Seven of Clubs (War and Suits Book 6)

by J. A. Armitage

  I looked down into the palm of her hand. It was difficult to believe that whether the tiny black rectangular object was broken or not could make much difference.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a computer chip. Basically, it tells the mixers what to do. It has everything programmed into it: what speed to mix the chocolate, when to add the flavours, when to start and stop mixing. Everything!”

  “You were going to set out across The Clublands to kill the Queen of Hearts over this?” I said picking it up out of her hand and examining it closely. A small silver strip ran along the bottom of it, but apart from that, it looked utterly unremarkable.

  “Hey,” she said, snatching it back from me. “I’ve already told you what it does. Without it, the factory cannot work. I’m guessing by the fact that you don’t know what it is, you can’t fix it and we’ve completely wasted our time.”

  I wouldn’t know where to start on it. It was so small. I shook my head.

  “Fine! We go back to plan A and steal one then!”

  “I still don’t know why you need a whole group of people to march through three kingdoms to get another. Look at the size of it. You could fit that in your pocket.”

  “I told you why. Those people up on the mountain were all friends with Jake.”

  “Jake?”

  “My brother. He was Ulix’s best friend, Nikka’s uncle. He meant something to all of us.”

  “This war you are waging on the Hearts doesn’t really have anything to do with getting another computer chip or whatever that thing is, does it? You are going to avenge your brother. You’d willingly risk the lives of everyone on that mountain, including your own daughter, just so you could kill the Queen of Hearts.”

  “So what if I would?” she growled. “Have you ever lost a member of your family? Have you ever had to forage for food because someone in another land was so greedy that you didn’t know where your next meal would come from? Have you ever had to look into your daughter’s eyes and tell her that she wouldn’t be getting dinner again? Do you even know what it’s like?”

  “No,” I admitted “but I almost lost my brother a few weeks back. He got an infection and almost died.” I didn’t tell her it was because of a battle with the Hearts. That would have only added flames to the fire that was already burning within her.

  “Almost! Big deal! You’re a prince. You’ve never had to go hungry in your life. I bet you get your meals served to you on golden plates by servants. Look at your clothes for fuck’s sake. I can see the gold thread and fancy embroidery work. That tunic of yours probably cost more than a day’s food for this whole village!”

  I looked down to where the Club’s insignia was embroidered on the breast pocket. I had no idea how much it cost, but she was probably right. Shame flooded through me as I realised I had no idea what she had been going through. What did I know of suffering? Yes, Ash had been deathly ill a few weeks ago, but he had the best doctors in the land taking care of him. Aaricka wouldn’t be able to afford a doctor even if she had access to one. I could only imagine how awful it must be for her, choosing between living with parents who had dismissed their son, only to have him kill himself or taking her daughter up into the mountains alone. My heart went out to her, and yet I still didn’t know what to do for her. It would take days to travel to the Heartlands on horseback. Weeks on foot. A five-year-old wouldn’t be able to manage it. Her mission was complete insanity, but at the same time, living up in the mountains forever was not an option either. She had nowhere to go. I had vague thoughts of whisking her and Nikka away and letting them live in my castle with me when a noise startled us both.

  “Fuck! The guard must have come back,” whispered Aaricka, taking hold of my hand. I shut the flashlight off, securing it in my belt and let Aaricka lead me through the darkness.

