Love is Like a Playing Card (J. Daniel Atlas)

Sequel to Love is Only an Illusion

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

Chapter XXI

Sutton rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the morning sun shining bright through her New York apartment window. She checked her Fitbit. It was only ten in the morning. Sutton yawned, the night life taking its toll on her sleep schedule. She had become more of a night owl than she had ever been since going into hiding, as per The Eye's orders 15 months ago.

Sutton sat up slightly on one elbow, staring down at her sleeping boyfriend. She ran her hand over his newly-shaven scalp. She loved the feeling of the short pricks tickling her skin. Her finger traveled over Danny's prominent features. Sutton cupped his chin and ran her thumb over his lips, just as Danny had done to her countless times. As she did this, Danny stirred slightly.

Knowing he would be awake shortly, Sutton's hand traveled down Danny's chest as she gave him a light kiss on the lips. Her hand traveled farther down Danny's abdomen where she drew her finger in various shapes. She found herself becoming lost in the memories of their love story.

"Ahhh!" Sutton screamed as she was thrown onto her back as Danny straddled her.

"Good morning, beautiful," Danny smiled at her as he bent down, placing a kiss to her lips as his hands expertly explored her body.

"Mhm. Good morning, handsome," Sutton smirked, cleverly moving her hips underneath Danny as she gripped his arms

Danny groaned, throwing his head from side to side. "Thank God for this sheet between us or I would be having my way with you already this morning."

Sutton giggled, playfully pushing Danny off her. Sutton held the sheet close to her body as she stood. She twirled back around, watching the sheet fall from Danny's body.

"Hey, not fair!" he smiled, jumping off the bed and over to her, trying to fight his way into the sheet.

Sutton laughed as he began to tickle her. She forced her arms open, allowing Danny to wrap his arms tightly around her, their naked bodies becoming one once again. Danny kissed her hard, slightly bending her backwards.

"Round two in the shower?" Sutton said with the lift of her eyebrow.

"What do you think?" Danny replied, mimicking Sutton's actions and dragging her to the shower.

~~

Sutton emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and freshly combed hair. With her glasses slightly foggy, she padded lightly to the kitchen, scooping coffee grounds into the maker and filling it with water. As the coffee maker boiled to life, she walked back toward the bathroom. Danny was just stepping out of the shower.

"Danny, how many times do I need to remind you to dry off in the shower?" Sutton huffed at her boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, beautiful," Danny smirked as he grabbed for Sutton's towel. Expertly pulling at the tucked in fabric, he pulled the towel open, wrapping it around his body and drawing her near in the process. "It's much nicer to dry off with you."

Sutton bit back a smile. "You do know you're just making me wet all over again, right?"

Danny cocked an eyebrow. "Sutton Reeves, I do believe you have worn me out for the morning."

Sutton hit Danny's shoulder. "Jackass!" she laughed, pulling his mouth to hers.

Somewhere in the apartment, a voice cleared their throat. Sutton and Danny stared at each other, neither one moving.

"Hello?" the voice called. "Mating season is over, lovebirds!"

Sutton and Danny let out the air they had been holding in. "Why are you here, Merritt?" Danny called out, giving Sutton her towel back and getting his own. "You're supposed to be with Jack and Henley until tonight."

"Emergency meeting," Jack's voice answered, followed by a crunch of chips.

Sutton huffed. "Jack, stop eating my food!" She heard Jack mimic her obnoxiously.

Danny kissed the top of her head. "Now you know how I feel every single day," he chuckled.

~~

After awkwardly shuffling to Sutton's room and quickly changing, Sutton and Danny went out to meet their fellow Horsemen. Danny took a seat on the couch with Sutton snuggling up beside him.

"Please tell me we have something, Dylan," Danny questioned the mastermind behind their first scheme. Sutton pushed Danny's shoulder back as if to tell him to chill.

"I'm afraid not, Danny," Dylan replied as he wrung his hands around one another. He glanced over at Henley, who was biting her lipstick-coated lips.

"Hen?" Sutton's voice piped up. Henley didn't look at her. "Henley?" Sutton called again. Still, Henley didn't look at her. Sutton looked around at Jack, Merritt, and Dylan, begging for a reason as to what was wrong with her cousin.

Merritt looked down at his hands, thumbs twiddling over and over again. Jack looked down at the bag of chips in his hands, suddenly disgusted by them. Dylan, on the other hand, kept glancing over at Henley.

Sutton looked at Danny, who was repeating her motions of searching for answers. He looked at her, confusion written all over his face as well. "Did we-?" they both started before Sutton finished for them. "Did we do something wrong?"

Henley shot her a look, eyes wide. "No, of course not, sweetie," Merritt counseled her, giving her knee a light pat.

"Then what the hell is going on?" Danny questioned, his eyes boring through Dylan before moving onto Henley. Sutton looked at him, knowing he was thinking the same thing as her.

