Just as I am with him at my own risk.
The thought was in her head before she could stop it.
But what was it she was risking? And what might she lose?
She headed upstairs, Lycos at her side, unwilling to answer either question.
Lycos sat at the table he’d selected. The world had disappeared. All that existed were the cards displayed in his hand and the calculations running through his head. He paid little attention to the other players. Only to what cards they played, what money they staked and when. He was entirely focussed on the progress of the game. His mind was in a flow state, everything else obliterated from consciousness except that necessary to move the state of play to where he wanted it to go. Adapting his decisions to what each new card, his or his opponents’, denoted.
Emotion, of any kind, was entirely absent. His play was remorseless. His face expressionless.
The Wolf was here to win.
Arielle suppressed an inner sigh. She could make no sense of what was happening. At first, she’d been warily curious to see what was involved, but it had not taken long to realise that a game in which she had no idea what the rules of play were would be impossible to follow. Watching the players push their chips forward was unnerving, given their cash value, but she had no idea why they were making the stakes they were making. She certainly had no idea at all what Lycos was doing, or why. She could tell nothing about him whatsoever. His expression was entirely blank. Nothing showed in his face, eyes or body language.
Players had ‘tells’, so watching the occasional movie featuring gambling had told her, but that didn’t seem to apply to Lycos.
It’s like watching a robot.
He showed nothing, whether the pile of chips that were his rose or fell.
That wasn’t so with all of the players though. Some players, at the end of a game, showed satisfaction or chagrin. When a game ended, they remarked to each other and discussed what had happened. Lycos kept silent. No one tried to talk to him or engage him. Until the next game started, he simply took a used pack of cards and shuffled it mechanically to occupy his hands. His face remained expressionless, his eyes blank, while he took an occasional sip of water from the glass in front of him. She did not try and engage him either. He made no move to turn to her, talk to her, or even to acknowledge her existence.
She found it chilling.
On impulse, she slipped from the room. The atmosphere in there was oppressive. Everyone there simply wanted to make money. To win, to triumph, to beat their opponents, to outdo them. Including, presumably, Lycos.
It was a side of him she’d never seen and she found it unnerving.
Out on the landing she hesitated for a moment, then scooped up the long skirt of her gown and made her way up the next set of stairs. The bathrooms set aside for guests were up here, so she recalled someone mentioning. Maybe she could lurk up there until Lycos called it quits.
When would he, she wondered?
If I really get bored and I can’t stand it, I’ll head back to the hotel in a taxi and just text him to let him know that I’ve gone.
She doubted he would notice or even realise she wasn’t in the card room any longer.
A door standing ajar on the deserted upper floor indicated that it was a bathroom and she approached it. As she did, she heard a voice speaking and paused. It was coming from the bathroom. She didn’t want to eavesdrop, but had no choice.
‘I know and I don’t want to do it! I know how risky it is! But I’m going to, all the same. I’ve got to try! It’s all I can think of. It’s our only chance.’
She could half see the speaker, his body in profile, holding a mobile phone to his ear. He fell silent a moment, then spoke again, sounding impatient. Stressed.
‘There’s no point saying that! I know what I’m doing. Look, I have to go.’
She saw him disconnect the call and then stride out of the bathroom. His expression was steely and tension radiated from him. As he saw Arielle he halted abruptly. He was a young man, in his early twenties she judged. He was good-looking and his French, she realised, had been distinctly upper-class.
‘Excuse me,’ he said, sounding curt as he skirted around her to head downstairs with a rapid gait.
She thought no more about it as she headed into the plush bathroom. Deliberately she dallied in there, retouching her lipstick, re-spritzing her perfume and then availing herself of a basket of necessities on the vanity unit. She searched through a tiny sewing kit to extract a couple of safety pins. She hoicked up her decolletage, which she fancied was too low, and fastened it discreetly. Eventually she could delay no longer.
Would Lycos still be immersed in his card game?
Probably.
At least she didn’t have to worry about him losing.After all, he was the Wolf, she thought sardonically. And anyway, with his wealth he could presumably shrug off any losses.
She frowned. It couldn’t always have been like that. When he was young and trying to make his fortune, it must have been nerve-wracking for him.
