Deck of Destiny 1, page 29
Elsie and Mayce were curled up on either side of me.
The crushing fatigue had receded somewhat, but I still felt as if I’d been hit by a train. The girls’ warm, bare skin was pressed against mine, and Elsie’s soft snore tickled my ear. I opened my eyes and stared up at the ornate ceiling above the four-poster bed. My clothes had vanished somewhere over the course of the day.
I lifted a hand off Mayce’s shoulder. A gnarly scar crossed over the outside of my arm. I’d added yet another mark to my collection on my right arm. I shifted a little and half-rolled Mayce off me. She didn’t wake, just rolled over onto her back with a sleepy sigh of relief. Her bathrobe had fallen open, and I could see a mostly-healed gunshot wound on her side. She must’ve taken a round just above the hip. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She’d been out of it on our trip back.
Mayce’s pale curves shifted as she rolled over and offered me her back.
Fuck, she was gorgeous. I blinked for a moment as memories kicked in.
I was in the clear. We were safe. We’d honored our Contract to the Dragons.
The shooters were down. If any of them had survived the dual ambush from the Dragons and the Giants, then they were some of the slipperiest Players around. Elsie’s fingertips curled into my chest as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. She opened half an eye to look at me. Her mouth curled into a sleepy little grin.
“Hey,” she said, her voice raw.
“Hey,” I said and kissed her forehead.
“We won,” Elsie said.
I nodded. “I need to talk to Daine.”
Elsie made a soft sound of disagreement. “You could stay here.”
The offer was tempting as hell. Two mostly-naked women by my side, a heavenly bed with silk sheets, and the guarantee of complete safety. I shook my head after a moment. I needed to check my accounts with the barman downstairs and clear up some of the details I’d lost on the way into the Castledaine. Elsie harrumphed quietly to herself and gave my arm a gentle push.
“Fine, then,” she murmured. “Come back when you’re done.”
“I will,” I promised her.
I wormed my way out of bed, shot my feet over the edge of the bed, and drew myself up. The light outside had already faded. I’d lost the entire day, or more, in recovery. I padded over to the closet, dressed in a light T-shirt and jeans, and tied off my boots. My body felt numb, and my brain was still cloudy. I needed coffee. I paused by the door and glanced back over my shoulder at the girls. They’d curled themselves back into the covers, and the sight of them together pulled my face into a smile.
I was the luckiest motherfucker on the planet.
We’d pulled through. We’d fucking done it.
A surge of pure elation rolled into my gut, and I pushed out of the bedroom and into the gorgeous hallway outside. A stack of suitcases barred my way, and I frowned at them as I passed. Something about the luggage seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite place where I’d seen it. I shook off the thought, focused on the positives, and started down the stairs into the main area of the bar. The place was just about empty.
I had no idea how Daine’s opening hours worked.
Something else to ask him about.
Two familiar faces sat at the bar and sent a bolt of sudden tension into my gut. A tall, lean guy in a nice suit with sharp features and gun-metal gray hair locked his eyes on me. My sleep-addled brain took a second to catch up and remember my meeting with him.
Elias.
The fucking head of Goldfire was here in person.
I scanned the rest of the pub, but I didn’t see any goons. Or Arbiters.
Which meant he was either here to threaten me, clear our accounts, or both.
A tall woman in a suit sat beside him. A cigarette smoldered between her fingers, and she glanced up at me with a puzzled frown. My brain did a few more backflips until I recognized her. She was the same woman I’d seen outside the airport when I’d gone to pick up Elsie. She’d probably come on the same plane as the Giants’ hunter. A fresh dosage of dread rolled into my gut, but I kept my head up and my face straight.
I was safe here. They had to have beef.
But they couldn’t start anything here.
Daine leaned against the bar. He saw me coming, caught a glimpse of my face, and immediately turned to the coffee machine. My appreciation for the guy ratcheted up a couple more notches, and I took a deep breath as I navigated my way through the table settings. I had to watch my step here. A couple of possibilities opened up in my mind, but none of them were good. The woman beside Elias was either a Dragon or a Giant, and judging from her powerful frame and air of tactical awareness, I placed her as a Giant.
The simple fact that two rival Guild members were sitting beside each other having drinks was a cause for concern. Maybe they’d come here to settle some bad blood. Maybe they had some kind of illicit affair. The thought was so ridiculous I almost wanted to laugh.
Daine turned back from the machine with a steaming cup of black coffee.
“Don’t know what I’d do without you, Daine,” I said.
“Not much,” he agreed with a cheery tone. “You’ve got a couple of visitors.”
“Noticed.” I swept my eyes over them again. “How fucked am I?”
“Ask them.” Daine chuckled.
The guy had arced up to help me against the Dragons and the Arbiters and their claim on Mayce. Something about his tone told me that I had nothing to worry about. My in-built paranoia about the Game was another creature entirely, though, and I took up a seat a few spaces away from them with a nod of greeting.
“Evening,” I said.
“This is him?” the tall woman asked.
Elias nodded. “Same kid who pretty much kicked my door down and started dictating terms.” Something deeply ugly flickered in his eyes. “Same kid who double-crossed us.”
“About that,” I began.
Elias tapped his finger on the bar. “Refill.”
I recalled something about saying less and listening more from some video I’d seen on the internet. I closed my mouth, sipped my coffee, and waited for the two of them to speak. A note of amusement flickered in the woman’s eyes as she took another draw on her cigarette. Elias took a glass of vodka on the rocks from Daine with a nod of thanks, and the two of them turned to face me.
