Page 31 of Hazard a Guest
Ember scoffed. “Since when has that ever made a difference? It doesn’t matter anyway. If he's looking for you, then we need to have a reason for your absence.”
Freddy looked a little frantic. “I can’t just be tired? Have a headache?”
“No,” said both Ember and Joe in very different tones.
She sighed, looking around like she’d find a suggestion etched into the walls.
Freddy, however, was not looking at the walls. He was looking at Joe. Which was obviously preferable, but Ember couldn’t do that right now.
“Can you play?” he asked the other man. “Do you know how to play?”
“Play what?” Joe replied, looking baffled. “Whist?”
“Whist,” Ember repeated fondly. “No, my darling man. With the dice, he means. Do you know hazard? Crown and anchor?”
Joe shook his head. “Just knucklebones, really.”
“With dice?!” Freddy barked, obviously offended. “It doesn’t matter. Damn it, Joseph!”
“Why does it matter if Joe plays?” Ember asked impatiently.
“Joe?!” Freddy balked, more frayed by the minute. “We’re calling himJoe?!”
“I am,” Ember snapped. “Focus, Bentley.”
Freddy made a grumbling noise, spinning in a circle in an irritated semblance of pacing, and took two deep breaths as he worked through his mindset.
Joe watched him with a little frown of concern but did not rush him or otherwise attempt to soothe his kinetic panic.
“What if he’s my protégé?” Freddy finally said as he stilled, looking from one set of eyes to the other. “What if I’ve already gambled everything worth gambling and now I want the thrill of letting someone else roll the diceon my behalf?”
Ember laughed. She didn’t mean to laugh, but it happened anyway. “That is obnoxious!” she said with admiration. “Penrose will eat it up with his favorite spoon. Even I believe it. I’ve seen exactly that kind of absurd ennui at play at the Forge, in different flavors.”
“But I don’t know how to play,” Joe protested, raising his dark brows, “at all. I don’t even know the rules.”
“We can teach you the rules,” Ember said with a wave of her hand, making the mistake of turning to look directly into his face. She swallowed, her mouth a little dry all of a sudden. “And I can teach you how to win.”
“Can you?” he replied, so softly that she thought she might faint.
“I … yes,” she replied, her own voice softening against her will.
“Stop that!” Freddy cried, slapping at the air between them.
Ember immediately did, stepping away with a self-conscious little chuckle and a bit of heat in her own cheeks this time. “Apologies.”
Freddy grunted. “Fine. But what about tonight? What do we do tonight?”
“We watch Ember play tonight, surely?” Joe put in. “I know you don’t want to be in the gaming room, but if we just stood behind her and watched her play?”
She considered it, tilting her head. She hadn’t been planning to play tonight, only to observe, but given the circumstances, perhaps it was a good idea? She clicked her tongue, thinking about it, and gave a slow nod.
“I think that will work,” she said. “We arrived together, after all, and I never play at my own club. We can frame it like a novelty. It’s not ideal, Freddy, but will it work? For tonight? You can get bored after an hour or so, make a show out of it, and leave. It will only reinforce the ploy.”
He sighed, heavy and overly dramatic, but he looked mollified all the same. He looked at them watching him, waiting, and gave a big roll of his eyes.
“Yes,” he said at last, crossing his arms over his chest like a child. “All right. Fine.”
As it happened,widespread indigestion gave them the protective buffer they needed. It started around two hours into the games, enough time for Ember to have observed a little and for Freddyto have made his exit, and it spread rapidly, with green faces and hunched bodies quickly fleeing from the room.
