Games Demons Play (Mystic Isle, Book 3) (15 page)

He raised.

Izzy stared at Jordan for several heartbeats,
her head cocked to the side. She pursed her lips like she was ready
to kiss someone.

What was she doing? What were the chances she
actually had the cards in her hand compete with three of a kind?
Unfortunately Shade knew the chances. When it came to poker, his
brain was like a computer. Unless by some miracle she had a flush.
Ace and king of spades? Could he hope?

“Not good,” Latham murmured and Shade
wondered if his statement was in response to Shade’s mental
question.

Izzy reorganized her chips and then glanced
at her cards again. She did the tongue thing again. The room grew
quiet. They were the only table in play now. After she draped her
hair over her left shoulder she looked up and met Jordan’s bet with
a cool stare. Then there was a defiant quirk of her left
eyebrow.

“All in,” she said. The room, previously
quiet awaiting her response, exploded with disbelief. Awe.
Excitement.

“Izzy,” Shade uttered on an exhale and
dropped his head. Blythe Jordan didn’t like to fold. If she was
trying to take half his stack —

It took the demon all of five seconds to
think over his decision. He pushed his stack of chips to the center
of the table. The crowd went even crazier.

Jordan flipped his cards. Ace and king of
spades.

Fuck.

Shade turned away.
A flush.
He had a
fucking flush.

“Well?” Jordan said.

Shade turned back, the desire to do
something, protect her somehow, overwhelming. Latham put a hand on
his forearm to stop him.

She grinned and the room got a little
brighter.

“Mister Jordan, do you remember when I said
‘may the best demon win’?”

When had she said that?

“Yeah,” Jordan answered, sounding far too
cocky. Shade wanted to punch the smirk right off his face.

The tiny flick of her left eyebrow made
Shade’s heart pause. “You’re not him.”

In a lightning-fast movement, she flipped her
cards over.

“Oh my—”

“God,” Latham finished.

A straight flush.

Jordan shoved away from the table in a fury
as the roars and screams echoed through the room. Izzy, though,
remained still, a serene smile on her lips as if she’d known all
along what the outcome would be.

Shade could scarcely believe it, but strode
toward her, needing to feel her curvy little body next to his.
Coco, Grayson, and a black-haired beauty beat him to her. She
turned in her chair and let them pull her in for a hug. She’d made
the final table and Shade felt an odd sense of pride, even though
he’d done nothing to be proud of. It was her.
All her
.

Once again he felt like something
extraordinary was happening. Something unplanned and yet ordained.
Destined
. Not only was the chemistry between them off the
charts they shared a love of fine automobiles and cards. But it was
more than that. She was like the other half of the circle to make
him whole. She was just as lucky as he was.

“Good job,” he said when he finally reached
her. He felt a kick to the heart when she smiled up at him. Was she
letting him in? Really letting him in? He could only hope.

She held out her hand to him and he took it,
needing to feel her cool, soft skin against his.

“Let’s go. We have drinks waiting in the
courtyard,” Coco said.

Izzy was on a high from her win.
And what
a win
. In all her years, she’d never gotten a straight flush.
Admittedly, it felt better to wipe the smirk right off Jordan’s
face than it did to get the win.

She smiled just thinking about it. He’d
looked so confused right before he’d exploded.

“Oh no. I know that look,” Avery said from
the other end of the patio sofa.

“What look?” Izzy glanced from Avery over to
where Shade and Grayson were talking next to the fire pit. Shade
caught her gaze and smiled at her. A gentle, secret smile between
lovers. Izzy’s heart swelled. There was no denying it. She was…
what did Avery call it? Smitten?

“That’s the
I wanna settle down and have
your demon babies look
.”

“It is not.”

Avery made a sound of disbelief. “Honey, you
might not be ready for demon babies, but you are definitely falling
for the baby daddy.”

Izzy looked over at Shade again. She was not
ready to be a mother. Was he ready to be a father? He would be a
terrific dad. Warm and caring. Interested in his children. She
could see that in how he treated those around him, especially her.
But she didn’t want to get into that with Avery now. So she took a
sip of her cocktail and said, “He’s nice.”

