Ace of Shades (The Shadow Game #1)(109)

“You may pick up your cards,” Semper instructed. He slapped his hand on the timer, which jolted to life.

Tick, tick, tick.

Enne grabbed her two Shadow Cards. As soon as she touched the top one, an image filled her mind, momentarily ripping her away from the room. She was in the dining room of her Bellamy house, and she stared up the stairwell at the first door. Lourdes’s office, always locked. The house felt crowded with secrets.

The vision changed. She was slightly older, wearing a deep burgundy gown and waiting in a queue. Someone announced the name of the girl in front of her. When he called Enne’s name next, Enne glided down the white-carpeted steps and entered a glittering ballroom, finally Lady Erienne Abacus Salta.

The room returned. Enne gasped and, after a few moments, shakily lifted the Shadow Cards. The first was the Moon, which had given her the memory of her home. The second was the Chariot, which had shown her entrance into society after graduation. That wouldn’t ever happen now. Lady Erienne Abacus Salta. She couldn’t even truthfully claim that name anymore.

My life will literally flash before my eyes, she realized. The all-encompassing nature of the visions reminded her of the black-and-white hallway from her dreams. Maybe whatever mysterious forces that enveloped the House of Shadows were also responsible for how Levi and Enne shared that place.

She didn’t think she’d learn the answer now.

Semper flipped over the first Shadow Card up for grabs. It was the Empress. Eight people put in an orb, including her. The hand Semper dealt her was almost all high cards, and from what she remembered about the rules, that wasn’t a good sign. But she hadn’t understood much from his explanation.

Semper played his first card, the three of spades. She used her lowest spade, the jack. Of course, that turned out to be the highest card and she took all of the cards, including five spades. That was five strikes.

At the end of the round, she had more spades than anyone, which eliminated any chance she might have of collecting the Empress. She could almost feel Levi’s anguish from across the table. Three people had collected zero spades, and they rolled the dice to determine who won the round’s Shadow Card.

One orb missing. Forty-nine left.

Five rounds went by. She played four and lost them all.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Semper flipped the Lovers card. Enne placed her bet, and to her luck and surprise, received almost all low cards. She managed not to collect any spades and won the prize.

As soon as she took it, an image appeared. She was in Levi’s bed lying on her back, the top buttons of her blouse scandalously undone, her hair draped over his pillow. He was on all fours over top of her, his lips pressed against her chest. She sighed and breathed in the smell of his cologne, playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck. His hand traced from her shoulder down her arm until his fingers interlaced with hers. He lifted her arm above her head. Pressed his stomach against hers. Breathed her name into her ear.

It was a very sweet surrender.

With her free hand, she tilted his face to meet hers, raised her head to meet his lips—

It was over. Her cheeks must’ve been furiously red, since Semper smirked as he flipped the next card. Levi gave her a faint, congratulatory smile for winning the round, but his expression also seemed to ask, What did you see? She was obviously flustered. She looked away, sure he could read the embarrassment and truth in her eyes. They’d been pushing the boundaries of their relationship since she’d arrived.

Her body still burned at the thought of what might have been, but she forced the lingering thoughts of the illusion from her mind. She needed to focus.

Five more rounds passed. She bet only once—during a round when not many others did, since her chances of winning would be highest—and lost.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

An hour went by. Two more remained to collect nineteen cards.

She bet on the next five hands and won two: the Wheel of Fortune and Death. First she saw herself, stabbing the syringe into Sedric’s leg, every moment of the scene as real and bloody as it had been earlier than night. When the image changed, she was collapsed in Vianca’s office, the donna watching apathetically as the omerta drew out her last breath.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

By the end of the second hour, she’d won four more Shadow Cards, which meant she had one hour left to win thirteen.

Before, Levi wouldn’t look her in the eyes. Now he looked nowhere else. He crossed and uncrossed his arms, tapped the table, shifted in his seat, cracked his neck, all while keeping his gaze locked on hers. She knew she was losing. He knew she was losing. She couldn’t say anything because she’d told Semper that she didn’t know him, but she wanted to scream I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. His eyes told her he wanted to say the same.

She bet on the next card. Semper seemed to take an eternity to deal their hands, and she wondered if he was moving slowly on purpose. With over two dozen of her orbs already played, Levi looked much less himself. His dark skin was growing increasingly transparent, and a whiteness was seeping the color out of his brown eyes.

Enne was going to have to sit here for fifty-five minutes and watch him die. The thought made her shake with panic.

She tied with another woman for the next Shadow Card. The woman rolled first. An eleven.

Enne watched Levi as she tossed the dice, refusing to look at the number. He smiled slightly, and she knew she’d won.