Page 68

“I’m not. I don’t usually bet unless I know how it will end.”

“Interesting.” His mouth twitches. “You think you know how this ends?”

I glance at the card in front of me. “I wouldn’t have sat down if I hadn’t.”

The final card hits the felt, and I know I’ve taken the hand before the dealer even opens his mouth.

“Second hand to Tempest.” The dealer pushes another pot across the felt, gathering the cards without a change of expression.

Ryven lets out a low whistle. Seren stays perfectly still. Behind Vasco, one of the guards unbuttons his jacket.

Vasco picks up his glass, the smile on his face a little tighter. “You’re awfully attached to this Mercer. He must be pretty.”

One of the guards scoffs at that.

Ryven smirks into his whiskey. “You have absolutely no idea.”

Vasco looks from him to me, then sets his glass down. “You Tempest boys always this fucking pleased with yourselves?”

“Usually,” Ryven says.

Nobody in the casino is gambling anymore; everyone is watching us instead.

The dealer reaches for the deck, then pauses, looking at Vasco. “Final hand, gentlemen.”

“What the fuck are you waiting for?” Vasco grabs the whiskey, empties it in one pull, and sets the glass down hard enough to make the chips jump. “Get on with it.”

Vasco studies his cards, no longer trying to impress me. He’s trying to beat me instead.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“Played cards?” I glance at mine. “Now and then.”

“No.” His eyes stay on mine. “You’ve taken a man for everything he has at his own table. You’ve done that before.”

I don’t answer because he’s right, though not in the way he thinks.

I’ve never played for a company. Never for half a district. And certainly not for one stubborn blond idiot who should’ve taken my bargain at the rope.

If he had, he’d have had my protection. We would’ve found shelter before the storm. I wouldn’t have ended up under a fucking tree, and maybe he would’ve stopped running from me.

Probably not.

But I know the Hunt. I know what it does to people.

I’ve watched candidates leave injured men bleeding in the dirt to reach a checkpoint sooner. Steal food. Drown each other. Beat each other to death over half a bottle of water.

Oh, I know all about cruelty, and I know a cruel man when I see one.

My chest feels tight enough to crack. It’s not fear. It’s fucking need.

The dealer lays down the final card between us and then withdraws his hand.

Vasco looks at it, then at mine, a breath moving through the room as the color drains from his face. “Well, I appear to have underestimated you. Dealer.”

The dealer gathers the cards. “Yes, sir?”

“Draw up the papers, and give him the Mercer address. He won that too before he got greedy.”