Wild Card (Etudes in C# Book 1)

by Jamie Wyman

  And my soul.

  Pretty simple as far as rules go, but mastering the game would take me far more than a minute.

  In answer to the dealer, I nodded. “I’ve played once or twice.”

  His chin dipped, and he went on in his melodious voice. “So, here’s a recap for those of you just joining us. After the flop, the first three cards, Anansi folded. At the turn, Eris went all-in and included the soul of one human”—he gestured to me with his open palm—“Now, each of you gentlemen has had the opportunity to validate the bet. I will ask you all: do you approve?”

  “Oh, yes,” Coyote chortled. “Very much.” As he turned his attention to his whiskey I heard him mutter something about his fondness for redheads.

  The dealer addressed the next god. “Maui?”

  “I like this wahine. She has moxie and a spirit as fiery as Pele’s. I approve.”

  Puck fixed me with his eyes and leered. “The Fae would welcome her service.”

  “Catherine,” the dealer said, “please put their tokens into the pot.”

  I slid the chips forward into the mass of colorful clay.

  Then it was up to Loki.

  For a moment, I feared he would say no. What would happen then? If I had to stay with Eris, she’d never forgive me for humiliating her. I’d pay for that one in blood and tears for the rest of my days and then some. Loki hadn’t tested me as the others had. No mind fucks or quiet drinks. No giant birds and chases across the city. Did he even care one way or the other?

  The Norseman’s gas-flame eyes tracked up and down my body. “I like the way she handles a hammer,” he said simply. His chip hit the pile with a clack. “I approve.”

  Hammer?

  Holy shit. Had Loki dropped the hammer so I could kill the shark back at my apartment? I started to lift a finger, to stammer out a question, but the dealer clapped his hands.

  “Okay. Moving on then.”

  “Burn and turn,” Maui muttered.

  “Catherine,” the dealer called.

  I jerked my attention away from Loki. “Yes?”

  “Would you care to deal the final card?”

  My eyes darted around, uncertain. “Why?”

  “It’s your soul,” he said. “Don’t you want to have a hand in what becomes of it?”

  Struck dumb by the fact that he’d echoed my earlier thoughts, I stepped around the table and stood beside the dealer.

  “Take the top card off the deck,” he said, “and put it to the side. Then draw the next card and lay it out for all to see.”

  My mouth went dry, and my fingers shook. I discarded off the top and then stopped, fingers grazing the next card. I swallowed hard. The past two days distilled into one motion of my hand, one little playing card.

  “Have faith,” the dealer whispered. He placed a hand on my shoulder, and I felt empowered. I could do this.

  “Come what may or hell to pay,” I said.

  “That’s the spirit.”

  I flipped the last card and put it on the table.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Falling Into Grace”

  “Ten of diamonds,” the dealer called. “A girl’s best friend.”

  I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “So, now what?”

  “As Eris has already wagered everything she has, she can no longer up her ante, nor can she fold. Betting will start with Loki.”

  He knocked his knuckles on the table to indicate he would hold without betting.

  After careful consideration, Puck took half of one of his piles and set it on the felt. Sliding the stack of chips into the center of the table, Puck said, “Ten thousand.”

  Bug-eyed, I did a quick bit of math. I don’t know if they were betting in dollars, rupees, or puppy kisses, but if half a stack equaled ten large, Puck and Maui sat with more than a cool half million. Each. By this rationale, Loki’s take looked like it could easily fund a state lottery.

  And that’s just assuming each chip had the same value. If Puck was betting with nickels when he still had quarters, I couldn’t begin to estimate how much bank these gods threw around.

  Maui chucked in a handful chips. “See the ten and raise you five.”

  Coyote pushed a stack into the center. “Twenty.”

  “Loki?” the dealer asked with a flick of his icy eyes.

  The Norseman added his wager mutely.

  The betting swung back to Puck. He had to decide if he would call the twenty thousand now on the table or push the stakes higher. Easing up the tips of his cards, he glanced at his hand and checked it against the five community cards. Pearls of sweat glistened at his green hairline, and I wondered if it was the stress of the game or the pain of the metal table being so close to him.

