Bluffing the Devil Read online

  "What sort of offense would someone have to commit to have to suffer through you singing something? That's not even right to threaten that, dang!" Victoria's voice was nearly cracking with hysterics. "We could create signs and put them up as warnings to people who enjoy keeping their food down."

  I plastered a fake-hurtful face on and pretended to cry, "But… but… Victoria! I just wanted to be a superstar like all the rest of the pop singers. If they can do it, surely I can!"

  "You might be right about that, but let's just not chance it, okay honey?"

  "Okay fine, I’ll just stick with what I know!"

  "Being sexy?" Devin questioned as he poked his head out of the room wearing only a towel around his waist. The steam wafted out of the roof around him, creating a very sexy image that I was sure wasn't wasted on Victoria as well.

  "No, poker and violence," Victoria answered for me.

  "Violence? She's as timid as a field mouse," Devin said with a sweet grin.

  "Ha! She hasn't needed to spar with you or otherwise attempt to dismember you yet. You're lucky!" Victoria said as she walked toward the kitchenette. "You guys need anything?"

  "No, I am saving myself for dinner. I'm starting to hit starvation mode though, where is everyone?" I could hear that I was about to become whiny when the suite door opened and Rey and Rhea barreled through laughing, and generally being very buddy-buddy together.

  "Well, aren't you two the friendly bunch?" I asked with a wink to Rey. "Must be one of the 1%, hmm?"

  "Seems so," he agreed and handed me a huge bag of things. "There are underclothes, pants, shirts, boots, shoes, and a few other things in there as selections. While we are out, we can hit some stores and things to get him some more stuff. I wasn't sure of his style, so I just winged it." He looked over at Devin with a head nod, "Hope you don't mind, bro."

  "No dude, thanks. Whatever you got will work. Just need something to cover up my sexiness before Alexia plays slice-and-dice with some strangers face. I hear she's prone to violence."

  "You have no idea!" Rey agreed and I grabbed the remote off the table and tossed it at him. "See? Violence. I did a nice thing and still she tries to hurt me with things!"

  "It was that or watch the rest of that horrible football game! What sort of person wants to watch a San Francisco and Seattle game anyway?" I said, placing my hands on my hips and quirking my eyebrow in a blatant act of team-bashing hatefulness.

  "Um, sinfully amazing people do. That's one of the best rivalries ever. What is wrong with you? Are you about get girly on me? Stop it. Stop it right now!" Rhea shook her finger at me to scold my awful taste in football teams.

  "Bro, you're going to have to work on your girl. I don't know if I can maintain a friendship with someone that likes some team named after their town milling industry whose uniforms make them look like deficient bumblebees, seriously." Rey apparently had been paying way too close attention to conversations and had enough ammo to harass me back, even about what sports I watched. Just like any other typical male. Demon or not, that guy was just like everyone else. Annoying and in need of a beating.

  "It's ok, dude. I feel your pain. Imagine I am going to have to be the one that watches that lame team now! Do you know how terrible their quarterback is? Maybe they would let me play for them. I can't possibly be any worse!"

  "Okay, enough of the rising bromance! Go get dressed so we can eat!" I shouted as I pushed Devin to the other room with his goodie bag in hand. "We will see if we can find Carly on the way out. Was she at least dressed and ready when she left?" I asked Victoria.

  "Yeah, she had on a cute little dress and heels. She was sharp, you know how she is. She put a lot of effort into that outfit tonight, I'm sure she's not wasting it. We had plans together, but you know how she is, babe, flighty, random, unavailable. Don't hold your breath for her to be there. She will show up when she's good and ready," Rhea stated matter-of-factly.

  "Okay, good and yeah, I know. Her random side trips often make her late for things, but we always entertain ourselves, no biggie." If I was truthful, her showing up late all the time and not really caring about our plans upset me and hurt my feelings often, but it wasn't worth fighting about or pointing out to her. The three of us always rocked out our night no matter what.