  “Who’s there?” I heard a man’s voice call from the opposite end of the huge room. I couldn’t see, but I was confident that Aaricka could see where we were going, so I let her lead me. We’d just reached the bottom of the stairs when light flooded the room. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the guard running towards us. It was too late to hide; he’d already seen us. Aaricka ran up the stairs with me following close behind. It was only when I heard a snarl and looked behind me that I realised that the guard was a dog shifter. A huge monster of a dog was bounding towards us, its teeth bared, ready to attack. I froze on the spot, knowing that there was no way I’d be able to outrun it. It was moving way too quickly for me. He pounced just as we reached the top step, but a flash of black and white flew right over my head sending both dog and tiger flying down the stairs. They were equally matched for height, but Aaricka in her tiger form was longer than the dog, and, thanks to her feline ability, she landed on her feet at the bottom. Both animals snarled at each other, seemingly uninjured by their fall. The dog went for Aaricka’s throat, but she pounced on him just in time, sending them both rolling across the floor. She lifted her head and growled at me. At first, I thought that maybe she didn’t know who I was in her tiger form, but then I realised she was trying to tell me something. A motion of her head looked like she wanted me to leave. I grabbed the now ripped and ruined clothes she had left behind as she shifted and ran along the mezzanine level towards the door we had first come through. Her capability in fighting the dog was not something I questioned, but if I left her and she was injured, I’d never forgive myself. Once her attention was back on the dog, I pulled an arrow from the sheaf I was still carrying. I aimed carefully at the duelling pair. I knew I only had one shot and I knew how important it was to get it right. A false move could either injure or kill Aaricka.

  The growls and snarls the animals were making as they fought sounded horrendous, and the fight was brutal, but I couldn’t just fire at them to stop them. I had to wait until it was safe, so I wouldn’t accidentally fire at Aaricka. The dog managed to get away from Aaricka’s clutches, and I could see claw marks down its side. It turned, readying itself to pounce, and that’s when I let go. The arrow sailed through the air, landing right where I had planned, in the back leg of the dog. He fell to the ground, changing back into his human form almost instantly. I watched how he screamed, clutching his leg where the arrow had torn right through him. I’d purposely only injured him. His injury would hurt, but he’d survive. I fist pumped the air before realising my next problem.

  It would be dangerous for me to change into a tiger around you. I’d eat you as soon as look at you.

  Aaricka’s words came back to me as she looked up to the mezzanine. She was either going to eat the guard or me unless she turned back into her human form.

  “Change back!” I shouted to her, but it was to no avail. The large cat bounded up the steps at a rate I knew I’d not be able to outrun. I ran through the door, not daring to close it behind me, as she’d only turn back and attack the now defenceless guard. I raced down the corridor and out to the fire escape where I bounded down, taking the steps three and four at a time. She was still behind me as I got to the beginning of the path back up the mountain. Not only that, but I could see lights coming on and some people stepping out of their houses to see what the commotion was about.

  I ran as quickly as my two feet would carry me, but I was small, and there was no way I could outrun a fully grown tiger. When I could hear her closing in on me, I grabbed a branch of the nearest tree and swung myself up into it. From there, I climbed to the highest point and sat, looking down to see her snarling and clawing at the base of the tree. Could tigers climb? I had no idea, but if she could, I was dead meat.

  “Aaricka!” I called down to her, hoping that the human part of her would understand me. In the distance, I could hear people shouting in the village. It sounded like someone had found the injured guard. We needed to get away, and quickly, but I was stuck up a tree and couldn’t go anywhere.

  “Aaricka,” I shouted down again, feeling panicked. “You need to change back now!”

  “Fuck!” I added for my own benefit. Th
e last thing Aaricka needed was to get caught now, not to mention the trouble I’d bring upon my family if it was found out that a Club Prince had shot an innocent man.

  The crunching of bones and an unearthly shriek told me that she had heard me; either that, or she had decided to change back of her own accord. Either way, when I looked down the next time, she was standing naked and shivering at the bottom of the tree.

  I dropped to the ground, barely touching the branches as I went and threw her torn clothes at her, trying to ignore the smoothness of her skin and the way her body curved. I’d seen her naked before, but somehow this was different.

  She hurriedly threw on her tattered clothes and shot me a look of anger as she caught me looking at her. There was no time for her to shout at me as the villagers had seen us and were now not too far behind us on the path.

