try not to screw it up!” I said, and he flipped his middle finger at me as he darted away.
I packed away my smile, focusing on my new mission. I picked up my pace, and so did the kid I was following. My heart was starting to race as determination rose inside me.
We would catch them this time, I knew it.
They were fast but had to act casual so they didn’t get noticed.
They moved into the corridor that led to the Rose Room, and I broke into a run, my shoes squeaking on the tile as I skidded around the corner.
They were already halfway down the hall, and when they glanced back at me, they looked annoyed.
From our previous times trying to catch them, we’d figured out they knew the layout of the Crimson Palace, so we knew where they’d try to go. Sure enough, they opened the door to the Rose Room, and I heard a yell and a loud thump.
“Ha!” Jule crowed. “I got you!”
“We got you,” I added, running into the room. I was not letting him hog all the credit.
The smaller kid was putting up a fight, but they had no chance. Jule was thirteen now, and Father made him train with Hugo almost every day.
“Get off me!” they spat, getting a hand free and trying to scratch his face.
Jule laughed and batted them away easily. “Is that all you got?” he taunted. “My little cousin hits harder than you.”
I snorted. That was a lie; Prince was a total wuss.
The kid glared at me as I locked the door behind us and tucked the key into my pocket.
“We locked both doors,” Jule said. “You can’t leave until we say so.”
They scowled, finally stilling under him.
“Whatever,” they said. “Get off me, you loser.”
Jule grinned, letting them go. They scrambled up, lifting their chin and folding their arms.
“Who’s the best?” Jule asked.
“You,” I responded, and he high-fived me.
“What do you two even want?” Their hoodie fell off, revealing a head of messy, short hair and pretty, dark eyes. A girl, like I’d thought. Her face was red, and she was ignoring Jule, who was staring at her. His ears had turned a bit pink.
“We know you sneak in here and steal stuff,” I said, rushing over and bouncing on my feet.
She was so cool.
“As if.” She scoffed. “You’re full of it.”
“You’re really bratty,” Jule said, smirking. “For what, an eight-year-old?”
“I’m twelve, asshole,” she hissed, looking at him again and narrowing her eyes. Her blush deepened, and she deliberately looked back at me.
“We’ve seen you stealing things,” I said, getting back to the point. “It’s so cool.”
“Eh, it’s not that impressive.” Jule shrugged.
She snorted. “Is too. I’m the best. I could steal whatever I want from a prissy jerk like you.”
“Yeah, right,” Jule said. “Bet you couldn’t.”
She was the one to smirk this time and held up Jule's key and three bottles of nail polish. “Eat your words.”
I laughed, and she held her hand up for a high five. I didn’t hesitate.
Jule went red, a scowl on his face. “Traitor,” he muttered at me.
“How did you do that?” I asked her, grabbing her arm. “Can you teach us?”
“You, maybe. But not your butt-face brother.”
I sniggered.
“Whatever,” Jule said. “Then Laurel won’t teach you about all the secret passages.”
“I won’t?” I asked.
“Nope.” He pulled me over to his side. “Even she’s not that much of a traitor. You teach us both how to steal stuff, and we teach you how to sneak all over the casino without being seen. Right, Laurel?”
He looked at me, and I wrinkled my nose.
“Yeah…okay.” I shot the girl an apologetic look. He was my BFF, after all.
“Fine.” She shrugged. “Tomorrow. Same time, same place.”
“Yes!” I said, jumping up and down again.
“I’m keeping these, though.” She pocketed the nail polish and Jule’s key. “Finders keepers.”
She glared as if we were going to argue, but it didn’t matter. We had tons of nail polish.
She went to the exit and stuck the key in.
“Wait! What’s your name?” I asked as she unlocked it.
“Jade,” she replied.
“Cool! I’m Laurel, and that’s Julius.”
Jade snorted with laughter. “No way! What kind of dumbass name is Julius?”
Jule’s whole face burned red, and I got an elbow to the ribs. “What the hell, Laurel?” he hissed.
“Sorry! It’s just Jule,” I said, anxious because Jule actually seemed mad at me—which never happened.
Jade opened the door, raising her eyebrows. “Later, Laurel. Juli-ass.”
“Hey! Take that back!” Jule shouted as she darted out the door. He ran after her, and I went back to our corner by myself. He was fuming when he came back empty-handed.