Games Demons Play (Mystic Isle, Book 3) (17 page)

Two hundred and seventy-six hands
later, Izzy leaned against the padded table and rubbed her right
temple with her fingertips. Ignoring the man on the other end of
the table was harder than she’d thought it would be. He wasn’t just
another player, an adversary. He was her lover.

Since Marc had lost his spot at the
table six hands ago, Shade had been playing too conservatively in
her opinion. The gorgeous, lovable jerk was going easy on her. She
would have none of that.

She’d earned her spot. More
importantly, she was tired of sitting here under these spotlights.
Was anxious to finish the game and snuggle close to the man who
made her believe in fairy tales again. She felt like a princess,
complete with the dress, fabulous shoes and sparkling jewels. And
of course, the handsome prince. All thanks to Valencia.

As the dealer dealt another round,
she glanced over at her beautiful brunette coven mate. She couldn’t
believe the girls were still here. The sun had come up hours ago
and would set soon; they’d been playing so long. But Valencia and
Coco, along with Grayson, were still there, just off to the side,
drinks in hand. Where had Avery run off to? Sitting still wasn’t
her idea of fun, so Izzy didn’t blame her if she had skipped
out.

“It’s just a car, Izzy. That is
what insurance is for,” Valencia had said right before Izzy had
walked onto the stage. It was not the reaction Izzy had expected.
But then, nothing about this week had been as she’d expected. Not
the wreck. Not Shade. Not Valencia.

Perhaps Izzy had been zapped to an
alternate universe.

“Miss?”

The dealer’s voice pulled her back
into the game and she peeked at her cards. Pocket kings. A good
hand to be sure. Licking her lips, she pondered her bet.

“Three million,” she
said.

Shade met her bet. She swiveled
atop the chair and stared over at him. Was he as ready as she was
for this to be over with? It was hard to tell. He had the best
poker face she’d ever seen. Handsome. Stoic. But then he met her
gaze and she saw a flicker there. Impatience. Lust.
Love?

She checked. He followed suit and
they awaited the flop. The dealer feathered three cards out atop
the felt. Two threes and a seven. That gave her two pair. Not
bad.

She checked again. And again, Shade
followed her lead.

The dealer flipped the turn card.
A king. Izzy bit back a sigh. Would he forgive her for what she was
about to do? She didn’t bother to calculate the odds that he had a
better hand than she did. Whoever said you had to know when to hold
and know when to fold was right. She was ready, as Coco said, to
jump into something new with both feet.

Izzy reached for her goblet, took
a long sip, and then pushed her stack of chips forward. “All in,”
she said and a murmur swept through the crowd.

“Izzy…”

“Are you calling my bluff, Mister
Sotenburg?” She purred the words.

Shade nodded to the dealer,
indicating he’d match her bet.

“And I fold,” she said quickly,
staring at him over the top of her goblet.

His head jerked her way.
“What?”

She smiled behind the cover of the
glass.

“Miss?” The dealer
sputtered.

“You heard me,” she
replied.

The crowd clearly didn’t know what
to make of this. She rolled her chair toward Shade and put the
goblet on his side table.

“Izzy… you understand that if
you—” Charles Latham began, appearing at her side.

She grinned up at him. “I’m fully
aware of what I did, Mr. Latham. Second place is fine by
me.”

Izzy smiled at Shade’s mystified
expression.

Shaking his head, he glanced up at Latham.
“Please see that my winnings are donated to charity.” Then he
looked back at her with warm gray eyes. “Do you have a
preference?”

It was her turn to be confused. He was giving
away his money?

“Something related to violence against women,
perhaps?” he said and looked back up at Latham.

Latham smiled and nodded. “As you wish.” Then
he was gone.

“Izzy…” Shade pulled her forward until their
knees bumped. “What are you doing?”

“Putting my cards on the table.”

He smiled and grunted. Shaking his head again
he reached past her and flipped over her cards. “You are one crazy
woman.”

“Crazy about you, Mr. Sotenburg.”

