CHAPTER 22 #3
By the fourth round, I’m starting to understand the rhythm of the game. More importantly, I’m starting to understand the people playing it. These aren’t the cold, calculating killers I expected. They laugh, they tease, they groan when luck turns against them. It’s almost… human.
“Your turn, Seraph,” Irene prompts gently.
Palina, perched like a queen on the arm of Kale’s chair, fans her cards one-handed and sighs. “Don’t bore me by playing safe,” she says, glancing my way. “I want to see if our guest plays like she bleeds.”
I play my card, a low club that seems safe enough.
Reece takes the trick with a flourish, gathering the cards with clear satisfaction. “Not bad,” he says. “I’m just better.”
The game continues on, tension building as we approach the final rounds. I’ve managed to avoid most of the hearts, but the Queen of Spades still lurks somewhere in the deck, waiting to destroy whoever claims her.
“Last trick,” Hanae announces.
The cards fall one by one.
Saul leads with a high spade, forcing everyone to follow suit.
My heart sinks as I realize what’s in my hand—the Queen of Spades, that cursed card I’ve been dreading. “Shit,” I mutter, slapping the card down with more force than necessary.
Reece’s laughter fills the room. “Welcome to Hearts, darling. Sometimes you get the queen whether you want her or not.”
The final tallies are devastating. My score is astronomical, easily the highest at the table. Hanae wins with a smugly low count, gathering the cards like clockwork.
“Well,” she says, casting me an appraising look, “what shall I ask our newcomer?”
My stomach clenches. I’d been so focused on learning the game that I’d forgotten about the stakes.
Now I’m at the mercy of someone whose loyalties I can’t begin to fathom.
“Go easy on her,” Saul says, but there’s resignation in his voice. He knows as well as I do that mercy isn’t guaranteed here.
Hanae twirls a strand of hair around her finger, considering. “What is it like dating a human? Being intimate with them when the thirst is always there? When every touch makes you want to taste them? Surely being a dhampir isn’t enough to defy those odds.”
I feel heat creep up my neck as all eyes turn to me.
“I—” My voice catches. “I’ve never had to struggle with that.”
“Truth or favor,” Hanae reminds me, clearly not buying it, leaning forward with invasive interest.
I swallow hard. “The thirst is there, but it’s not uncontrollable. It’s like…” I search for words they might understand. “Like being hungry while cooking a meal. You can appreciate the scent without devouring it raw.”
Saul snorts. “I knew she’d say something like this.”
“Let her finish,” Irene chides.
“When I’m with him—” I pause, memories flickering behind my eyes.
I remember lying beside Max in the dark, his pulse thrumming beneath my fingertips as I rested my hand over his chest. The way he’d fall asleep mid-sentence, trusting me completely.
The way he’d never flinch when I leaned in close.
I remember how the scent of his skin tested every inch of my self-control, sweet and warm and maddening, and how I used to count the beats of his heart just to keep mine from unraveling.
“I focus on his heartbeat. Its rhythm. It becomes something to protect, not consume.”
Hanae studies me with curious eyes, still unsatisfied. “And during moments of… passion? When control slips?”
“It never slips.”
“Never? Not even when his pulse quickens beneath your lips? Not even when—”
“You say that like your own control’s hanging by a thread.” I lift my gaze to her, my smile faint but cutting.
My jab only seems to fuel her fire.
“I’m sure we all caught word of what went down at dinner tonight.” Her tone is syrupy-sweet, but her eyes are sharp as glass.
There’s a few snickers among the occasional whisper.
I arch a brow. “You’ll have to be more specific. So many unsettling things happened there.”
That earns an actual laugh from Reece. Even Kale’s lips twitch.
Hanae doesn’t blink. “You were ready to tear a throat out.”
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “Everyone’s still breathing, not?”
Saul exhales and leans back in his seat like he’s heard enough. But I know that look in his eyes—it’s not judgment. It’s something closer to worry.
Reece raises his glass in my direction, almost like a salute, smirking. “Well, shall we deal another round now or start biting throats?”
Cards shuffle again as the game picks back up.
A distant sound suddenly cuts through our focus, the unmistakable whir of rotors slicing through air. My body tenses instinctively, my ears straining to confirm what I already know.
The others hesitate. A card hovers midair in Irene’s hand. Reece tilts his head slightly, expression sharpening. Hanae’s eyes move up to the ceiling. Kale’s fingers still on the table, his entire body locked in place. Even Palina stops mid-sip, ruby lips parted as the sound grows louder.
No one speaks, but the shift is palpable.
The laughter and banter from moments ago has vanished, replaced by the rising hum of something approaching.
Something that doesn’t belong. The tracker must have transmitted my location before it was destroyed.
They’ve come for me. I keep my expression carefully neutral despite the possibility of escape pulsing in my veins.
It seems the real game is about to begin.