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“Ah,” said Gideon, laying down two pairs when his turn came back around. “Well, aristos aren’t difficult to shock. Just use the wrong spoon at dinner. Or wear a dress out of season.”
Noah smiled, but his eyes were like ice chips. Of the two Creed siblings, Gideon had always preferred Laila, who kept her aggression like she kept her gun—out in the open, where he could see it. Noah was …less straightforward.
“Truly, though. What’s come over you? Last week, it was Rune’s after-party. Tonight, you’re here playing cards. Next thing we know, you’ll be hosting your own charity ball.”
“If I do,” said Gideon, drawing more cards to replace the ones he’d laid down, “you’ll be the first person I invite.”
Noah smiled thinly. “Don’t you have a reputation to uphold—the New Republic’s most unavailable bachelor?”
“Gideon,” interrupted Alex, as if sensing the storm brewing and needing to quell it. This was why it was always better for Gideon to stay home. “Tell us what happened last night, at the Luminaries Dinner. Is it true what the papers are saying?”
“Yes, tell us everything.” A young man whose name Gideon didn’t know leaned across the table, his eyes gleaming in the firelight. “Was there really a witch attackinsidethe palace?”
He nodded. “It’s true.”
“Do you have any leads?” asked his brother, watching Bart discard.
“Possibly. We’re still investigating.”
Alex laid his cards last—four of a kind. Upon seeing them, everyone else threw down their own in defeat.
“Rune seemed shaken by it,” said Alex, pulling the winnings toward him while Noah gathered everyone’s cards and shuffled. The young men around him placed new bets and threw more coins into the center.
When did you see Rune?Gideon wondered, watching his brother. It had barely been twenty-four hours since the event.
“TheNew Heraldreported that Citizen Winters is only alive because of you,” said the young man whose name Gideon didn’t remember. “Said you ran straight into the spellfire and carried her out.”
Gideon preferred not to relive the moment when Rune had disappeared inside the fire. The fear of not getting to her in time still hummed a little too loud in his blood.
“I hunt witches for a living,” he said, trying to shrug it off. “I’m no stranger to their magic.”
“Was it the Crimson Moth?”
They weren’t going to stop poking at this until he surrendered. So Gideon yielded, giving them a full account of the night before. As Alex’s friends soaked up the story like sponges, more cards were laid and the coins in Gideon’s pouch slowly disappeared.
He had never been good at gambling.
“Well,Ifor one am glad we have people like Gideon doing the dirty work for us.” This came from Bart as he won the current round with a full house. “Can you imagine it? Putting yourself in that kind of dangerevery day?” He shuddered. “No wonder the girls all fancy him.”
Gideon almost laughed, wondering what Harrow or Laila would say to that.
“Speaking of girls who fancy Gideon,” said Noah, sipping his drink. “HowisMiss Winters? Does she live up to her reputation?”
If Gideon had hackles, Noah’s tone would have raised them.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he said, staring hard at his cards but not seeing any of them.
The last thing he wanted was to get into it with the Good Commander’s son. So he let Noah’s comments go.
“You know exactly what I mean,” said Noah, as if sensing Gideon’s restraint and wanting to test its limits. “Rune Winters is a merciless flirt. She has a new suitor every week.”
Unable to help himself, Gideon rose to the bait. Just an inch. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you sound jealous.”
“Jealous?” Noah scoffed. “What’s there to be jealous of? If the rumors are true, she’s as loose as a whore.”
Before Gideon was halfway out of his seat, a fist slammed against the table, making them all jump.
Gideon looked up, his body buzzing with anger. Across the table, Alex stared down Noah the way a lion might stare down a hyena. “Insult her again, and I’ll show you the door.”