  “Call,” he said, adding the other half of his stack.

  Maui raised an eyebrow at Coyote and put on a wry smile. “You don’t have anything, old man. Thirty.”

  Without batting an eyelash, Coyote relieved himself of another stack. “Forty.”

  Loki called without raising again.

  Dragging his hands up over his temples, Puck sat back and sighed. “I’ll call forty.”

  It went on this way: Puck limiting his bets, Maui antagonizing Coyote, and the Native posturing with another raise every time. Loki remained mute. As the numbers climbed and more chips rattled into the pot, I felt like I was on an auction block waiting for the gavel to fall. I wiped my damp palms on my jeans and looked around the room. Eris stared at the ever-growing pile of chips at the center, fuming. Greed wafted from her like the smoke from her cigar. Angry, salivating, she—like me—could only watch and wait.

  In the living room, Marius sat on the sofa and pretended to nurse a migraine. The satyr’s head fell back and rolled to face the dining room. When he met my eyes, I felt shame like a bitter, acidic tingle on my tongue. I had so many questions for him. Why had he taken the chips? If he was trying to swindle Eris, why? And why hadn’t he told me? I’d have gladly helped him with the gambit.

  Marius confused the hell out of me.

  Two days ago, I’d hated him. He was a smug bastard with no redeeming qualities. Since then, though, I’d seen past the glamour. I’d found myself entertaining the idea that maybe, just maybe, I’d actually enjoy a date with him. Satyr though he might be, Marius was attractive, and in these past couple of days he had proven to be so much more than I thought he was: a pompous ass in a nice suit. Contrary to my beliefs, Marius was a deep well, and I’d only just dipped beneath the surface.

  Eris had said Marius and I were similar creatures. Is that why I’d loathed him so much before? Because I subconsciously recognized myself in him?

  He closed his eyes and looked away from me. My heart jerked with a pang of sadness, as if I’d missed some sort of opportunity.

  “All-in,” Coyote said. He stood up from the table and folded his arms across his chest.

  The dealer did a little bit of figuring and called out the total. My jaw dropped open. There were countries that cost less than that sum. As the other gods counted out enough to match Coyote’s handsome bet, I shook with anticipation. I wiped my palms again and fidgeted with my hair, my belt loops. My mouth felt cottony and dry.

  The clink of ice in Coyote’s glass drew my attention.

  “Can I have a sip of that?”

  “Of course,” he said handing me the drink.

  I knocked back the whole thing in one shot. I’d probably regret it later—for one reason or another—but my nerves blazed, and the thing to douse them was booze.

  Coyote stared at me in awe. “Oh, I like you,” he rumbled.

  To my right the dealer cleared his throat. “Gentlemen?”

  In turn, three voices said, “Call.” The pot swelled with the addition of their chips.

  The dealer pulled his lips back in a smile. “Show ’em.”

  As one the gods turned over their pocket cards. I looked at everyone’s hands, trying to quickly parse out the best hand each could ha
ve made with the two queens, a pair of tens, and the jack sitting on the table.

  A pair of pocket tens gave Eris a four-of-a-kind. My heart sank, knowing little would beat her.

  To my left, Coyote had an eight-to-queen straight.

  “Shit!” Puck hissed. He kicked away from his chair and stalked to the door. As it slammed behind him, Maui stared at Puck’s hand. Both gods came to the table with a full house, queens over jacks.

  Before I could get a look at Loki’s cards, the dealer called out, “We have a winner. With a royal flush, Loki wins the hand.”

  Eris let both hands fall limp to her sides. “That’s it,” she muttered.

  For an instant, I wondered if she would scowl and hand me a scathing parting line. Instead, she rubbed her hands together as if dusting them off. The brand on my arm sizzled. I sucked in a breath at the pain and stared as the apple dissolved. Fresh, pink skin appeared in its place. Without so much as a glance in my direction, she stomped through the living room and into the house.

