She peeked over at him, allowing a briefglimpse of worry to appear on her face. He regarded her with thesame impenetrable expression he’d had the entire game.
She played her two weakest cards beforepicking up two more from the deck to replace them. He counteredwith stronger cards, winning the hand. The next several hands weremore of the same.
Fallon regarded the bent head before him.He’d thought the boy would be more of a challenge. Granted, it wasthe first time he’d played Bones and Cards.
The game was a good chance to see how anotherperson’s mind worked. Were they an aggressive player? Rash orcautious? Fallon hoped to learn something of this unknown entitywith the game. So far, all he’d learned was that the boy couldn’tbluff worth a damn. Every expression was written on his face,letting Fallon know as clear as day what was in his hand.
His interest in the game and the boy wanedwith every turn.
Not paying particular attention, he laid downa scout and advisor. The boy’s face reflected pleased surprise, andhe reached to clear the cards.
Surprised he’d lost that one, Fallon leanedforward. Oh well, guess he’d let his mind wander. They reached theend of their personal decks and shuffled, drawing seven more cardsinto their hand.
Fallon took the next hand but lost the twoafter that. Each time the boy seemed pleasantly surprised, andFallon chalked it up to beginner’s luck.
When he lost his warlord on what should havebeen a sure win, he started paying more attention. He was surprisedto see the boy’s chips had grown to a respectable size. His pilewas nowhere near empty but it was much lower than it should havebeen.
“He’s giving you a time of it,” Caden said ashe joined them. He nodded respectfully at Fallon.
Fallon focused on the game, watching as theboy threw two incredibly weak cards out in contrast to the lastturn where he’d played brilliantly. Fallon countered so that hejust barely won. There were three more hands in this round.
Yes, he had to agree. The boy, Shane, wasdoing surprisingly well. The corners of his lips twitched. Perhapsthe boy had something to him after all.
Shea let out a breath. Seemed like he wasfinally onto her game. Luring him into a false sense of securityhad been easy. Keeping him there, a little less so. She’d managedto prevent him from seeing her strategy until now. She’d hoped herbluff would last through this hand to the next, but there wasnothing for it now.
The next three hands would decide thegame.
She smiled inwardly when the dice came up afive and placed a red stone in the middle for her bet. He matchedher, and the hand commenced with him taking the first two tricksand her the last three to win the hand and the pot.
Because she’d spent most of the beginning ofthe game letting him take card after card, she had only the cardsshe wanted in her hand. Most of them weren’t considered high cards,but when paired with another, their strength increasedexponentially.
As long as he didn’t roll a two, three orsix, she was good to go.
“I’ll be…” he said as she took the nextround.
Shea smiled inwardly. She’d settled on aneutral expression when he figured out what she was doing. Now itwas time to let everything play out and see if she was right.
They were on the last hand, and Shea couldpractically taste the victory.
Fallon rolled a six. Shea nearly snarled.
“That wins me the game,” he said, laying hiscards out.
Of all the rotten luck. Shea tossed her cardsinto the gaming center and sat back. So close.
Ah well, at least they hadn’t been playingfor real.
“Good game,” she told him politely. “Thankyou for teaching me.”
“Would you like to play again?” he asked.
She snorted. Not bloody likely.
If he’d been playing like he had in the lastfew hands for the entire game, it would have had a much differentoutcome. It was only because he underestimated her and took it easyin the beginning, that she’d done as well as she had.
“Thank you, but no. I’m sure my squad leaderhas things he needs me to do.”
She waited for his dismissal before she stoodand left. It had been a surprisingly fun interlude, something shenever would have thought possible.
