IHE CAFÉ HAD CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT. CANDLES HAD ALL BEEN SNUFFED
out, the front door locked, even the intertwined couple had left, likely off to knot themselves into one in the privacy of their own bedroom.
My gaze lifted to Kane, my breath hitching in my lungs. As usual, it was an effort to tear my eyes away. His unruly dark hair was hardly tamed by the hand he so often ran through it, that broad hand always adorned in sleek, masculine silver rings that matched his piercing eyes.
But he only cut me a cursory glance with that same bored, if not slightly annoyed expression I had come to hate all those months ago in Shadowhold. “Dessert and dancing, huh? Where was my invitation?”
“I had others to keep me company. The men here are impressive dancers. Very sensual.”
Kane’s eyes were hard and bright, but his expression stayed the same. “How titillating.”
His dismissal caught me off guard, and silence bloomed as I couldn’t think of a witty retort.
“Nice catching up. Time to go.”
“What is your issue?” I hissed at him. “Mari and I can’t join your little boys-only card game? I didn’t realize Amelia was the only woman you deemed acceptable to socialize with.”
I could tell by his rigid jaw that Kane had been about to lay into me, until amusement seized his eyes. He ran a hand down his face—a habit of his that still had a shameful effect on me—and took a deep, soothing inhale.
“Let’s come back to your jealously over the time I spend with Amelia later. I’d like to dig into that. Maybe over dinner tomorrow night?”
I scoffed, rolled my eyes, and might have even snorted as well—just to make sure he really understood my lack of interest in such a proposal—but he continued as if I hadn’t done anything at all.
“Those men are dangerous. Crawford Switch isn’t just a Citrine noble; he’s a crime lord. And Rhett and Trevyn are his thugs.” His expression softened only slightly. “I’d rather you and the witch were nowhere near them.”
“Why are you here, then? Playing cards with crooks?”
His smile was cruel. “Is that not behavior fitting of a monster like me?” I wouldn’t dignify that with a response. It was too easy.
His jaw tightened. “We think Crawford might know where the Blade of the Sun is. He’s a . . . collector, of sorts. Procurer of fine and rare objects. His card game was the only way to get near him without risking Broderick and Isolde’s fury. The three of them are close.”
“Why is Fedrik here?”
“Your lapdog plays in the monthly games.” Kane made a tutting noise as he straightened a ring on his thumb. “Horrible habit, really.”
I couldn’t roll my eyes at Kane anymore; I’d go cross-eyed soon. “And Ryder?”
“I invited him. The kid seemed like he could use a break.” “You brought him just to torture Griffin?”
“I can’t help it—their feud over the witch tickles me.” “You really are a monster.”
“So I’ve been told.” His smirk was wicked as he leaned closer. “Now go grab your inebriated little friend and get back to the palace.”
But I didn’t want to go back there. I didn’t want to sleep for days anymore. Or lie awake in bed, beside a sleeping Leigh, and think of nothing. To toss and turn as if I could roll away from all the emptiness.
No, I wanted the delicious, exhilarating spike in my bloodstream every time Kane was angry with me. Every time his eyes bored into mine in reprimand or thinly veiled ire. The light and airy warmth I felt around
Fedrik was a summer sprinkle compared to the heart-rattling monsoon of chemistry that doused Kane and me. We had been speaking again for less than two days and already it was wreaking havoc on my psyche.
“Now, Arwen,” he said, taking my wrist in his hand gently, but firmly enough to convey his severity.
The touch sent stars through my veins. Humming. Combusting. He could probably feel my pulse as it raced.
“I told you not to touch me.”
I yanked free and slipped back into the game room, even smokier now than it had been before.
“You finally joining us? I have a great hand.” Trevyn lifted his brows at me.
“Yes,” I chirped, before sitting down. “Deal me in.” “Woo!” cheered Mari.
After a beat standing behind me like a headstone, Kane sat back down next to his commander.
“Coin on the table, ladies,” Rhett drawled. “Ten thousand to play.”
My mouth hung open. Ten thousand? I should have known. An elite private game for nobles and royalty—shit, shit, shit. I searched through my satchel and found a handful left over from dinner. Maybe seventeen or so. “Will this do?” I tried to bat my eyelashes.
Rhett and Trevyn laughed like rabid animals at my insufficient coin, nearly to tears, but Crawford’s icy expression was what made my stomach turn.
Kane chuckled. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.” Griffin sighed in relief.
“I’m happy to loan you both some. Kane fronted your brother his dues,” Fedrik proposed.
