by Jessica Gunn
I did. But if I opened with it, they’d see right through me and not let me keep playing after this round.
“My life?” The words tumbled past my lips along with a chuckle. A reckless one. Make it appear as though you don’t know what you’re doing. It seemed as good a plan as any.
“Only your life?” She tapped her immaculately-manicured long nails on the marble tabletop. “That is uninteresting.”
I met her gaze. Which normally I wouldn’t have done. But my poker face was already up and it might as well stay there because one way or another, I had to leave this table alive with the final pot. With this artifact they’d discussed. “I assume my money is equally useless.”
This time, it was Treya who responded. “That would be correct.”
Good. Because I really don’t have any.
Kristian made a show of pushing some of his chip winnings in front of me. “There. Now you have something to play with.” As he pulled back, this time his thumb brushed my hand, sending warm spirals of tingles throughout my body.
My breath hitched with the full weight of exactly what I was doing. I swallowed the panic as Treya rolled her eyes at Kristian.
“Do calm down, Treya,” he told her.
Keir laughed.
I moved my flippant gaze to Keir. “Do you have any ideas what I could bet, then? You’ve been chatty tonight.”
Even though Kristian had invited me to the table, I found even trying to make eye contact with him now nearly impossible. My mind was ever-aware of his position at the table next to me, dangerous and lurking on my peripheral. He still wore that same look of recognition and denial on his face, like he was studying me but was unsure of his findings thus far.
Keir’s smirk deepened as he leaned in over the table. “How about your name, Vera?”
My reply caught in my throat, breaking the calm facade I’d been trying to maintain now that I was seated at their game. Assuming the two predators at the table couldn’t hear my heart pounding in my chest like wild drums anyway.
Fae were rumored to have power over creatures if they knew their names. And not just their given names, but the magic behind them. If I bet my name, I’d have to give it away to him while he worked his magic. Then Keir could do with me as he pleased or send me to do his bidding.
I wasn’t dumb. I’d watched these four play cards for months against other supernaturals. Witches and necromancers, alchemists and all manner of other magic users. I knew well what they were willing to bet or give up.
So I smiled sweetly back to him, slipping back into my cool exterior. “And will you bet yours in return?”
Keir’s eyebrow lifted. “What would a mortal such as yourself do with power over my name?”
I shrugged. He knew as well as I did that the answer was “nothing at all.” Instead, I said, “Will it matter? You’ll likely win.”
“And then what will you bet to stay in the game?” Keir asked.
“I have options.”
Keir sat back and crossed his arms, amusement lighting his angled features.
“You may bet your name and Kristian’s chips,” Milani said. “The rest of us have put up money for the rounds leading up to the finale.”
Once the dealer finished passing out the first cards, I dropped my gaze to the two in front of me and lifted the corners.
Okay. Not bad. Not fantastic, either. It certainly wasn’t a start to a winning hand.
Treya arched an eyebrow at me. “Already feeling the heat?”
“Maybe.” I grinned at the only other human player. You’d think we’d stick together and team up against the supernaturals. But humanity was fickle like that—and always had been. “Maybe I also like the heat.”
Keir chuckled and tossed some more chips into the pot as the dealer placed the next card on the table face-up. “I raise. This is fantastic.”
“Me too.” I slid some of the chips Kristian had given me into the center of the table.
Milani also raised. Treya did not, funnily enough—she folded. Kristian was the last to contribute to the pot.
The dealer placed another card. Neither of the two gave me a better option. Two high cards weren’t going to cut it. And unfortunately, I didn’t think there was a way I could fold if the only meaningful thing up for betting was my name.
Bluffing it’d be, then. And judging by the growing number of chips in the center of the table, bluffing to victory would mean winning a ton of money on this hand and entry into the last round for tonight. I might not even have to let them know about the stone in my pocket.
All of us except Treya added chips to the pot and raised.
The third and final card hit the table.
Milani folded immediately without prompting. Her movements were rushed and shaky.
Milani didn’t have a bad hand, I realized.
A smile twisted her lips.
No, she wanted to see how this played out between Keir and me. Maybe money was the pot this round after all.
I glanced to Kristian, somehow summoning the courage to meet the vampire king’s scrutiny. His power and magic washed over me once more. I fought to maintain control as my toes curled again. His weighted expression held a bemused smile and an expectant look. I somehow managed to hold his gaze for moments that grew longer and longer.
Finally, he laughed and folded. “I think we know who wants to win this one.”
Which left me and the fae man looking at me with all the arrogant happiness in the world.
Keir rested his elbow on the table, leaning in and placing his chin in his hands. “What’ll it be, Vera?”
I felt everyone’s eyes on me. Not just the other players’, but my coworkers’. My boss’s. I could sense the judgement they held, and rightfully so. Betting my name in a game with a fae was quite possibly the stupidest decision of my life.
A smirk worked its way across my lips. Joining this game had also been the most fun of my life. Despite standing out like a sore thumb, it was the first time I’d felt like a part of something that mattered—if only for a few minutes—in too long.
That said, I wasn’t going to win this round unless I managed to convince Keir I had a much better hand than I did. And one better than his, too.