“I’m sure he is—”

“He is special,” she insisted, turning on the
couch to face her friend. “Don’t you want to be a part of something
special? To have what Coco and Grayson and Ceara and Maxim
have?”

Avery shook her head quickly. “No. I don’t.”
She leaned forward and started to reach for Izzy’s hand but pulled
back at the last second. “I didn’t think you did, either.”

Izzy shrugged. “Things change.”

Avery settled back into the corner of the
couch, cupping her goblet between her hands. Her blue eyes twinkled
with mischief. “He must be dynamite in bed.”

Izzy snickered. “It is more than that. He
treats me as an equal.” Something her last boyfriend had not always
done. In fact, many of the men she’d been with had seen her as a
lesser. Small. Fragile. Even stupid. But she was far more than her
size, stature, and hair color. Shade seemed to understand that. “He
does not talk down to me. He does not belittle me for my
impulsiveness.”

In fact, he seemed to understand the strange
draw that Izzy felt. The powerlessness to resist. The urges.

Avery’s jet-black eyebrows lifted and fell in
a
told-you-so
gesture. “Yep. You’ve got it bad.”

“It?”

“Love, sugar.” Avery’s accent thickened.
“Love. And lust, by the look of it. He does have a fine ass, I’ll
give you that.”

Izzy finished off her cocktail and put the
goblet on the coffee table. Across the stone courtyard, Coco
snuggled next to Grayson’s side and listened to the men’s
conversation. “What does his ass have to do with love?”

“Everything, my dear little Russian friend.
Everything.”

“Hunter has a nice ass.”

“That he does.” Avery made a sound similar to
a purr.

If Avery was so taken with Hunter Ciolek’s
physical attributes, why was she always turning him down? Since
Hunter was Maxim’s brother, they saw him often enough. So why did
Avery resist a man she obviously desired? Frowning, she turned back
to her friend. It made no sense. “Are you sure you and he—”

Avery shook her head again in that definitive
not-a-chance-in-hell
fashion. “Not going to happen.”

“Because you’re interested in Charles
Latham,” Izzy surmised. She would have to be blind not to see that
way Avery’s blue eyes followed the handsome blond god everywhere he
went. Of course, it could be Avery was just admiring his… assets.
Izzy giggled at her own joke.

Avery gave a ladylike snort. “Honey, I’m into
any man who can give me longer than an eight-second ride. I had
shitty luck with men before I was turned so it’s not like I want to
strap myself to one now.”

If they were going to talk track records with
men, it didn’t get much worse than Izzy’s. But maybe her luck had
changed.

“How long do we have?” Izzy asked on the way
out of the penthouse suite. The nap had done wonders for her energy
level. That and Shade’s blood.

“About two hours.”

Izzy knew she felt well-rested because
somehow sleeping next to Shade kept the nightmares at bay. She just
might have to keep him, she thought, and smiled.

Hand in hand, they stepped off the elevator.
She’d promised to meet Coco and Avery downstairs for a drink after
she’d rested.

“You better not go easy on me,” she told the
man at her side. She did not want or expect any favors from him
because they were lovers. Had they not met that night in Germany,
they wouldn’t be involved now and emotion would not be a
consideration.

“You play an excellent game, I’ll give you
that, little vamp.”

Izzy grinned up at him. “Thank you.”

“Izzy… what happens if I win?”

She paused and frowned up at him. “What’s
with this ‘if’ business?”

He remained silent.

“You will win. I will do my best to come in
second.” The payout for second place would be just enough to buy a
new Bugatti.

“Will you be okay with that? I’ve seen you
play, Isadora. You’re in it to win it, as they say.”

“I will be fine.” He was sweet to worry. More
than sweet.

He frowned and tipped his head as if he were
inspecting a specimen beneath a magnifying glass. Taking her hands
in his, he held them against his chest.

“I could bow out. You’d automatically be
head-to-head.”

The final two in the game… Izzy’s eyes went
wide. “You wouldn’t. You cannot!”