  "Give me a few also, while Devin is getting ready and I will change, too," Rhea added as she dashed off to her room to change.

  Victoria and I looked at each other with wide eyes and I mouthed, "What the??" to Victoria. She returned the sentiment. Rhea was not a girly girl either. None of us, besides Carly, were. For any of us to get dressed up for a night out was rare. For all of us to do it, something was definitely different. It felt nice to want to get dressed up, and be together and have a good time without stressing about the game or anything else.

  "What time does our tournament start tonight?" Rey asked, as if in my thoughts.

  "It started at 9pm. We have tons of time," I assured.

  "Yeah, I don’t even want to go, but I will since I made final table and all. Plus, it will be great to kick your ass now. I always enjoy kicking your ass." His grin didn't even annoy me for once.

  "You say always like you have done it every time. I've handed your ass to you many times, don't front!" I argued back playfully.

  "Yeah, whatever. Women can't play poker," he said just to get a rise out of me.

  "I'm not a woman, I'm a ninja!" I struck a dangerous looking pose and everyone joined in a round of laughter at my expense. "Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, jerks!"

  We all continued to giggle and poke fun at each other until Rey came out of the room. His hair was still damp and hung slightly over one eye, making him appear shy. The shirt Rey had brought him was the exact shade of blue of Devin's eyes and made him look incredibly sexy. The pants and shoes were clearly choices directly from Rey's Italian fashion sense. Nearly everything Rey ever wore was high-end fashion, expensive, and Italian made.

  "You tried to make Devin be one of your sidekicks, also?" I teased.

  "No, woman. I gave that man a bag full of awesome and hoped he would put it together properly. He gets an A for this class. Next class will be in how to make women weak in the knees," he goaded me.

  "Maybe you should let him teach you that one?" I poked back.

  "You two are like brother and sister, I swear," I heard Rhea complain from the other side of the room.

  We all turned to see her walking toward us in a pastel babydoll dress with the cutest wedges I have ever seen. Her hair was pulled up in a twist and secured with a simple clip. The blue streak in her hair (this week) was blended in, but also matched the blues in the dress. She looked demure and sweet. I had never seen her look like either of those things.

  "Wow, Rhea. You look incredible!"

  "Geez, don't sound so shocked. It's not like I don't own clothes, I just never have a reason to wear them anywhere," she added and glanced toward Rey. It looked like she was seeking his approval. Another thing I had never seen her do before.

  If she wanted his approval, she didn't need to wait a second more. "Wow, sweetie. You look amazing. Care to join a demon for a bite to eat? I promise it won't be you that is dinner, this time," he said with a slight grin as he offered her his arm.

  To my shock, she accepted his arm!

  "Thanks. Okay let's go before everyone has a fit or dies or something," she said rushing us out the door.

  "Do I need to make a formal invitation, love?" Devin asked me moments later.

  "No, of course not, let's go get some grub!" I said giggling.

  "That's my girl," he said happily as he grabbed my hand, laced our fingers together, and walked toward the elevator.

  "Our mission is to hunt down Carly so she doesn't miss out on the food. You know she will cuss us if we leave her out when there is food involved," I said with a giggle. The round of agreement behind me was enough to ensure me that everyone was on board.

  Chapter 15

  We looked at all of the u
sual places for Carly, but couldn't find her.

  "Well, we tried, babe. Don't feel bad. Maybe she got wrapped up in something. She knows where we are going since she picked it, so maybe she's going to show up there?" Rhea added.

  "Yeah, you're right. Or maybe she thought she missed us and she's there waiting for us now?"

  "True, let's just head over, get seated, and then see what happens. Plus, she's a big girl, if she shows up, great. If not, she was busy. No big deal, let's just have some fun and enjoy some great food with our friends," Victoria added.

  "You guys know me, I always just worry too much, that's all."

  "Of course you do. You're the mother hen," Victoria soothed. "Well, after me. I actually only really mother you though, huh? Everyone else can kiss it." Her giggle carried through the entire group and she put her arm around my waist as we walked.