Dylan started. "It's compli-"

"I'm leaving the Horsemen," Henley announced, her eyes filling with tears as her voice cracked.

After the voice told him to leave, Danny wandered through the tunnels aimlessly, trying to come up with a way to excuse his absence to Sutton. He sat down in a dry area of the tunnel. Sighing, Danny ran a hand over his face, upset with the betrayal he just committed. If Sutton were to ever find out, she would never forgive him. Was he really that desperate to perform magic that he was willing to risk losing her? Finally, he took out his phone, calling Sutton. It rang seven times before going to voicemail. Danny wasn’t even sure what he would have told Sutton if she answered.

Shaking his head, Danny stood slowly, making his exit from the tunnel. He threw his hood up as sunlight started to emerge. Again, he absentmindedly tried calling Sutton, hoping to hear her voice ask him where he was. Again, nothing. 

Danny let out a breath. His stomach responded, forcing him to go in the direction of some fast food. Danny smirked, knowing just what would make Sutton smile after how he had treated her yesterday, and hopefully soften the blow when he told her of his latest adventure. He called Sutton again, letting out a breath. Sutton’s voice didn’t come through.

Danny found a fast food restaurant, grabbing him and Sutton some food. He immediately started toward the apartment. One more time, he told himself as he called Sutton. As the phone call went to voicemail, he started up the steps to their apartment. Sighing, he ended the call as he reached the top of the stairs. He noticed their door was opened. Danny wiped his eyes to give him more clarity. As he walked into the apartment, he noticed the culprit lying on his couch.

“Oh, hi!” a woman welcomed him.

“Who are you?” Danny questioned. “What are you doing in my-”

“It’s actually a funny story,” the woman said, cutting him off. 

Danny ignored her as she began to ramble. “How did you get into my apartment?” His foot hit a trip wire. Danny watched as her set up began, ending with a blade cutting her head off. Danny nodded. “Okay. Seriously, how did you get in here? Are you some kind of crazed fan or something?” He set the food down, the smell of food now making his stomach clench. He shook his head, shaking it off. “Oh, my God. No, no, no. I recognize you. You did that-you did that B-grade, geek magic thing. You pulled a-”

“Pulled the hat out of the rabbit,” the woman’s voice cleared up for him.

“A hat out of a rabbit, that’s right.” Danny walked over toward the body. “No, it was actually kind of disgusting.”

“Well, it was way worse for the rabbit.”

“Yeah, well, your drop was obvious,” Danny told her, “and your body shell is,” he picked up a hand and watched it fall, “is flimsy.” He dropped the empty shell, picking up the couch’s compartment. “So if you wouldn’t mind crawling out from under my couch and leav-” The sound of a straw being sipped within an empty cup rang throughout the apartment.

“Ta-da!” the woman responded to his surprised look. “Now I’m sitting over here. Crazy! By the way, that rabbit thing, that was like eight years ago, okay?”

Danny shook his head, walking toward the girl and grabbing some rope as she claimed to have gotten better at her magic since then. Danny took the now empty cup from her. “Have you? Okay, come here.” He started tying her hands. “What is it you want?”

“Well, I wanted to meet you,” she admitted as she watched Danny. “Everybody, really. I wanna be part of The Eye.” Danny tied the knot tightly, looking up at her. “Okay? I said it. I do. And I wanna use my magic for good. Like you and Merritt and Jack, especially.”

Danny looked at her again. “Oh, that’s right. I know that Jack is alive. I know that he, and Sutton, faked their own deaths. I am a huge fan of faking deaths! That was crazy!” Danny finished the knot. “What is this?” the girl asked. “Trucker’s hitch? Terrible.” She took the rope off with ease, handing it back to Danny.

“Embarrassing,” she told Danny as he pulled her arms behind her back, trying again to tie them. “By the way, I’m so sorry that Henley left you. Ow! God!” she yelled as Danny pulled the rope a little too tight out of anger. He apologized. “That’s actually a little better. You know what I heard? About Henley?”

Danny rolled his eyes. He knew why Henley left. Who cares about what this freak had heard? “I heard she got tired of waiting around. She lost faith so she asked for an out, and The Eye gave it to her. But who knows, right? In matters of the heart, so difficult to tell. I mean, maybe she got sick of you. You ever think about that? Control issues. Maybe you just didn’t tie her up tight enough. Ow!”

Danny cleared his throat, tired of her talking about things she obviously didn’t know. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. Uh, you’re going to stay here and stop talking.” He made for the landline that Dylan insisted they have. “I’m going to make a phone call and in about five minutes, some people are going to-” He looked back at the girl but she was gone. 

Just then, he got a text message. He was hopeful, praying it was Sutton. Instead, it was Dylan calling a meeting for tonight. He shook his head, leaning against the counter.

“Shit,” Danny heard the one voice he wanted to hear, curse.