Games Demons Play (Mystic Isle, Book 3) (16 page)

“Let me guess… You did not even know what you
were fighting for. Where have I heard that before?” Had weres and
vamps really been that gullible a hundred years ago? Either way,
she was tired of the excuse and wanted some time alone.

She stepped around him and walked away, heart
aching. Coco and Avery were coming out of Club Daylight and saw
her. Her expression must have been wild because they met her
halfway.

“What is it,
chérie
?” Coco asked.

“Shade fought in the war. Against our kind,”
Izzy told them.

“Oh, sugar. I knew he was too good to be
true,” Avery said. “Come on. Let’s go get a drink.”

“We’ll go the back way to the cottage,” Coco
said with a sympathetic smile. Avery nodded.

Drinking with her coven mates was better than
drinking alone. Izzy was so grateful for her friends. She did not
know where she’d be without them.

With Avery on one side and Coco on the other,
they looped arms and took the side path to the cottage they
normally rented. Avery liked to be right on the beach where she
could tumble out of bed and go for a run.

“Tell us everything,” Coco urged.

Izzy did.

“He sounds remorseful,” Avery said. “That’s
something.”

They stepped into the cottage and a sense of
familiarity hit her. 

“I’m not so mad about what side he picked.”
Of course she felt a great sense of loyalty to vamps because
Valencia turned her and a werewolf attacked her. But it was more
than that. She’d showed him her cards. Told her him her secrets.
“Why did he not tell me himself? After I told him my story. After
Grayson told him how I felt about wolves?”

“Felt?” Coco asked, hopefully.

“Is he hiding something else? Something
more…”

“Sinister?” Avery inserted.

Izzy nodded. “I have no more secrets…”

“I doubt it. He’s a man,
chérie
. He
probably just didn’t think it was important. When he looks at you
he probably gets too hot and bothered to think about anything else.
He’s not thinking about the past, but the future.”

Avery was probably right. Izzy hoped she
was.

“But now I must make him swallow his tongue.
Yes? It is the last round of the tournament and he should suffer a
little.”

Avery clapped and grinned. “Vengeance will be
ours.”

“I thought I heard voices.”

The three of them jumped at the sound of
Valencia’s voice. The dark-haired beauty strode out of her old
bedroom, and Avery shot Izzy a worried glance.

“How were things in New York?” Coco
asked.

“Very good. What are you all doing here? Is
there a sale on spa treatments?”

Coco laughed. Izzy didn’t feel nearly as at
ease. She wanted, desperately, to tell Valencia the truth. But if
Valencia exploded, Izzy would not be in the right frame of mind for
the final table. “We’re supporting Izzy. She’s playing in the poker
tournament.”

Valencia smiled. She didn’t seem suspicious
that Izzy was playing poker again after swearing off years ago.
Izzy’s guilt increased. Valencia shouldn’t have to be
suspicious.

“What’s this talk of vengeance?” V settled
her lithe frame on one of the elegantly tropical chairs.

“Izzy needs to create a distraction at the
final table,” Avery told her.

“And make Shade swallow his tongue,” Coco
added.

“Shade?”

Izzy pulled her lower lip between her teeth.
“My lover.” Was he still her lover?

“Good for you.” Valencia’s smile was warm and
genuine. “You’ve been busy while I’ve been away.”

“It has been a long week,” Izzy agreed.

Had it only been a week?

“And Shade is at the final table with
you?”

Izzy nodded.

“Well then, you’re going to need an
incredible dress.”

That was an understatement.

“Time to go shopping,” Avery said, her
excitement bubbling up.

“I have something in mind. I’ll be right
back,” Valencia said and
flashed
.

“I should shower,” Izzy said, heading for the
room she and Coco had shared.

Fifteen minutes later she was clean,
refreshed and wrapped in a thick terrycloth robe that bore the
Mystic Isle logo. Coco and Avery were facing each other on the
couch, talking quietly. They smiled up at her as Izzy entered the
room.