“Hmm,” I said, tapping my chin with my free hand. “What if we liven up the winnings?”
He arched a manicured eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
“This is unconventional,” Treya said.
Kristian cut in. “So is having humans at the table, yet you all agreed to that idea when I proposed it.”
“Actually, only the two of you did,” Milani pointed out.
I lifted my hand. “How about you let me play for whatever tonight’s grand prize is?”
“No,” Treya said.
“For once, I agree with the human,” Milani chimed in.
“Too bad,” Keir said. “You’re not still in this round, are you?”
Kristian sighed. “No, we’re not. Fine. Do as you will, fae.”
“Deal,” Keir said as he smiled across the table to me. “Deal us the Lunar Special.”
Normally, this wasn’t a card played in poker. But every now and then, the supernaturals liked to liven things up and bring an extra card into the mix.
I waited as the dealer placed the Lunar Special on the board. Keir grinned like a cat watching a mouse climb right into its bed. Dread filled me. I knew there wasn’t a great chance I’d win. Going by chance alone, the odds weren’t in my favor. But I also hadn’t banked on actually learning what giving a fae access to my name would mean.
I gulped as I looked at my hand again, in too deep now to bother hiding my reaction. Judging by the wicked grin Keir was shooting my way, he knew he’d won as well.
So I sighed nonchalantly and said, “Well, this was fun while it lasted. Thank you for making my workday more interesting than normal.” Cool. Collected. Like I didn’t care what I’d given up, even though I had no idea what the depth of it would mean regarding losing my name.
Keir’s expression shifted to almost a pout, which looked ridiculous on this otherwise colorful faerie. “Giving up already?”
I didn’t wait for the dealer to ask us to reveal. Instead, I made a grand show of laying out my cards on the table. “No point trying to lie to a fae, is there?”
“Yet you bluffed your way past a werewolf and a vampire?” Keir asked.
I arched an eyebrow. “They must be easier to fool than we’d both guessed.”
Halley coughed behind me, clearing her throat in warning. I regretted the words as soon as I’d said them. And, looking around at the other players, I knew I’d crossed a line. Milani’s fists became bony white and she snarled. Treya scoffed. Kristian…
The vampire king only smiled, but in doing so, barred his fangs. Amusement shone in his eyes, although it was laced with something darker. Predatory.
Keir whistled low. “You have guts, I’ll give you that. Sadly, I win this time.” He played his cards for all to see. I’d never have won unless I could have out-bluff a fae—a near-impossible feat. “That means your name is mine.” He smirked again, merciless and bemused all at once, and began moving his fingers in front of him in a fae spell.
“I suppose it does.” Just like that?
“Idiot girl,” Halley murmured behind me.
Keir leaned in across the table, pushing his magic toward me. The white energy glowed with a sunny-yellow hue. “Now, let’s have it, Vera. What is your full name?”
I swallowed hard as my hands grew clammy. Brave but stupid. Reckless. That was me, just as my parents had always said. “Vera Marie Varrone.”
Treya sighed and shook her head. Her partnership with my parents, and therefore her connection to me, was now known to everyone in this room.
Milani and Kristian shared a quick look.
I nodded. “Of Varrone-Donovan Financial, yes.”
Treya leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Don’t you think Mommy and Daddy will be upset with you for joining this game?”
It took a great effort, but I managed to keep from rolling my eyes. “What my parents think is the least of my concerns.”
Boston hadn’t quite taken on a hierarchy of nobility as in older times. But the fractioning of society to make room for supernaturals had sort of recreated it. There weren’t only the upper, middle, and lower classes anymore. There were clans and covens, corporations and rich families with control over more than simply money.
The Varrone Family had certainly fallen to this. Almost from birth, my eldest sister had been groomed to take over the company, with me as the backup. My youngest had gotten away with whatever she’d wanted. That left me, the middle child, largely ignored and often unattended. But every now and then into my late teens, my parents would attempt to convince me to be more involved with the company in the future. Not as CEO, but in some other function.
Treya’s crossed arms seemed to squeeze her chest tighter as she remained reclined. “Hmm.”
“Stop interrogating the girl,” Kristian said. “Let’s play another round while there’s still moonlight.”
Funny. As one of the few vampires who could handle direct sunlight, he had nothing to worry about. Must mean he has somewhere important to be.
The dealer handed out the first pair of cards for everyone at Kristian’s command.
“Wait,” I said, placing my hand on the table. “Let me join this last round.”
“Absolutely not,” Treya said. “You lost. Go back to your job now.”
I sent her a pleading look. “I have something else to bet, something as valuable as my name if what I was told was true.”
Kristian asked, “And what might that be?”
“I admit I am curious.” Keir lifted his drink to his mouth and sipped from the straw. He’d already won decently tonight.
Milani’s fingernails tapped the table again. “What could you possibly have?”
I dug into my pocket and wrapped my fingers around the golf-ball-sized plain-faced stone. It looked like a chunk of uncut, unpolished quartz with a small dot of glowing white energy in the center. Not much magic remained, but enough to prove what this was.
