74. Kiera
KIERA
I’d gotten spoiled by the gentle sun peeking into my room in Dom’s mansion.
The blaring horn of the bullet train pulling into Delphi’s station was enough to wake a tranquilized black bear.
Startling up, my eyes shot open. Across the cabin, Spencer was grabbing a backpack from under the luxurious couch.
I wasn’t sure how our bags had gotten here — or how I’d gotten into her bed, for that matter — but as soon as Spencer caught my gaze, she smiled. “Morning, Bunny. We sent them ahead, change of clothes for after our meeting.”
Standing from the bed, I straightened out my red dress. It had definitely seen better days, wrinkles from my night at the Station, with Dom in the bar, and sleeping covered every inch of the chiffon.
The train came to a slow stop as Dom stood vigil by the cabin door. She didn’t bother looking at me. Her brand new dress shirt had erased everything that happened between us the night before.
Besides the soreness between my legs, the scratches on her strong chest would be my only evidence.
“This is us.” Leo nodded, her own sleek backpack on her broad shoulders. Holding out her hand for me, I let her guide me off the train.
Stepping onto a new platform, pristine white subway tiles with green accents decorated the station. It looked like the old New York City city hall stop, the one my dad had taken me on a tour of when I was six.
Leo looped my arm in hers as she guided me toward the set of stairs at the end of the platform. Dom led the way, brooding as she took the steps two at a time.
Is she still thinking about how I felt?
It was all I wanted to know as I watched her muscular back strain against her tight suit jacket. I hated admiring her — I should’ve been appalled at the way she’d taken me.
But that would mean that I hadn’t loved every second of it.
The bracelet around my wrist burned into my skin.
She’d claimed me that night in the shop. But this had felt different. Not done for duty but for lust and passion.
Breaking my trance, Spencer draped an arm over my shoulder. “So, excited?”
“I would be more excited if I knew where the fuck we were.” We’d been on the train for eight hours. We could be near the equator or somehow at the North Pole for all I knew.
I hope I’m warm enough…
I hadn’t packed a jacket, Dom’s gold Camaro was blasting heat as we drove to the Station the night before and a jacket would’ve ruined the outfit.
As we made our way out of the underground tunnels, a wave of dry heat smacked me in the face. It wasn’t anywhere near as cold as it was back home. The winter had set into Valemont like a brutal lion. But this felt like a sunny vacation, a gentle air conditioner cutting through the warmth.
When we reached the top of the stairs, my jaw dropped. Pristine tile floors and glass walls lined the lobby of what looked like a luxury hotel. Well-dressed guests zipped across the open layout as Dom guided us toward the receptionist.
Outside, a desert stretched out over flat land. The huge windows of the curved building kept the beating sun at bay, the heavy tint of the glass obvious by the grayish hue the direct sun cast in the lobby.
“I thought it was going to be a mountain.” Looking up, my eyes followed a glass elevator to the top of the tower.
Mount Olympus. Delphi. It’s always mountains.
With a shrug, Spencer laughed. “What is a skyscraper but an urban mountain?”
I launched a gentle punch into Spencer’s arm, landing right where her tattoo was — hidden by the dress shirt she was still sporting. She looked good all dressed up despite it being completely antithetical to her usual vibe.
My cheeks flushed at the thought of her, forcing my eyes back to the architecture of this building. I wasn’t even sure where the cool AC was coming from. The place was seamless, not a hint of utility.
“It’s so pretty,” I muttered as my feet walked me into the center of the lobby.
“You should see the outside,” Leo’s hand pressed into my lower back, guiding me back to the receptionist desk. “It looks like a total dump.”
My eyebrows raised, finding that hard to believe.
Before I could challenge it, Dom’s voice called my eyes to the front desk. “We’re here to see The Oracle.”
“Yes, Ms. Dumont. Welcome to Delphi.” Her fingers raced across the keyboard hidden below the counter. “You’re going to take that elevator to the top floor. They’ll be waiting for you.”
Dom knocked on the counter a couple times before walking away, leading all of us to the clear elevator at the opposite end of the lobby.
The pristine stainless steel doors were swinging open as soon as we approached.
Leo held the doors open for me. “Your chariot awaits, Princess.”
Filing in, Dom and Spencer stood closest to the door. Dom clicked the button at the very top of the line.
Once the doors closed, the elevator zipped upward, a force I’d not felt before as my feet dug into the metal floor.
My stomach dropped as I felt the speed we were rising.
It was a matter of seconds before we broke through the covered lobby and our glass elevator was brought into the open sun of the unfolding desert.
Beyond this building, the vast expanse of Las Vegas sparkled. We were far from the Strip, or at least what I assumed was the Strip. Even in the daylight, the lights from the faux-Eiffel Tower and Caesar’s Palace were guiding my eyes to the collection of casinos and hotels at the center of the city.
“Vegas?”
Leo nodded. “Yep. The epicenter of the underworld. The mobsters let us set up shop back in the 30s. We stay out of their business, they stay out of ours.”
As we reached the top floors of the hotel, nausea set in. I wasn’t sure if it was the height or the nerves of meeting The Oracle. Either way, I couldn’t stop my hand from jolting out and grabbed Dom’s to squeeze as I held in a vomit.
Seconds passed before the elevator drifted to a stop, a light ding making my hand flinch away from Dom’s.
I could feel Spencer and Leo’s crinkled foreheads and suspicious glances.
What had happened between Dom and I the night before wasn’t going to happen again. Because she was still just as much of an asshole as she was before. And she still couldn’t manage to accept how she’d hurt me. Us.
I was still waiting for her actions to match her apology.
Before the door could open, Spencer pulled me into her torso as she lowered her voice. “This is it. Ready for the big leagues, Bunny?”