“I was going to sit down. I meant no offense.” She tried to walk away but the fae wouldn’t let go of her arm. His grip started to hurt.
“You think playing innocent is going to work on me? You really have the audacity to give me that shameless smile as if you aren’t completely revolting,” he sneered, his voice raised. They were starting to attract attention.
Lora was panicking now. Did he suspect she was human? The fear was building up inside of her, burning out every other emotion. She moved her free hand to her pocket, flipping through scenarios of how she could best use her pocket knife to escape this situation.
“You don’t have anything to say, bitch?” the fae demanded, drawing her closer. She could feel his breath on her face. It smelled like alcohol.
“What’s going on here?” Eyden asked as he showed up next to them. Lora gave him a confused, probably crazed look. She really had no idea what that fae’s problem was. If he’d thought she was human, he would have already killed her, wouldn’t he?
“This bitch was about to leave me in bad luck. Can you believe it? I think I’ll have to give her a good beating to teach her some respect.” His eyes glinted with sick joy. They now had an audience, but no one moved to intervene.
“I don’t think that’s necessary. You see, my friend here, she’s not from Turosian. She’s not used to our traditions. I’m sure she meant no offense, right?” Eyden shifted his attention to Lora.
“Of course not,” she agreed swiftly. This man was exactly how she’d pictured fae. Violent. Repulsive. No empathy or care for others.
The fae didn’t look satisfied. “It doesn’t change what she did. She should learn her lesson.” He started to pull her away. Her caftee was still in her hand and she almost spilled it. “You’ll get her back later. Probably.”
Eyden instantly stepped in front of him. “I’m afraid I can’t let you take her.”
A twisted grin took over the fae’s face and a group of four fae got up from a table near them. They stared at Eyden, daring him to fight. “You think you can stop us? If I say I want to punish her, then I very well will do just that, boy,” the fae said.
Lora regarded the five fae and decided right then that this was it. She didn’t want to know what he had in mind for her. Judging from the disgusting joy written on his face, if it didn’t lead to her death, she would probably wish it had.
She could tell Eyden was trying to find a way out of this. His eyes settled on the table their opponents had previously occupied. Poker chips were swept to one side.
Eyden sought out the eyes of the fae who was still gripping her arm, probably bruising it. “You seem to be a man of reason. How about we play for her? If I win, you let us both leave with no issue. If you win, I won’t give you any trouble. And trust me, even if I can’t stop you, I’d get in a good fight and take out at least half of you.”
The group of fae laughed and suddenly a knife found its way into the arm of Lora’s captor. Cursing, he dropped his arm.
Eyden had taken a few steps back, another small knife in his hand, the dark blade gleaming red as it caught the light. “There’s more where that came from,” he said, his voice oozing with self-confidence.
The fae removed the knife from his flesh. Blood dripped on the floor as he moved to their table, putting the blood-streaked blade on the surface. “Let’s see what you got, then.” He seemed convinced he wouldn’t lose. The fae pushed a tangled strand of light blonde hair from his face before taking a seat. “Lucky for you, boy, I’m always up for an interesting game. The higher the stakes, the better.”
This was a bad idea, she thought. Gambling for her life? Who would come up with such a risky solution? He should have thrown his knives and then they could have made a run for it. He’d just given away his element of surprise.
Eyden sat down opposite the fae. The others kept close to Lora, making sure she wouldn’t run. Lora kept her caftee in her hand, thinking now that no one was holding her, she could always throw it in someone’s face.
Their game of heads-up lasted about fifteen minutes. Fifteen excruciating minutes. Lora knew enough of the game to realise it was a close call. Eyden frowned in concentration, a worried look on his face. The other fae grinned as he put his cards on the table, satisfied by his impending win.
But then Eyden revealed his final cards and an arrogant smile replaced his concerned expression. His opponent looked pissed, as if he was about to attack Eyden, but the former said, “A deal is a deal.”
The angry fae signalled the others and they moved away from Lora. “I’ll respect our deal.” He gave Lora a disgusted look. “But I’m a firm believer that you always meet twice in life. I’ll have my justice. You better watch your back.”
The threat made her shiver. She had to remind herself that she would be gone from this world soon enough and he could never reach her on Earth.
“Begone in fortune,” Eyden said in a mocking manner. He took her hand, surprising her. Lora put her cup on the nearest surface and they left the diner as fast as they could.
Once they were out of sight, Lora dropped his hand and asked the question that had been nagging at her since all of this started, “Why the hell was he so offended?”
Eyden kept close to her side and watched her from the corner of his eye. “You didn’t clink glasses with him. If you order the same drink at the same time and you don’t do that, you’re wishing the other person bad luck. Some fae find it extremely disrespectful, as you’ve just experienced.”
“You’re telling me he was about to fight us because I unknowingly wished him bad luck? Seriously?” Lora asked, outraged disbelief marking her words. She knew the Turosian kingdom was supposedly created by the Goddess of Fortune, Falea, but she had never heard of this tradition.
“We put a lot of faith in the concept of luck. It might be a silly superstition to you but for some fae, it’s their truth.”
It seemed like a dangerous truth to Lora, taking it so literally that they would fight over it. Or maybe it had been an excuse for the fae to play out his twisted fantasies. It was likely a combination of both. “Do you believe it?” she asked.
“I like to follow along with most superstitions. You never know if there’s something to it.” Eyden glanced at her and he must have seen the judgment in her eyes. “But I would never beat someone over it. I’m not a complete ass.”
