by Zoe Perdita
That damn origami swan fluttered its wings, and his chest constricted.
Dammit. Just like him to think about that at a time like this.
Mikhail stopped at a door with two even larger bears standing in front of it. He said something to them in Russian, which Davis didn’t understand, and the bear guards let both of them in.
When the door shut behind them it took most of the music with it.
Davis glanced around the room. A table sat in the center and a single bare light bulb hung from the ceiling illuminating it. The room had no windows, and it smelled like shifters and alcohol with the faint hint of blood underneath. Hopefully, Davis’s own blood wouldn’t join that scent.
One other bear sat at the table along with a cat shifter, an alpha wolf with slicked back blond hair, and that asshole tiger, Fei.
Why did it have to be Fei?
Davis didn’t take a step closer. “I didn’t know we were having a party. I’d have brought beer.”
Mikhail put a powerful hand on Davis’s shoulder and squeezed. He pushed Davis toward a seat. “We have plenty to drink. Now we play.”
Fei smiled though it held no mirth. “Sit down, Mr. Harrison. We have to make sure you’re good enough before you enter the game. Jin wanted me to get a look at your skills first hand.”
“That’s thorough of him,” Davis said and pulled out the chair next to the cat shifter.
The cat’s caramel colored hair was on the short side, and he wore a T-shirt and jeans. It made him look like a college student and not what he really was – some shifter gang member. Or an expert seka player. Davis had no clue, but it was probably one or the other.
“This is the guy that stole from Jin? He’s not as dumb looking as I thought he’d be,” the cat said. He looked at Davis, but he was obviously addressing someone else.
“Seb,” the wolf said, and his voice held a note of humor. “You said you’d be on your best behavior tonight. Do I have to get out the leather?”
Seb scowled. “Only if I’m using it on you.”
Davis smiled at them both to diffuse the situation. Leather? This shit was getting out of hand quickly. “Ha! He’s right. I’m not as dumb as I sound in stories. I actually thought the money belonged to Mao.”
Seb looked Davis in the eye, perfectly direct. “That doesn’t make it better. She was one crazy bitch. And I’m pretty sure Ian can take you down, no offense.”
“So everyone knows who I am. Do I get your names?” Davis asked and glanced at every shifter around the table.
“Names are good. Yes,” Mikhail said. “You know Fei. That wolf is Ian Black and the cat is Sebastian, both are members of the Black Wolves. The bear is Dmitri. He’s very good at all games, right Dmitri?”
“Da,” Dmitri said and downed a shot of vodka.
Dmitri looked like his nose had been broken once or twice, or perhaps it was just his Russian blood that gave him a crook like that. Not bad looking, but he was smaller than Mikhail – slighter – sort of like an omega wolf. Davis didn’t know how bears organized their ranks. Maybe they didn’t have alphas and omegas like wolves, or perhaps they were called something different.
“Are the Black Wolves a new gang? I thought Jin ran Haven now,” Davis said and tapped his fingers on the table.
Fei’s back stiffened, and he narrowed his eyes. “Jin controls Haven, but the Black Wolves are a separate organization. Not really a gang more of a—”
“Criminal co-op,” Sebastian said with obvious satisfaction. His green eyes glinted in the overhead light, his pupils turned like a cat.
Ian shot Sebastian a glance, which was full of nothing but adoration. His lips curled into a pleasant smile. “Yeah. We take on jobs for Jin when he needs to keep his hands clean.”
“What kinds of jobs?” Davis asked. He’d been out of Haven a long time, but this is a side of the underworld he’d never seen. Not that he was overly versed in criminal activity or anything.
“Secret ones,” Sebastian said with an air of enjoyment. “Why? Do you want a job, Mr. Harrison? Ian might use you as a fall guy. You have all the right qualities.”
Davis shook his head. “I’m not a fall guy. Prison isn’t my thing.”
“Prison isn’t anyone’s thing. That’s why we have cops we’re friendly with,” Fei said.
