“Wait. An ex? I was a rebound?” With the way she’d accused him of having a girlfriend, he couldn’t resist poking at this particular issue. Plus, he wanted to understand exactly where his urge to kill the guy came from. Only one day with Pen and already the idea of someone else having his hands on her pissed him off.
“Only a rebound in the way I mentioned last night. I was pissed off and looking for trouble.” She craned her neck around and gave him a half smile. “I found you, Trouble. But no, he’s not an ex. He is, however, a guy I thought a lot better of. We’ve played the same MMO together for a couple years now. Which means I’m going to need to find a new fighting buddy after this weekend.”
Ack. That was no good. Cal couldn’t imagine playing Heroes without Megara, not after all this time. Hopefully Pen had a good group to support her, or she’d likely end up quitting. Cal had been on the brink before due to a crappy guild situation. His salvation was the invite to join Fourth Wall. Sure, the guild had drama, but nothing that lasted. “Sorry to hear that. What game?”
“Heroes of Fallen Gods.”
He blinked. “Seriously? I play Heroes, too. If he really makes things bad for you, maybe you could hunt me down instead.” Even as he said it, he felt the sting of betraying Megara. Hell, he hadn’t even looked for her after he’d met Pen, and now he was practically offering her up for a virtual three-way.
“Thanks.” Her voice had that resigned tone that said she thought he was full of shit.
Of course, he also wanted to know the scrawny little prick’s screen name so he could hunt the fucker down for a not-so-friendly chat. No one should ever look at Pen with such loathing, least of all some ass who’d tried to force himself on her.
Right now, though, Cal needed to deal with the Takamaki issue, which meant hoping the forged tickets got here in time and poking at Pen to see if she had the real deal to give up.
Pen led him into the same bar where they’d met the night before. At the moment it was blissfully quiet and they settled in at a high table in a corner.
“So…about tonight?”
She leveled her gaze at him and didn’t say a word until the bartender wandered over. “Can you get me one of those awesome steaming vodka things?”
“Make it two. Room 1216.”
The bartender jerked his head, doing that weird nod thing some men seemed to think made them look cool, and strolled back to fill their order. Pen sighed and flopped her purse onto the table. “Just because you buy me a drink doesn’t mean I’m spending the night with you again.”
“I’d never make that presumption. I was only hoping you’d agree to spending some time with me.” Of course, if it ended up back in his hotel room again, he wouldn’t say no, but he was willing to wait for Pen if he had to. “I’m not going to lie, though—I never would have slept with you last night if I didn’t like the idea of waking up to you next to me. Preferably more than once.”
She didn’t respond to the future his words implied, instead staring at the neon lights. When the drinks arrived, red and steaming, she swirled hers, the lights refracting and reflecting in the liquid. “I don’t know if I want to give away the extra spot to put my feet up and get comfy. I’ve been looking forward to Silencing Gravity since I first caught wind of it on Twitter.”
She had tickets, and more importantly she hadn’t promised the second one to anybody. He decided if she wasn’t going to acknowledge his comment about sleeping together, he shouldn’t poke at it. Better to focus on the other issue—trying to get her out of that screening room and keep her safe. “More than say…dinner at Rochester’s?” It was a posh restaurant not far from the hotel. He’d have to get Josh to make arrangements but—
“One, I don’t have clothes for that. Two, I’m more a pizza and beer kind of girl. Three, did you miss the part about me looking forward to this movie?” She took a slow sip of her drink.
Fuck. Most women loved getting dressed up for a horribly overpriced dinner complete with watered-down drinks. He was so stressed about this damn screening, he’d stupidly looked at her like any other mark instead of as Penelope. He should have known Rochester’s wouldn’t appeal to a girl like her. Hell, it didn’t really appeal to him. And now she’d made it very clear that she wanted to go to the movie. “Is there anything I can offer to drag you away from cyberpunk in a room full of people in sweaty, stinky costumes?”
