And just like that, there was no backing down. The stakes had been set. Amun wanted to vomit.
White and Black folded, eliminating fifty percent of the competition and leaving only Red and Green. As he’d hoped. The rest of the flop was dealt, and Red practically hummed with satisfaction.
Green threw his cards onto the floor and spit on them. He hadn’t gotten what he’d wanted.
“What do you have?” Haidee demanded of Red.
He flipped one card, then the other. Full house, Amun realized, queen over nines.
Haidee sucked in a breath. “Amun wins.” Grinning now, she tossed his cards at Red. “You lose. Both you and your friend owe him a year of service.”
Merciful gods. He’d gotten his royal flush.
All four Horsemen pushed to their feet, scowling over at him, their auras pulsing brightly. Red and Green even leapt at him. But everything—the males, the female, the smoke, the tent—disappeared in flash, before a single point of contact could be made.
The cave once again surrounded him and Haidee.
They were alone, he realized just before the haze returned. He was bombarded with relief, and that relief wiped out the adrenaline rush he’d fought so hard to maintain. He collapsed, unable to hold his own weight a second longer. He was panting harder, sweating more profusely, the pain no longer hidden by duty.
How? he asked. He was certain he’d won that final round through dishonorable means. Not that he cared. He simply needed to know in case the Horsemen returned and challenged him.
Haidee crouched at his side and placed the backpack on his stomach. “The angel said the pack would give us everything we needed to survive, so I asked for a deck of cards that would stay ordered in a way that would give you an undefeatable hand, even after I shuffled them. And now I’m asking for literal hands.” As she spoke, she stuffed his arms inside.
The movement blasted the pain to another level, and he passed out before he discovered the results.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
STRIDER POSITIONED HIMSELF on the thick branch of an oak tree, surrounded by lush foliage and darkness. The clouds were thick and gray tonight, shielding the moon and stars and scenting the air with promised rain. The perfect atmosphere for fighting. Of course, he would have said the same thing if the sun had been shining brightly.
Planning an ambush was a lot more fun than vacationing with a horny immortal of questionable morals, a depressed, drugged-out warrior looking for his lost love and a forked-tongued little Harpy who rubbed his nerves raw.
William had decided he wanted no part in the coming battle. Said he couldn’t risk injury when he had more important things to do, or some shit like that. So he’d taken off for Gilly’s family home. Paris had just screwed a random stranger, his strength returned, his body healed, and was in the process of gathering weapons for The Stupid-Ass Chase, as Strider was now calling it. But Kaia, well, she was perched in the tree across from Strider’s, waiting for the Hunters to find them.
They’d left a subtle but clear trail, acting as if they only wanted to camp and screw.
Below them was a tent, a crackling fire that cast only the barest hint of gold, hot dog weenies roasting on a portable grill—turned to its lowest setting, of course—and a lawn chair with a CPR dummy lounging on the plastic. How Kaia had produced the thing, he didn’t know and wasn’t going to ask. The stupid thing looked like him and had clearly been stabbed. Repeatedly. In the groin.
He thought she might have used the dummy for target practice, and tried not to be offended. Key word: tried. What had he ever done to piss her off? Well, besides annoy the hell out of her. But that had only happened recently, and she must have had that dummy for weeks. There were just so many slashes.
Suddenly his branch bounced, the leaves rattling together. He bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t have to look to know what had just happened. Kaia had decided to join him. She still smelled like cinnamon rolls, and his mouth still watered every time she neared him.
“You have your own tree, woman,” he pointed out. “You said you’d stay on yours, and I’d stay on mine.”
“Yeah, well, I lied.” Kaia settled next to him, completely at ease. “That happens. Get used to it. Besides, yours is prettier.”
He didn’t allow himself the luxury of looking at her. One, he’d already memorized her features. In his mind, he saw the glossy red of her hair, so much like flames. Saw those gray-gold hawk eyes framed by lashes the same shade of red as her hair. Saw that pixie nose, those siren lips. Two, she would distract him—more than she already was. And with her litany of challenges still ringing in his head, she’d made certain he couldn’t afford a distraction.
He wished his demon would get the message.
Ever since she’d opened that fire-and-brimstone mouth of hers in the car, Defeat had been supercharged. Eager, humming with nervousness, but also with great waves of anticipation. She was a worthy opponent, strong, brave and fearless. Besting her would be a thrill unlike any other, and a sexual high the likes of which he’d never experienced. As many battles as he’d fought over the centuries, he knew it, felt it. Wanted it.
And yeah, some of Strider’s anger with Kaia had drained as they’d staged the campsite. She was just so unabashedly female, so unrepentantly aggressive, and he admired those qualities. But that didn’t mean he liked her liked her.
The burn of her gaze brought him back to the present. She was studying him, taking his measure.
“Why are you here?” he asked, checking the site on the rifle mounted beside him. “Why did you ask Lucien to find me? The truth this time.”
She sighed, her breath warm as it drifted over his shoulder. “Maybe I wanted to be with Paris.”
“Nope. Try again. You’ve slept with Paris, and you know he can’t have you again.” Irritation had crept into his voice, and he didn’t know why. What did he care if this gorgeous Harpy had welcomed his friend into her bed? She wasn’t his, and he felt no sense of possession toward her.
“Maybe I wanted to make William jealous.”
“Please,” Strider said, his irritation rising for whatever reason. “Lucien said you’d specifically asked for me, and you don’t need me to make William jealous. He’d offer himself up for your pleasure, even if you just wanted to carve the Chinese symbol for dumbass in his chest.”
She paused, tensed. Then she grumbled, “Fine. I admit it. I wanted to be with you.”
Harpies were notorious liars, as she’d admitted, but in this instance, he suspected she was finally telling the truth. Not because he was hot and most females wanted him. Well, yeah, he was hot and most females wanted him. But there had to be another reason.
“Why?” he insisted. “And don’t give me that shit about being bored, because I also want to know why you tracked my Hunters.”
“Your Hunters?” She snorted, every inch the warrior. “When you weren’t tracking them yourself?”
“Kaia. Please.”
She sighed again, the second caress of her breath making his muscles go rigid. “Lookit. You don’t know this, but I was in the clouds with Bianka when you brought that female Hunter to the fortress. You…desired her and hated yourself for it.”
He stiffened. If there was one topic guaranteed to blacken his mood, it was Haidee. “How do you know that?”
“Duh. While I’m in the clouds, I can watch anyone I want.”
And she’d wanted to watch him? “Why me?” he demanded again.
Another pause, this one brittle with increased tension. “I…like you,” she eventually admitted.
The words had him stiffening all over again. There was so much longing in her tone, he wanted to cover his ears. “As a friend, right?” He did not need a Harpy crushing on him. Especially now. Harpies were more determined, more stubborn than a pack of rabid pit bulls.