CHAPTER FIVE-THE POKER GAME

The smoke-filled parlor was sticky with the smell of Haldir’s cigar and more than a few beer bottles littering the card table. Staring down the greatest poker player he ever met, he threw in his stack of money. “So, tell me about Mr. Lover Boy, Tess. He seemed like a sweet kid. What’s his name?”

While she examined her hand of cards, she glanced up over them to the blue-eyed immortal. “Well, if you must know, you damn busy body, it’s Rafik Idrissi.”

“Idrissi? You got to be shitting me.” While Jasper drew two more and gave them to her, Haldir glared at him. “How in the fuck did this come about?”

His disapproving eyes narrowed and warned Haldir to hold his tongue. “Those days are behind us. All those ancient rivalries need to end. It’s in all our best interest to negotiate this thing in good faith.”

Her suspicious eyes glanced back and forth between the two of them as Teddy leaned over the table and grabbed a handful of pretzels. “What in the hell are you two old ladies going on about? Is there something you need to tell me about him?”

Jasper pushed his lips together and hoped to extinguish any fiery indignation she had brewing as he shook his head. “For a long time, there was some bad blood between our families, but that’s all over now. Omar and I want to bury the hatchet and move on.”

She glared at her father as the light snapped on in her head and revealed the truth. “Oh, so that’s what last night was all about? Am I some kind of goddamn bargaining chip in your negotiation? Well, you can forget that shit. You assholes can smoke your peace pipe and piss off instead.”

The throaty chuckle of the Viking bounced around the room as he raised his bottle to her. “That’s my girl. You give him hell.”

A dirty look shot at Haldir before Jasper pressed himself into his seatback and tried to stop the little green-eyed freight train before she flew off the rails. “That’s not at all what’s happening. Although, the two of you hitting it off the way you did can’t hurt the process.”

Teddy elbowed her arm and pointed his finger at her. “You got to be smarter than that. That boy played you like a damn fiddle. You can’t trust anyone but the people under this roof; remember that.”

The first to take up for her in almost every situation, Haldir stretched out his back and took a sip from his beer bottle. “Leave her alone. She wouldn’t be the first person who lost their good sense when they got their bell rung by a toe-curling kiss.”

After he cringed at the thought of it, Jasper turned to her and let her in on the plan. “We’re having dinner with them tomorrow, Sugar. They’d like to work out the particulars of your courtship.”

The throaty cackle shot from her as she dropped her head back. “After all that mess you just said, you really think I have any interest at all in seeing him again? Go find yourself another chess piece, Daddy; I’m done with this game.”

He drummed his fingers against the table as he trilled his lips in frustration. “Sugar, if he’s your mate, this might be a blessing in disguise. The thing that brings our world’s back together and ends about a thousand years of bloodshed.”

Her eyes drew down into a look that told him the deal was off. “Don’t give me that guilt trip shit. I call, by the way.”

A freckled hand slammed on the table, and Haldir pointed his finger at the little shark. “No fucking way, Tess. You better show me those goddamn cards; no way you have that good a hand again.”

The cards fanned out before her, and she laughed deviously. “You’re all pathetic, and you’re lucky I play poker with you.”

As she collected the stacks of money, she continued picking at Haldir. “Maybe there’s some nursery school somewhere with a game more your speed like hopscotch or tic-tac-toe.”

Teddy sighed and threw his cards in the center. “Don’t feel bad; Tess cheats her ass off. We’re the only ones dumb enough to keep playing her; even the humans in this city won’t come to her table.”

While she fanned herself with her winnings, she shrugged off his confession. “That’s what all losers say. I never cheat; hustling is an honest trade. If the mark’s too stupid to know I manipulated them like you three geniuses just were, that’s not my fault.”

Jasper pulled the deck back to him and nodded towards the door. “Alright, you two, time to say goodnight.”

Haldir fist-bumped Teddy then wrapped his arms around Tessa and kissed her cheek. “See you soon, Tess.”

With a crooked finger, she stabbed at his chest. “Where are you taking off to? You just got here. You promised to take me out somewhere nice for my birthday; I bought a new outfit and everything.”

Knowing she was ticklish, he returned her finger poke into her belly, and when she flinched away, he got her again in her side. “I have to go see Father Michael. I’ll be back tomorrow evening; you won’t even miss me. You can tell me all about your dinner with Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome when I come back.”

Just mentioning the Seraph brought a smile to her face, and Tessa balled her fists in excitement. “New Orleans? Sweet! I can’t wait until I’m older so I can go party with you. You think Michael will let me help him catch a demon someday?”

