A Player for A Princess

Mako looks over his shoulder at his friend and speaks fast in his language. I make out the words bitch and teach her. Whatever it takes.

Following me back into the house, I go to the drawer where Selena keeps her worn deck. We don’t have much time, and I know I only get one round. I need to let him deal so he doesn’t renege. I shuffle sloppily and pass the cards to him to deal.

Four cards. In front of Mako is a ten of hearts. In front of me is a three of clubs. We have two cards facing down, and I know exactly what to do.

“Keda,” he says. Stay.

“Hit me.” He puts a card in front of me. It’s an ace, and he starts to laugh.

“Djesun!” he shouts pointing at it. Eleven.

He won’t let me count it as a one because he wants me to bust. I bust and he wins. I nod in agreement. I know what’s coming. He flips his facedown card, and it’s another ten.

“HAHA!” It’s a shout rather than a laugh, and it’s right in my face.

“Warda,” I say softly. Wait.

Turning my last card over, it’s a seven of hearts.

Black eyes go wide. He stares at the table several minutes then looks at my hands and back to the card.

His fist flies up, and I brace for him to hit me. It’s going to hurt like hell, and I’ve got to be sure I fall in a way that protects my stomach and my head. I’m not sure I can handle another concussive blow.

Seconds pass. He’s trembling, fist raised, and I’m squinting, ducking with my whole body tense. When another moment passes, I sneak a look at him, and I can see something bigger than me is holding him back. He’s weighing the consequences of hurting me, and ultimately, he backs down. Wade Paxton is one mean motherfucker, and even this peasant pimp knows it.

His eyes are blazing anger, and he throws the metal chair aside. I watch as he storms out of the cubicle into the yard. I hear the shrieks of a woman from another house, and my stomach sinks. I would save them all if I could, but I can’t. I can only save Ximena.

My shoulders droop, and I’m suddenly so tired. I’m still sitting at the table looking at my twenty-one hand when Ximena quietly returns. She doesn’t speak as she goes to the small kitchen area and starts to prepare the vegetables for our meager dinner.

I slowly walk to my cot and lie down. I’m so exhausted from the adrenaline, and lately I’ve simply been tired all the time. I don’t know if I’m getting proper nutrition. I don’t know if the way I feel is normal. I don’t know anything, and I don’t have anyone to ask. I only know I saved my friend.

I look up and I watch as she moves around the little space. I don’t know how long Mako will abide by the rules of our game, but she’s safe for now. Selena is coming home, and the three of us will sit at that little table and eat dinner together. We will be like a little family.

Gathering my strength, I get off the cot and go to the door to wait for Selena. Whenever I see her at the edge of the trees in the afternoon, we always smile and wave to each other until she’s at the house. It has become our ritual, and it gives me comfort to see her safely return.

My stomach knots when I see Mako and the men are still in the courtyard with their truck bed of sacrificial lambs. I don’t want Selena around them. I know she knows what happens to these women—she knows more than I do about everything—but I don’t like Mako near her. It reminds me of our foster father and Ava, and I don’t have a lamp to smash over his head.

I see her at the tree line, and I make the decision to go to her this time when the noise of another truck sounds in the distance. It’s coming fast, the noise growing louder, until it breaks through the trees. It’s the strange Jeep-truck hybrid. It’s Blix. His eyes flash at me, and I know at once no amount of card playing is going to save me.

He’s out of the truck and circling to the back. His jaw is set, and something is different this time. I get the distinct feeling he’s not here to take pictures.

Selena runs out of the trees toward me, but I stop her. “Go to the house!”

She’s confused, and she hesitates too long. Mako is watching us, and that fucker is smart. He’s always known I’m special, and now he’s trying to see if he can get in on whatever the promise of me entails.

Blix is digging in the back of his truck. He has what looks like a large tackle box, and he rifles through yellow rope, a spool of clear nylon fishing line, pliers. Finally he takes out something that looks like a huge garlic press. He turns to face me, and I don’t know why I’m not more afraid. Maybe I think because I’m carrying Cal’s baby they’ll go easier on me? Looking back, I know I was a fool.

Curiosity drives the men from the truck. They know Blix is one of Wade’s men—possibly the worst of Wade’s men—and they want to see what’s about to happen. They’re all speaking fast in Mako’s tongue, quietly under their breath.

Blix’s dead eyes are fixed on me, and he doesn’t say a word. His mouth is set in a straight line, and he doesn’t stop until he’s standing directly in front of me. I think about our first day—I think about every day since I’ve met this man. I’m not a human to him. I’m not even sure I’m an ani

mal. I’m a commodity in a deal he’s helping play out against the man I love.

Blix grabs my forearm and jerks it up. Instinctively, I jerk it back, out of his grip. His dead eyes flash, and he rears back so quickly, I don’t have time to duck.

Light explodes behind my eyes with the force of his fist, and next thing I know, I’m on my hands and knees on the ground. The screams of Ximena and Selena from behind the curtain fill my ears, and I cringe back from the pain in my head.

“Oh, God!” I whisper a real prayer. I’m on my hands and knees, clutching my arms over my head. “Help us.”