  We both took off, running at such a quick pace up the hill that I quickly became out of breath. I’d trained for years under Wulfric, but there was no way I could keep this up all the way back to her camp. I was more out of shape than I thought I was.

  I was puffing away behind Aaricka, who didn’t seem to have the same problem when she called out to me.

  “Why did you fire at him? I had him.”

  “I didn’t want you to be a murderer,” I said simply, remembering her words earlier.

  That’s what you Clubs think isn’t it? That we are all savages that go around murdering each other.

  “Well, now, thanks to you stopping me from killing him, we have the villagers after us.”

  I was much too out of breath to apologise to her.

  After an hour of running, both of us had slowed considerably, and I was just about ready to collapse in a heap. Thankfully, the villagers were in the same boat, and even though we’d not widened the distance between us, they hadn’t closed the gap either.

  I was puffing and panting and my lungs felt like they were about to burst when we came upon the lake.

  Aaricka stopped, finally, allowing me a few seconds to get my breath back.

  “We can’t go up there!” she said in a panic. “If we do, the villagers will know about the others.”

  “So we follow a different path,” I suggested. There were certainly enough to choose from.

  “But I can’t leave Nikka. There are more than a few people following us, if some decide to take the path to the caves, they’ll find her.”

  “So what do you want to do?” I wheezed.

  “I’m sorry, but I can only think of one option.”

  The villagers were closing in and would catch us at any minute. Aaricka shot off up the path, without explaining what she meant. The fact that she’d apologised told me that whatever her plan was, I wasn’t going to like it.

  “They’re here!” she shouted out loud. “Evacuation plan!”

  There was a sudden flurry of activity as all the people emerged from the caves and turned into their animal forms, running and flying off in all directions. I saw Suzy turn into a magnificent hawk, just before soaring into the sky. Kasey turned into a wolf and shot into the undergrowth.

  “Nikka!” shouted Aaricka in the melee as animals flew past us, but the little girl was not there. Behind me, I heard the villagers emerge onto the rocky outcrop.

  “Aaricka!” one of them shouted. I could see the look of panic on Aaricka’s face as she searched desperately for her little girl.

  The man and the villagers behind him came rushing towards us. All the animals had scattered except the unicorn, which stood on the edge of the outcrop, looking panicked with the sudden chaos.

  It was then I caught sight of a small ball of fur at the entrance to one of the caves. Without thinking, I jumped on the unicorn’s back pulling Aaricka up onto the saddle behind me. As I turned the unicorn around, ready for takeoff, I ran him past the cave, picking up the tiny bear cub just before the unicorn jumped off the cliff and we all took off into the air.

  The angry shouts of the villagers got quieter and quieter as the land fell away beneath us. Pretty soon, we’d covered enough distance that we could neither see nor hear them at all. It was then that Aaricka finally spoke.

  “You saved us!”

  “We saved each other!” I replied, finally able to breathe properly after the exertion and excitement. “How is Nikka doing back there?”

  “She’s fine. I’ve got her. I’ve told her not to turn back into her human form. Her bear fur will keep her warm up here.”

  “Will she understand you? I thought you said that you can’t reason with shifters in their animal form.”

  “I’m her mother,” she said as though that answered my question.

  Thinking about Nikka and her warm fur made me realise just how cold it actually was at this height. I was cold enough, but Aaricka had to be freezing in her tattered clothing. The sun was beginning to dawn on the horizon. The sun would warm us all up, but I didn’t want to wait that long. I scanned the ground until I saw the lights of a town and I steered the unicorn downwards until we landed on what looked like the main street.

  It wasn’t a large town, but I could see a cafe opening up for the day. I took Aaricka and Nikka over and opened the door, allowing them to enter. Tying the unicorn up, I joined them inside.

  If the lady behind the counter was shocked to see a half-naked woman holding a bear cub in her arms, she didn’t show it. I suppose, being in the heart of the Spadelands, she was used to seeing such things.

