Page 20 of Outcast’s Vow

Millions of dollars in poker chips lie on the table in front of us, but this is just a fun Thursday night for us. Merely a friendly game of poker between friends.

Fabien, Clement, and I have known each other since childhood. We climbed through school together, doing everything from planning our futures through long nights under the stars to even crafting our own basic language only we could speak, so that teachers and other students wouldn’t understand a word we said. Notes were passed between us, indecipherable to anyone else in our made-up language.

Our bond runs deep. More than family.

Even more than blood.

And as we stepped into adulthood, we all became successful in our own ways. But we stay deeply connected, even when on our own unique paths. We confide in each other. Help each other.

We would die for each other.

Fabien glances again at the cards he’s been dealt.

“Bullshit,” he snarls, tossing them aside. “You two battle this one out. I’m not feeling so lucky this time.”

“More for me, then,” Clement says, goading me with a wink.

Clement just got married, the first of our little group to have done so. When he was initiated into the Castaways, they gave him a task to complete. Seduce a virgin. A very particular virgin who had soundly rejected him. This being Clement, he put all his attention, focus, and possessive dominance into the task, remaining cold and heartless.

But then he did what he never should have done.

He fell for the girl.

The proud, stubborn man may not dare admit it, but Elise Hansley has him, and his heart, completely.

The scotch I ordered quickly arrives. The server expertly pours the three glasses for us men while her eyes never leave my own. She smiles seductively at me, deliberately bending forward to reveal a peek at her deep, impressive cleavage.

I don’t give a fuck about her plastic surgeon’s prowess. I ignore her until my drink is ready.

“To Baptiste,” Clement says, raising his glass. “The all-conquering hero. The man who somehow got the Supreme Elder’s daughter.”

“To Baptiste.”

We clink our glasses.

“Wait until I tell Elise,” Clement says. “She’ll find it hilarious and impressive. And, hell, I bet Jolie would be proud of you, even though Sylvie is a friend of hers. Jolie is too much of a coward to take part in the Chase, despite our father’s insistence.”

Clement doesn’t notice it, but Fabien growls at the mention of Jolie. He has a history with Clement’s sister, and Clement doesn’t know a damn thing. If he did, then Clement would most likely kill Fabien with his bare hands.

Both Fabien and I remember Clement telling us when we first spent a summer at his family estate.

You can touch anything in this house, except her.

Something happened between Fabien and Jolie, and now they hate each other.

And Clement still doesn’t know.

“Now let’s get back to this game, Baptiste,” Clement says as he downs his drink. “I can’t wait to win the expenses for my next vacation.”

“You’re going all in, correct?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Everything you have on the board?”

“Do I need to explain the rules of poker to you, Baptiste?”

“Think about this for a moment. It’s your last chance to walk away with some semblance of dignity.”