  “My luck is not so good today,” Coyote said sadly. “Thank you, young lady, for humoring an old dog and sharing a drink. You’ve certainly put a smile on my face.” The Native turned quietly, left the table and went out into the Las Vegas night. Right after he’d squeezed my ass.

  Obviously disappointed, Maui shook my hand. “It was a pleasure. Aloha oe, wahine. Until we meet again.”

  I heard the doors close behind the gods. I dropped into Coyote’s seat, unable to draw my eyes away from my forearm.

  The brand was gone.

  Gone.

  Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stroked the tender skin on my wrist. After so long, I’d gotten used to seeing it there. Now it had vanished, and I wanted to dance a jig. Although Loki had won the right to my soul, for this moment I belonged to myself.

  “Well done,” Loki began.

  Shushing him, I held up a hand. “Please, give me a second. I want…” I stifled a sob. The words stuck in my throat and more hot tears stained my face. Wiping them away, I put myself together as best as I could. “I want to feel this for a minute.”

  “Feel what?” the dealer asked.

  “Freedom.”

  The dealer bobbed his head. “Come on, Loki. Let’s leave her to it.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of interfering,” the Norseman muttered. The two of them joined Marius in the living room proper just a few feet away. The satyr spared me the shadow of a smile.

  I was free.

  Crying, I rode a wave of ecstasy. That word had dangled over my head just out of reach for years, tantalizing me and making me miserable. I knew I couldn’t keep it. My freedom was on loan until Loki decided to officially claim me for Asgard. In that delicious, fleeting moment, though, I felt complete. I found myself whispering a fervent, “thank you,” but I’m not quite sure to whom I offered gratitude.

  My muscles relaxed. Hurt I hadn’t known I’d endured released their holds, and peace flowed through me. For the first time in nearly a decade, I didn’t worry about when the next shoe would drop, didn’t sag with resignation. Hope sprang within me until it bubbled out of my mouth in a flood of giggles.

  “You’ve gone mad, haven’t you?” Marius asked.

  He stood smiling down at me. Filled with joy as I was, I almost hugged him. I suppressed the urge, wiped the last of my tears away, and stood up with a self-conscious laugh.

  “For someone who was so worried last night about walking into a room full of deities, you’ve certainly warmed up to it,” he said.

  “Was that a compliment?”

  He passed me a proud smile but otherwise dropped the subject. “So,” he said, “it looks like you’ll be switching employers.”

  I punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t go getting all sentimental on me,” I said wryly.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. By the way, you realize this means professional courtesy goes right out the window. No more blocks on you, Catherine. If I decide to seduce you there will be nothing for it but for you to shag me.”

  “Right,” I laughed.

  Marius stared at me, and though his green eyes looked sad, his body practically vibrated with eagerness. He’d fulfilled his end of the bargain. Sure, he’d been a treacherous fuck there near the end and I still didn’t understand it, but Marius had done exactly what he said he would do. The satyr made good on both of our bargains. He expected payment.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The dealer and Loki stood a few feet away, and though they were involved in their own conversation, I felt horribly exposed. I took Marius by the arm and ushered him toward the back door. “Would you gentlemen excuse us for a second?”

  I turned away from their muttered responses and shoved Marius out onto the patio. Cloaked by the dark night, I felt like I could safely tell him the truth.

  “About your curse.” I took a deep breath, steeling myself for how much this next part would suck. “I can’t lift it.”

  I chanced a glance up to his face. There by the pool, light and water painted him with an odd web as he clenched his teeth. “Of course,” he said icily. “And why should you? I am, after all, a backstabbing, double-crossing son of a bitch.”

  He started for the door, but I grabbed him. “It’s not that.”

  “Then what is it?” he snapped. “Enlighten me as to why I’ve risked my neck for you so you could just break your promise.”

  I stared at his morose face and saw myself there. He craved freedom as fervently as I ever had. What sorts of plans had he made to celebrate the day the curse finally lifted? Like me, he probably had it all figured out. Guilt slithered in my stomach.