  I ordered Aaricka and myself a coffee and a hot chocolate for Nikka along with three breakfasts.

  “She can change in there,” said the woman behind the counter, pointing to a door marked Changing Room.

  “Excuse me?” I asked feeling confused.

  “For your daughter,” she said, and I understood what she meant. It wasn’t a clothes-changing room. It was for her to change back into her human form. I thanked her and returned to the table.

  “The woman behind the counter thought Nikka was my daughter,” I said, barely suppressing the thrill at the sound of it. I was surprised just how much her assumption had struck a chord with me.

  “Did she now?” asked Aaricka, wryly, hugging Nikka close to her. She was shivering although I could see she was trying not to show how cold she was.

  Her shirt was so torn, it was barely more than a few rags held together, and her trousers were in strips. I could see lengths of smooth pale skin in between bits of torn fabric, and if Nikka hadn’t been sitting on her knee, I could see that there was barely enough fabric on her top half to cover her breasts. She’d fanned her hair about around her shoulders to protect her from the cold and to cover her near naked skin.

  I couldn’t leave the pair of them like this. One with barely a scrap of fabric covering her and the other completely without clothing. I stepped out into the street and looked up and down. The sun had risen in the sky, and the streetlights were now out. I gazed along the rows of shops until my eyes rested on one that sold clothes.

  Inside, the choices were basic, but it was hardly as though either of them needed a ball gown. I pulled a few pairs of trousers that looked to be in Aaricka’s size from a rack and heaped them on the counter, adding some plain t-shirts to the pile. I then did the same in the children’s section although instead of the black, navy, and beige I’d picked for Aaricka, I picked out pink t-shirts with various cute animals embroidered on the front. I also picked a pair of small pink sneakers, hoping I’d gotten the correct size. The last thing I put on the counter as the shopkeeper began ringing it through was a couple of warm coats, a black one for Aaricka and a pink one for Nikka.

  “Would you be needing any underwear to go with these?” the shopkeeper asked me as she rang through Nikka’s new coat. She could obviously sense that I was in a desperate situation and had the money to pay my way out of it.

  “Yeah. What underwear will a five-year-old girl need?” I asked, feeling stupid.

  “A vest and panties will be enough. How many do you want?”

  I counted the
t-shirts. I’d got her enough for four days.

  “I’ll have seven of each. What about for a young woman?”

  “We have an excellent selection of lingerie,” she said taking me to a section of the shop filled with red and black lace in all shapes and sizes.

  “These are a bit fancy,” I said, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks. “Do you have something plainer?”

  “We do. What bra size is she?”

  My cheeks were now beginning to burn as I thought of Aaricka’s breasts.

  “I don’t know. Normal size.”

  The shopkeeper smiled at my nervousness.

  “Is she a large lady or petite in the breast department?”

  “She’s slim, but her breasts are...” I didn’t even know how to describe them. I wanted to say beautiful, perfect, kissable, but none of those would help the shopkeeper determine the right size. Nor would it do anything to help me with the burning in my cheeks.

  “Ample?”

  I nodded weakly, wondering just how I had gotten myself into such a situation, and paid for all the clothing. I had no idea what we were going to do now or where we were going, but at least, the two girls would be clothed while they were doing it.

  Back at the cafe, I wordlessly passed the bag to Aaricka and pointed at the changing room in the shop. Her eyes widened as she looked inside the bag, but she picked Nikka up and took the bag with her into the room. While they were gone, the lady running the cafe brought over the drinks and breakfasts and laid them on the table. I took a sip of my coffee and waited for the girls to come out.

  “You bought me underwear!” whispered Aaricka in a mock angry voice. I could see the smile on her face as she said it.

  “I thought you’d welcome it,” I replied, tucking into the breakfast.

  None of us spoke as we consumed our meals, but when we did, the conversation turned to our situation.

  “What do you think happened to the others?” I asked, spearing a sausage and taking a bite.