by Nicole Thorn
I started letting myself win. I managed to get all of my money back, and then some. Still not even half of what Travis had.
When he stood at the end of a hand, we all looked at him. “Be seeing you soon.” He took his chips and left.
I stood, about to excuse myself to follow him.
“Sit down,” the man across from me said with a thick accent. “You stay.”
Anna looked at me with a hint of panic.
My target got away, and I was stuck here playing a game. But at least I knew he’d be back. Poker was his game, and I just had to find him.
I sat down, and watched the cards being dealt.
A few more minutes passed, and one man leaned to the other again. He spoke in Russian, leaving me in the dark on the conversation. Anna stopped breathing. I wish she could let me in on what the hell was going on.
She mouthed to me, “Keep playing.”
I did as she said.
I won several thousand dollars in the next few hands. None of the men seemed pleased that the new guy cleaned them out. I eased back on the next hand.
“See?” the man on the right whispered to his friend. One glanced back at Anna before leaning into his friend. He whispered something in Russian again but it was too low for Anna to hear.
The first man turned to me. “Next hand we have a new bet. If you win, you can go with your money and your girl. If you lose, they both stay with me. I need a new waitress anyway.”
“No,” I said calmly, though my blood boiled. “I won’t bet her.”
Man Two smiled. “All bets are final once you enter the room. Did no one tell you this was a high stakes game? It’s done. Play, or neither of you leave.”
Threaten my life, fine. Whatever. But the second Anna had been brought into this, the game changed. I’d kill them if I had to, but I didn’t want to risk ruining this lead.
When the conversation between the men stopped being in English, they must have said something that worried Anna. She gasped, and it didn’t escape the notice of the first man.
“You speak Russian?” he asked her in English.
She nodded.
He slipped back into Russian, the two having a conversation that I couldn’t make sense of. Anna remained worried, which only got worse when the man pointed to me, making a gun with his fingers.
Anna stood and walked to me. I stood and took her hand.
“He said I have to make you play,” she told me. “Or they’ll keep me here and they’ll kill you. If you don’t play you lose.”
“No, I’m not betting you.”
“If you say no, then they get me anyway. Do it.”
“Listen to your wife,” man one said.
I could get her out of this, and I would if it came to that.
I sat down.
Man One smiled. “Good boy.” He looked to Anna and pointed to me. “Go ahead and wish him luck.”
“Good luck,” she said, flatly.
The man laughed. “Like you mean it. You might not get another chance.”
Anna took a deep breath. She put her hands gently on either side of my face, so I’d have to look at her. She bent down and pressed her lips flush with mine.
It felt nothing like I thought it would. Anna enveloped me. We weren’t in the room anymore; maybe not even the planet. She pulled away before I wanted her to. Though I wouldn’t have been ready if she waited a hundred years.
“I believe in you,” she whispered to me before she started walking back to her seat.
Laughter boomed from man one. “Now that’s a proper send off. I almost want you to win.”
Chapter Fifteen: Wounded
Anastasia
I sat on the couch, terrified of the three men around the table with Ezra. One stayed silent the whole game, but the Russians had not been. I tried to decide if I could kill the three of them with Ezra’s dagger before they hurt him.
I didn’t know why I worried. He’d been a professional killer for hundreds of years. I watched the quiet man shuffle and deal the cards for a few seconds before my eyes went back to Ezra.
The silence felt painful as the game went on. I could see the two Russians’ cards, but I couldn’t see Ezra’s or the other man’s.
I studied the room, looking for exits, or some kind of help. If we had to run, could we run fast enough? I didn’t know what I dealt with, what kind of men they were. Killers, I knew that.
The entrance we came through had an elevator, and I spotted one emergency exit. This room had none. If we ran, we’d have at least one man with a gun to get past.
The seconds went by at an agonizing pace. When I saw Ezra lay down his cards with a smile, I breathed a sigh of relief.
The man on the left slammed his hand down on the table. “Cheater.” He pointed to Ezra.
Time to go.
I looked around the room again as I heard the man yelling in Russian. A line of candles had been placed on a metal file cabinet against the wall. It sat right next to a curtain. I couldn’t get to it from here, but I could try and make it move anyway.
“The girl,” the man said. “She must have been signaling him. That’s why he chose that seat.”
“Bullshit.” Ezra stood. “You lose. Now we leave.”
I stood up and focused hard on the candle. It fell over, and I almost cried with joy. The curtain started burning, but only I noticed, since the men still fought.
The other man stood up. “You cheated. We get your wife and your money. You may leave now.”
A candle fell to the floor, and started rolling on the ancient carpet. It caught flame and the quiet man saw it. His voice couldn’t be heard over the yelling.
“I’m not leaving her,” Ezra growled. I ran to him, and he put his arm in front me, pushing me back.
“We need to go.” I tugged at him.
He saw the fire, and all of the men turned to it. We took the opportunity to run.
“Don’t let them go!” someone shouted, alerting the man who did our pat down.
He bolted out of his seat and went for his gun. We almost reached the door when it fired. I stopped and checked my body for a wound. Nothing on me.
