Fear had flitted across Chase’s face for a moment before his lips pressed together. “Which her are we discussing? Lily?”
He pulled Chase to his feet, his other hand wrapping around the back of his friend’s neck. “We are talking about respectable women with the potential for real futures. They don’t need to be tangled in with the likes of us.” He sincerely meant every word.
Before Chase could answer, a gentle hand touched his back. A man would have clasped him on the upper arm, or perhaps the shoulder, but this feather light brush of fingers came at the small of his back. A set of lips pressed to the curve of his ear as breath whispered across his neck.
At another time in his life, it might have invoked excitement to have a woman touch him so, but not tonight. Not in the last seven months. “What?” he grit out.
“Do not worry, Your Grace. The ladies will not be harmed. The cards have told me so. But fate is at play and these men have a destiny to fulfill. All that need happen is for each of you to pick a card.”
Max turned his head to look at her a
s he slowly released Chase. She didn’t just hold out five cards but an entire deck. What could be the harm? A strange tingling pulsed in his fingertips. He must still be suffering from last night’s drink. Shaking the feeling off, he looked at the cards again. Surely the ladies’ names were not in the deck. How could they be?
Twisting his body, he reached for a card, pulling it from the pile in his hand. Participating in this was ludicrous but then again, the card seemed to call to him. The thick colorful stock was intricately painted with a design he didn’t understand as it sat face down in his grasp and a long breath left his lungs as he stared down.
“What’s on it?” Key asked, standing and moving to stand next to him. “What does it say?”
Twisting his wrist, he flipped the card over and then sucked in the breath he had just released.
“Damnation,” Key muttered as Chase stepped closer to peer over his shoulder. “It’s a Lily of the Valley.”
Vadoma gave him a smug smile. “Like we didn’t know that the duke would choose Lily.”
“I didn’t choose…” His words tapered off as his throat closed.
“Oh, but you did. And you’ve made an agreement now. By choosing the card, you’re bound to collect your kiss.” Vadoma turned to Key. “You’re next.”
Key paled and took a step back, his hands coming out in front of him, palms facing the gypsy. “I won’t take a card.”
Vadoma’s eyebrows went up. From her deck a single card drifted to the ground. As it fell, it flipped in the air and landed with a gentle scratch upon the floor. Staring up at them was a goddess, her beauty unmistakable as she floated above a pile of dead soldiers.
“What does it mean?” Key croaked.
It was Si who answered. “Victoria is the goddess of Victory.” His voice broke on the last word and he cleared his throat. “You’ve chosen Victoria.”
Max blinked. This couldn’t actually be happening. The next card would be nothing. It was a coincidence. But as she turned to Si, he reached a shaking hand out and pulled a card. Then he flipped the thick card stock out so they could all see, Christ hanging upon the cross. “Christina.”
Vadoma turned to Rex. “Your turn.”
Rex snatched a card from her grasp and grunted as he looked at it. “Hah,” he yelled, waving his card in the air. “Mine is a lizard. It means nothing.”
But Chase shook his head. Chase always had a grin and a quip at the ready. But not this time. His voice was deadly serious as he answered. “Not a lizard. See how it is the same color as the background. It’s a chameleon. You’ve chosen Camille.”
Then Chase stepped around him. “That leaves Adelaide.”
The youngest? Max straightened. Chase could not try to woo the youngest daughter. If she were anything like Lily, the poor girl was a fox at a hound hunt.
“Take your card anyway,” Vadoma moved the cards toward him.
He’d been reaching out his hand but he pulled it back again. “Why?”
“The card is the promise.” She moved closer, still holding the cards out to him.
“Whatever that means.” Chase grimaced but plucked a card from the deck. As he turned it over, Max could see a woman dressed in white, looking up to the sky. Chase let out a growl. “This isn’t anything. It’s not a name. Does it mean I’m the only one who won’t be successful? Adelaide is too virtuous.”
Max, no longer angry, put his hand on Chase’s shoulder. An eerie feeling of foreboding replaced any irritation he’d been feeling. “Adelaide means virtuous one.”
“Bloody hell,” Chase muttered. “What have I done?”