“Name’s Matt,” I said finally. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Is it?” the woman asked with a dry chuckle.
I didn’t reply and sipped more coffee. The caffeine rolled into my veins, and my brain fog from overuse of Cards started to recede. Maybe that was why Elias loved cocaine so much. If stimulants kept the edge off Card fatigue, he’d be an absolute weapon in a fight.
“My name’s Tessa,” the woman said after a pause. “You know about me?”
“Giant?” I asked.
That same flicker of amusement sparkled in her eyes. “Queen Giant.”
Holy shit. I offered her a nod of acknowledgment. “Appreciate you coming out all this way to talk to me, then. Running a Guild sounds busy.”
“It gets more complicated when people try to provoke us into war,” Tessa told me.
There was a subtle undercurrent to her words that made me want to dive into a hole in the ground like a groundhog. I sipped more of Daine’s delicious coffee and thought about my reply.
“You’re here for an explanation?”
“Thought it would be easier to hear you out instead of putting out a bounty on your head,” Tessa agreed warmly. “Elias told me the nature of your Contract. He failed to mention why we were involved.”
“Needed cover,” I said.
“See what I mean?” Elias growled. “Fucking idiot.”
Tessa took another thoughtful puff. “You brought us in as insurance that your Contract would be honored. That’s the only reason I can come up with.”
I nodded.
“You have any fucking idea what you could’ve started?” Elias snapped.
It took everything in me not to laugh at him. “Yeah. Trusted your better nature.”
Elias started in his chair, and Tessa sighed. “Boys, please.”
I hid a grin behind another pull.
“You’ve made quite the name for yourself over the last few days,” Tessa told me. “Not necessarily a good one, either. Pulling Guild members out of their Contracts. Attempted assassination of a Guild captain. Dead Players everywhere in your wake. And that event at your apartment was a near miss, too. Arbiters getting involved isn’t any good for any of us.”
I set down my coffee mug and met her eyes.
“I didn’t start any of this,” I said.
“No,” Tessa agreed, “you didn’t. But your actions have consequences.”
“This the part where you threaten me?” I asked. “Had plenty of that lately.”
Tessa surprised me with a smile. “No. I’d like you to work with us.”
I stared at her for a long moment. “With you. Not for you.”
The Giant leader shot Elias an amused glance. “Little too sharp to be an idiot.”
Elias shot me another withering glare but didn’t comment.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“We’ve got excellent reason to believe that a local Leviathan you’ve met is trying to upset the balance of the Game,” Tessa said. “We’ve got no proof, of course, but you came the closest to flushing him out into the open and pinning it on him.”
A sudden thought occurred to me. “That’s why you’re here together. You’re teaming up to take out Wilson.”
“Better to say we have mutual interests.”
“Thought your crews hated each other.”
“We’ve got a storied history. But the outside threat’s large enough to bring us both to the table.” Tessa dropped her cigarette into an ashtray at her elbow. “And here you are, right in the middle. It’s my understanding that you’re still refusing to join a Guild?”
I grunted in agreement. “Not a big fan of your methods.”
“Then let’s talk price,” Tessa said. “We want Wilson.”
“You’ve got Sharks everywhere,” I told Elias. “Why not whack him under your own steam?” I gave Tessa another nod. “It’s my understanding you don’t fuck with Sharks.”
“Killing him isn’t enough,” Tessa told me. “We need him discredited. Preferably expelled from the Game or at least pressure the Leviathans to release him from their ranks. He’s a snake, and without any rocks to crawl under, it’ll be easier to get information out of him.”
My mind flashed back to the gunmen in the sedan.
And the mention of an Architect.
Some instinct told me not to mention it.
The new Cards in Millbank had fundamentally changed the way that the Game was played. A handful of newer Players with superior firepower had the Guilds fighting a defensive war. Both of the Guild leaders before me wanted that advantage over the other. Sure, they were playing nice for the moment, and it sounded like they were even offering me some kind of Contract.
I’d find the Architect with my own team.
Tessa was pleasant enough, but she had her own angle.
Elias just looked like he wanted to rip my head off.
But they’d mentioned a price. Which meant they were willing to deal with me.
I finished my coffee. “Why us?”
“Wilson’s made it no secret that he wants you dead,” Elias told me. “He’s not the only one, believe you me. But he fucking hates you. Everything to do with you. And he was willing to show up yesterday to zero you himself.”
“So there are some pretty serious risks involved,” I noted.
Tessa nodded. “Name your price.”
I turned to Elias for a moment. “Mayce is free. I already gave you what you asked for.”
“You fucked me on it,” he snarled. “You never said anything about their Cards being locked to regular Players. And you knew, too, you smug little prick.”
Tessa gave him a sharp glance. “Your lack of knowledge doesn’t void the Contract.”
Elias muttered something obscene under his breath. “She’s free. She’s released.”
A bloom of warmth started up in my gut, and I turned back to the two of them.
A vague memory of a conversation I’d had with the Arbiters swelled up in my mind.
I had all the pieces in front of me. I just needed to play my hand right.
“Wilson’s a problem,” I said. “And I’m more than happy to draw him out, expose him to the Arbiters. Here’s my price.”
I met Tessa’s eyes. “You help me start my own Guild.”
End of Book 1
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Dante King, Deck of Destiny 1