Cops they bribed more like it. Davis knew a threat when he heard one. Not even the police could help Davis, but it wasn’t like that’s what he expected. When you lived your life on a thin line between crime and not quite crime, he wasn’t really prone to go to the police for aid anyway. What was he going to do? Hey, I cheated at an illegal casino and now that casino’s boss wants to kill me if I don’t do him a favor?
Yeah, that wasn’t going to go over well anywhere.
So Davis let that line of conversation die out, and Mikhail dealt the cards.
A woman clad in a bright pink mini-dress brought in a tray of drinks, tea for Fei, water for Sebastian and Ian, and vodka for Dmitri and Mikhail. She gave a shot of vodka to Davis too, and smiled at him.
A few months ago he might’ve smiled back. Now he nodded and let out a long sigh. His heart still felt like a fist gripped it. Squeezed it enough to pop it right in his chest.
Ken had to be on his date by now. Dinner and whatever else Sam had planned. Did Ken really mean it when he told Davis not to wait up? That meant he might go over to Sam’s place and. . . yeah, Davis didn’t want to think about that.
At all.
Ever.
He downed the shot of vodka against all better judgment and looked at his cards.
Everybody already knew how to play, so Mikhail didn’t explain the rules. They exchanged a few hundred dollars each for chips and started with a smallish bet – ten dollars. Apparently, they were trying to keep the game friendly.
Good idea.
Davis wasn’t in the mood for good ideas, but he held back the least alpha-like impulse he had to bet it all and fuck what happened next, so he started small.
Davis observed his fellow gamblers. Sebastian and Dmitri were the best at keeping their expressions neutral. Fei came in a close third, but his dimple betrayed him, from time to time. Ian and Mikhail were last. Completely and totally useless. They had about a million tells a piece. Mikhail pursed his lips at a bad hand and grinned at a good one like he had no idea someone might be watching him.
Ian wasn’t that bad, but his eyebrow twitched when his hand was bad, and he swallowed when he had a good hand. A really obvious swallow that made his Adam’s apple bump out, and Davis realized he was watching another man’s Adam’s apple. And he didn’t mind which was – weird – to say the least.
Part of Davis hoped Mikhail joined the real game just to make it easy to beat someone.
Meanwhile, Davis did what he always did when he gambled. He gave out fake tells. With a bad hand he’d chew the inside of his lip. The only ones paying attention to him well were Fei, Sebastian and Dmitri.
Even with the rush of a good game (and a decreased chance that he’d get in big trouble if he did end up cheating), the swan in his gut continued to squawk and flap its wings. His heart ached – just like all the songs said – and he wished someone would bring him another drink.
Vodka.
Beer.
Hell. He didn’t really care at the moment.
Something to get his mind off how naked Ken probably was. Wrapped in another man’s arms and . . . fuck!
Davis blinked and realized he hadn’t been doing anything but staring at his own hand for the last minute. He needed to check everyone’s faces. When he did, they looked at him expectantly.
“Your call,” Fei said and studied him with those dark, impenetrable eyes.
Davis’s hand was fine. High enough, if everyone else had shitty hands. The probability of that was about fifty percent, but he’d take those odds. Fuck it. Why not? This game had gone on long enough.
He wanted to stand up and stretch his legs. Have another drink and not worry about Ken or
Jin or what anyone thought of him for a little while.
“I’m all in,” Davis said and shoved his entire pile of chips forward. It was much larger than Ian and Mikhail’s piles, but about even with Dmitri’s. Sebastian and Fei weren’t as big since they only bet small amounts. Too bad. If they jumped in with both feet they could’ve won big on a few hands, but they were both too careful.
Fuck being careful.
Davis wanted to have fun. To feel the rush of winning until it made him forget everything, even if it only lasted a little while.
His nerves sang. The alpha howled. Moments like these were akin to running through the woods on a full moon. Even with the constriction in his chest, his heart pounded. His mouth felt like the Mojave, and he licked his lips.
Sebastian snorted, and Fei stared at Davis like he was some modern painting whose meaning he wanted to figure out.
Good luck, tiger! Davis thought and chuckled to throw everyone off.
He figured Sebastian and Fei wouldn’t meet his bet. Neither would Ian. Mikhail might for the fun of it. Dmitri was completely unreadable, so Davis had no fucking clue.
