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casino?”
    â€œPardonne moi?”
    â€œDue to a problem with your reservation, you’ve been upgraded to a Daring Sea suite. We’re fully booked, but you’ll be charged only the price of the posted rate of the room you reserved. And a Daring Sea suite entitles you to a personal concierge to handle every need of your trip from check-in to check-out.”
    Devereaux forced a smile, hating this chit-chat for the time wasted with distraction. At least inside this well-appointed VIP lounge he was out of view from the many roaming the lobby beyond. Lingering in one place too long left him open to scrutiny, the chance that someone might notice him, warned to expect his presence. He had taken a great risk by coming here. But the stakes called for it.
    Justice called for it.
    Devereaux had crossed through the sprawling lobby, mentally cataloguing the number and placement of hotel security personnel, each with a cord rising out of their suit collars connecting to a tiny bud in their ears. Security at the Seven Sins was legendarily tight and Devereaux had only recently begun to suspect why.
    He’d read that every inch of the hotel had been designed to provide the desired effect for guests of moving from the mundane present into a majestic and ancient past offering the spirit of adventure, right from the moment they passed through the entrance. A forest of golden ionic columns greeted them, stretching upward from the black marble lobby floor adorned with live exotic flowers from the radiant golden iris to rare red poppies. The effect left Devereaux feeling he was standing not so much in a place, as a state of mind. And the state of mind of the Seven Sins conjured visions of glamour and dreams, where opulence and decadence somehow co-existed.
    Devereaux had shaken himself from the trance and continued his scrutiny of the setting, forcing himself to view his surroundings in much more of a detached manner, not a typical guest. Because he was here on business, vital business. Not pleasure, not even close. Indeed, it was the pain suffered by others that had drawn him here.
    As luck would have it, he’d now be staying in one of the Daring Sea suites erected on ten floors beneath ground level with one entire wall offering view into a massive underwater environment prowled by the only great white sharks to ever survive in captivity. One section of the lobby floor was glass as well, allowing strollers a clear view of marine life captured in a perfectly recreated ocean habitat. Those wishing a longer and better view of the great whites themselves need only wait in line to view “Red Water,” an elegant and, for some, wicked spectacle of nature that encompassed the creatures’ feeding time.
    Devereaux found that to be an apt metaphor for what had drawn him here. Because he’d come to Las Vegas on the trail of a monster.
    And he believed that trail led to the Seven Sins.
    â€œOne more thing, Mr. Devereaux,” the concierge, Melissa, was saying from behind the desk.
    â€œYes?” he responded, trying not to sound nervous.
    She slid a piece of paper toward him. “Here at the Seven Sins, five percent of the proceeds from your stay will be donated to charity. You can check one of those on this form or write a charity of your own choice below.”
    Devereaux took the page and grabbed a pen from a nearby resting place. “A wonderful gesture.”
    â€œJust the way we do business here. Mr. Tiranno believes everything is possible, including helping those in need dream as well.”
    â€œI couldn’t agree more,” Devereaux told her
    Only my dream, he thought, is to catch a monster.

 
    EIGHT
    L AS V EGAS, N EVADA
    Michael’s thoughts became a blur, swirling about, past and present becoming one. He felt detached from his body, as if he were standing outside himself viewing his own motions.
    Tess, the second Tyrant Girl, had shrunk back against the rear of the cage, cowering