Shock crossed the features of all four other players at the table.
“How?” Milani asked.
Treya’s faced darkened. “Your parents. They’ve had that since before you were born. They’ve been looking for it for months now.”
I shrugged. “Took them a while to miss this then.”
Previously, this stone had been a paperweight on my father’s desk that had mesmerized me as a child.
The truth was that it was a weave stone—magic compressed into a stone that allowed one to create a portal between weaves. Between worlds. You didn’t need a ley-line or your own magic or a naturally formed portal if you had a weave stone.
“Well, that is certainly something,” Keir said slowly.
“And relatively useless without the right magic to charge it,” Milani noted.
On that, she was apparently correct. I didn’t know much, but the appraiser I’d met with had told me one needed elven magic to charge a weave stone. And last I checked, there were no elves running around Boston. They were gone, long gone. Their entire civilization.
“So?” I asked as I placed the weave stone on the table. My ace in the hole. My one and only shot, my name lost or not, to win big money and get out of the city. “What do you say? Want to let this human play one more round?”
“The odds she’ll win are so low anyway,” Treya said. She sounded almost dejected, or wholly disbelieving of my actions.
“Not necessarily,” Milani said.
“The stone is worth it,” Keir said, his eyes focused on the energy flowing in the stone.
Kristian leaned in and put his fingers on top of his cards. “I’ll allow her to join. For once, I agree with Keir.”
Milani and Treya exchanged a lengthy look. Then Treya nodded.
“Fine, deal her in,” Milani said.
I guessed what my appraiser had said was true. This weave stone was invaluable. But only useable to supernaturals.
“What is it that you’re all playing for anyway?” I asked as I was dealt my first two cards. I checked them quickly so as not to hold up the game even longer… and tried my best to slow my heart rate.
King and Queen of Spades. Gods. Whatever the prize was, I might win it.
I clamped down on my thoughts, too, just in case, and pushed some chips into the center pile. The others did the same.
Kristian examined his cards. “Something special.”
“But not special enough you’d risk a human joining?” I asked.
Treya scoffed.
I cleared my throat. “A waitress,” I clarified.
Stop being so arrogant. They’ll see right through it. And there’s plenty chance left for failure.
“She’s right,” Keir said. “Vera should know what else she’ll lose tonight in addition to her name and the weave stone if one of us wins.”
“Ha ha,” I said exaggeratedly. I still wasn’t sure I’d actually lost my name. Or what power I’d given Keir by allowing him to take it. Honestly, I hoped to never find out.
Milani snapped her fingers and a woman appeared from a side door in a fine black dress inlaid with sequins and sparkles. The lights above the table danced off her dress as it swished along with her movements. She had long, platinum blonde hair almost the same shade of Keir’s and looked completely neutral about walking into a nest of supernaturals. In her white-gloved hands was an object the size of a small watermelon and covered in scales that caught the light and sent it rippling across the bronze surface. My attention seemed to immediately zero in on the egg as if nothing else mattered, its unusual form enthralling me.
“An egg?” The words tumbled past my stunned lips as I watched the woman—a vampire, I realized as I caught sight of her fangs—lay the object on the table. I didn’t understand. Why play for an egg? Wait—scales? “I’m sorry. Is this a
dragon egg?”
Chapter 3
It seemed like a ludicrous question, but not for the reasons one might have thought.
My breath caught in my chest as I blinked at the bronze-scaled egg. Gods, what could it be worth? Enough to get me out of New England entirely with an escort? I’d have to sell it on the black market for sure. Or the Internet. My pulse sped as I considered all the possibilities in front of me. Even if this was a fake—and it had to be—plenty of fools could be duped into thinking this was a god’s-honest dragon egg.
Dragons didn’t exist anymore. So where had this egg come from?
That would finally be my ticket out of the city and into a new life. One that would hopefully mean something beyond being a waitress in a city full of other faceless people doing nothing with their lives.
I wanted to be someone beyond my parents’ company and identity. To do something important. To be a part of something for me.
Leaving Boston was my path toward that. And this egg would fuel the journey.
The risk is worth it. I was nothing here anymore, with no connections. And that was no way to live a life. I’d been lying to myself for years thinking that it was.
It was time to stop kidding myself and start admitting that I did want more. I craved it.
My mouth dropped open and stayed there for too long. Even if it wasn’t real, the detailing on this egg was amazing. Every scale ridge seemed to shimmer and glow, like the last embers of a fire. The egg was perfectly oval and immaculately decorated. But why it was here, as clearly this was meant to be some sort of artifact or décor, made no sense to me.
“Art,” I said. “You’re playing for art.”
They all chuckled.
“No,” Keir said, laughing heartily. “We play for the egg.”
“Who even puts this sort of thing up as a prize?” I asked. “The house?” I’d never inquired about these things before. It hadn’t ever been my place to ask where the money or territories came from. But this?
Keir shrugged. “We don’t know and didn’t ask.”
“Let’s begin,” Kristian said with a flourish of his hand, dismissing my question altogether. “The sun rises soon.” Again, a non-issue for him, but—