“Shade came by. He wanted to talk, but I sent
him away with Grayson.”

Izzy circled around to face them, worrying
her lower lip. “Will you have Grayson give him a message for
me?”

Coco’s smile brightened her blue eyes.
“Sure.”

“Tell him I showed him my cards. He should
have shown me his. I’ll see him at the final table.”

Coco retrieved her cell phone just as
Valencia returned. Her slender arms were laden with garment bags
and Avery hopped up to help her.

“I thought if Izzy was going to dress up, we
should all go show our support.” Valencia’s smile was sincere yet
ruthless. “I brought something for each of us.”

Avery took the bag full of shoe boxes and
laid them out on the couch.

“I do love to play dress up,” Coco said,
peering over Avery’s shoulder. “Let me go make this call, then
we’ll start on Izzy’s hair.”

“Avery, I thought this looked like you.”
Valencia, graceful as always, unzipped the first garment bag to
reveal a tangerine dress. “Short, strapless with a hint of sparkle
at the waist with a chiffon overlay.”

Avery squealed. “I know. I know. I’m such a
girl. But it’s incredible. Exactly what I would have picked.” She
stripped right there in the middle of the living room and pulled on
the dress. “Zip me up,” she begged.

After adjusting her breasts and flipping the
curtain of raven hair over her shoulder, she straightened and
lifted one shoulder in a
how do I look
gesture. Her fangs
were down and her eyes were bright with pleasure.

“Gorgeous,” Valencia said.

Izzy gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Valencia turned to Izzy,
hands hooked at her waist, emphasizing her slender frame.

Izzy licked her lips. “I crashed Gorgeous. I
am so sorry, V. I could not help it. She begged to be driven.”

Valencia’s dark, perfectly shaped brows rose
in surprise. Izzy blinked back the tears in her eyes.

Second after second ticked by as Izzy waited
for Valencia’s temper to blow up. For her to rage and tell Izzy to
get lost.

“So you’re trying to win the money to pay me
back, is that it?”

Why did she sound so calm? Izzy nodded.

“She’s doing really well,” Avery said. “You
should have seen the last hand. She squashed the guy like a
bug.”

Valencia glanced back and forth between them
as Coco strode over. Izzy didn’t know what more to say, but she
thought she might hyperventilate. Even that couldn’t get her out of
this mess.

“What’s going on?” Coco asked.

“Apparently Izzy crashed Gorgeous.”

Coco’s head swiveled in Izzy’s direction.
“You told her?”

“I had to. She would find out anyway.”

“And you’re at the final table?” Valencia
asked.

“Yes.”

Valencia nodded once and her sleek bob didn’t
even move.

“Then,” she said, reaching for another
garment bag. “You’re going to need this.”

She unzipped the bag and pulled out a
stunning red dress. “There are matching peep-toed stilettos to go
with it. Sprinkled with crystals, just the way you like it.”

Izzy stared at the sparkling fabric. It was
the essence of slinky, sexy gorgeousness that would make her man
trip over himself. She smiled.

“Try it on,” Valencia said, pushing the dress
into Izzy’s hand.

Shade heard the murmurs before he
saw what was causing the commotion. Grayson paused mid-sentence and
they glanced across the crowd. At least half the people in the
cavernous room were watching something… or someone.

He saw a flash of blonde hair. A
trace of lovely black skin. A sleek brunette bob. And a stripe of
tangerine fabric against lovely hazelnut-colored skin.

Each of the four women wore a
different vibrant color, but he was focused on the woman in the
shimmering red dress. The material hugged her curves almost
indecently. Each sequin reflected light as she moved. Worse than
the fit, he noted as she drew closer, was the way the strip of
silver crystals accentuated the plunging neckline.

“You all right?” Grayson asked,
his voice low and quiet.

Shade swallowed. “She’s trying to
give me a hard-on.”

The wolf chuckled.

The makeup was back, though
softened and more seductive. He liked the way the kohl brightened
her eyes. And the red lipstick… he could just imagine that leaving
its mark across his body.