  The restaurant was only three blocks away so we decided to just walk and enjoy the late afternoon weather. Everyone knew of my love of the beach and nearly everywhere in walking distance of our hotel had a lovely view of the ocean. It made me smile that my friends did things purposefully to make me smile.

  We reached our destination much quicker than I wanted us to. My nature was to be outside, in the weather, enjoying life and the sun. Being inside, always made me feel cooped up usually. Tonight, I wasn't feeling so claustrophobic for once. Perhaps it was because Devin's hand was in mine, and had been since we walked away from the hotel suite. I wasn't used to being in constant contact with someone, but it truly felt amazing.

  The place was on the higher end and we were asked if we had a reservation. Rey told them that we did have a reservation and he gave a name I'd never heard before, and they escorted us to our table.

  "What did you say to that guy?" I asked, so curious about the name.

  "I used a trigger word. She planted them all over the place in people so that she could command them to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. I remember that guy and the word she used, so I said that was my name and he immediately did as I asked him to." His explanation sounded so simple, but made my mind go a million miles an hour.

  "She does that a lot then? Is there a word for you that would suddenly make you in her control?" I asked, truly curious.

  "I honestly don't know that. Knowing it wouldn't help me a bit though. She is manipulative, as you know. She could just drop that one word and be in control in an instant. I hope she doesn’t have one, but I wouldn't put it past her."

  "I bet that's how some of the strangest shit in the world happens, Lexi. You know, like when you hear about someone, who does something totally out of the ordinary, and just goes ape shit on someone. That's her with her freaking trigger word inciting some bull!" Victoria was about to fume with anger.

  "You're probably right, but she's not here right now and the only person that knows about the trigger words is sitting here with us and on our side, so I think we are in good hands for now." The finality of my statement let everyone at the table know I wasn't interested in discussing the Devil or her crap right now. I wanted to enjoy a good meal and relax before the game.

  We enjoyed a delicious meal together full of laughs and discussions galore. We learned more about each other and truly just were in the moment. It was a great time.

  As we were leaving, Carly walked up looking disoriented and unlike herself.

  "Oh, there you are! Late to the party," I said giving her a quick hug. "Are you okay? What have you been up to, lady? We missed you."

  "Hey. Nothing." Yeah, she was definitely not herself.

  "Do you need to sit down?" I asked as I had already started to direct her to a bench nearby.

  "No. I just need…" her voice trailed off, her eyes rolled back, and she passed out.

  Rey caught her before she hit the ground. "What the hell was that?"

  "I honestly don't know. Does she have a fever?"

  "No. She seems almost cold though. Maybe she just caught a chill from the air? It feels a little cool tonight, and almost like it wants to rain. Why was she outside?" Victoria went into mother mode so easily.

  "Let's get her back to the hotel and get her warmed up. I'm sure she had a good reason for being out like that. She can tell us all about it later."

  Rey pulled her to his chest and started toward the hotel with us all in tow. We reached the hotel quickly. In the lobby, we got a few strange looks.

  One of the attendants said, "Every time I see that guy walk through here, he's carrying some chick."

  The other guy with him says, "Well, at least he's enjoying his vacation. Maybe if we didn't live here, that would happen to us, too."

  "I doubt it dude, have you seen us? We need to hit the gym. That guy is massive," the first guy added.

  I couldn't help but chuckle at them. Poor Rey, he was getting quite a reputation for being the knight in shining armor, or looked like the gigolo I have first accused him of being.

  We quickly made our way up to the room and got Carly into bed. I didn't take off her cute outfit, just her shoes. Then I put her blankets over her and sat on the edge of the bed watching her for a bit. Her breathing seemed normal and her skin was warming up a bit. I was just going to pray for the best for her.

  I stepped out of her room and Devin immediately pulled me to him for a warm hug.

  "I hope your friend will be ok, love."

