always softened for him, at least in private. This wasn’t private, far from it, and maybe she was playing the game. Or maybe she’d lured him here for another reason, because of what he’d done to her, the way he’d betrayed her because he’d been half-mad with jealousy, not knowing that all she’d done had been to save him from the bond. Josie wouldn’t take that lightly, no rack took betrayal any way but deadly serious. Those eyes were hard as steel, unforgiving as a sword in the gut. The cold click of a gun being cocked and the glimpse of it in her hand under the table made him think swiftly, and hope. She’d had the chance to kill him in Bilsen and hadn’t.
The game, stay with the game.
“I’ve got a spare copper or two, Josie. How about it? You do the kinky stuff, right?”
The grin changed, less hard, more real, and there was sudden warmth in her eyes again, a playfulness in her voice that maybe only he could hear. “See, for any of these other fine gentlemen, I’d consider it. Rob them after, naturally. But for you, Van? There isn’t enough money in the world. Now, can you give me a reason not to make good use of this gun?”
“The one woman who won’t have Van Gast at any price, eh?” one of the racks behind them said. “It’s a sore thing, when a man such as you can’t get you any tail, Van.”
A low chorus of snickers from the other racks set Van Gast’s course before the gale. He swung the chair on its front legs, ducked away from the gun and tipped Josie into his lap. The chair’s legs thunked back to the boards, and Van Gast grabbed for the hand that held the gun. His other arm snaked round her waist and held her tight against him. Kyr’s mercy, she felt good there. “That a good enough reason?”
“Not nearly good enough.” Her elbow arrowed straight for his nose, and when he twisted out of the way, they both ended up dumped on the floor among the manky straw and half-eaten food. She was on her feet before him, sword out and that damn grin on her face, taunting him with it. Rob, kill or delight? Odds were one in three.
Van Gast didn’t draw his own sword but righted his chair and sat again. She was playing, he was sure of it now, and he had to stop the stupid grin that wanted to take over his whole face. If the game was over, he’d be dead already. So, time to play along. “You stole my ship.”
“Borrowed, Van. Borrowed. I don’t like it as much as mine though. Maybe I’ll blow it up. That’d be fair, considering what you did to my ship, eh? Of course, I’ll play nice and I’ll make sure you’re not on it. More than you planned for me.”
The racks around them settled down, though Van Gast noted more than one darting out the door. He didn’t have long before one of them would turn him in for the money. Ten thousand gold sharks was a lot to resist.
Skrymir looked Van Gast up and down with a smug look. “Seems like I won that bet, Josie. Killing him won’t mean you don’t have to pay up.”
“Bet?” Van Gast didn’t like the sound of that, couldn’t get used to the fact it wasn’t just the two of them in this game now, that others knew. “What bet?”
Josie slid the gun and sword away and handed over three silver seals to Skrymir. “I said you wouldn’t be stupid enough to come here, knowing the Yelen are bound to have a price on your head. Worse, now the Remorian mages are in with them and you with a Remorian crew. And of course, me here wanting to kill you so badly. Skrymir said you were that stupid. Looks like he was right.”
Van Gast glared at Skrymir but only got a sheepish grin in return. “Now hold on a—”
“Hey, Josie!” A drunken rack in the corner, looking annoyed because the promised fight hadn’t kicked off. “Ain’t you going to kill him? I bet good money on you. A whole gold shark that you kill him in under a ten count.”
“Not today. I’ve got his ship, I can afford to be generous.” Josie sauntered over with the grace of a dancer. “Today he gets a reprieve, and this.”