It was a kind offer, but I didn’t want Fedrik’s coin. Especially not after Kane referred to him as my lapdog. I didn’t want any of their help. “There has to be something else I can use?”
Crawford looked at Rhett before turning to Mari and me. “The only other currency is surely too lewd for women such as yourselves.”
I swallowed hard. “Try me.”
“Your clothes.” His broad, sharklike smile gleamed and a chill clawed through me at both the sight and the suggestion.
“Nobody wants to see that,” Ryder groaned.
“Enough, now.” Kane’s voice was lethal as he stood, shaking the table beneath us and sending towers of chips cascading over the floor.
“Watch it, man!” barked Rhett.
I couldn’t stop my gaze from flicking to him. Sheer, punishing rage simmered in his eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was from the way Crawford was toying with me or the thought of me stripping for all these men. Or if it was how impotent he was in this moment—unable to control me or anyone else. Whatever it was, I loved it.
“Fine.” I surprised myself with the assuredness in my voice. “Me too! Stripping and cards—how fun.” Mari hiccupped.
“Why don’t you sit this one out?” I said to her, low enough for only her ears. She was too drunk to agree to something so stupid.
“Oh, come on, Arwen,” she whispered back. “You take everything so seriously! Wasn’t it you at dinner who said we should try making some mistakes?”
“I meant— Never mind.”
Rhett dealt us in, and I couldn’t help but glance at Griffin, whose pale green eyes were boring deeply into mine. He was less upset when we were under siege.
I shrugged at him. It wasn’t my fault Mari was a spitfire. Most likely she’d be incredible anyway and take all our coin without losing so much as the shoe on her foot.
 |
I HAD DISCOVERED THE ONE THING ON THE CONTINENT THAT MARI WAS
atrocious at. Maybe it was the orange wine and ale and sugar flowing through her system, but Mari couldn’t bluff for the life of her. When she had anything halfway decent, a rosy pink glow would spread across her
cheeks. A lousy hand and she’d frown at her cards, as if they had gone out of their way to disappoint her.
I wasn’t quite as inept as Mari was, but hadn’t been doing much better, either. I had lost the meager coin in my satchel, both shoes, an earring, and the white silk ribbon from my hair.
Kane—who was an excellent gambler, and was leading with more than half the coin at the table, and most of Mari’s and my accessories—hadn’t given me more than one single glare etched in steel since we began playing, but I didn’t care. I liked the gameplay, the rush of betting, and the anticipation of the win. I liked the dangerous men’s eyes on me. The illicit thrill. Kane’s anger and possessiveness over each slice of my body that I offered to these gluttonous men was an added bonus.
Rhett brought us each another round of drinks, and I drank my bitter, pungent spirit down in a single long swallow before asking for two more. The current hand at play was down to Mari and Griffin. He had significantly more coin than there were items of clothing left on Mari, and had chosen to raise.
“Just fold,” he said to her, on edge.
“But I have great cards.” She smiled coyly. “I can tell from your face that you don’t.”
“Don’t listen to him, doll,” Rhett cut in. Then, in a voice louder than he intended, he whispered to Trevyn, “I want to see that blouse come off.”
Ryder threw Rhett a dirty look and leaned in to block Mari from their view. However, Mari was too engrossed in comparing her cards to the five laid out on the table to notice their exchange.
Griffin leaned in closer to her. “Will you please fold?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Mari shot back, still calculating the value of her hand in her mind. As if realizing she actually knew what she was doing, Mari lit up. “Oh! I call.”
Griffin’s expression turned to stone.
“How about that stunning necklace of yours?” Crawford mused. I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew something about the piece, given his status as a collector.
For the first time that evening, Mari’s smile faltered. “No,” she said too quickly. An uncomfortable silence settled over the table. “No,” she repeated, more pleasantly this time. “I call with my blouse.”
Griffin’s eyes grew as wide as the coins on the table. “Woah there, Red, you sure?” Ryder asked.
“I’m sure,” Mari confirmed, laying her cards down with pride. “Not too bad, huh?”
Her hand was actually decent—a pair of sevens. With another seven on the board, she had three of a kind.
She looked up at Griffin, her eyes shining with a challenge. “And what do you have, Commander?”
The entire room focused on them. Even Crawford was captivated by their standoff. Griffin’s jaw was set, his green eyes like frosted glass. He didn’t even glance at his cards before saying, “You’ve got me beat.” He pushed his stack of coins toward her gently and tucked his cards back into the deck.
I raised a brow at him as Rhett groaned.
Mari whooped and cheered. “I did not expect that!” “Nice one, Red,” Ryder said with a chuckle.