Groaning, he pulled her in for a kiss. “The
feeling is entirely mutual,
mausi
…”

“Izzy! Girl, you are a force to be reckoned
with,” Avery said, sauntering up to their table. “Do you think
there’s any chance that some of that luck will brush off on me,
Shade?”

Izzy sighed and leaned back in her chair.
Avery smiled like she had no idea she was interrupting the most
important moment of Izzy’s life. The raven-haired beauty turned
away and motioned someone forward. “I want you guys to meet
somebody. While you guys were playing, he explained how poker
—”

Izzy’s brain tuned Avery out as a familiar
face stepped into view. She was used to being cold, but she’d never
actually felt an icy sensation running through her veins. Until
now.

“Yuri?” Why she’d said his name, she didn’t
know. But the ice was dissolving quickly as fury replaced it. “You
bastard!” She launched out of the chair, fangs down, fingernails
flexed to scratch his eyes out. Someone caught her around the waist
and pulled her backward.

“You left me to die!” She squirmed against
the arms of her captor. Avery took a step back, jaw dropped,
confusion and alarm pinching her brows. Yuri’s boyish good looks
had the nerve to look apologetic. But the expression didn’t last.
He quickly looked around the room. Izzy was creating a scene. Yuri
didn’t like scenes.

“Let me go!” she screamed, turning and
shoving at the same time. Shade’s eyes were wide, his brows
high. 

“Izzy,
mausi
, calm down.”

Something in her stilled. The raging fury,
perhaps. Or maybe it was the hope that she’d finally found her
happily ever after. Her insides burned like acid and her head
throbbed like the worst headache in history had decided to take up
permanent residence in her skull.

Latham appeared out of nowhere, positioning
himself in between Izzy and Yuri. Coco and Grayson weren’t far
behind and a flurry of questions and concerns filled the air like
smoke.

“What the hell is going on now?” Latham
thundered. Izzy had never seen him mad before. Somehow she knew he
was keeping himself in check. Despite the flushed skin tone beneath
his tan and the menacing set of his lips, she knew that there were
still more notches of
pissed
and
more pissed
to
Charles Latham’s temper.

“Please, Shade, just let me go,” she begged.
She could feel the tears coming and just wanted to get away. He
couldn’t see her like this. She had to be strong, show no
weakness. 

Shade didn’t let her go. Instead, he smoothed
his hands over her bare skin, warming her. “Who the fuck are you?”
he demanded, glaring past Latham to Yuri.

Avery strode over to Coco, Grayson, and now
Valencia. Izzy heard her ask the two women who he was. What was
going on?

“Yuri,” Izzy said with a dry laugh, “is my
ex. You know. The one who left me to die at the hands of a mad
werewolf.” The words dripped from her lips like poison. It was
true. Every word. And she felt a sense of supreme satisfaction when
every pair of eyes in the room turned on him.

He swallowed and took a step back.

“Is that true?” Latham asked, rounding on
Yuri.

“Of course it is. Look how nervous he is. You
thought I was dead, did you not? You thought no one would find out
what a coward you really are. Why are you here?
How
are you
here?”

Latham looked over at Valencia, then back at
Shade before dropping his gaze to Izzy. His anger was gone and in
its place compassion. He took a step back and waved a hand at her
ex-boyfriend. 

“Yuri is the third son of Avgust
Rasskazov.”

“One of the oldest lines of vampires in
Russia,” Valencia added, hand on her hip.

Everyone glanced at Izzy. How had she not
known? Never suspected? They were all wondering the same thing, she
was sure. Yuri picked that moment to tuck tail and run but Grayson
was there. He grabbed the slighter built vamp and twisted his left
arm behind his back, shoving him back to the center of the
circle.

“I think you owe the lady an apology,”
Grayson said.

“He owes her more than that,” Shade ground
out. He let her go then, tucking her behind him.

Izzy sank down on her chair and blinked back
the tears. 

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Shade demanded.

Yuri’s silence was damning. Latham sighed.
“Do you want to tell her, or should I?” the god asked.

“It was payback.” Yuri finally broke his
silence. His words rocked Izzy back in her seat like a blow to the
chest.