He studied her face, trying to
gauge her mood, but she reminded him of an ice queen. Cool. Aloof.
Unreadable.

Just before she got to the stage
the woman in orange, Avery, said something to Izzy. They pointed to
a row of seating at the end of the poker table. Izzy cracked a
smile, and something inside of him eased. He hadn’t seen the tall
brunette before but she squeezed Izzy’s arm.

What was she saying? And why did
Izzy look like she had tears in her eyes?

“Good luck,” Grayson said before
heading toward his mate.

For the first time in a long time
Shade thought he might just need those good luck wishes.

Izzy nodded at something the
brunette said and then met his gaze. She gave him a small smile and
stepped onto the stage. Shade didn’t need to look around to know
that she was drawing attention. He could feel it. Especially from
Marc Corrigan, who was currently in second place. The werewolf
didn’t even try to hide his desire.

Shade looked away from the man,
lest his blood pressure rise and he lose his temper. He better than
anyone knew the devastation jealousy could cause.

She was obviously taking the whole
distraction thing to heart. He didn’t blame her. She had assets no
one else he’d ever sat at a poker table with had. And that dress
displayed them all to perfection.

The gorgeous little pixie stopped
in front of him, close enough to touch, to pull into his arms and
kiss that lipstick right off. Staring up at him, she took a deep
breath and spoke first.

“Is there anything else I need to
know about you? Skeletons? Dead bodies? Travesties against my
kind?” Her fingers remained laced in front of her.

Shade had been prepared to plead
his case. To remind her that the past was the past and they were
still getting to know each other. He quickly regrouped. “You’re not
still upset?” Could a few hours, a bit of makeup and a new dress
change her perspective?

“Being mad hurts no one but me,”
she said with a shrug. In that moment she was both grownup and the
epitome of innocence. Not the jaded woman she could have so easily
become but resilient. “I try not to be upset for too long. That’s
no way to live.” The corners of her lips curved up ever so
slightly.

Shade’s jaw dropped a little. This
beautiful vampiress had wisdom beyond her years. And she was giving
him another chance… to explain and to earn her trust. Feeling a
little awestruck, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a quiet
corner of the room. A row of tall, thick palms shielded them from
prying eyes.

“Full disclosure,” he murmured,
taking her hands in his. No one liked reliving the dark moments of
their past, least of all him. But she’d shared her story, freely,
with very little prompting. And he could see now that that was how
she lived. Out in the open. No guile. Honest and upfront. He found
that more than a little refreshing.

“I’d just turned thirty-one when I
met a woman… who turned out to be a thief and was married. Her
husband thought she’d cheated on him… and I was the
scapegoat.”

“He confronted you?”

“No. He shot me in the back.
Without giving me a chance to explain that his wife and I, although
attracted to each other, had never become involved. Valencia
rescued you. Lucifer rescued me.” Shade gave a short laugh. “He
said I’d done nothing worthy of my death and that he had a position
for me. While he wasn’t officially on either side, the
weres
and the
vamps—”

“Were at war,” she
finished.

He nodded.

“And you sided with
the
weres
.” She
pulled her shoulders back a fraction. “I don’t have to like it. But
I do understand it.”

He squeezed her hands, trusting her.
Trusting in them.

“I got the name Shade on the
battlefield. Because I’m tall… one of my buddies said that ‘shade’
was the last thing my enemies saw before they died. The name
stuck.”

“I believe it.”

“Please take your seats,” the
announcer interrupted via the sound system.

She glanced over at the table but
quickly returned her attention to him.

“There’s one more thing you
should know about me—”
He cupped her
cheeks in his hands. “I’m crazy about you.”

Her smile was slow but radiant and
eased his worry. They were going to be okay.

“Good.” She stretched up and
kissed him. It was too chaste but he didn’t think everyone would
appreciate waiting for him to kiss her thoroughly.

“No short-stack jokes,” she
whispered against his lips. Laughing, he escorted her to her
seat.