Playing Against Type: Soulgirls, Book 4 Read Free Page A

between one blink and the next. The stage manager pressed a hand to the back of her neck and urged her head down.
    “Breathe.” The soothing command in the voice eased the nerves stretching taut through her.
    “The Overseers never request anything.”
    “Of course they do.” Heidi chuckled. “But only when they are certain of the outcome.” She rubbed Peppermint’s back in slow, easy circles. “Now breathe, it’s not as bad as all that.”
    “Are you sure? I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong and I do my best to follow every rule, I promise.”
    “I know you have and you’re not in trouble.” Heidi settled into the chair next to her and took her hands. “Seriously, Pepper. Look at me. You are not in trouble.”
    Lifting her head, Peppermint met Heidi’s gaze and a blanket of calm draped over her frazzled nerves. “Really?”
    “Absolutely. In fact, it’s your sunny disposition and genuine caring for others that the Overseers are relying on—that and your loyalty to the Arcana Royale.” Although her expression never wavered, the stage manager added a curious amount of weight to the final part of her statement.
    “I love this place—the theatre, the casino, all of you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do.” How could she not be willing to do anything for them? When she arrived here in 1981, her heart and lungs verged on collapse. Bone cancer devastated her body, the disease metastasized so broadly that no physician would treat her. Chemotherapy and radiation wouldn’t work, so they advised her to spend time with her loved ones.
    Instead, Pepper Kirk hit the road, determined to see all the wondrous sights her country had to offer before her life ended prematurely. She had no idea when she walked into the Arcana Royale she would find a new lease on life, but the curse that turned her into a porcelain doll by day froze the disease in its tracks. Thirty years of life later—yeah, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her home.
    “We know you do, but what I am about to ask you may make you uncomfortable. I want you to be honest with me about it and I will do everything I can to make this easier for you.” Heidi gave Peppermint’s hands a light squeeze.
    “Anything, Heidi. I mean it, just ask. If I can do it, I will and if I can’t, I’ll find a way.”
    “Good.” Heidi retrieved a folder and flipped it open, revealing a photograph of a man in an elevator. Handsome and trim, his tanned face said he spent a lot of time in the sun, but the humor gentling his mouth also suggested a kindness. “This is Finn Mikelson, a Special Agent with the FBI.”
    “Okay.” Nibbling her lower lip, she glanced from the photograph to Heidi and back again.
    “He checked into the Arcana Royale this morning. He’s here of his own volition, extremely human, and on a mission to uncover the casino’s secrets.” The lightness of her tone belied the gravity of her words. “Since his arrival, he’s made periodic sweeps of the main levels and planted several listening and observational devices. Those will be dealt with, but—”
    “He’s spying on us?” Peppermint blinked.
    “Yes.”
    “Why?” And he seemed to have such a nice face too. Why would he do something so reprehensible?
    “He believes the Arcana Royale is a front for organized crime.”
    Gaping, Pepper could barely control the laughter that bubbled out. Organized crime in the casino? It was absurd. Maybe everywhere else in Vegas, but the Arcana Royale catered to creatures who could, literally, eat the mob for lunch.
    “Yes, it seems ridiculous—and normally we wouldn’t mind. We’d let the agent spin his wheels, discover little to nothing, and send him on his way.”
    “But?” Because clearly, a but was in the offing.
    “He is immune to most of the natural enchantments preventing humans from truly experiencing the Arcana Royale. Most of the main levels are tame at the moment. The Overseers have ordered the more distinctive creatures