Ezra wasn’t so lucky.
Red colored his grey shirt just under his collarbone. I couldn’t breathe.
The man lifted his gun again, and something in me burned. I sent the man flying across the room. He hit a metal pillar in the middle of the room, and I heard a crack before he dropped to the ground.
Ezra had his hand closed over the wound, and he leaned against the wall. I pulled him out of the emergency exit, and we ran to the car.
I forced him into the passengers’ seat before I dug into his pockets for the key.
He breathed heavily. “Slow down, Pet. Not every day I get you to put your hand in my pants.”
I pulled the keys free and shot out of the parking lot like a bat outta Hell. “Why are you joking right now? You’ve been shot.” I looked from the road to him.
“Not so bad,” he breathed. “It won’t kill me. Again.”
I stopped the car when I thought we were a safe distance from that place. Sirens wailed in the distance. I hoped that they’d find that whole underground room, and arrest everyone.
I got onto Ezra’s lap to look at his wound.
He smiled weakly at me. “Just can’t keep you off of me today. I’m a lucky boy.”
I unbuttoned his shirt and got a look at the wound. Blood oozed out, getting all over my hands as I checked him. I was probably only making it worse, but I felt like I had to do something. “Does it hurt?”
“Well, there is a hole in my chest, love. It hurts a little.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Please don’t die.”
He held my face in his hands and whispered, “I won’t die. I promise.”
“I really don’t want you to die.”
He closed his eyes. “We have that in common. Drive.”
***
He was still out when I got back to the hotel, so ge
tting him to our room became a little difficult. I had to leave him in the car while I went to steal a wheelchair. This damn hotel offered a whole lot of special services to its guests. It was easy enough sneaking past the girl at the counter.
I got him into our room and laid him on our bed. Ezra had to have some kind of first aid kit in his bags. I dug through his suitcase until I found it. He was right; he was a lucky boy.
I took his shirt off and cleaned the wound as best as I could. The bullet went straight through, so he bled from two places.
The kit had everything I needed to stitch him up. I started, and he stayed unconscious.
His eyes rolled open as I finished up the first side.
“Welcome back,” I said.
“You… you stripped me.” He sat up with a groan. My hands went to his shoulders.
“I kinda had to. You were bleeding to death.”
“Oh, I don’t mind. Just wish I was awake for it.”
“No, you don’t. I still need to finish stitching you up.” I pulled him back and cleaned the exit wound.
“How did you learn how to do that?”
“Boy Scouts.”
He turned his head back. “You mean Girl Scouts.”
“No. I was in the Boy Scouts. The girl one was really stupid, and I wanted to do the good stuff. My mom started a petition so I could join, and then they let me.”
He chuckled. “Of course. Figures that you never played by the rules.”
I leaned my head past his shoulders. “Rules are boring and meant to be broken.”
I started stitching up his back, and Ezra tightly held the sheets to get through the pain. I didn’t like seeing him in pain, so I reached for the phone and dialed for room service.
“Hello,” I said into the phone, “Could you send a bottle of Jack Daniels and a new set of sheets up to room 223?” I looked at our bloody bed… That one will be hard to explain.
“Absolutely,” the woman who answered said.
“Thank you.”
Ezra shifted on the bed so that his back faced the wall. “Thirsty? I believe you are underage.”
My eyebrow went up. “Does that apply to me? Never mind. It’s for you.”
Someone knocked at the door.
I answered it, and the man with my whiskey and sheets stared at me. I was covered in blood, so I couldn’t blame him.
“What?” I said. “I like it rough. What’s it to you?” I closed the door and returned to Ezra.
“I… cannot believe you did that.”
“Why not?” I handed him the bottle and dropped the sheets on the floor.
He cracked open the top to take a drink as I went back to finishing his stitches. “Because, you’re a good girl, remember?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m really not.”
I bandaged both sides of him, then threw the bloody cotton and other things away. I cleaned myself up in the bathroom, and when I walked back into the room, the bottle was mostly empty. “Ezra… maybe pace yourself.”
He waved his hand. “I’m a hellion, Pet. Takes a lot to get me sloshed,” he slurred. Clearly, he reached that point.
I made him get out of bed, so I could change the sheets. “Oooh.” Ezra smiled. “Time for bed,” he took another drink and set the bottle down before he took his pants off. He fell back on the bed as I walked over.
I stood at the side of the bed and just stared at the drunken man that I had incredibly warm feelings for. Especially now, with him being silly.
He suddenly sat up. He blinked a few times before pulling me on top of him. “Hello.” He put his hands on my hips under my shirt. Slowly, they traveled up my waist and down again continuously. “You could have left me.”
“What?”
“When I was shot. You could have run, left me. Saved yourself.” He looked troubled. “You should have run.”
“I couldn’t leave you there,” I said as I hovered over him.
Ezra nodded. “You could have.”
“I didn’t want to. It didn’t even cross my mind.”
Ezra smiled. “You said you didn’t want me to die.”
“That’s right.”
His hands stopped at my hips. “Do you really hate me?”
