“So, I have him to thank for this little not-vacation?”
“No. He’s the executor of my inheritance. He pays my bills out ofthat.”
“It’s messed up that you’re fully grown, yet can’t access your ownmoney.”
I’d turned twenty in April, and my new Pride had thrown me a small birthday party. Cake. Music. A bunch of shifter-specific gag gifts, like the catnip mouse Kaci had given me. It was a simple event compared to the international birthday trips Titus had taken me on nearly every year since our parents had died, but they’d made me feel likefamily.
Unfortunately, twenty was still five years too young for the first lump sum from myinheritance.
“Ironically, that’s to keep me from blowing it all on something…well, exactly like this, while I’m still young and stupid,” Iexplained.
Kaci’s smile faded. She tugged me onto the couch next to her. “It’s not too late. We could still stay the night and have some fun, then go home and face the music. This could still just be avacation.”
“If the tribunal isn’t going to play by its own rules, why should I? They’re going to execute me, Kaci. I can’t goback.”
She sighed. Then she nodded. “Okay. Tell me what we’re doinghere.”
“I will. But first…” I leaned in and kissed her, and what I expected to be a short, soft reminder that she actually might like me, in spite of the lie I’d told, became a long, deep, hungry connection I could hardly stand tobreak.
When she finally pulled away, her focus was glazed with the same need building inside me. “What was thatfor?”
I shrugged and rubbed my thumb over her bottom lip, still damp and swollen from our kiss. “One last taste, in case you won’t let me do that again after you hear myplan.”
“Well let’s hear it then. And please tell me it’s a little more sophisticated than ‘win a bunch of money downstairs and flee thecountry.’”
“Okay, it’s pretty much exactly that, but it’s much more realistic than itsounds.”
“Oh good!” Her brows rose in mock excitement. “For a second, I was worried you were one of those delusional assholes who think they can step into a casino for the first time in their lives, slap down a twenty dollar bill and walk out with a million dollars. One of those delusionalunderageassholes,” she amended, crossing her arms over her chest. “Seriously, Justus, tell me there’s a planB.”
“This isn’t my first time in a casino, and I’m prepared to slap down much more than a twenty,” I assuredher.
“And would that be more magical money from your creditcard?”
“From the cash advance, yes. Titus pays it off every month, which means I have excellent credit. Earlier tonight, I hitched a ride into town with Vic, and while he was in a sandwich shop, I hit up an ATM for somecash.”
Her gaze narrowed suspiciously. “How muchcash?”
“My full limit of fifty-thousanddollars.”
Kaci’s hazel eyes widened dramatically. She shoved me in the chest. “You’re walking around with fifty-thousand dollars incash?”
“Forty-nine thousand, after the cab ride and the hotel, which I paid for up front, so I wouldn’t have to chargeit.”
“Because the police can track you through your creditcard?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Yes, gambling underage is a crime, but I’m much more worried about evading Alphas than the cops right now. Titus is authorized on my credit card, and the first thing he would have done when he found out we were missing is check the recent charges. Which is why I took out cash in eastern Texas, rather than at the airport in Houston or here. And why I’m not charging the hotel. He may guess that we’re here eventually, but he won’t know that for sure unless we give him proof that I’m not already lounging on a beach in Cancun or staying in a castle in Scotland. Either of which I could do with a passport and a pocket full ofcash.”
“So then, why aren’t you in Cancun orScotland?”
“Because that withdrawal was the only one I’m going to get. I’m at my cash limit, and even if Titus pays it off, I can’t draw again without showing him where Iam.”
“What makes you think he’d tell the council? Faythe said he’d doanythingto keep yousafe.”
“He probably would. But I’m not the only stray he has to protect, and the council is never going to recognize his territory if they think he’s aiding and abetting a criminal. I have to keep him on their side in this. By cutting him out ofit.”
“So, your plan is to go downstairs and win a fortune at a game of chance? Playing what, craps? I’m not even sure what that is.Blackjack?”
“Poker,” I told her. “It’s a game of skill, not a game ofchance.”
