Queen of the Night

29

Liz, I swear I will end you!" I screamed, seeing the joker card return to my fold. 

"It was bound to happen, you suck at old maid," Liz replied. 

We were playing cards on lunch break during the third and final week of training. We did this every lunch break since training began. The tournament was tomorrow.

"Ooo, whatcha playin? Can I join? I just love card games!" Leah mocked from the table next to ours.

"Leah, every time you speak, can you feel it," I said taking a deep breath, breathing in the air dramatically, and rolling my shoulders, "The IQ of the whole room gets lower." Liz was trying to hide her smile.

"Too cute Hunter. Enjoy playing cards on the sidelines for me tomorrow, kay?" She said, getting up and leaving the cafeteria. 

After my fight with Leah, nothing happened. I wasn't kicked out, or anything. We were forced to get along since we were 'partners' for most of training. I wished she would break a leg so I could take her place and actually help win the tournament, but we were doomed. With her, we'd lose for sure. Everyone knew we didn't stand a chance against the DOBS. 

I just wanted to do everything I could to help Liz destress the day before the tournament, since she was actually going to be fighting in it. 

Bella came up to our table, and sat down next to Liz. "Deal me in guys, I could use a distraction," she said. 

I gave her some cards, "We're playing old maid," I informed her.

"Yeah, and it's looking like Hunter is going to end up as the old maid, she's losing," Liz said, giggling.

I glared at her across the table. "Well I would of just had Bella take my old maid card, but now she's in the know because of a certain someone, so yeah, I will probably end up as the old maid!" I shouted. 

Honestly after losing so many matches of old maid, I was the most stressed out of the two of us, but Liz insisted it helped her calm down, so I kept playing. I was starting to wonder if her connections to the gods had anything to do with her card game skills.

We all played until I lost again, and headed back to the training area, to find Leah screaming at both the A and B teams.

"WHERE ARE THEY!! SOMEONE FIND THEM!!" she screamed.

"What's going on?" Bella asked her once we got to the court. 

"I can't find my crystals! I need my crystals to compete tomorrow!" she whined.

"Hey don't worry Leah, we'll all help you find them right guys?" Bella said, and we all agreed begrudgingly. 

"We'll split up," Bella suggested. "I'll look with Liz and Hunter, Sky and Pansy can look together, and the rest of the B team can help Leah look, okay?" 

Everyone groaned. 

Bella walked back over to us, and practically dragged up out the training facility. "Okay guys, plan is we ditch Leah and go play cards where she can't find us, any suggestions?" she whispered. 

"The DOBS, they'd never look there," Liz blurted out. 

Bella sighed, "Okay, but how do we get in?"

Liz looked at me, and then to Bella, "I know someone who owes me favor."

With that we snuck outside, running across the street to the DOBS facility. We walked in the sliding glass doors, and walked up to Malcolm at the reception desk, where he was typing away on his computer.