“Nope.” She tipped her glass toward him. “But if you try really hard, you might convince me to take you with me.”
Double fuck. Knowing something bad could go down in that room, he wanted her as far from it as possible. But they needed someone inside, and he could open doors as easily as Trevor or Marissa. Plus, when the shit started to fly, he could push Pen out of the line of fire. Not an ideal solution, but with time running out it looked like the best chance they were going to get. Especially since the only other option was stealing her tickets, and she’d never forgive him for something like that. Besides, if the tickets came up missing, she could alert con security, and then Takamaki could get wind of it and know something was in play. Not to mention, the forgeries could arrive in time and then his only job would be keeping her safe.
No. Definitely smarter—not to mention more enticing—to stay by her side.
He reached across the table and took her hand, moving his thumb in slow circles to massage it. “And how might I convince you to let me accompany you?”
Dirty, wonderful thoughts raced through his head as her lips twisted into an evil smile. “Well, I’m still not convinced you are the geek you say you are. You impressed me with the binary, but how’s your Tolkien?”
Cal gaped at her for a second, gears grinding to a halt in his brain like some rusted clockwork. He knew the more popular works, but if she asked something obscure…
“I’ll make it easy for you, Sir Dark Elf. Tell me the word you need to say to open the doors to Moria…in Elvish please.”
Thank God he hadn’t dressed as a Klingon last night… and that she obviously wanted him to answer correctly. “Mellon.”
Pen drained her glass and grinned. “Looks like it’s a date.”
Lifting her hand from the table, Cal brushed his lips across her knuckles. “I look forward to it.”
He just hoped this first official date wasn’t also their last.
…
Penelope began to regret inviting Cal to the screening right about the time he showed up at her room. To call him distracted was an understatement. He’d gotten a text while they were grabbing dinner at the food court, and he’d tried—again—to convince her to skip the movie. Needless to say, she’d refused.
Now, he kept checking his phone. He scratched at his ear and clenched his hand into a fist afterward like he wanted to message someone but knew he shouldn’t. Then there was the weird way he kept sweeping his jacket forward. He looked like he was trying out to be an extra in…something. And why the hell was he wearing a duster anyway? Especially since it was his only nod toward a costume.
Since she hadn’t known about the Silencing Gravity screening before she arrived, she hadn’t brought cyberpunk gear of any sort and was going sans costume. Then again, she was kind of over cosplay for the weekend. The ups and downs had left her drained. Quite frankly, if Cal got weird on her again, she was seriously pondering the idea of eating tonight’s hotel cost and just heading home to save what little was left of her long weekend.
As they stood in line to get into the room, he checked his phone—again—and Pen nudged him with her elbow. “You’re really starting to strain credibility about not having a girlfriend with the way you keep doing that. Please tell me once they start the film, you’ll put it away.”
“Sorry. Work.” He stuffed the phone back into his pocket and took her hand. “I promise once the movie starts I’m done.”
Something in his smile seemed off, almost sad, but Pen shook the thought away. She liked Cal—a lot. More than enough to give him the benefit of the doubt after overreacting so b
adly earlier. God knew there were times random emotions hit her face that had nothing to do with the moment. She flashed their tickets at the men by the door, but they blocked her path until she handed the cards over. Only after running them through a scanner did the men step aside and let her enter with Cal.
“Well, that was weird.” She surveyed the area, looking for seats.
“No kidding. Hey, how about over there?” He pointed to some seats at the end of a row near the front. She was usually more of a back-middle kind of girl, but when she opened her mouth to mention it, he said, “Makes for an easy getaway if this thing sucks.”
“Don’t tell me you only agreed to come in the hopes I’d leave early so you could get into my pants again.”
“Not a chance. I’m perfectly willing to wait and hope for the day you’ll once again let me bash your head against the corner of a shower, but the director’s last movie sucked ass. Doesn’t matter how killer the previews look, this could be a piece of crap.” He tipped his head toward the seats once more.