He waited.
Mikhail shook his head and looked at his measly pile of chips. “I’m out. Ah! Too bad.”
Ian chewed his bottom lip. “That’s too rich for me. If Fisk were here. . . .”
“He’d have lost all his money already,” Sebastian finished, and shoved his entire pile across the table.
Ian blinked. “Are you sure?”
Sebastian nodded. Smirked. “Yes. The last time I made a bet like this I got into a shitload of trouble, but that’s not going to happen this time. Even if I lose, Mikhail isn’t Vlad.”
“No. Vlad was as big a bastard as Sergei. Maybe more. What do you think, Dmitri?” Mikhail asked and rubbed the stubble on his cheeks.
Dmitri stared at Davis. His eyes were a warm honey brown framed by dark lashes. It was almost like looking at his own eyes, Davis thought and forced himself to smile.
Dmitri frowned. At least he did something. “Out.”
Davis nodded, and bit back his surprise. He was sure Dmitri would be the only one willing to call his bet, but he was mistaken.
That left Fei.
The tiger stared hard at his own hand, then at his pile of chips, and pushed them elegantly into the middle of the table. “Call.”
Mikhail laughed like someone told a dirty joke.
Davis’s fingers twitched on his hand. A bead of sweat dripped down his back, although the room wasn’t hot.
Win or lose – this is the part that got him.
The big reveal.
The moment right before he knew if he made the right call or not.
Sebastian started. He flipped over one card at a time, probably for added suspense. Two clubs: a Queen and a nine. Nineteen. Not a bad hand.
Davis smiled. He had that beat. He glanced at Fei.
“Be my guest,” Fei said and motioned to Davis’s cards.
Davis didn’t waste time dragging out the process. The urgency in his fingers wouldn’t let him. He turned over all three at once. All hearts, but no face cards: a three, a seven and an ace. Twenty-one in all.
Fei nodded, his face bland, and flipped over his hand last.
Double aces. Twenty-two.
Davis counted them twice.
No matter how many times he did it, the arithmetic didn’t change.
If he cheated, he could’ve won. But that wasn’t the point. He needed to win on his own merits without cheating. Because cheating against the bears Jin wanted Davis to face might get him killed, like Mikhail said.
Mikhail chuckled again.
Fei pulled his winnings toward him, and Sebastian let out a rude sound through his nose. “Don’t tell Fisk about this,” he said to Ian.
Ian smiled. “I don’t think I can keep this from Break. And if he tells your brother, what am I supposed to do about it? They both deserve to know.”
“They deserve to know you’re an asshole,” Sebastian muttered, but there was no actual malice behind it. The joy that twitched at the corners of his mouth gave him away.
Fei didn’t even smile as he piled his chips into rows. Of course not, smug bastard. Even when the woman in pink came into the room with a tray of celebratory shots, one for each of them this time, the hint of satisfaction didn’t cross the tiger’s lips. Why gamble if he didn’t enjoy it?
Davis frowned and glanced at his phone. It was after midnight. Ken was probably in bed with Sam by now. Naked. Sweaty. Fuck! He drank the shot of vodka. The alcohol burned as it went down, but it did nothing to calm the crazed origami swan that told him to find Ken and do something.
But do what, exactly, it didn’t say.
Be an overbearing alpha who destroyed his best friend’s chance at happiness?
Tell Ken what Davis thought might be the truth about his feelings? Unless this was just some stupid phase brought on by seeing Ken in the flesh again and being near him. And if it wasn’t a phase but the real thing:
Love.
Them.
Together.
But if Davis screwed it up, then he’d hurt Ken all over again. Break Ken all over again, and Davis couldn’t do that. The easy answer was don’t screw up, but it was a lot harder than it seemed. He was so good at screwing up and so fucking terrible at making things better.
After everyone finished their drinks, Ian and Sebastian slipped out, hand in hand. Dmitri and Mikhail followed them, which left Davis alone with Fei – the last person he wanted to be alone with.
Fei straightened his black suit jacket as he stood. His slick hair was tied into a ponytail again, which made his sharp cheekbones that much more prominent. In a vague way, they reminded Davis of Ken.
