It’s a small sacrifice if it means I get to save an innocent child.
I look over at Zeke, who is now seated at the same table as me.
There are only three of us left: Zeke, me, and a man in a suit who miraculously has never lost a single hand. Zeke and I seem to lose every round, and with each one, more blood and clothes.
Zeke stares back at me with a heaviness. He’s calmer than I’ve ever seen him as he sits naked except for dried blood. His blood coats his skin, his beard, his hair. There are gashes all over his body from being whipped, beaten, tortured. Pain should be oozing off his body in waves; it should be all I feel from him. Instead, he feels as calm as the ocean after a storm—my steady hulk of a man.
I smile with newfound determination in my eyes. This man that I chose to spend my life with, that I love with everything in my being, is proving once again that he will fight by my side no matter what atrocities we face. Somehow, Zeke has me falling for him all over again.
I’ve never met a braver man.
A stronger one.
A more selfless one.
I know how hard this is for him, watching me get hurt and not doing anything. Yet, I can see in the tenseness of his muscles that he’s always ready to fight. One move too far from one of these goons, and he’ll spring into action, sacrificing himself to save me.
If we die, we die together. We die protecting an innocent child who is loved by us just as much we love our own child.
I wish we didn’t live in a world filled with so much evil. But I can understand the pain of a woman who lost the love of her life and her children. Just thinking about losing Zeke or Atlas in this game has me spiraling into a place I can’t even think about.
How cruel would I be to anyone who took everything I loved away from me? As inhumanly as humanly possible. I would turn into a hurricane destroying everything in my path. I wouldn’t be able to see past my hate because if I let it go for a second, the loss would overwhelm me. I would have no choice but to hate.
I can understand why Phoenix wants to hurt us and anyone associated with anyone who took so much from her.
I can understand, but it’s why I’m willing to fight so hard to not lose those I love. I know who and what I would become if I did—a monster.
I nod to Zeke as I sit next to him.
It’s time to end this.
Our cards are dealt between the three of us. At the start, it was everyone against us, but we prevailed, and now we have the upper-hand. We outnumber him.
I look at my cards. For a while, I didn’t even read the dares. It didn’t matter what the cards said. I would do whatever it takes to win.
But one look at Zeke, and I realized it mattered. If I won a hand, I would spare Zeke from having to see me tortured or undressed.
This is the final round.
Either Zeke or I win, or they do.
I see several face cards, and I see a new card I haven’t seen before.
I hold that card closer to my face and read slowly.
To win, you must sacrifice a part of yourself—your voice. Play the card, sacrifice yourself, and you win.
I look over at Zeke. His head is buried in one of his cards as he studies it closer, reading the words over and over. He has a version of this card too. The other man must have a similar card too, but we already know he won’t play it.
Give up my voice? What does that even mean?
My heart races, thundering rapidly like a drum pounding through my body.
What does Zeke have to give up?
What do we do?
The game begins as usual.