for them to return," Mahsati noted, though no part of her looked worried.

Yves indeed had been gone for a while and Jasmina could see her father was losing interest in the game. It didn't matter much though, because she had played hers and she was winning. Her mother took one look at her face and rose to her feet, Hakim following suit once he noticed his wife's expression.

"Did you use your parents as pawns, Jasmina?" her mother said.

"I think the question should rather be if you let yourself get used as pawns, mother," Jasmina smiled innocently.

Her mother stared at her a moment longer and Jasmina could feel the tension from the people sitting around the table. Still, she wasn't that anxious herself. Sure enough, after a second her mother laughed, cupping her daughter's cheek and flashing that wicked smirk of hers.

"We raised you right," she said fondly.

"I don't have time for this," Hakim said as he turned towards the door," send Azriel my way once he's done with whatever you manipulated him into, Jasmina, I have a few other business associates to talk to, but he's one of them."

"I'd describe Azriel more as a willing participant than anything else," Jasmina said, before waving at her parents," but fine, I'll let him know. I'll see you both downstairs."

Her mother's hand lingered on her face for a second, her expression beautifully calculating as always. "If anyone ends up dead, you know who to call, don't you? I'm not interested in seeing a scandal in the papers because you couldn't play the game well."

"And you won't," Jasmina replied," you know I never make mistakes with chess."

Her mother gave her one last smile, before leaving with her father, the door closing behind them. The people around the table had been silent during her conversation, but now they started laughing, surprising the men standing around. One of them waved a hand, causing the deed to Yves' house to be put in her hands, her eyebrows raised.

"You know we could have easily done this with magic," Priyanka remarked.

"And make it all less fun?" Jasmina asked.

She looked around at four of the sins, all of them having played a crucial role in letting Azriel win each important round and Mahsati a few others to avoid suspicion. Not like it mattered in the end, her mother had left her winnings behind for Jasmina, so she would have gotten it either way. Now all she had to do was attend the grand finale and thankfully she was dressed beautifully for the occasion.

"You know what to do with it," Jasmina said to Priyanka.

"Lucy is done downstairs too," Victor said.

"Is it time to finally break some bones now?" Ira grinned.

"I can create some nightmares if you'd like," Gio suggested, leaning with his head against Priyanka's shoulder as he did so.

"I think our new queen of hell here functions enough as a nightmare on her own," Priyanka said.

"And you'd be right," Jasmina smiled, rising from her chair and walking to the door," I'll meet you all downstairs."

She let that smile stay on her face as she graciously walked down the stairs, only stopping to chat with a few important people she passed in the room. Halfway through her polite business talk someone pulled at her arm, a certain hurry in the movement, but she didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Alan, I was in a conversation," she said, her voice sugary sweet.

The ambassador she had been talking to looked between her and Alan, before stepping back, a knowing look on her friendly face.

"Ah, young love," she laughed," we'll let you two be. You know where to find me later, Jasmina."

They walked away and Jasmina turned towards Alan, raising an eyebrow at his obviously stressed expression. His cheeks were flushed red and his eyes darting across the room, like he was scared someone was going to jump him any moment now. She pulled him closer, pretending to hug him so no one could hear as she whispered to him.

"Didn't I tell you?" she said," act natural. You seem like you just committed a crime."

"I have the feeling I did," Alan said, voice anxious," I just got a phone call the house and all my father's money has officially been transferred over to me. What happened?"

He didn't need to ask the question she knew he really cared about: does he know yet? Jasmina could read in between the lines just fine, but it was important no one else would be able to. So she whispered for him to pull himself together and trust her, because even though her trust for him was broken, she knew he never would have agreed to this plan if he didn't believe in her.

"Alright," Alan murmured as he nuzzled his nose in her neck," just give me a second, I'm pulling myself together."

"This isn't a romantic hug, Alan," she said, patience running thin.

"But -" he began.

He couldn't finish his sentence though, because sure enough he was pulled off her by his collar, Azriel's eyes sparking a flaming red as he looked at him. For a moment it looked like he was contemplating punching Alan straight in the face, but Jasmina knew he would never ruin her plan like that. Besides, if they had anything in common it was their fondness of being manipulative. When Azriel let Alan's collar go and slapped him amicably on the back instead, a charming smile on his face, Jasmina found how easily he lied more attractive than she should have.

