Page 37 of A Half-Blood’s Escape
Gabriel just chuckled as he started the game over.
"Come now. Are we not going to share?" he asked.
Share?! I looked almost scared up at the king, who growled even deeper.
"Are you fond of your legs?" he asked.
"You shouldn't have said that," Ace mumbled, as Gabriel stood up after missing another shot, and then Ace once again destroyed him, making him curse lowly.
"I do actually like my legs," Gabriel said, before turning to us, but letting his eyes linger a little too long on me.
It made the king wrap a possessive arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Gabriel just laughed, and I was sure now that it was all just jokes, but for a moment I hadn't been. These three had a very strange connection. I wouldn't be surprised if they also shared women.
"Here."
The king handed me a drink. I couldn't say I was the biggest drinker. After my stepdad had simply found his new love in alcohol, I wasn't much for drinking, but I still took the glass, I just didn't drink anything.
"Don't let his bad jokes get to you," the king leaned closer and whispered.
He still hadn't removed his arm though, and it felt like it was harder to breathe, when he was holding me close to him like this. His hand was practically burning a hole through my clothes, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Did I suddenly like it?
"Bad jokes?!" Gabriel asked as they began another game. "All my jokes are great!"
That made me smile a little. I couldn't help it. Gabriel was just the biggest jokester.
"Perhaps, but you suck at pool," I said, not even thinking twice before letting the words leave me.
That made the king laugh, and I even saw I had amused Ace. Gabriel on the other hand acted offended, of course making it all a joke again. I couldn't help but laugh a little myself before I reminded myself, that I wasn't supposed to make friends with them. I was not supposed to grow close to them and joke around. I was supposed to get out of here and far away, running headfirst into my newfound freedom. So, why was I suddenly feeling so relaxed? Was it just because for the first time, I felt full in my stomach and didn't feel like I had to look over my shoulder?
I couldn't say I trusted these people, but it had also been made quite clear to me, that the king was not letting anyone close to me, except himself. At least for now. Once the council learned that he had found me, he would throw me away, but it still felt like for a short moment, I could just exist and not be scared.
-Dominic-
I knew Lara had to be tired, but instead of bringing her back to what would now be our bedroom, I took her here. I thought she should see we weren't the scary hybrids that people saw us as, and hopefully she would see that letting her guard down with us was okay. She didn't have to be on watch all the time. Now as my mate, not only would I protect her, but my brothers would too. They would not let anything harm her. We took care of the people we each let into our trusted circle. There was no doubt about that, and even if Gabriel liked to be the usual flirt he was, I knew he would not ever try anything. He just liked to get a reaction out of people.
"He lost another game," Lara said.
I noticed she had not touched her drink, and her hands were just tightening around the glass. She seemed to relax a little, but not enough for her to not hold so tightly onto it. We were sitting on a stool each by the bar, watching Gabriel lose yet another game. It was just stupid to play any game against Ace. He would just crush you.
"Well, he is asking for it," I said and took the glass from her hands placing it behind her.
"Asking for it?" she asked.
"Ace is unbeatable in everything," I told her.
"Is his name really Ace?"
A smile spread on my lips, as she asked me this. In truth, I wasn't sure. When I met him, many years ago, he was more like a scary rumor. People feared him for ... many reasons. Reasons I wasn't even sure what was even till today. He was just a scary person, and he barely spoke even a word back when I first met him. He only flipped a card in front of me, when I asked his name. It was the Ace of Spades. He had never actually confirmed that was his name, but it was what everyone knew him as.
"Who knows?" I said.
"So, is that a no?"
Lara couldn't just accept some things were just not to be solved, but then again, she was going to be a shrink one day. Looking deep into people and the reasons behind why they did certain things was something she wanted to make a living off, and I bet she couldn't stop trying to solve people even in her free time.
"It isn't a no," I said. "But it isn't a yes either."
"Makes so much sense," she said sarcastically.
