Page 6 of Heart Over Heels

During my last deployment, news broke that demons were real. It was all anyone on base would talk about for weeks. We didn’t see much evidence of the supernatural overseas, but it was just my luck that Heaven and Hell would choose to plant their flags in my hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada.

After my discharge, I traded one desert for another. But Vegas had changed. Casinos had been gutted, rebuilt, and rebranded with holy or hellish themes. The Basilica—formerly the Bellagio—was where I landed. They called it hospitality work, but most days my job as armed security meant showing drunks, cheaters, and sore losers the door.

The fountains out front remained our biggest draw, and I’d heard rumors that the water in it was blessed now, spewing sanctified fluid hundreds of feet into the air.

I was skeptical right up until I met my boss.

Antonella Rossetti looked every inch the immortal being she was. Since joining her staff, I’d seen things I’d never thought possible. Ethereal beings strolled the property like it was their private park while Antonella’s half-breed children treated itmore like a playground. Rumor had it she’d birthed the four of them through a string of human husbands, black widow style.

It was an unsettling claim, but I’d learned not to ask questions.

As little as I knew about angels, I knew less about demons. They weren’t allowed on the premises. Hell, they weren’t even allowed on this side of the Boulevard. The Strip had been split clean down the middle, divided by a line in the sand no one dared to cross.

But I’d heard whispers. Talk of Antonella setting her sights beyond her half of the city. I tried to stay out of it. My job was to handle what happenedinsidethese walls, not outside them, and I was done fighting.

Retired.

Regrettably.

Being forced out of the Marines had left me adrift; I’d planned to be a lifer. At thirty, I was still young, but without the structure, camaraderie, and sense of purpose, I was restless. And patrolling casino floors day in and day out didn’t scratch that itch.

I rounded the corner of the gaming floor and started yet another loop. My right leg gave a sharp twinge, and I paused to rub the spot where my knee met the socket of my prosthesis. Walking for hours wasn’t a mental burden, but it could be a physical one. I’d rushed through recovery and discharge against my doctor’s advice, but even then, I hadn’t been sure what I was racing toward. What I ranintowas the harsh reality of everything I’d lost.

While I stood there stooped, a voice crackled through my earpiece:“We’ve got infernal activity on the main floor. Keep your eyes open and proceed with caution.”

That perked me right up. I ignored the responding pinch of pain as I started into motion with my head on a swivel. Themain floor of the Basilica spanned over a hundred thousand square feet, so I could only hope the next report was more specific. “Infernal activity” was bound to be more interesting than repeating my rounds for the umpteenth time.

I hurried along, listening for an update until I saw one instead. At the edge of the gaming floor, three guards clustered. The way they flocked combined with the announcement made for easy math.

They likely had the situation handled, but I was curious enough to at least get a glimpse of the interloper. In the past few months of my employment, I’d seen a few dozen angels, but the closest I’d ever gotten to a demon was riding past the billboard signs for the strip club down the road. That was an exotic bunch, for sure, flaunting horns, tails, and pointy teeth.

As I closed in on the intervention in progress, I got my first look at the intruder.

The tiny thing was fully a foot shorter than the guards surrounding her. She wore a frilly top with a corset cinched around her middle, and a miniskirt over sheer thigh-high stockings.

Her hair was wavy white, though she wasn’t old. Near my age. Maybe younger?

Oddly, her demonic traits were the last things I noticed. A long black tail swished between her legs, the motion reminiscent of an agitated housecat, and a pair of ram-like horns curled on either side of her head.

When the lead guard lunged for her, I almost wondered if she wouldn’t counter with a headbutt and knock him on his ass.

Rather than attack, the little demon reared back, fighting the pull as the guard dragged her toward… not the exit.

Rough treatment was one thing. But the direction they were heading—toward one of the casino’s interior rooms—brokeprotocol completely. Unwanted visitors were supposed to be escorted off property, not stashed out of view.

I was close enough now to hear her protests.

“It was an honest mistake, I swear! I’ll leave, I’m going, just please…”

Her voice was deeper than I expected and not exactly feminine. My brow furrowed as I quickened my pace, suspicion mounting with every step.

I caught up to the guard at the rear and spun him around.

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “Did someone forget the way to the door?”

The man I knew as O’Leary faced me without a hint of shame.

“The little rat says it’s on a tour.” He jerked his chin toward the other guards. “So we figured we’d show it one of our moreexclusiveareas.” He waggled his brows while the other two continued hauling the demon toward the closet.