All That Glitters

by Dawn Ibanez

  He sighed. “I won’t object to Carly moving in, if Pizazz comes too.”

  She laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I was thinking more along the lines of Al and Xian. There’s still so much I want to learn from her. And Al really doesn’t have anyone to help him get acclimated to the current times. He’s been sealed away for how long?”

  He could see her points. “I’ll see what Xian says.” He kissed her and guided her to the sofa. As they sat, he kept his arm around her shoulders. “As for your brother, I think he will want to stay here, but he will also want someplace to call his own as well.”

  “He can pick a property. I feel like a slumlord with all the estates you said I have now.”

  “You could never be a slumlord.” He laughed at the very idea. “Everyone agrees, you are a marshmallow.”

  She poked him in the side. “I just want to be fair. Faust wasn’t.”

  “Life isn’t always fair, Love.”

  She brought her feet up to the sofa and snuggled into his side. “Which is why I need to keep you all around. You guys can be the hard ones and I’ll be the soft one.” She then lifted her head and smiled. “Until I have to cheat.”

  He frowned at her. He then grinned. “How did you know it would end in a tie?”

  Kalina put her head on his shoulder again. “I told you that I didn’t gamble when I used to go to the casinos, right?” She continued when he nodded. “I told everyone it was because I didn’t want to get addicted to it, since my mother had an addiction problem. But really, it was just that I knew what the outcome would be, so it wasn’t any fun.”

  “How did you know?” He thought back to the game. Kalina’s focused posture came to mind. As did the way she focused on dealer when he shuffled the cards. “Oh my god.”

  She shrugged. “Carly is pretty much the only person that knows.” She tapped her temple. “We experimented and found out I can retain the shuffle orders of at least seven decks, and then shuffle them together. The numbers I can remember are astronomical.” She laughed as snapped her fingers and a deck of cards appeared on the table in front of them. “And that favor of yours I called in? It was to use these decks that Carly designed.”

  Rumple picked up the cards and looked them over. They were plain with no identifying marks on them. “What’s special about these?” He then remembered what Cisco said.

  “She had this friend that could design enchantment proof cards.”

  “Carly?”

  Kalina took the ace of spades and held it up. He watched as the spade slowly went from black to red. “The more magic that’s poured into it, the more the color will change. So, the first couple of times, you won’t be found out. But if you keep trying, you will, and you’ll be kicked out of the casino.”

  “And instead of rigging the game for you to cheat, you rigged it so he couldn’t cheat?” He laughed as he tossed the cards to the coffee table. “You are going to make things difficult and interesting,” he said before kissing her.

  She melted in his arms and held him close. He loved the feeling of her against his side. “Where is Satella’s book?”

  “Hidden. I was thinking about dropping it into a volcano but haven’t decided yet.”

  “I can ask Tereza to hide it in her compartment space?” She frowned as she sat up. “What does she sleep in? Please tell me Faust didn’t keep her in a lamp or something just as obnoxious.”

  He laughed. “He did not keep her in a lamp. She has her own suite of rooms upstairs. Faust may not have let her out a lot, but she could roam the property.” When Kalina nodded, he kissed her cheek. “The baby will be protected here. We have the little one to think of now.”

  Kalina smiled. “I was thinking that if it’s a boy, we could name him Aaron.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair. As it fell from his hands, the locks turned the shade of magenta he adored. “It seems that the men in your family all have names that start with A. Should I change my name again to match?”

  She climbed into his lap and tugged on his hair. “I like Ryan. Oh! I know, Rys. After mom, but with an R, like his father.”

  Ryan held her as she planned for their future. His hands trembled as he thought of how different their lives would have been if he turned down Faust’s assignment.

  “Now I just have to think of a girl’s name.”

  He kissed her shoulder. “What do you think of Celeste?”

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  COLLECT ALL 10

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  Wolf’s Bane by Donna R. Mercer

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  Scar’s Redemption by Kiru Taye

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  All That Glitters by Dawn Ibanez

  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T9J6ZHF

  Pied by Brooklyn Knight

  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V38Y4ZD

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Dawn Ibanez is a paranormal romance author that currently is working on various series to delight and entertain. She lives in Maryland with her family and can often be found sharing various with her daughter whom she affectionately calls Doppelganger.