Page 96 of Deadwood
Crass stepped a foot in Auria’s direction, towering over her in Nemin’s lap. “Then pay up.”
My teeth ground together, and I swore one cracked. I should have stepped in by now, but Auria tried to hold her own, and I wanted to see her succeed. I wouldn’t let them put a damn hand on her, though.
She shoved Nemin’s hand off her waist and he reluctantly let go, allowing her to stand. She was a few inches shorter than Crass, but still, she leveled his gaze. “Fine.”
Her eyes found mine, the green constellations warring with regret, shame, and uncertainty. She couldn’t get a read on me, on what I would do if she took that damn dress off. Her hand came up, a finger sliding under the strap, all while she didn’t dare look away from me. She wouldn’t do it. She wanted me to stop her, but I was fucking lost in her gaze.
Impatient, Nemin grabbed her dress from behind and yanked, the fabric tearing at her breast. A gasp slipped from her as she attempted to wrench herself from his grasp. I moved without thought, instantly calling to my magic and filling their lungs with the thick smoke that hung in the air. I robbed them of all oxygen, and as the inability to breathe hit Nemin right as he reached for Auria again, his eyes went bloodshot. His mouth opened like a fish out of water as he struggled for air, and a choke escaped him as he staggered forward. On the other side of Auria, Crass did the same.
Perkins’s eyes were wide where he sat while Lander held on to the edge of the table like it might keep him alive.
“You boys never listen,” I tsked, disappointment and barely contained rage dripping in my tone. The hold on my control was slipping, all because ofher. “It’s a shame, really. But there’s only so many chances I give out.” And with Auria, they had zero.
Crass gripped the edge of a chair and it fell back, toppling with him to the ground.
Perkins shot up from his seat while Lander finally moved, albeit slowly, going to Auria’s side. She clutched her dress to hold it up where it’d torn right above her breast. The top of her corset was exposed, and it only lit the match inside me that much brighter.
“What’s happening to them?” Auria asked, panic in her voice as her eyes darted around the room.
“Let them go,” Perkins demanded, his chin jiggling as he spoke.
I watched as Crass writhed on the ground, grabbing for his throat as the smoke burned his lungs. “Give the prince his bets back.” The last thing Auria needed was her fiancé having a target on his back due to his gambling addiction. Deadwood always made certain that debts were paid, and the citizens didn’t care if they had to get their hands dirty to get them.
Nemin’s hand wrapped around Auria’s wrist from behind, and she yanked away as he gasped for air with wide eyes. The dark, oily wisps snaked in through his nostrils and ears, slithering into his eye sockets as my veins pulsed heavily, my power coursing through me like a welcome embrace.
“Bowen!” Perkins boomed, his face beat red.
“I don’t have many rules, Perkins, and yet, you’ve broken almost all of them,” I said. “Not once, not twice, but multiple times now. How can I trust you’ll change? That your pathetic hounds will quit engaging in games like these?”
Nemin used the table to hold himself up, leaning his weight into the dark oak.
Lander reached for Auria’s hand, and she pulled it back like she’d been burned. The smoke called to me, wanting to infect him, too, but I held it back. I shook my head against the feral rage that threatened to overcome my senses. He was her fiancé. He wouldn’t harm her.
“Auria, we need to get out of here,” Lander begged. Between losing the game and the chaos ensuing, he was frantic.
“No.” Her eyes darted between Crass and Nemin where they struggled for air, suffocating under my wrath. “You go. I’ll find you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving without you.”
Tendrils of smoke whirled around Lander, itching to bite, as Auria said, confidence lacing her words, “He won’t hurt me.”
My head tilted slightly. She trusted me. Interesting.
“You’re so certain?” Lander asked warily.
She nodded, her dress slipping from her grip unknowingly.
Without hesitation, Lander gathered his coin and magic vials off the table, then darted out of the room, careful not to brush me as he slipped past.
“She offered her clothes. We didn’t force her to do anything,” Perkins defended, and I almost laughed.
Auria carefully stepped around Crass’s body on the ground, his face a deep shade of purple now. I regarded Perkins with sheer boredom, the smoke of his forgotten cigar dancing in a frenzied manner all around him.
“She didn’t seem very willing to strip, did she?” I asked.
Perkins shook his head, the lantern light glinting off his bald spot. “We won’t make her. We won’t, right, boys?” He looked to the two men in desperation, but they were in no position to respond.
I didn’t give a shit. “Not the first time, Perkins.”
