Nine Shillings

Taking A Gamble

London - 1842

'Is this how people do courting these days?' Josef asked, leaning against the bar.

'I have absolutely no idea,' I replied.

We were in another gambling den following Gale, who was on a winning streak. It was hot, crowded, and loud, the excitement was sweet on my tongue and the alcohol bitter.

'I don't think I know how it's done anymore... Usually it only needs a seductive look.' He looked down at me with what I supposed was meant to be seduction in his eyes.

I laughed.

He put his hand over his heart and pulled a mock sad face.

I laughed harder.

'I'll settle for you laughing at my jokes. People don't, unless you count fake laughter to ingratiate themselves with me.' He downed his drink.

I rested my elbows on the bar. 'Not my type of sucking.'

He tapped the rim of his glass, without looking, and the barman refilled it. 'I'll be having interesting dreams tonight.'

'Not as interesting as reality.'

He grinned. 'I look forward to it.'

'Oh...' I touched one of the buttons of his silk waistcoat. 'You should.'

He fanned himself and I gave him a light shove. People would think Lot Maguire had gone soft with all the laughing I was doing, it wasn't very subtle.

Josef half-turned to look in the direction of table Gale was playing at. 'She's good.'

'They're rigging the deck for her,' I replied. 'She has an arrangement with several club owners, they let her win and she keeps a cut.' I smiled. 'She was always very enterprising. I learned a few things, but don't tell her.'

Josef chuckled. 'And what did you learn?'

I leaned in. 'Card tricks. Methods of distraction. That occasionally I need to lose...' I frowned at the tankard of ale in my hand.

'What is it?'

'I won so often I never thought about it before but how did Briggs know I was cheating? What if Gale told him? Tessa knew and I wouldn't put it passed her to sell me out. I'd expect it.'

Josef's eyebrows arched. 'And then the same thing happens to Millie years later...'

'What if Gale knew I was following her and told Elizabeth?' I put my drink down. 'Either she happened to see me, not impossible, or she assumed I would follow her after she made her mistake and was watching for me.'

'If she thought you were following her because you knew she was lying about our mystery woman the plan has no benefit to get rid of you. You'd be distracted for a while but you'd be back.' He rubbed his beard. 'Unless the point was distraction, but what was she distracting you from?'

'She thinks I know more than I do?'

He shrugged. 'And what does she think you know?'

I shoved his chest lightly. 'You can ask that.'

He caught my hand and kissed my palm. 'You know it only works if I ask her the right questions.'

'Then ask her what she's hiding from me.'

He smiled and massaged my hand. 'You have to be subtle. I can't make people do things against their nature and that would make her defensive.'

'Pity.' It wasn't strictly true, he could override people's will to a point but the more against their nature it was the more power it took. He couldn't make people harm themselves and, I supposed, that included revealing information they considered a threat to their safety. All magic had limits.

He kissed my forehead and handed me his cane. 'I will have to find the right questions.'

The people moving round the club cleared a path for him. Gale looked up.

She stared.

She bolted, knocking her chair and the table over, spraying cards and cash across the floor. People dived to grab them, blocking the way.

Josef stopped as if people running away from him was unusual.

I caught his hand as I passed and pulled him out of his surprise. She pushed people and furniture into our path. People crowded in, shouting protests, and getting in our way. We shoved through the backroom and jumped a gaggle of men grabbing the bounty of a tipped over high stakes game.

The back door smashed under the weight of my impact. Gale was already nearing the corner of the alley.

I slowed. Everything slowed.

Force slammed into my chest. I hit the wall of the club. It cracked and I landed on my face. I lay still, body throbbing. The air was thick with bitter magic.

Josef sprang up. He was at the corner in a blink.

'Josef,' I shouted.

He swung and was back beside me before I could shout again. 'Are you alright?'

I let him help me up. 'Don't chase her, she'll take your power.'

He looked at the corner where Gale had disappeared. 'Ah.'

'Ah' seemed like an understatement.