“You’re better than I thought, but you take unnecessary risks when you’re bored. That’s your downfall,” Fei said and fixed Davis with his dark gaze.
Davis shrugged. “So Jin’s going to let me off. Is that what you’re getting at?”
Fei frowned. “No. I’m trying to give you advice. Jin doesn’t want those drugs back on Haven’s streets. A lot of good shifters died to win that gang war and clean up Haven. If you win and repay the money, it’s fine. Jin doesn’t care if you cheat and they kill you. But if they catch you, and you give away Jin’s plan. . . well, things around Haven will get more complicated than they need to be. The Dragon can’t guarantee your brother or your mate’s safety, should it come to that.”
A chill shot up Davis’s spine. “If this job is so important why isn’t Jin sending you on it instead of someone he doesn’t trust?”
Fei actually smiled at that. He clicked two chips together in his fingers. “Because I’m an important part of the Triad, and you’re completely expendable. He hates losing good shifters.”
Ouch.
And Davis wasn’t a good shifter. He wasn’t a good anything, really. Hell, it fell in line so closely to how Davis saw himself that he couldn’t even summon the energy to laugh, just for the hell of it.
Instead, he followed Fei out of the backroom. Fei went to the left, so Davis turned right and headed back into the club. He wasn’t some dog who was about to trot after a goddamn tiger. Plus, the club had drinks, and Davis needed just one more of those before he headed back to Ken’s empty condo.
Davis leaned against the bar and downed two: one pint of Russian lager and another shot of fiery vodka. The latter burned all the way down his esophagus, and he took a gulp of the lager to clear it. None of his gambling comrades were in the club proper, so Davis leaned against the bar and watched the half-naked women spin on their poles.
Did the origami swan flutter for them?
Nope.
Maybe that sealed it. Davis was gay enough for Ken.
His buzzed brain thought that was funny, but he wasn’t in the mood to laugh. He finished his drink instead. Thankfully, the bartender didn’t ask him to pay.
The woman shook her head and smiled. “Mikhail said you can drink what you like tonigh
t to curb the sting of losing.”
“Thanks,” Davis said and wiped his lips. He’d finally shaved the other day, but keeping his cheeks totally smooth was a hassle when he didn’t have any reason for it. It’s not like Ken complained about his stubble.
He nodded at the bartender and slipped toward the exit.
While Mikhail drove Davis to the club, he wasn’t going to ask for a ride home. That sounded too desperate, and Davis could find his own ride in the form of a cab.
On his way outside, a woman in nothing more than a bra and panties stopped him. He was pretty sure the top was too small by about two cup sizes or however women measured bras. Cups sounded right.
“Are you lonely?” she purred into his ear, and her fingers dug into Davis’s shoulder through his jacket.
He let out a short burst of laughter. Well, it was supposed to be laughter. However, he wasn’t sure if he sounded amused or like a wolf that just had his tail stepped on. Lonely – yeah, but he wasn’t looking for that kind of company. “Sweetheart, you have no idea.”
She smiled, but Davis shook his head and moved past her.
Or, he tried to, but the woman held on. Pressed her breasts against his arm and blinked like she had something stuck in her eye. “I can help.”
Davis did laugh at that. “And I can’t pay you for your time, so I think we should both look somewhere else for what we want.”
She let go, and said something in Russian to his back. It sounded angry but most Russian did.
Davis ignored it.
When he stepped outside, the rush of cold air cleared his lungs and his head. He took a deep breath, which was a mistake since he stood so close to the river. It smelled mostly like fish and dirty water. But, hey, it was Haven.
Home.
The rain had stopped a few days before, and the night was clear. Only a few stars sparkled in the vast blue-black sky since the city lights shone so brightly. Still, Davis looked up and forced his bleary mind to do something.
Go home.
Find Ken.
Alone.
Doubtful, but Davis could hope.
Footsteps stomped out of the club behind him. “Oi!” a man called, his voice deep and gruff.
No one else stood close by, which meant it was aimed at him. Davis gritted his teeth and turned.