With a halfhearted shrug, she gave in and settled into the chairs by the door. As more people filed in, Cal started fidgeting again, another strange expression flitting across his features as he searched the crowd. He was driving her batty.
“Okay, I can’t handle it anymore. I know guys hate it when we ask this, but what the hell are you thinking about?”
He gave a wan smile and squeezed her hand. “Just wondering what would have happened if you and I met in other circumstances, Darling.”
The endearment made her jerk away from him. No one had ever called her “Darling” except Lohonas. Hearing it from Cal now stung a little. He was the guy who should have been by her side in Heroes. Even with his weird quirks, he was worth taking a chance on. A rare trait lately.
“Like in-game?”
“Yeah.”
“For starters, you probably would have looked at my screen name and groaned. Then we might have fought together once or twice before you out-leveled me and left me in the dust.”
His too-soon-to-be-so-familiar deep chuckle danced over her skin. “Never happen. I like to kill stuff, but I’m mainly a social gamer. If I weren’t, I’d play something else where all I did was kill shit. But as far as the screen name, hit me. It can’t be that bad. I mean, mine’s an anagram of Han Solo.”
Even as her mind started recombining the letters, distracting heat rose in her cheeks, and she stared at the front of the room where men in what could only be termed uniforms—gray and black jumpsuits with striped armbands and knee-high boots—had started to assemble. “Sure it can. I named my main after my favorite non-princess Disney heroine. The romantic failure with a killer set of pipes.”
She had to give him props—he didn’t laugh. Of course, he didn’t say anything at all for a second, and Pen wondered if there was a rock handy so she could crawl under it. Did she have to say all that? Couldn’t she have just said “Megara” and been done with it?
“Meg?” The way he said her name—not like he remembered the movie, but like he knew her—made her twist toward him. “That jerk is in Crimson Blades of Eternity?”
Oh my God. He does know me. She scrambled, trying to figure out who the hell he could be, searching for something to say so she didn’t just sit there with her jaw dropped open. And because awkward conversation had always been her strong suit, her voice squeaked as she stammered out, “N-n-no…he’s in a guild we fight with sometimes. Who are you?”
But shortly after she turned to him, something had snatched Cal’s attention away from their conversation. She followed his gaze to the uniformed men she noticed before. Each and every one of them had donned gas masks—likely part of some show preceding the screening.
A short Asian man stepped up to a podium, yet another mask dangling from his fingertips. “Welcome to the world of the future. Once upon a time, conventions like this shunned me and sent me packing with only laughter to keep me company. Now, here we are, and I could not be happier to present to you… Silencing Gravity.”
Cal sucked in a breath through his teeth, making a hissing noise. “Takamaki.”
Huh? Before Penelope could ask him anything else, he grabbed her by the arms and twisted her toward him.
“Pen, I need your help. Shit’s about to go bad very quickly.”
Her forehead scrunched as she frowned at him. What the hell was a Takamaki? “What are you talking about?”
“Marissa didn’t get back from the office in time. It’s just us, and I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
“Trust you about what? Cal…it’s a movie.”
His fingers bit into her arms, ten points of pain that made her heart start to thud violently. “No. It’s not. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, but the doors behind us. I need you to make sure they get opened.”
The room disappeared, narrowing down to Cal and the door behind him—and the two men in uniforms and gas masks blocking the exit. “You’re talking like a crazy person, and you’re hurting me.” She squirmed in his grip. As ridiculous as it sounded, since she’d just met him yesterday, she said, “I feel like I don’t even know you right now.”
He let go of her arms—one hand moved to cup her face as the other dove for something inside his duster—and shook his head. “You’ve always known me. If nothing else I’ve said this weekend means anything, know that Lohonas has always kept you safe. I’m not stopping now.”
His lips crushed against her, the kiss searing straight to her soul.
Chapter Nine
Not Like the Movies
Lohonas.
