Page 112 of Ares' Shield
I barely acknowledge her question as I run to the front doors of the lobby and my heart leaps as the iconic statue that sits out in front of the hotel is missing from its perch.
“What the fuck?” Raven breathes next to me.
I throw the door open to get a better look but the police have everything blocked off and are taking fingerprints and interrogating possible witnesses. A camera crew stands outside the woman in front of the camera speaking rapidly into her microphone.
“No one knows what happened, but at some point in the night the MGM’s iconic Leo the Lion statues were stolen right from their perches inside and outside the hotel. Which begs the question, how did no one see the perpetrators on the Las Vegas Strip when the city never sleeps?”
Raven slaps at my arm, pulling my attention away from the reporter and down the strip. “How don’t they see that?”
She points at the destruction. There are claw marks in several of the hotels along the strip and huge cracks in the busy street, but none of the humans seem to notice the destruction.
“How does no one see the chunk taken out of the Statue of Liberty?” I ask with a frown.
The sign for the New York-New York is smashed in the middle of the road and cars are just driving around the chaos without a thought.
“Is it that they aren’t seeing it or are we imagining it?” Jayden asks.
“What the fuck?” We seem to be saying that a lot right now, but this has to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.
Jayden grunts. “I have a feeling if we follow that, we’ll find the statues and Adrian.”
“You don’t think they’ve been controlled? How the hell do you mind-control a damn statue?” I chew my lip.
Raven bumps my shoulder. “I don’t know, B, but I think Jayden is right. We need to follow the path of destruction.”
We pick our way through the perimeter of the police line and take the journey down the strip.
The Eiffel Tower outside the Paris Hotel is smashed to pieces and scattered all over the road. Paw prints make the road uneven. Humans continue to drive on it, blissfully unaware.
As we get to the Monte Carlo, there’s a huge chunk taken out of the side of the hotel and the debris litters the ground beneath it.
How are the humans not seeing any of this? It doesn’t make sense.
I scan the area and every hotel until we get to the Bellagio, and I slap at Raven’s arm, pointing to the famous fountain.
“What are they doing?” I ask.
The two giant golden lion statues pounce through the water. The larger one crouches and wiggles its ass in the air as it gets ready to pounce on the other.
“They’re playing in the fucking fountain and no one thinks this is weird?” Raven yells.
“I don’t even know.” I stomp closer and the fountains spray up between them in their musical dance.
Jayden keeps pace with me and points to a spot in the middle of the fountain. “Is that Adrian?”
I squint and sure enough Adrian and Draven are standing on the pedestal in the center of the fountain watching the two statues carefully.
“What the fuck are Adrian and Draven doing playing with huge golden lion statues. Idiots.” I take a step forward about to yell at them for being dumbasses.
The statues growl which really isn’t one of the weirdest things I’ve seen lately. I squint at Adrian. He has his bow out, ready to take a shot at the smaller one.
Shit. This isn’t fun for them. What the hell happened to the statues? Draven’s hands flare with green magic but he doesn’t lash out at the lions.
What are they waiting for?
The lions aren’t looking at our friends though; they’re staring at each other.
“They aren’t playing in the damn fountain. They are fighting for dominance over their prey,” I say in horror.
