Page 21 of Gambling with Time

He gave a half-hearted shrug and returned her smile with a smirk of his own. “I am quite satiated.”

Rolling my eyes at their banter, I tugged on a fresh shirt that was my size and a pair of sweats. Then I tossed Sam what seemed to be her clothing folded neatly on the dresser. A t-shirt that hugged her curves and a pair of shorts that had to leave her cold in the winter environment we were in.

Then I moved over to one of the chairs by the slowly dying fireplace. Giggles came from her as she dressed,;Bellamy hindered her progress playfully by kissing her neck and wrapping his tail around her. She slapped his tail away and swung her leg over his, then she leaned into him, kissing him briefly before she climbed from the bed and sank into the seat across from me. She curled her legs under her and studied me.

“Are you sure? We haven’t had much luck with magical charms.” She held it up, and the sunlight coming in the window glinted off of it.

“Everything to gain and everything to lose right?”

She laughed, her fingers curling around the charm. “I think it is nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

“Normally. But if this works, I gain everything; if it doesn’t, I’ve still lost everything.”

The smile disappeared from her face, and she nodded. “Not forever.” I wasn’t sure if she said the words to reassure me or herself. She rested her hand over her stomach as if she wasn’t feeling well before she shook off whatever thoughts she was having.

Bellamy tensed on the bed, he looked ready to leap from the surface and fight whatever enemy he sensed. “Love?”

She swallowed, her eyes going wide as she stared at me. “No.”

I wasn’t sure what conversation they just had, but it didn’t ease Bellamy’s tension.

“Okay, Lex, you ready?” She rushed ahead. “Baldwin said I just need to reach out to your mind.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. The charm in her hand started to glow, making her skin appear pink on the outside. It obviously wasn’t burning her because she didn’t flinch.

Then I felt her. It was a slight tickle, just behind my eyes. A slight feeling of flowing water, searching for cracks in the barrier of my mind. There was a trickle as it found what it was looking for.

A barrage of memories that weren’t my own flooded my senses. They floated in little bubbles around us, because Sam was standing in front of me in the giant room.

“I don’t know how this is done,” she admitted, and her voice had a dream-like quality.

I reached out for one of the bubbles, and inside of this one, I could see myself from what I assumed was her eyes. We were laughing and flirting. The love I felt for her was clear on my face. I watched as the ‘me’ in the memory poured her a drink, popped a cherry on a sword into it, and slid it across the bar to her.

Releasing the bubble, I grabbed a different one from the air. In that one, Bellamy and I were wrapped in each other’s arms, our needy sounds of pleasure filled the small apartment, and then Sam was joining us.

Each memory I watched filled me with a strange sense of déjà vu. But it was as if I couldn’t access it.

“Maybe we need to go deeper,” I suggested.

She opened her hand, and the charm laid on her palm. “Okay.”

I was drawn to it. Placing my fingers over hers, I connected our hands over the slowly warming metal. It shot electricity through me, and I was shoved into a reality I didn’t remember.

The club lights flashed, the music pounded, and all of the supernaturals were having a great time. Free from being hunted. Free from the discrimination they faced outside of these four walls. Here, they were all accepted as they were.

“You did this, Lex, you should be proud.” I glanced over at the man that spoke. He was a vampire I recruited to help me set up my dream of owning a place for everyone. I knew him instantly.

“Thanks.” I cast my attention over the crowd again, pride growing in my chest. Then I caught a flash of a tall blonde, all in leather, and clearly hunting if the weapons strapped all over her body meant anything. “Watch the bar, I have something to take care of.”

I threaded my way through the crowd, finding the girl. She was breathtaking up close. Her eyes roved the faces around her; she had a determined look on her face as she focused on the demons. My business would die as quickly as it started if word got out that supernaturals weren’t safe. That I allowed a demon hunter to prowl in the shadows looking for a mark.

Wrapping my fingers around her arm, I tugged her toward a VIP room where I could talk without drawing attention. “Come with me.”

“Excuse me?” she drawled as she attempted to shake me off. She couldn’t. I didn’t care what kind of hunter she was, I was a Demi-god, and I had the upper hand. “Let go.”

The tip of the dagger pressed into the flesh just under my arm. I flicked my eyes from her to the weapon. “No hunting in my club.”

Her eyes widened, and she dropped the pointy end of her weapon to her side, allowing me to pull her into the room. I shut the door, closing off the pulsing beat of the music.

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