"Alan," Azriel said," I was shouting your name, but it seems you didn't hear me."

Alan looked absolutely terrified, staring up at Azriel with wide eyes as he took a step back. "Oh, shit, I - I didn't mean to -"

"It's fine," Azriel drawled," perhaps you forgot about me for a moment, so busy as you seemed to be with this lovely lady here."

"It's good he seems to remember now though, right?" Jasmina smiled.

Azriel's expression flickered with sincerity as he looked at her, but he quickly hid that for the people watching them. "It sure is."

"Anyway," Jasmina said," what did you want to tell us?"

"Just that I closed a deal with his father," Azriel said," collected a soul extra today."

"Oh, you kid too much," Jasmina laughed as she placed her hands on his chest, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles of his suit.

Azriel couldn't keep his eyes off her, the mask he was wearing quickly disappearing once he locked gazes with her. She just smiled innocently up at him, knowing full well he was ready to sweep her off her feet and carry her away if she continued. With a chuckle she stepped back and their expressions both turned back to normal, Alan looking at them with a conflicted expression.

"Anyway," Jasmina said, turning to Alan," like I said, I took care of it. You can do whatever you want now, everything's yours."

"How did you do that?" Alan frowned, voice dropping to a whisper," I just followed your orders and gave his wallet to that girl, the rest just seemed to happen. My father will never accept this, even if you did somehow manage it."

"He doesn't need to," Jasmina said," he signed a contract with Azriel just now, forgetting to read the small font underneath."

"My father would never sign something he didn't let his lawyers proofread," Alan frowned.

"Let me spell it out for you," Azriel said, glancing at Alan boredly," Jasmina made sure he was humiliated in front of her father and drunk enough that he forgot anything but his pride. Now, if he comes anywhere near you or the money which is in your bank account, he can land in jail for years."

"He will fight this," Alan breathed, looking like he wasn't sure what to think just yet.

"With what money, Alan?" Jasmina said," with what influence? He disgraced himself even further in my father's eyes tonight and anyone who's dead to my father is dead to the business world."

"I gave the new legal team Jasmina got for you a copy of the contract," Azriel said," they know what to do."

Alan didn't speak for a moment, looking like he was having difficulty processing everything. When he finally parted his lips, a sigh left him, the tension he didn't know he had flowing out of him. He was almost unrecognizable, back to the kid he was years before, when he had no worries save for baseball and their adventures together.

"Really?" Alan said, voice soft.

"Really," Jasmina assured him," I wouldn't lie about something like this, Alan, especially not to you."

"And I don't play when it comes to my contracts," Azriel nodded," you can say a lot about me, but I never break my deals."

Jasmina's gaze wandered to the second floor bannister then, a man stumbling across the hallway and bumping against it with every step.

"There it is," she smiled," the end of his carreer."

"What?" Alan said, turning around to follow her line of sight.

Yves Lewis finally steadied himself, grabbing the bannister and looking down at the crowd with bloodshot eyes. He looked drunk, angry and ashamed, a combo which didn't mean much good when it came to a gathering like this. With heavy breathing he looked around the room, until he spotted her father, standing in the middle and surrounded by the most important people there.

"Hakim!" Yves screamed," please, you need to talk to me!"

The whole room became silent at once, all eyes turning to Yves. Her father's distaste was plain as day once he saw his former business associate, something which would have normally been enough to make anyone back off. But Yves was too far in his own head, too drunk off his own pride to notice anything else beside himself, so he continued screaming, clutching the bannister like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

"Please!" he said," I know I messed up, but you know I am better than any of these useless fuckers here! They are all manipulative liars, every single one of them, sitting on their thrones of glass and thinking they're so great. You and me, we are the only real ones here, don't you see that?"

"How ironic," Alan murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

"I see your private conversation together worked well," Jasmina whispered to Azriel, leaning against him now no one's attention was on her.

"You know there's no one better than me at pushing people over the edge," Azriel smirked as he slid his arm around her waist.

Yves' leaned forward, shouting more, and Hakim muttered something at his bodyguards, who all shot into action and ran towards the stairway. Jasmina knew it was useless though as Yves threw his glass of liquor down, the glass shattering as people screamed and dispersed. The red wine stained the marble floors like blood, surprising Yves himself as well and as he looked at it, he lost his balance, lips parting and eyes widening.

And then, right in front of everyone, he fell down.