“I don’t want anything to come between us,
Izzy. Anything. It’s just poker and I don’t need the money.”

But she did. The words were unspoken between
them.

“You would rather be with me than have the
winnings?” Surely she did not understand him. Could she take him at
his words?

“Absolutely.”

“You’re sure?”

“Why do you question me? Us?”

“I used to play poker a lot. Online. After
school. Every chance I got from the time I was fourteen to almost
eighteen.”

He led her over to the bench just outside the
casino and urged her to sit. “Go on.”

“I was good. I’d played probably two million
hands. And I made good money at it. My father did not care so long
as I did not get into trouble. But there was this boy I liked. And
I thought he liked me too. He was older and I thought if I let him
win he’d like me. So my girlfriends and I went to hang out. They
all wanted to play strip poker. They assured me there were no
cameras.”

Shade groaned.

“The guy I liked posted topless pictures of
me on the internet. My father was furious with him. It is probably
a silly reason to stop playing.”

“No. Your reasons are your own. They’re valid
because you have conviction.”

She leaned against him, soaking in his
heat.

“You know I’m not him, right? I would never
do that.”

“Yes. I know you’re not him. You do love a
practical joke though,” she said with a smile.

“That wasn’t a practical joke. It was an
asshole taking advantage of a beautiful woman.”

She kissed his cheek. “You’re a good man,
Shade.”

“But will you still feel that way after I
win. I meant what I said, Isadora.”

“You’re sure?”

“One hundred and ten percent.”

“Then you need to play. I love that you are
the best at what you do. It is very sexy. You have a reputation to
keep.”

Groaning, he stood, pulled her flush against
him and murmured something in German.

Coco was right. Izzy did feel different.
Light. Free. Ready to follow wherever Shade led. Izzy Lukin was in
love.

“Come on. Let’s go meet your friends before I
take you back upstairs and ravish you again.”

“Ravish away, demon.”

“Temptress.”

They walked down the hallway toward Club
Daylight, hand in hand. Her last boyfriend had never held her hand
in public. He’d told her he did not like that sort of thing. Izzy
had missed the intimacy.

A man shuffled out of the Tiki bar right into
their path. He apologized quickly, glancing first at her, then up
at Shade. “Joshua! Good to see you, old friend.” He stuck out his
hand. Izzy didn’t recognize his accent but knew the scent of a
werewolf. “Killed any vamps lately?”

He grinned up at Shade as if he hadn’t just
bruised Izzy’s heart. Killed any vamps? When had Shade killed
vamps? She pulled her hand from his and hooked it over her hip. Her
fangs lengthened and she didn’t bother to keep them hidden.

The werewolf noticed her movement and did a
double take. His smile disappeared and he glanced up at Shade. “I
just meant… Those were the good old days, right, buddy?”

He bumped his fist against Shade’s upper
arm.

Shade didn’t respond and that was all the
more damning, but Izzy could not keep quiet. “Good old days?”

She spun on her heel and left the two
barbarians standing there with their jaws on the ground. Shade
called her name but she picked up her pace. The emotional toll of
the game, mixed with her anxiety over Valencia and her feelings for
Shade, left her raw. She did not want to hang around to hear the
explanation. Not right now.

Shade had had plenty of opportunity to tell
her that important little detail about his past. She’d told him her
story, laid her pain out there for him to see and understand. Why
had he failed to mention he’d fought with the wolves?

Running her fingers through her hair, she
headed for the Club Daylight by herself. Shade called her name
again but she didn’t stop until he stepped in front of her.

She shoved her hands in her back pockets and
stared up at him, eyebrow raised. Something inside her demanded she
let him tell her his side of the story. His past was his past, just
as hers was. But he could have told her the truth days ago.

“I should have told you.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That I found out or that you did not tell me
yourself,” she queried, not ready to let him off the hook.

“Izzy, that was a very long time ago. I was
young, green. The wolves told me to pick a side and I did.”

She wanted to tell him he picked the wrong
side, but that wasn’t true. No one was a winner where the war was
concerned. The truth was it continued to cause damage a hundred
years later.