Page 61 of A Touch of Treachery
I flinched, and Bryce smirked, knowing he’d scored a direct hit with that barb.
“Do us both a favor.Be a good little spy, and play along with Henrika, okay, Dez?Because it would be a shame for me to have to kill you before she gets what she wants.”
The former cleaner drained the rest of his whiskey, then strode over and took up a position behind Henrika at the poker table.
I remained at the bar, my fingers clenched around my own glass, trying to ignore the uncomfortable truth of Bryce’s words, which had punched into my chest like a hail of bullets.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHARLOTTE
Ilaidmygreensequined purse on the poker table, angling it so that the camera hidden inside the rhinestone clasp was facing the other paramortals.Given the harsh electrical tingle that had swept over me earlier, our comms had probably been fried the moment we’d stepped onto the second level, but it was worth a shot.
My back was to the glass railing and the steep drop to the first floor below.Normally, I would never put myself in such a vulnerable position, but it was the only remaining seat.Besides, Desmond was lurking at the bar, and he would cut off any potential threats.
“The game is Texas Hold’em, and the buy-in is two hundred thousand dollars.I assume that won’t be a problem, Charlotte?”Henrika asked, arching a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me.
“Not at all.”
I pulled my phone out of my purse and accessed an account associated with Desmond Macfarlane that showed a three-million-dollar balance.Gia had given us some money to play with, just in case something like this came up, although she had also given Desmond and me strict instructions not to lose a penny.
The woman acting as the pit boss came over and gave me a white business card, and I followed the instructions to transfer the funds to the casino account.A loudcha-ching!rang out from the pit boss’s phone, and the dealer pushed a stack of red chips over to my side of the table.
Henrika smiled.“Looks like we’re ready to play.”
The dealer shuffled the deck, then slid two cards over to Henrika, Niles, Steig, Oriana, and me.I lifted my cards.A three of hearts and a six of spades.Not a very promising start.
The dealer dealt three flop cards in the middle of the table and flipped them up so that we could all see them.A king, a jack, and a seven, all diamonds.No help for me.
Henrika started the bidding at fifty thousand dollars.Niles, Steig, and Oriana joined in, but I had nothing, so I folded.Besides, I wanted to see what the others would do and especially how they would play, since this was one instance where my magic wasn’t all that helpful.Oh, if someone boasted they had a good hand when they didn’t, my synesthesia would whisper that they were lying.But if someone didn’t say anything specific about their cards, my magic would remain silent, and I would have no idea what kind of hand they were holding.
The dealer flipped the fourth card, the turn card.The ten of spades.Henrika bid again, even more aggressively, as did Niles, but Steig and Oriana both folded.Oriana watched Henrika and Niles with avid interest, but Steig huffed in annoyance and signaled for a drink.The assassin apparently didn’t care for poker, although his gaze latched on to the waitress who deposited his beer on the table, and he tracked her all the way back to the bar.
The dealer turned over the fifth and final card, the river card, the seven of clubs.Henrika and Niles both bid again, then flipped over their cards.Henrika had a full house, three kings and two sevens, which beat Niles’s two pairs of jacks and sevens.
“Sorry, darling,” Henrika crooned, raking in the chips.“But you lose.Then again, you always lose to me, don’t you?”
Niles shoved his glasses farther up his nose and jerked his hand at the bartender, signaling for another drink.
The dealer scooped up the cards, slid them back into the deck, and shuffled them.
Henrika looked at me.“You really need to get in the game, Charlotte.You can’t win if you don’t play.”
I’d said something similar to General Percy and the others earlier today at Section headquarters, and I hated Henrika expressing a similar sentiment.“I prefer games that focus on skill and strategy rather than the blind luck of the turn of a card.”
Henrika’s eyes glittered.“Ah, but blind luck is what makes the game exciting.”
Truth, my inner voice whispered.
“Why are we wasting time with this pointless charade?”Steig growled, rapping his knuckles on the table in a quick, impatient rhythm.“We came here to buy a weapon, not lose our money to you.”
Niles and Oriana both murmured their agreement.Henrika’s red lips pressed into a thin line.She didn’t like being challenged by her guests.
“Because, unlike the rest of you, I have a normal life and identity I am quite fond of, and I need to keep up appearances,” she snapped.“Redburn is my weapon, my formula, my brilliance, soIdecide when and where and how to sell it.Anyone who doesn’t like those terms is free to leave.”
She gave an airy wave of her hand, then looked at Niles, Steig, and Oriana in turn.“Although I imagine none of your employers or followers will be pleased you lost out on the chance to acquire a new weapon, especially one capable of killing your paramortal rivals, just because you couldn’t suffer through a game of cards.”
Niles chewed on his lower lip, Steig rapped his knuckles on the table again, and even Oriana blinked.The three of them might be dangerous, but one way or another, they all answered to other people who were just as ruthless.
