Page 15 of Conflicted

“Evening, gentleman.” I smiled congenially. “Room for one more?”

The suit to my left eyed me scornfully. “I don’t think this game is your speed.”

My smile turned deadly. “Oh, I think I’ll be able to keep up.”

The compulsion I’d laced my words with had them accepting without further protest. I wondered idly if I should’ve bothered or if my attitude alone could’ve got me a seat at the table.

I picked up my hand of cards and hid my smirk. Would you look at that—a royal flush. Not bad for a demon without a drop of royal blood to his name.

One game slipped into another, my strength growing the whole time I sat there. I made sure not to win every hand, steadily feeding their greed.

I’d chosen my targets well. Not only were they bankers, known for having skewed moral compasses at best, but they worked together. Within no time at all, I’d analysed the weak links between their relationships. I identified those who were rivals, which was most envious of the rest, the guy who thought he was better than the others, the one who secretly lusted over the man to my left.

Using my compulsion along with subtle digs, I worked that table until their cup of sin was overflowing. Pride, lust, greed, envy, wrath…they were all in the air as an argument erupted. Sitting back in my seat, I sipped a glass of vodka as it all played out for my entertainment.

“This is all your fault.”

“Don’t blame me! I didn’t ask Brian to give me the client.Maybe if you weren’t sneaking off to fuck your PA, you would’ve landed them.”

My smirk deepened. It was just too easy.

Suddenly, everything in the casino seemed to go quiet. I lowered the glass from my lips as the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Someone was here. Someone was watching me.

Not someone.Him.

Taking a steadying breath, I put the glass down with a gentle click. I didn’t look around immediately, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing I’d felt him there and sought him out.

Two of the men were standing now, veins popping in their necks as the argument rose to a fever pitch. I threw a chip into the centre of the table to get their attention. “How about a final game? Winner takes all.”

Strong hands clamped down on my shoulders. “Actually, I think you’re done for the night.”

Fuck.

3

Micah

At first, I didn’t know what had led me to the casino. I’d been on my way back to the compound when my instincts started tugging at me. As I’d drawn closer, the wave of sin had almost knocked me off my feet.

There was only one thing that could make humans sin to this degree.

A demon.

Not just any demon, but a higher one. My hackles rose instantly. The only demons I could tolerate were, ironically, the sons of Lucifer. Not because I actually cared for any of them, but because their morals seemed to align more closely with ours. They despised their background and upbringing. Going into a casino just to raise a little Hell was beneath them.

Which meant whoever was in there, it was someone I was going to have to…dealwith.

Stalking inside, I made sure to smile genially at the coat check girl. Poor thing was having to deal with a queue of irate humans who were snapping at both her and eachother. I bit back a sigh. Tonight’s resident demon was having a less than pleasing effect on all of the customers.

It wasn’t hard to track them down, I just followed the trail to where sin hung thickest in the air. My feet skidded to a stop when I realised who the demon was.

Oh fuck. It wasmydemon.

No, not my demon. He wasn’t myanything.I didn’t even know his name, nor had I bothered to seek it out. He was nothing to me. Nothing other than an inconvenience. One I’d deal with efficiently, just as I would with any other demon wreaking havoc on unsuspecting humans.

My eyes narrowed at the scene before me. Several smartly dressed humans were having a full-blown argument, two of them going so far as to stand and scream obscenities over the table.

I didn’t need three guesses to figure out who’d riled them into this state.

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