OF ALL THE THINGS I EXPECTED TO FIND IN THE DIMLY LIT BACK ROOM
of this café in the middle of the night, Kane, Griffin, Ryder, and Prince Fedrik gambling amid a haze of smoke and liquor was not
one of them.
It took my eyes a beat to adjust to the low-burning oil lamps. The oval table they sat around—built of rich mahogany with a raised lip to keep the coin and cards from slipping off and carpeted in a pine-green fabric of some kind—took up most of the room. It was crowded with mismatched glassware, some with an amber spirit, some empty save for a ring of burgundy. No windows, no clocks. No way to see how many hours had been lost, or how much coin. Aside from a shadowed back door, the walls held nothing but those soft lights and rich, polished walnut paneling.
And smoke—a din of hazy smoke filling the room from the men’s cigars, puffing out in soft clouds, casting a wraithlike fog over the lamps and burning my nostrils with its spiced, leathery scent.
“Arwen?” Ryder looked even more shocked than I felt.
The exhausted barkeep saved me a flustered, unintelligible response by barreling into my side. “My deepest apologies, Lord Switch,” he blubbered to the muscular man seated at the far end of the oval table. “I tried to stop her, I swear it. She hopped over the bar!”
Kane chuckled, but his eyes stayed on his cards. Had he even looked at me since I came in?
“It’s fine. Beautiful women are welcome at my game anytime.” Lord Switch, who must have been the game leader or owner of the café, gave me a sinister smile that had the opposite effect of what I thought was intended. He was thick and strong and heavy, with a coarse sable beard, his teeth a brilliant white, and his clothes fine and detailed. His small, bright eyes were like coins and topped by thick, masculine brows, and he dragged them over my entire body with unabashed interest.
I swallowed a ragged breath, still trying to slow my shuddering heart. Kane finally looked up from his playing cards with bored curiosity and followed the man’s gaze over to me. Only then did my cheeks go hot. Misted in sweat, feet blistered and dirty, hair frizzy from the heat and hours spent dancing . . . I must have looked horrendous. My fingers itched to tuck unruly hairs behind my ears.
“What are you doing here?” Ryder asked. I turned to my brother as he puffed out a thick cloud of smoke.
“I should ask you the same question. You’re supposed to be watching Leigh.”
Why was I always the one who had to make sure she was taken care of? Anger simmered inside me. Why was Ryder able to gamble and play and live while I had to—
“Calm down. She’s with Barney. They’re probably rescuing puppies or something.”
Before the irritation could combust into rage, Fedrik leaned forward. “Good evening, Lady Arwen.”
I curtsied belatedly. “Your Highness.”
“No need for such formalities. Not after this morning.” “Fedrik, then,” I conceded.
“What happened this morning?” Kane’s voice was casual, but something else sparked in those silver eyes.
“I caught your healer sacrificing her boots to the sea.” “It was a mercy killing,” I joked.
Kane didn’t smile.
But Fedrik ignored him. “You look lovely. How did you hear of our card game?”
A blush crawled up my cheeks. “We were just having dessert after dancing and I . . . I thought I heard someone crying out for help.”
Griffin looked up from his cards. “We?”
“That was this oaf.” Kane jerked his chin toward a skinny man, so thin I almost missed him behind the other players. “He doesn’t like losing his coin, do you, Trevyn?”
Trevyn shook his head ruefully. “I’ll get you on the next one, though, pretty boy.”
Kane raised an eyebrow. “Will you, though?”
Griffin leaned forward with intent. “Arwen, who’s we?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the man beside Trevyn released a hearty chuckle. “If Trevyn doesn’t take half your stacks next hand, I will.” He had a nose that protruded from his face like a doorknob and smiled wide as he smacked Kane on the back with a grin.
Kane’s answering laugh sounded suspiciously like a grunt of pain. “And this is Rhett.” He turned to the game leader at the head of the table. “And, Crawford, this is my healer, Lady Arwen. Ryder here is her brother.”
My smile was wary as I greeted him.
Crawford only turned to Ryder with a menacing grin. “Unfortunate to have a sister that looks such as this one, no?”
Ryder and I made twin faces of disgust. “Well.” I turned to leave. “Have a good night.”
“Lady Arwen,” Prince Fedrik called. “Don’t let Crawford’s poor manners end your evening. It’s just that our finery suits you so well, he’s blinded by it.”
I felt heat rise along my neck, and while I didn’t want to stay, I still smoothed down the layers of thin white cotton on my dress and muttered my thanks.
Fedrik’s golden cheekbones lifted at my words. “I think it’s all of us who should be thanking you.”
Kane slammed his cards down on the table. “I fold.” He stood, his chair scraping across the wood floor forcefully. “Lady Arwen, a word?”
“What’s happening in there?” Mari’s singsong voice echoed through the café on the other side of the doorway.
Griffin’s eyes cut to mine and narrowed dangerously. “Get her out of here.”
I felt my brows pull together in confusion. The rest of the table, which had continued playing their game despite my interruption, stalled to peer at him as well.
“Relax, Commander. The ladies are leaving,” Kane said before crossing the room to me and wrapping a gentle yet firm hand around my waist. “After you.”
But Mari bounced through the door, plopping down next to Ryder in one of the two remaining open seats at the table. She still had a dollop of lemon custard on her elbow, but it seemed that eating had sobered her up a bit.
“What are we playing? I love cards.”
Kane and Griffin released simultaneous groans. Crawford feasted his eyes on Mari’s every movement as if she were a present wrapped in a bow just for him. Even sweaty and covered in lemony sugar, Mari was a vision.
Griffin ground his jaw shut. I could almost hear his teeth fusing together. “We aren’t playing anything, witch.” He turned his concrete glare to me. “You both need to scram. Now.”
“Or you can stay, Red,” Ryder said to Mari, his expression eager. “I can teach you how to play.”
Mari’s eyes shone at his offer, and my stomach fell. The alcohol had all but fully left my system and a numb fog was beginning to cloud my mind once more. That frivolously stuffed bed was calling to me.
“Why such a killjoy, Commander?” Trevyn asked, sipping his overflowing mug of ale and spilling a bit on the fabric of the table. “The more the merrier!”
“Indeed,” Crawford drawled. “And this one seems less shy.”
Despite the urge to sneer, I couldn’t help but look at Mari with envy. She was having the night of her life. Laughing, drinking, about to play cards
with handsome, affluent men without a care in the world. I already missed who I had been when I was filled with drink and dancing until my feet were raw.
And I could feel Kane’s hand on my ribs like pure heat.
“No, Griffin’s right, it’s past this one’s bedtime.” Kane gestured at me, shrugging in faux disappointment, and sending humiliation twisting in my chest. He wasn’t my keeper.
“Actually, I think we’ll stay.”
Kane’s eyes were spears as I slipped from his grasp. The single look alone was enough to light my blood on fire. I nearly hummed.
“Arwen—”
“King Ravenwood,” Prince Fedrik interjected. “Isn’t Lady Arwen just about old enough to decree her own bedtime?” I bit back a smile. My savior
—the prince who despised Kane. “Surely you can’t be so afraid of gambling with a woman? I promise not to heckle when she takes you for all you’re worth.”
Trevyn and Rhett chuckled, Ryder already teaching Mari the rules of the game. He halted only to wipe lemon cream off her bare arm with a single outstretched finger, and Griffin held his cards so tightly I could have sworn they ripped at his thumbs.
“Fine. But I’ll need that word with you first.” Kane’s eyes held such lethal command I didn’t dare argue.
“Fine,” I mimicked, following his towering form through the door and out into the café.
