Page 19 of Kiss of Wrath

Zeb shook his head. “No, but I’m working on two of them who are wavering on the side of extreme sin. But there are more than ten thousand men and women at the Naval Amphibious Base there who are away from home and thus easily tempted.”

Hector was looking at a paper in front of him. “Your numbers are not that great there, Zeb. Do you consider that site a lost cause?”

“Absolutely not. Yes, it is taking me a while to turn a SEAL, but we never thought it would be easy. Loyalty, faithfulness, dedication, and all that crap. Damnation, but how do I fang men or women who run five miles, twice a day?”

“Run after them,” Yakov suggested, and they all laughed. Hard to picture Lucipires jogging with their tails dragging. Of course, Zeb would be in humanoid form there.

“In my defense,” Zeb continued, “remember our discussion before I relocated to Coronado? One SEAL kill would equal a hundred others. Maybe several hundred. A real coup!”

“You’re right, Zeb. Continue your work there,” Jasper said.

“But what is this proposal you are making here today?” Haroun wanted to know. Even as he spoke, he was fussing with a remote and watching a red-haired Irish girl on the other side of the room as she began to squirm. A buzzing sound resonated in the momentarily silent room.

“I followed some military men for a weekend trip to Las Vegas recently, and it occurred to me that casino cities like Las Vegas or Atlantic City or Reno or Monaco or Macau would be prime hunting grounds for sinners.”

Everyone sat straighter with interest.

“You could be right, Zeb,” Jasper said. “They don’t call Las Vegas Sin City for nothing.”

The others nodded.

“And Macau in China is being touted as the new Las Vegas,” Hector added.

“We must proceed cautiously this time,” Jasper said, not wanting to bring up the last three failed missions. A Sin Cruise, the SEALs, and then Angola Prison. “Planning will be everything. What do you have in mind, Zeb?”

“Well, let us try to hit several of the casino cities at once. That way, the vangels will have to divide their ranks to fight us, assuming they learn of our plans.”

“There are four of you here,” Jasper pointed out. “Each of you can handle operations in Las Vegas, Reno, Monaco, and Macau. I will oversee operations. We can leave Atlantic City for some other time.”

They all had suggestions for how to proceed, and Jasper loved how they worked together. Not like it had been when Dominique was around, always creating discord.

“We will immediately infiltrate the casinos with some of our Lucipires,” Zeb said, apparently having put some thought into this already. “They can work in many capacities. Everything from maintenance to roulette dealers to showgirls to—”

“Well, if you’re going to have some of our female Lucipires be showgirls, you might as well let some of them be hookers. Is that not what they call paid harlots in this time?” Haroun grinned, which was not a pretty thing on a demon vampire. The fangs and long tongues got in the way.

“They would like that,” Yakov agreed. “In fact, some of the men could hook, too.”

When the council finished making initial plans and agreed to meet again in one week, Zeb asked Jasper for a private moment.

“Would you agree to my taking a few days off?”

“At the beginning of a mission?”

Zeb shrugged. “I feel a bit burned out.”

Odd statement for a demon! “Where would you go?”

Zeb shrugged again. “Somewhere warm, I think.”

Jasper had heard rumors that Zeb had a secret hideaway which he escaped to on occasion. Thus far, Jasper hadn’t felt a need to investigate further. “I could go with you,” he surprised himself by saying.

Zeb was shocked, but he immediately regained his calm. “I do not think that would be a good idea. Not this time.” He waggled his big eyebrows at him. Even as a demon vampire, Zeb was rather handsome.

So, a woman was involved. “Anyone I know?”

Zeb shook his head.

“A Lucipire?”