39 Elite Financial Solutions

Ruby woke up late again and found Ash sleeping as stiff as a board next to her. It wasn't nearly as startling this time but she was still slightly annoyed. If he hadn't kept her out so late she wouldn't have overslept.

What had he even talked to the witch for that long anyway? It wasn't any of her business but she was still curious.

She couldn't ask him though; that wasn't the sort of relationship they had. The two of them had come to a comfortable understanding about their mutual secret keeping.

Ruby grabbed her purse and headed out, grabbing herself a sandwich from a café near the atrium on her way to the parking lot. She punched the address the witch gave her into her phone's GPS and turned the volume on high before sticking it in the cup holder. Without her vampire navigator present, she would have to make do with the factory setting.

Elite Financial Solutions was located in a fancy high-rise downtown and took up four floors. She had a suspicion that elves owned this entire building because she knew they had a stronghold here in Las Vegas.

A professionally dressed young woman with a cool and sleek appearance greeted her when she reached the first EFS floor. "Welcome to Elite Financial Solutions, how may I help you today?"

"I'm looking to set up a secure bank account because the duck howls at the sky," Ruby said as confidently as she could muster.

The woman smiled, catching onto her meaning immediately. "I see you're a VIP customer. Please take a seat while I contact one of our bankers for you."

"Thank you."

Ruby sat down in the waiting area and only had to play a game on her phone that involved slicing pieces of fruit for about five minutes before someone came out to escort her to their office. He had the appearance of a middle-aged man and wore silver-rimmed glasses and a sharp suit.

He reached out to shake her hand. "We are always delighted to see a VIP! My name is Cirdan Etchelion and I will be taking care of you today."

"Ruby Gardner. Nice to meet you."

The name plaque on his office door read 'Dan Etchelion' so that was probably the name he used to seem more human when non VIP customers came to call. His glamour dropped as soon as the door shut behind them revealing a regal young face, white blonde hair that was as long as Ash's, and pointed ears.

Ruby used her Flora-like glamour to be polite and got straight down to business. "I need to create a bank account that can hold a lot of money unknown to humans."

"Absolutely," Cirdan said demurely. "We don't take human IDs here so your fingerprint will do to get started. Account security is very important to us. Place your right index finger on the pad, please."

Ruby also had to come up with a PIN, username and password for their secure banking app, and four security questions before they could proceed. These elves really didn't mess around.

Cirdan's professionalism slipped only slightly when he saw the check she wanted to deposit. His eyes went wide for a moment before he resumed his neutral mask, asking no questions about where the money came from.

"Our debit cards are with the most common human carrier so you will be able to use it anywhere easily. We don't have ATMs anywhere but our branches located in various parts of the country. However, you can use any ATM with a $2 fee and the daily withdrawal limit is $500. Do you have any questions, Miss Gardner?"

"Yes, do you happen to have branches in Northern California and Alaska?" Ruby asked.

The elf nodded. "Indeed we do. We have branches located near most witch covens in the United States. They will be able to direct you to your nearest branch."

Something else occurred to her. When she gave Ash his money he would need to be able to hide it from the human government too. "Do you have extended hours in the evenings? I have a vampire friend who needs to make an account but he's asleep right now."

Cirdan pursed his lips. "Normally we operate during typical banking hours so we do not alert the humans unnecessarily but I can make an exception for a VIP. You can bring him by at seven tonight. I will be waiting for you."

Ruby smiled brilliantly at him. "Thank you very much Mr. Etchelion! I'll see you tonight."

They shook hands again and he showed her the way out. Perfect. Now all she needed to do was make some money to put in Ash's account tonight.

She didn't know how much he would need but because it was so easy for her to make money she figured she could be generous. She already had a ton in her account; the rest of the jewels in the back of her car could go to him.

Come to think of it…Ruby should probably ask him exactly how much he needed. He didn't have to specify what it was for but she needed an idea of exactly how many gemstones she would have to extract while they were both here.

She would ask him later. For now she had a jeweler to impersonate and pieces to sell. Since she had nothing else planned for today, she went in and out of the appraiser's multiple times in different disguises to get rid of as many pieces from her sack as possible.

In the end she had a small stack of checks that equaled roughly $1.2 million. She got a good haul today; the sack was nearly empty by the time she was done.

Ruby had accidentally skipped lunch though in her rush to get rid of as much jewelry as possible. Her stomach growled and she figured it was time to hit a famous Las Vegas buffet. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation and headed back to the Strip.