He crossed his arms and nodded as he pulled down his lips. “Yes, I’m sure he would like to make you his little apprentice.”

Like the little pugilist she was born to be, she swung her fist in the air. “Those demons got nothing on me; I’ll knock their asses clean out. Michael can go on and retire back to that goddamn cloud he jumped off of.”

An amused smile came to Haldir’s face as he witnessed his little protégé talk smack as he taught her. “Well, I’ll let him know to expect you.”

His penance for daring to leave her, Tessa crossed her arms and tapped her finger against her lips before she pointed it at him. “Bring me back something shiny and not some of those titty beads from Bourbon Street. I’m thinking earrings, 24-carat gold.”

He shooed her away with his hand. “Yeah. I’ll bring back a crucifix and some Holy water and exorcise that foul-mouthed, gold-digging demon from you. Now go to bed.”

As she passed by, she leaned down and kissed her father’s cheek. “I love you, Daddy.”

He spoke back over his shoulder as she walked away. “I love you too. Goodnight, baby. Don’t you two wake your Momma.”

Once the children left the room, Jasper closed the door and sat back down at the table. While he drummed his fingers on the green top as he thought, his eyes finally snapped up at Haldir. “We need to talk about a couple of things.”

Haldir drank the last of his beer and lifted his chin at him. “Yeah, it sounds like it.”

His eyes snapped up to the painting on his parlor wall, and Jasper nodded as he and his conscience agreed.

The old chair groaned out in protest as he pushed it back from the table and walked to the portrait of his wife. He gave it a smile before he pulled it from the wall and set it on the floor.

When he spun the combination, the lock clicked open, and he removed several leather-bound cases.

He set them in front of Haldir and sat back down, then tapped his fingers on them. “Something just doesn’t feel right. These are our will, stocks, and properties; I hoped that you’d take them for safekeeping. I also have jewelry and money hidden with Michael.”

After he took a sip of his beer, he licked his lips and sighed as the icy hand of Fate nudged him to continue. “If anything happens to Isabelle and me, we want you to be the kids’ guardian.”

Haldir pulled his hand down his beard as the uneasy tingle moved down his arms. He’d known them for centuries, and it wasn’t like them to be so nervous. “Of course, I will. If it comes to it, we’ll meet you in the Realm.”

Jasper curled his lips under as he shook his head. “No. I don’t want you to do that, not if you can help it. If that boy is her mate, we can’t do that to her. It wouldn’t be right.”

While he huffed out through his nose, Haldir pushed himself back in his chair. “And if they do come at you? What happens next?”

He glanced around the room as he considered it before turning back to Haldir. “We kill everyone. If we’re going to war anyway, we take out all our enemies, so when Tessa takes over, it’s with a clean slate. I already alerted Billy that if anything happens to me, he’ll be stepping in until she’s ready.”

Tapping his cigarette against the table, he shook his head and smirked. “And Lord help whoever the fuck stands in her way. That’s one shit list I wouldn’t care to be on.”

“You’re not lying.” Haldir took the cases in his hand and knocked his fist against the table. “Alright, I’m heading off to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

When Haldir walked out the door, Jasper slumped down in his chair and wiped his hand across his mouth when suddenly, from behind him, a pair of soft hands pushed their way down his chest. “Were you coming to bed anytime soon?”

He took her hand, brought Isabelle around him, and sat her on his lap. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he put his hand on her round belly. “How’s that boy of mine?”

Her long black hair fell around his chest as she peeked down at herself. “He’s been very active tonight. You’re usually in bed snoring him to sleep by now.”

The yellow light of the den and the hormones surging through her pregnant body made her glow like a copper goddess, and even after all the years they were married, she still took his breath away. “Sorry about that. I had some things I wanted to talk to Haldir about before he goes to see Michael tomorrow.”

Isabelle rubbed her fingers back and forth on his neck as a heaviness seeped into her chest. “Did you ask him about the children?”

A soft shot of air huffed through his nose as a quick grin rose on his lips. “I didn’t even need to. He loves those two like his own.”

The relief in her sigh washed over Jasper as she caressed his jawline with her fingertips.

There weren’t many things that sent a wave of panic through a mother’s heart like the thought of leaving her children behind to fend for themselves. “If the worst comes to pass, I’ll meet you in the Southlands. Don’t make me walk all the way North alone.”

The coarse grooves of his fingertips sent a shudder through her shoulders as he slipped them under the straps and slid them down. Her eyes traveled up to the ceiling then wove together as his lips kissed down her collarbone and his throaty voice vibrated her chest. “It’s a date, baby.”