  I’m worse than Eris. At least she never promised anything. I gave my word and now I’m taking it back? Even Marius held up his end.

  I searched for the words and finally settled on, “I don’t know how to fix you.”

  “You don’t know how,” he said, disappointment darkening his voice. Marius narrowed his eyes. “And you’re not even willing to try.”

  I swallowed hard, unable to respond.

  Marius gazed deep into my eyes and I swear he saw my thoughts playing there. His mustache twitched with the shadow of a bitter smile. “Now who’s selfish?”

  With that kick in the gut, I made my decision. “Drop the glamour.”

  Marius changed, and I saw the broken satyr as I had glimpsed in the alley. Winding around him, the barbed cables of his curse punctured his skin. Hesitantly, I touched the barbs at his waist. Marius flinched and winced with pain. I saw naked fear streak across his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered.

  “Just get on with it.”

  Hardening my heart against the trembling creature there, I gripped the wire and pulled. His form lit up, and the curse showed itself in a language I could understand. Light danced along the path of the cords around his thighs and waist. Around his neck, glyphs formed in a peacock-blue glow.

  I stroked the symbols, and they flared to life. I shielded my eyes from the blinding flash, and when I opened them I found myself in an ancient temple. Marble columns lined the walls and supported the stone ceiling. Some of the pillars were carved into the shapes of lithe maidens—caryatids—and they stared from all angles, watching.

  Mist obscured the floor, and I stood in the shadow of a hulking statue. Upon a gilded throne, a well-muscled god gripped a silver thunderbolt like a spear.

  “Zeus,” I whispered.

  “My husband is not here,” called a woman’s deep voice.

  I whirled around and saw her. Tall and curvaceous, she would have been quite lovely if not for her pinched, sour expression. The curls of her dark hair tumbled down around her face, and the folds of her caftan rippled as she glided through the mists.

  “What do you seek, mortal?” Hera called.

  I bowed my head respectfully to the Queen of Olympus. “I want to free the satyr Marius of his curse.”

  Bitter hatred flashed over her face. Narrowing her dark eyes, she as
ked, “Why?”

  “I made a promise to help him.”

  “Not good enough.”

  “But it’s the truth.”

  Her lips curled in a wry smile. “If we’re speaking truth, then allow me to add my own. This creature is an abominable ass. He cares nothing for others and seeks only to enjoy himself no matter the cost. He is a liar. A selfish, foolhardy, rutting beast. Centuries may have passed, but know this: Marius earned his punishment.”

  “I don’t disagree with you.”

  “Then why would you free him of this justice, mage?”

  I took a few moments to ponder the goddess’s question. Beyond the fact I’d given my word, why did I want Marius to get his groove back? The answer, it turned out, was simple.

  “I know how he feels,” I said. “I understand him—perhaps more than I’d like. I know how much it sucks to do the same damn thing day after day—enjoying none of it—while everyone around you gets to taste life.”

  “And?”

  “And Marius saved my life.”

  “Because he thought he could gain something for himself,” she snarled.

  I nodded. “That’s true, but I am in his debt. He aided me when I needed it. Regardless of his reasons, he kept his word to me. Please,” I said bowing my head, “I need to free him so I can keep my promise, too.”

  Hera fixed me with her unyielding stare. “I will not allow you to cure him, child. The stubborn fool has not yet learned his lessons. But,” she added, “I will send you off with a bit more truth.”

  The goddess bent, brought her lips to my ear, and whispered to me the key to Marius’s freedom.

  I contemplated the full weight of what held him prisoner. My heart fell and fluttered in my stomach. I felt a surge of anger on Marius’s behalf, then pity. Sadness for my friend and this obstacle he might never overcome.

  “Oh, shit,” I said. “That’s…wow. That’s fucking cruel.”

  Proud and satisfied, Hera lifted her chin. “It gets the job done. Now you know, mage. Tell him if you will, but remember that doing so might add to his torment. I wouldn’t mind, but you seem to give a damn. The choice is yours.”