The dealer collects the cards and sends them through the shuffler.
“They need to leave,” Kingston tells the dealer as he points to me, Ash, and Kelsier. “We can’t have them giving her signals.”
I let out an indignant noise. “I would never-”
“Even unconscious ones,” Kingston cuts in.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the dealer says. “He’s right. If you’re not playing, you need to go back out into the ballroom.”
I look desperately at Celena.
“Go,” she says. “I’ll be fine. This won’t take long.”
I don’t move, but Ash slips an arm around my waist to steer me away.
“Come on,” he says softly. “There’s nothing you can do.”
Ash and Kelsier escort me back into the ballroom, and I head straight to our table to chug the remaining wine in my glass. Ash slips his arms around me and pulls me close when I set the glass back down.
“You okay?” he asks.
I nod. “If you want to go, I can catch an Uber home,” I tell him. “I just don’t want to leave until I’m sure Celena won’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you do,” he says. “Why don’t we dance?” He grins. “We can recreate that night at the club.”
I smile despite myself. “That night got us in trouble, if you recall.”
He shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know. Things didn’t work out too bad.” He leans down and kisses me lightly on the lips. “Come on. Let’s dance. You need to take your mind off the poker game, or it’ll drive you crazy.”
“I’m going to go mingle some more,” Kelsier says. “You two are so sweet it’s making my teeth hurt.”
Kelsier turns and heads off, and Ash takes my hand to pull me onto the dance floor. Reluctantly, I let him lead me out, but it takes me a while to get into it. Ash dances around unapologetically, twirling me and being a goofball until I finally relent and start dancing with him in earnest.
I keep an eye on the poker room, but it’s a long time before I finally see Celena stalk out. Nearly an hour according to the clock on the wall.
I stop mid-dance and head straight for her, Ash right behind me.
“Celena, are you okay?” I ask, throwing myself in front of her. Ash is there a second later.
Celena pulls up short, and she looks furious. Not good.
Instead of answering me, she looks at Ash. “Your goalie is a giant fucking asshole,” she tells him, just short of shouting.
Ash chuckles. “Yeah, we’re aware.”
“Celena, do you-,” I start to ask, but she cuts me off.
“Don’t worry,” she says, “I didn’t overdo it. Not too much, anyway. I’m fine. I’m just pissed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I look at her for a long moment, trying to decide if she’s too angry todrive, but her outburst at Ash seems to have vented some of her rage.
I nod, and we hug before Celena stalks off toward the exit.
“Ready to go?” Ash asks me.
“More than ready,” I say.
He slips his fingers through mine, and we head toward the door.
