The thunderbird exploded right out of the paella before Molly and me; all the meat slamming back together to re-form the great flying bird it had once been, with a long bony beak and flapping skinless wings. It was dead and it was alive and it stabbed viciously at me with its beak. Screaming horribly, as though seeking revenge for its death, for our meal. I dodged the beak and punched it in the head, and hurt my hand. Molly yelled for me to get out of the way, and hit the thunderbird with a fireball. It scrabbled across the tabletop, burning fiercely, flapping its fiery wings, not dying because it was already dead.
“Why isn’t the hotel dropping a null zone on all this?” I said.
“I don’t know!” said Molly, hitting the flapping bird with another fireball. “Maybe they approve of competitors thinning out the herd, before the games start.”
I looked quickly about me. The whole restaurant was in an uproar, with everyone fighting off what had been their meals just a moment before. No one was trying to work together, and no one was interested in helping anyone else.
I grinned at Molly. “I’ve got an idea!”
“About time! These fireballs are barely slowing it down. What’s your idea?”
“Grab a wing!” I said.
And we both grabbed a flapping wing, gritting our teeth against the flames, and ripped the wings right off the firebird. The fight went out of it. Slowly, it stopped struggling, and then it just lay there on the tabletop, a very overdone piece of blackened meat. The wings turned into mists in our hands, and disappeared. And the burns on our hands disappeared, too. Which made me wonder just how real the whole experience had been, anyway.
I looked to Jacqueline, but she was gone. Hyde was there. A squat, ugly, barrel-chested figure, with a dark face and a beast’s eyes; an angry vicious brute that hated everything in the world, except the one person he could never have. He tore the curry monster to pieces with savage exuberance, laughing aloud as he did it. It was a horrid sound that raised all the hairs on the back of my neck. Hyde looked around, knowing he was feared and hated by everyone else in the restaurant, and loving it.
He turned back into Jacqueline, and for a moment I seemed to see both of them at once, two people superimposed on the same spot. It looked like they were holding hands. And then Jacqueline was back; her head down and her shoulders slumped. As though she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.
And then everything stopped. The food attacks crashed to a halt, as all the food went back to being food again. And that was when I realised Leopold had finished his exorcism. We all looked at him, and he looked coldly back at all of us. He didn’t look calm or serene any more.
“Yes,” he said. “I saved you. Not because any of you are worth saving, but because there’s no fun in winning against second-raters.”
He turned his back on all of us, and strode out of the restaurant, his scarlet robes swirling around him. Molly turned to our waiter, who was still standing by our table, shuddering and quaking. She smiled sweetly at him.
“Could we order something else? I don’t think this paella agrees with us.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Gambling with Your Life
Uniformed staff arrived with stretchers to take away a dozen or so dead bodies. Presumably the official report would read food poisoning, although food attack would be more accurate. The staff had to hold the stretchers up to head height to manoeuvre them past the people still sitting at their tables. Some guests had left the restaurant, if only to change their clothes, but the vast majority had stayed. Some were actually eating the meals that had just tried to kill them. I suppose you have to have a strong stomach to be a gambler. No one looked at the stretchers, or the bodies on them. Presumably, in case such bad luck might rub off. Molly and I ordered lasagne. It seemed the safest thing on the menu. And the excitement had left us with an appetite.
“Just as well no one ordered the dragonburger,” Molly said finally. “That could have got really out of hand.”
“But, what was the point of all that?” I had to ask.
“I think someone just wanted to see whether we could defend ourselves,” said Molly. “And get a look at what kind of protections people had going for them. You saw Jacqueline turn into Hyde. Which was . . . pretty nasty, actually.”
“Do you want to look at the dessert menu?” I said.
“Of course! It’s free!”
“I think I just want to get started on the games,” I said. “You might remember you found poison in our food even before it rose up and attacked us. Which suggests to me two different attackers. I really don’t feel safe here.”
“Of course we’re not safe here,” said Molly. “This is Casino Infernale!”
And that was when the manager finally turned up. Jonathon Scott just came strolling in, as smart and casual and urbane as ever. Apparently entirely unconcerned with what had just happened. He clapped his hands smartly, to draw everyone’s attention.
“The Introductory Games are about to begin,” he said, bestowing an avuncular smile on one and all. “Might I respectfully remind all of you that attendance is mandatory this year for all of our guests who have not attended Casino Infernale previously.”
Everyone rose up from the their tables, sometimes abandoning half-finished meals or desserts, and headed for the exit. Scott stepped quickly back to get out of their way, still smiling his managerial smile. I was ready to go too, but Molly put a hand on my arm to stop me.
“Not yet,” she said. “Frankie isn’t back. I want to hear what he has to say, before we venture into enemy territory.”
I scowled. “I hate going on missions where I haven’t been properly briefed.”
“Only so you can lecture everyone else,” said Molly.
“True,” I said.
“I do know a few things about the Introductory Games,” Molly said carefully. “I mean, a girl does hear things. . . .”
“Go on,” I said, resignedly. “Tell me what you know. And we will discuss how you came to know it later.”
“The opening games are the only ones where money still matters,” said Molly. “I had hoped we’d be able to skip them, but it seems Parris is playing strictly by the book this year. The Introductory Games are for newcomers, to sort out the wheat from the chaff; make sure you’re wealthy and worthy enough to be here. And, to test your nerves. Because if you can’t cope with these, you sure as hell aren’t ready for the big games.”
“What are we going to gamble with?” I said. “The cash Frankie got for us won’t go far, not in a place like this. We need to be able to bet big, to win big.”
“I do have an account with the Shadow Bank,” said Molly. “With quite a bit on deposit . . . Don’t look at me like that! How do you think I funded myself before I hooked up with you?”
“Stealing things,” I said.
“Well, yes, but . . .”
Perhaps fortunately, Frankie turned up at that point. He slipped past the head waiter at his post with a nod and a wink, and the head waiter didn’t even look at him, never mind announce his name. Frankie pulled up a chair and sat down at our table without waiting to be asked, and Molly and I quickly filled him in on what we’d been discussing. He nodded quickly.
“You can’t use the money in your account,” he said immediately to Molly. “It’s strictly cash in the Introductory Games. Though you make the most money in side bets, gambling with the crowds on how well you’ll do in the games. But listen, you need to know this. I’ve been wandering around, talking with the staff, renewing old friendships and spreading a little bribery and corruption in all the right places, and the word is, the fix is in. The house will be taking even more liberties than usual this year, and squeezing the odds till they squeal. Apparently Parris is determined that this will be the most successful and profitable Casino Infernale ever, so he can take all the credit. Once you’re in there, watch your backs, and be prepared for treachery from all quarters. You can’t trust the games or the players or the staff this year.”