My heart broke at the question. I used to. “No.”
He looked relieved.
With a quick motion, Ezra had me on my back and he placed himself on top of me, the thin fabric of our clothes pressed together. “I want you,” he said as his eyes stared into mine.
I liked hearing the words, but I knew they didn’t mean anything. “No, you don’t. Not really.”
“I do.” He nodded and rocked his hips against mine once, maybe on accident. “Kiss me again.”
“Ezra. I can’t. I shouldn’t have before, and I won’t do it now.”
He looked hurt. “But, I really want you, Anna. Really, really want you.”
“The only reason you want to sleep with me is because you think I’m pretty.”
“Wrong. Pretty isn’t right. Stunning.” He kissed my neck. “Exquisite.” Another kiss. “Ravishing.” Longer kiss. “Perfection in human form.” He nuzzled his face into my neck and let his nose graze my jaw.
“That’s not enough. The point I was trying to make was that you only want me for how I look. You don’t actually want me.”
He lifted himself up so he could see my face. “I do.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Ezra moved off of me without a word. He laid on his side facing away from me, like I offended him. “Ezra?”
He ignored me.
“Are you pouting because I won’t have sex with you? What are you, sixteen?”
He twisted his body to look at me. “No,” he snapped. “I am pouting because you don’t believe me. Goodnight.” He rolled back over.
Big baby.
Why should I believe his lie? I read his words, and the way he treated me made it clear how he felt. His moments of kindness were few and far between.
I laid on my back after I shut the lights out. I wasn’t really tired, but I figured I didn’t have anything else to do.
I felt Ezra turn over. I looked at him, and he put his hand on my arm. “Divina died. A long time ago, when I was human. She was… she was mine.”
I didn’t speak for a few seconds.
Someone he loved.
“I’m sorry.”
He let go of me, then put his hands under his head. “Me too. It was my fault.”
“How?” I pushed.
He breathed for a few seconds. “I wasn’t supposed to love her, but I did. I loved her because of how she loved me. It was addicting. Having somebody love you like that. How could you not love them back? When she looked at me, I’d never felt so wanted. Do you, do you know what that feels like?”
“I’ve never been in love.” That felt somewhat untrue, but I dismissed it. My head felt like a mess. I didn’t know what I felt, and I couldn’t trust anything that I thought I knew.
“I didn’t get to say goodbye to her. Tell her that I loved her one last time. You never know how much time is left. Best not to waste it,” he said as he drifted off to sleep.
His words were true. I thought of how I never got to say goodbye to my parents. They got no closure, and neither did I.
I’d give anything to hear my mother’s voice one more time.
My eyes found the phone, and I thought for a few minutes. Then I stopped thinking, and dialed her number, praying that she didn’t change it.
Ring… ring… ring… I waited for disappointment to show up as it always did.
“Hello?” I almost cried when I heard my mother’s slight accent. Then I panicked. I couldn’t speak to her; she’d know my voice. “Is anyone there?” Seconds went by. “I’ll countdown to ten before I hang up. Ten…” she started.
The numbers when down, and I just needed to talk to her. I slipped into the only accent I could do; an English one. “Sorry, bad connection, didn’t hear you.”
“No
problem. Can I help you?”
She sounded just like I remembered. Not much time had passed, so I didn’t know why that surprised me.
“Yes, may I speak with Mr. Holmes please?” I couldn’t think of anything better to say. I wanted to keep her on the line forever, but I couldn’t keep up this game for long.
“Oh, I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong number.”
“Do I? Sorry to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Have a nice night, miss.”
“You as well.” I let her hang up first. I set the phone down, and let the tears take over.
I laid back down and sobbed into a pillow until I eventually fell asleep.
Chapter Sixteen: Run On
Ezra
My head hurt when I woke up. And my legs had tangled up in Anna’s. I opened my eyes, and we faced each other—as usual—but she huddled up to my chest.
And she wasn’t handcuffed…
I tried remembering everything that happened the day before. I remembered being shot, and I remembered Anna taking care of me.
I glanced at the nightstand and saw a mostly empty bottle of whiskey on it. It had been to help numb the pain, because she didn’t want me hurting. I wished I knew why.
I left Anna in bed so I could go check on the wound. It was already halfway healed, and the pain felt manageable. Before I fell asleep, I told Anna about Divina. In that moment, I just wanted her to know that there had once been humanity in me.
Anna was getting dressed when I walked back into the room. She struggled to zip up a dress. I walked up behind her and fixed it.
“Thanks.” She sat on the bed and started putting her shoes on. “How are your stitches?”
“Better.”
I wondered why she didn’t take the opportunity to leave when she could have. Surely she must have some sense of self-preservation. But, maybe that was why she didn’t leave. She knew that if she did, I’d just come after her. If I lost the small amount of trust I had in her, then I might have killed her. She stayed to extend her life.
Anna stood. “What are we doing next?”
Good question. The only lead I had burned down. “How did that place catch fire?”
She smiled. “Turns out when I’m emotionally compromised, my powers work better. I think it helps me focus.”