Han Solo. Lohonas. Sure, the anagram fit, but…it couldn’t be true, no matter how much he might look and act the part. If he were Lohonas, he would have told her. Hell, he was supposed to be looking for her. After all, that’s how she’d met Kent and wound up kneeing him in the groin. He’d found her and told her right up front that he was Lohonas. Hadn’t he?
In a split second she replayed that meeting. She wanted to slap herself. Do you play Heroes of Fallen Gods? A nice vague line in a con where the new expansion was unveiling. Kent had been trolling for girls here for the competition, and she’d fallen for it, even giving him a name to use.
But with Cal it all fit. From him calling her “Darling” to the way they talked to each other to…everything. From the first time she saw him in the elevator, he’d brought Lohonas to mind. It was as if some god had plucked him from her brain and made him real. But…could it be real?
The echo of her thoughts was still ringing in Pen’s head when Cal stood, yanked a short rod from inside his coat, and snapped his wrist. The metal tube expanded into a dull black baton that seemed to absorb the lights in the room with the way they dimmed.
She hadn’t even stood up when he swung at the men guarding the door. The first went down in seconds, but the second grappled with Cal as more men raced from the front of the room. People didn’t leave their seats, as if they thought it was all part of the show. An image enhanced by the fact that no one was yelling for help. Not even the people in charge.
The other men would be on Cal in seconds, and then they’d block the doors again. Pen’s blood ran cold. She was a computer geek, a gamer, a book nerd. Quiet. Shy, even. She didn’t get involved in things. Ever.
She didn’t even know what it was he’d asked her to get involved in.
But this wasn’t just Cal. It was Lohonas—she believed him, she had to. He was the guy who always had her back in-game. The one who saved her from death time and time again. Who’d even rescued her from heartache a time or two.
She didn’t know why he wanted those doors open, only that he’d made it sound like the most important thing in the world. Her gaze darted from the door to the approaching men and back again.
She didn’t take time to think; she just ran.
Her palms slammed against the bar, but it jerked to a stop before opening. A quick glance down displayed a strange black lock wrapped around the bars, holding them closed. It h
ad to have a key, but there wasn’t time to look for one. The other guards—she couldn’t think of them as anything else now—were almost there.
Cal slammed the one attached to his back against the wall with bone-crushing force. But even if he finished that one off, he couldn’t help her. He was about to have a couple dozen other things to worry about. As the guard’s body crumpled, Cal tore something from the man’s belt. A gun.
Holy crap, the guards were armed. Any hope this was just some weird delusion on his part shattered. Cal started firing at the men approaching, but that just meant they fired back. Bullets whizzed by, thunking into the walls in a spray of plaster.
Now people started screaming. Pen dove for the other fallen guard and yanked his weapon free. Bracing herself, she took aim at the lock on the door, closed her eyes, and squeezed the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Frantic, she squeezed again. Arms wrapped around her from behind, lifting her from the floor. No! Her gaze shifted toward Cal, but a sight beyond him set her heart racing. A hazy cloud filled the air on the other side of the room, and those closest to it were falling, clutching and clawing at their faces.
Oh God. No. Hell no.
She struggled, her heel kicking backward and catching a moderately effective blow to her captor’s groin. His grip loosened enough that her feet hit the floor. Tearing away from him, she raced toward the doors again, hunting over the surface of the gun. Safety. There had to be a safety. Just as she reached the door, the guard grabbed her again.
There was a tiny switch near the gun’s hammer, and she flipped it. A red dot appeared. Red meant danger, right? Sending out a little prayer, she aimed and squeezed the trigger once more.
The weapon bucked in her hands, but the lock over the bars cracked, a jagged line slicing through the darkness. As the guard dragged her backward, she shoved against him, picking up her feet and slamming them into the bar on the door. The lock burst free, and the door swung open a couple inches. Not enough. It couldn’t possibly be enough unless someone was right there waiting for it to be unlocked.
Gaming for Keeps (Entangled Ever After) Page 8
