Page 25 of A Promise of Peridot
“You must know these are the rules.”
Did I recognize that velvety answering tone? I threw the door open with a thud, bracing myself for the very worst.
9
arwen
Of all the things I expected to find in the dimly lit back room of this café in the middle of the night, Kane, Griffin, Ryder, and Prince Fedrik gambling amid a haze of smoke and liquor was not one of them.
It took my eyes a beat to adjust to the low-burning oil lamps. The oval table they sat around—built of rich mahogany with a raised lip to keep the coin and cards from slipping off and carpeted in a pine-green fabric of some kind—took up most of the room. It was crowded with mismatched glassware, some with an amber spirit, some empty save for a ring of burgundy. No windows, no clocks. No way to see how many hours had been lost, or how much coin. Aside from a shadowed back door, the walls held nothing but those soft lights and rich, polished walnut paneling.
And smoke—a din of hazy smoke filling the room from the men’s cigars, puffing out in soft clouds, casting a wraithlike fog over the lamps and burning my nostrils with its spiced, leathery scent.
“Arwen?” Ryder looked even more shocked than I felt.
The exhausted barkeep saved me a flustered, unintelligible response by barreling into my side. “My deepest apologies, Lord Switch,” he blubbered to the muscular man seated at the far end of the oval table. “I tried to stop her, I swear it. She hopped over the bar!”
Kane chuckled, but his eyes stayed on his cards. Had he even looked at me since I came in?
“It’s fine. Beautiful women are welcome at my game anytime.” Lord Switch, who must have been the game leader or owner of the café, gave me a sinister smile that had the opposite effect of what I thought was intended. He was thick and strong and heavy, with a coarse sable beard, his teeth a brilliant white, and his clothes fine and detailed. His small, bright eyes were like coins and topped by thick, masculine brows, and he dragged them over my entire body with unabashed interest.
I swallowed a ragged breath, still trying to slow my shuddering heart. Kane finally looked up from his playing cards with bored curiosity and followed the man’s gaze over to me. Only then did my cheeks go hot. Misted in sweat, feet blistered and dirty, hair frizzy from the heat and hours spent dancing... I must have looked horrendous. My fingers itched to tuck unruly hairs behind my ears.
“What are you doing here?” Ryder asked. I turned to my brother as he puffed out a thick cloud of smoke.
“I should ask you the same question. You’re supposed to be watching Leigh.”
Why was I always the one who had to make sure she was taken care of? Anger simmered inside me. Why was Ryder able to gamble and play andlivewhile I had to—
“Calm down. She’s with Barney. They’re probably rescuing puppies or something.”
Before the irritation could combust into rage, Fedrik leaned forward. “Good evening, Lady Arwen.”
I curtsied belatedly. “Your Highness.”
“No need for such formalities. Not after this morning.”
“Fedrik, then,” I conceded.
“What happened this morning?” Kane’s voice was casual, but something else sparked in those silver eyes.
“I caught your healer sacrificing her boots to the sea.”
“It was a mercy killing,” I joked.
Kane didn’t smile.
But Fedrik ignored him. “You look lovely. How did you hear of our card game?”
A blush crawled up my cheeks. “We were just having dessert after dancing and I... I thought I heard someone crying out for help.”
Griffin looked up from his cards. “We?”
“That was this oaf.” Kane jerked his chin toward a skinny man, so thin I almost missed him behind the other players. “He doesn’t like losing his coin, do you, Trevyn?”
Trevyn shook his head ruefully. “I’ll get you on the next one, though, pretty boy.”
Kane raised an eyebrow. “Will you, though?”
