Game over
1081 Words
The other boy looked both ways, nervous. He had nothing left. Nothing. His wallet was on the edge of the table and only a couple of gold cards glittered, which were not betting cards, of course. I thought he would withdraw, but then he sighed with resignation and began to take off the silver watch he wore on his right wrist.
“I'm coming," he said, and bet the watch.
The attention fell on me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Viktor looking at me, though I couldn't make out anything about him. Lucian, on the other hand, was brimming with confidence. He gave me a heavy, analytical look. His eyes glowed with a powerful, aggressive, amused emotion. This was turning into a real show for him, wasn't it?
Well, I shifted in my chair and gave a playful smile.
“What else can I bet? “I asked.
I knew I was sounding silly, but that was the idea.
“Surprise me. “Lucian shrugged.
The guys around laughed under their breath.
I pretended to think.
“How about... a surprise? “I also pretended to think of it all of a sudden. A big surprise.
“That's not how you play the game," he teased, and carefully clarified, "It has to be something valuable.
“It is," I assured him enthusiastically, "I swear it's worth the seven thousand dollars.
I made sure to sound as inviting and mysterious as possible. It may seem funny, but Lucian thought about it. Betting a surprise was not something allowed in a legal game, it was just that it was obvious that this flea Lycan was ambitious and didn't like a convention. Besides, he was in charge. If he felt like it, they could bet dead rats.
“Well, you go with the surprise," he said. And I only accept because this is proving to be entertaining.
So the real showdown came. It was time to show the cards.
The nerves and anxieties were almost palpable. Whoever had the best hand won everything on the table, and if it wasn't me, I would have to figure it out. Who knew what he intended to ask me to do?
First came the boy. He laid his hand bare. He had three of a kind. Three cards of the same value. That would have won if he'd been playing against stupid rookies.
Then it was Viktor. He had a full house. Three cards of the same value and another pair of cards of the same value. They were good cards, they beat three boys, but did they beat Lucian?
I scratched the fabric of my pants under the table, uneasy.
It was his turn. For a moment he kept looking at me with that smirk on his face. I even imagined what he was trying to tell me, "Sorry, doll, you're going to have to even take off your skin today." And it made me worried and angry just thinking about it; it did.
Slowly, Lucian laid the cards on the table and announced what was in his hand:
“Poker.
Four cards of the same value. The higher the value of those four cards, the higher the ranking of the hand. Lucian had big numbers. Intimidating numbers. No doubt it was a winning hand, so those who must have been his friends began to chirp at his victory, while the rest began to celebrate as if they too had won good bets.
And then I showed them my cards.
And as if by magic, there was the most astounding silence.
Absolute silence.
A silence that you could s**t on.
My voice was the only thing that could be heard:
“Royal flush.
An invincible hand. An ace, a king, a queen, a jack, and a ten. All up Lucian Lycan's ass, and no lube.
It was a historic moment. Years later, if you had studied at Domus and remembered the Lycan status, you would recognize that it was epic: someone had beaten Lucian, and that someone had been a human girl who had never been with him and who felt nothing but contempt for his species and a desire to humiliate him.
Lucian's narrowed eyes fell on the cards and then on me. I held his gaze, holding back a burst of emotion, and then that smile, that unbearable smile of triumph with which he had greeted me at the table, finally vanished.
Puff.
Nothing.
What had happened, Lucian? Suddenly, you weren't the only winner anymore.
Everyone watched, dumbfounded as if there was a glitch in the system and they didn't know what to do next. The leader had been beaten, and it had to have affected him. I imagined him in hysterics, ready to yell at me, but his reaction was what you would expect from his position and personality. His face immediately darkened and his eyes sparkled as if he were holding back a choleric rage.
“Surprise, Lucian! “I crooned, then with a big smile, "You see? It sure is worth more than seven thousand dollars to see your loser's asshole face.
I said no more and got up from the table.
Game over.
I walked through the crowd that was staring at me in astonishment, whispering or trying to scan even my shoes. I felt satisfied because I hadn't even planned that and yet the last thing had come out spontaneously and naturally, like the heroes' line when they give the coup de grâce to the monsters in the movies.
As soon as I was more or less far away, Valery suddenly arrived and latched onto my arm. Only then did I feel a sudden, nervous urge to cling to her without stopping? A shiver ruffled my skin and made me uncomfortably aware of the cold of that night.
“Marise, remember this morning when you asked me what was the worst thing that could happen to you here? “she murmured to me. Her voice sounded half frightened.
“Yes...
“Well, it was this," she whispered gravely. You just signed the death warrant of your entire life in Domus.
I'll keep my explanations to myself.
I will only say that I was very clear about my goals. But I began to complicate them.
Because from that moment, from that mistake, from that game, the whole mess started.
So I warn you: in this story, I will screw up many times. Get used to it.
- Writer