Kane caught my gaze, then looked at Griffin, and gave me a tiny shake of his head, confirming what I already suspected. Griffin hadn’t actually had the lesser hand.
“Where’s Princess Amelia tonight?” Fedrik asked Kane, sipping his mug of ale.
Ugh. Not him, too.
“How should I know?”
“I assumed you two were . . . ?”
I tried to muster a semi-interested smile as Rhett dealt the next hand, though my mind was racing.
Kane simply replied, “You assumed incorrectly.”
“Ah, my mistake, then.” Prince Fedrik glanced at his cards before tossing them into the center of the table to fold.
“Are you interested?” Kane asked. “I thought King Eryx would have had the agreement drawn up for your wedding the minute he arrived.”
“Eh.” Fedrik leaned back in his chair with ease, revealing a sliver of tanned skin on his abdomen. “My parents have given up on arranged marriages. Didn’t go so well last time, if I recall.” He shot a half-smile at Kane. “And,” he added, “she seems a bit . . . intense.”
“She is intense,” I said. “But she protects her kingdom and her people with that intensity. She’s twice the ruler her father is.”
Kane raised his eyebrows at me, and I offered him a small shrug. It was true.
“More importantly, she’s a renowned beauty,” Crawford said to Fedrik. “You’d be lucky to have such a woman. I’d be with her every morning and night.”
“He wouldn’t have her,” Mari said, reminding me that she didn’t know how dangerous Crawford was. “They’d be married to each other, as equals.”
Crawford looked at Mari with curiosity, as if seeing her for the first time. “Did the commander call you witch earlier because of your grating voice, or can you truly do magic?”
“She’s an exceptional witch,” Ryder chimed in. “More power in this one than I’ve ever seen.”
Mari’s eyes filled with warmth before she caught herself and looked down at her cards.
“What would you know of it, thief?” Griffin fixed his gaze on my brother. I couldn’t tell if he was upset about their flirting or wanted to protect Mari’s abilities from Crawford, or both. The strange dynamics of this game were starting to hurt my head. I took another sip of my foul drink.
“When will you let that go?” Ryder huffed. “It was one time.” “He stole from you?” Crawford asked Griffin, intrigued.
“He stole from me,” Kane corrected, giving Ryder a bland smile.
Ryder fidgeted in his chair.
Crawford scowled, unimpressed. “I’ve punished men for less.”
Tension dripped from the walls of the game room like condensation on Crawford’s mug. Only the sounds of coins being stacked and cards being dealt echoed in my ears.
“You’re getting pretty good at this, Arwen.” I appreciated Fedrik’s effortless change of subject, as he continued in the same relaxed manner. “Do you gamble often?”
“No.” Kane finished his drink. “She’s not a degenerate like you, Prince.” Fedrik ignored him. “What do you think of Azurine?”
I took a breath to respond, but Kane cut me off again. “Not much.” “Does he always speak for you?” Fedrik asked lightly.
“No,” Kane and I said in unison. I glared at him, trying to will his tongue to stop with my mind.
“Your city is breathtaking,” I managed to say. “I’ve never been anywhere like this.”
“Well, I’ll have to show you around sometime—” “We leave tomorrow,” Kane interrupted.
I turned to him. “We do?”
“Yes.” His mouth formed a tight grin. “Bit too hot for my liking.” “Well, I’m staying.”
“You are my healer. You will do as I say.” My blood boiled.
“Raise.” Crawford tossed fifty more coins onto the table.
I looked down at my cards. Two hearts. And two already on the table. All I needed was one more to make a flush. “Re-raise.” I pushed in all the rest of the coins I had won.
“I’ll raise both of you,” said Rhett, adding at least a hundred more. “I call.” The words slipped out of my mouth.
“With what?” Crawford’s eyes gleamed at the neckline of my eyelet lace dress.
I could back out. Claim I had miscalculated and see if they would let me off the hook. But seeing the looks on their faces, knowing how eagerly the rogues wanted to see me falter, only made me more determined. Bolder. Braver.
I looked down at myself, assessing. I couldn’t give up my dress and risk exposure. I wasn’t even wearing a chemise or corset, which weren’t common in this kingdom. That only left . . .
“My undergarments.” “Absolutely not,” Kane snapped.
The last time I felt this heated, restless, and electrified was in his arms. I chased after that feeling. “You don’t own me. Or my undergarments.”
Crawford’s eyes shone with cruel delight. “I hope you know what you’re doing. I already have a full house.”
I needed that heart now. Any heart would do. Rhett dealt out the final card.
Bleeding Stones.
It was a four of clubs.
