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anticipation. “And it won’t hurt her, either, right?”
    “It merely opens the mind to possibilities. You have seen this before.”
    “Oh yeah.”
    Chen handed him the vial with a flourish.
    Brandon glanced down, clearly intending to pass over the scale. He looked at Chen in confusion. “How’d you do that?”
    “Sometimes the hand is quicker than the eye,” Chen said with a smile.
    Brandon laughed. “Well, have a good trip home, Chen, if I don’t see you again.”
    “Oh, I will,” Chen said and shook hands with the
Pyr
who would soon be his to command.
    There was no doubt that they would see each other again.
    All in good time.
    Brandon headed toward his surfboard, whistling. He brushed shoulders with another man on the threshold of the bar, a man in his thirties with dark blond hair and sunglasses. That man eyed Brandon with curiosity before coming to join Chen.
    “Fraternizing with the enemy?” Jean-Pierre asked as he took a seat, only the most faint French accent clinging to his words.
    “Recruiting,” Chen corrected, and smiled. JP looked as if he would ask more, but Chen wasn’t interested in sharing all of his plans with his newest acolyte.
    JP was merely a pawn in Chen’s game, although he was foolish enough to imagine his role to be more significant than that.
    Of course, Chen had lied to him to encourage that view. What was important about JP was that he would bring Chen the
Pyr
with the strongest affinity to water.
    First, Lorenzo and his link to water.
    Then Brandon and his link to earth.
    Then Thorolf and his link to air.
    Chen would take care of fire himself.
    JP shimmered slightly, on the cusp of change himself. Chen was delighted to see the effect of the Dragon Bone Powder, even on the
Slayer
. He would need to replenish his stores soon.
    “Something in the air here,” JP said, that blue shimmer dancing around his body. He glanced at the beach. “All these kids. Raw testosterone.”
    “Not quite,” Chen said, smiling into his pineapple juice.
    JP watched him for a moment. “So, you said you needed me to capture Lorenzo and persuade him to join you,” he said, removing his sunglasses. “You haven’t told me why it will be worth my while to help.”
    “The
Pyr
owe you a debt for the murder of your brother.”
    “That was Quinn and Donovan who cut down Lucien.” JP frowned. “I don’t see what Lorenzo has to do with it.”
    Chen smiled. “It is often better to work from the inside. I find the idea of turning one
Pyr
against the others appealing—and potentially very effective.”
    JP studied the older
Slayer
for a long moment. “Why me?”
    “You are the ideal
Slayer
to aid me in this quest, because you appreciate the necessity of stealth,” he said, watching JP’s gaze brighten. “Have you not watched Quinn and Donovan for years, awaiting the perfect moment for vengeance?”
    JP appeared to be uncomfortable. “I thought no one knew that.”
    Chen smiled again. “Today, we negotiate your compensation.” With those few words, Chen knew that he had this
Slayer’
s undivided attention.
    Perfect.

Chapter 1
    Las Vegas
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
    T acky, tacky, tacky.
    Cassie Redmond knew from tacky, but this town really kicked it up a notch. The lights. The velvet paintings. The casinos. The fake attractions and the rhinestones. It was the relentless glitz that drove her crazy. Everything was shiny and everything was an illusion.
    Her reaction was probably stronger because of her own current view of the world. Cassie was sick of celebrities and sick of publicity, sick of “spin,” sick of everything that pretended to be something it was not.
    As a freelance photographer specializing in candid shots of celebrities, illusion was tough to escape. Cassie was part of the paparazzi, one of the best of the best, because she excelled at the hunt and in nailing the perfect image.
    In a way, her job was to help to perpetuate illusion—and her current attitude wasn’t healthy for