Out of Character (True Colors 2)

“Uh-huh. Well, unless you have a spare five to ten grand and a burning desire to go treasure hunting, it’s not happening. Not here. Arthur’s had this place for years now, and I know for a fact he’s never seen a complete set of all four cards, especially not in foil.”

“Ten grand?” Milo paled as he gulped. “I need those cards.”

“The money and a hunt,” I corrected him. “They’re not simply out there on the open market for the taking. Those are a serious collector’s item, and people spend years looking to find a matched set.”

Milo’s eyes squished shut. “Damn it.”

“Hate to tell you, but if someone made you promise the cards, they’re having you on.” Despite everything that had passed between us over the years, I actually felt for the guy a little. It sucked to be on the losing end of a prank. As I well knew.

“I…lost them.” Milo went from pale to greenish gray, and for a second, I worried I’d be cleaning up puke next, especially when he swallowed hard.

“You lost what?”

“Bruno’s cards.” Milo’s voice was low and pained. “I had no idea they were that rare. I—”

“Hold up. Bruno, your brother who’s some sort of special forces, plays Odyssey?” I had vague memories of Bruno, who was a good four or five years older than Milo and me. He’d joined the navy right out of high school, and last I’d heard from the mom gossip network, he was one of the people who worked on SEAL boats and other top-secret stuff. Not the sort of person I usually saw across the gaming table.

“Yeah. A girl got him into it in high school, then he fell back into card games living in the barracks. He’s wicked good at it too.” Some of the pain in Milo’s tone was replaced with pride, which I would have found cute on anyone other than Milo.

“Uh-huh.”

“Won stuff off his teammates, that sort of thing. Anyway, he left a bunch of things with Mom and me before this last deployment. We played a few rounds when he visited.”

“You played?” I blinked, trying to picture the badass SEAL support guy and jock king playing cards at their mom’s pretty, white dining table.

“Quit looking so surprised.” Milo made a dismissive gesture, nearly taking out one of the boxes of holographic dice we had by the register. “I can read the cards, same as anyone else. It’s not a hard game to learn.”

Actually, it was rated among the world’s most complex games to master, but far be it from me to convince a guy who’d probably played less than ten games total. “I’m still not sure how you go from him showing you how to play to losing a set of the rarest cards in Odyssey.”

Milo might be an idiot, but Bruno had always been smart on top of being brawny. No way would he have had those cards in an intro deck he used to teach newbies like Milo.

Milo rubbed his temples. “Whiskey.”

“No kidding.” I’d been right. His jerk friends and alcohol were never a good combo.

“The guys I’m living with had a party a while back. And there was this dude big into Odyssey there. I said I could play some and told him about Bruno’s kick-ass collection.”

Sensing where this was going, I groaned. “Tell me you didn’t show him the cards.”

“Whiskey and Coke. Like I said. Anyway, he invited some of us over to play last night and tells me to bring my cards. There was food and drinking and some friendly betting going on.” Milo nodded, like I was supposed to sympathize with this tale of woe.

“Odyssey is not a drinking game. Or even one to try buzzed.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that now, Mr. Serious Gamer, but cut me some slack here. It’s just cardboard.” Milo still had the ability to make a simple eye roll condescending as all get out.

“Says the guy who apparently lost near-priceless cardboard.”

“I know. And anyway, I’m good at the game. Even Bruno said so. Last night, I won several rounds in a row. His decks are that good, I guess, and then George says—”

Despite my determination not to feel sorry for Milo, my stomach took the express elevator all the way to the tile floor. “Oh, hell no. George Bryant? Our age or a little older? Tall guy, dark hair but longer than yours?”

“Yeah, that’s probably him. He goes to Gracehaven but lives off-campus in a nice condo.”

Yup, that was George, and if there was one person I disliked more than Milo and his squad, it was probably George. He’d cost me several of my best transforming cards with a dirty play style that might win him games but also made enemies out of most of the game-store regulars.

“He’s in my year, and he’s total bad news. Arthur had to ban him from playing here. That’s the last guy you should have been betting with.”