Shade stepped forward but she grabbed his
arm, stopping him. Tension traveled from him to her. She squeezed
his forearm and whispered, “He is not worth it.”

“The wolf —” Yuri paused and looked up from
the floor. Once upon a time Izzy had thought him so handsome, had
lost herself in those brown eyes. But all she saw now was a
cowardly shell with cold eyes.

“I killed his mate during the war. He waited
for a long time to return the favor.” He spoke the words like it
was a business transaction.

“But I’m not your mate!” Izzy’s voice raised
an octave. “You didn’t even love me!”

“He didn’t know that.”

Izzy couldn’t decide which shocked her more:
the fact that he admitted he hadn’t loved her or the fact that —
“So you knew? You knew who he was and why he was there? You knew
what he was going to do to me, didn’t you?”

This time she moved so quickly she was
toe-to-toe with him before anyone was the wiser. She’d
flashed
. His chin jerked up and he leaned back.

She stabbed him in the chest with the nail of
her index finger, but not enough to draw blood, just enough to let
him know she could dissect him at a moment’s notice. “You sick
bastard!” She didn’t care that she was screaming and making a
scene. She also didn’t care if she got kicked off the island. “You
knew. Admit it.”

He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut
again and stared over the top of her head.

“Say it!” The fury was back along with a red
haze that pushed at the edges of her vision. Hotter, more dangerous
than ever before. She didn’t control it. No, it was the other way
around. Like an out-of-body experience, she grabbed his balls and
squeezed. The vamp doubled over. Groans of sympathy filled her
ears, as did a few feminine gasps. There were even a few “you go
girl” sentiments that bolstered her confidence.

“I want to hear you say it. You knew he was
going to rape me, didn’t you? Because that’s what you did to his
mate.” Repulsion rolled through her in a nasty wave. It made her
sick to think she’d actually liked him, kissed him… slept with him.
She’d actually been hurt to lose him. The sick bastard. “Say it or
say goodbye to your future generations.”

“Izzy…” Shade’s voice was calm, concerned,
pulling her back from the red haze.

“Yes. I knew, all right?” Yuri ground out. He
sounded like he was about to pass out.

“So I was a lamb to sacrifice?”

“You’re no fucking lamb.”

She tightened her grip and his head fell
against her shoulder as tremors shook his body.

“Get her away from him,” Valencia said. She
sounded far away, like she was walking in the opposite
direction. 

The red haze was back, coloring everything.
Her sight, the depth of her soul. “And you’re worse than the
werewolf.” She snaked her free hand over his shoulder and threaded
her fingers through his hair. Her fangs itched to drain him dry. To
tear him to shreds the way the werewolf had done to her. He
deserved no less. “At least he was getting retribution for the
woman he loved. But you —” She jerked his head back and he cried
out. “But you served me up. Did you stand by and watch? Did you see
me lying on the pavement, bleeding to death?”

“She will kill him,” Valencia warned.

“Izzy…”

She looked over her shoulder at Coco. Gasps
rang out and her friend’s jaw dropped. “She’s a —”

“She’s part demon, yes,” Valencia cut in.

“Izzy, let him go. You said it yourself,
sweetheart. He’s not worth it,” Shade said. She could feel him
getting closer. How did she know that? Why could she sense him?

“He’s right,” Izzy whispered, fighting the
rage. “But just between us… the only reason you’re going to be able
to reproduce is that I don’t want to get blood on my dress.”

She shoved him away and the spell broke. Her
tears fell as she sank to her knees. Bodies swooped in, circling
her, blocking out the commotion.

Shade lifted Izzy into his arms as Latham and
Grayson escorted her ex out of the casino. Better them than him. If
he got his hands on the bastard…

“You’re okay,
engel
. I’ve got you,” he
murmured to the trembling woman in his arms and headed for the
door. Coco, Avery and the brunette cleared a path through the
onlookers and stepped onto the elevator next to him.

He couldn’t imagine coming face-to-face with
his past like that. There were memories, sure. But to be confronted
with someone who’d caused so much pain? His heart ached for
her.