  "Thank you, baby, you’re so sweet. I'm sure she's fine, it was just weird, that's all. I have this tendency for things to fall apart when I am near them. Accidents happen, people get hurt. I never want that to flow over onto my friends, but I really do draw bad luck to me."

  "That’s nonsense, love. You are a good woman that just runs across bad things. Bad stuff happens to everyone all the time. You just notice because it matters to you and you want better things, and life for those you love. That's all." Devin's reassuring words comforted me. I never wanted to believe I was bad luck, but it really started to seem that way over the years. Maybe he was right. Maybe I just was hyper aware of my surroundings; just another lesson from my super, over-protective father. He always made sure I had a way out of every situation I got into, knew where I was at all times, and could defend myself no matter what. When I was a kid, those lessons threatened to annoy me though I enjoyed them because I got time with my dad. As I got older, I started to realize their importance even more. It was nice to see that those lessons and time wasn't wasted.

  "Our game starts in less than an hour. How can I just leave her here like this? I will just call and forfeit my seat," I said, as I stood up to get my phone. Panic had started to set in a bit as I worried for the safety of my friend. Without knowing what was going on, I would feel terrible to leave her.

  "No love, you have worked so long and hard to get to this point. You will not forfeit. Go and play. I will stay here with Carly and if anything changes, I will let you know. I'm sure there's a way to get a message to you at the game, right?" As he spoke, I sat back down beside Carly and felt her forehead again, much less clammy and even warmer than before.

  "Of course, maybe you could just keep my phone and text Rhea or Victoria if anything changes? That way we have a direct way to call you and vice versa."

  "See? It will be fine."

  "I'm going to stay here with her until then. If you want, you can go hang out with the guys. I will come out in a bit." I didn't want to get rid of Devin, I loved having him near me, but I felt like I needed to pray and couldn’t do that if I knew he was watching me.

  "Whatever you need me to do, love. I will be right out there if you need me." He leaned down, kissed my cheek, squeezed my hand, and left the room.

  I heard the door click closed, looked over at my friend, still unconscious and closed my eyes.

  "Dear God. I am lucky that you never get sick of hearing Your children speak to you. As You know already, I'm sure, tonight something happened with my friend Carly. I'm scared, God. I don’t want to lose her. Something is wrong. I don't know what it is, but I want her to
be safe. I want her to have the strength to get up and live life to the fullest. I want her to be happy and healthy and have all the things she needs, just like I wish for any of my friends. Please protect her, God. Amen."

  A tiny sigh left Carly's lips and hope leapt through my chest.

  "Babe, are you okay?"

  No answer.

  "What's that, love?" Devin said bursting into the room a moment later, startling me.

  "She made a sound and I was checking to see if she was awake. Goodness, you scared me half to death," I said, still gripping my chest from the scare he gave me when he burst through the door.

  "I'm sorry," he chuckled. "I thought I heard your voice. I didn't want to miss an opportunity to be needed.

  "Ha! Well, very well done, then. You didn't miss a thing," I said and checked my phone for the time. "Geez, we should probably get going so we can be there on time. Is Rey ready for the game?"

  "Yeah, but I think he was a lot like you, didn't really want to go. However, I think his focus is Rhea, not Carly," he added with an eyebrow waggle.

  "Well, I did promise him that I would try to find him a date. I guess that takes some work away from me if things work out there," I chuckled.

  "You promised to get him a date? What possessed you to do that?"

  "He's a nice enough guy just used by you-know-who and I think he needs someone to love him or at least lust after him for a bit so he can realize he's not all bad. He was honest with me about what he was, and even helped me get you out, so that counts for something."

  "Yes, very true. I guess I didn't think of it that way. So you equate having me in your life to others deserving favors, huh? What about me? I schlepped my way through space and time to get here with you. What do I get out of the deal?" he asked pulling me to him.

  "You had a steak. We are even now," I said and shoved past him to leave the room.

  "Man needs more than just a steak, love."

  "Maybe later, I have a headache," I joked with him. "Seriously though, tomorrow we can head back home, and I will certainly give you much more than steak."