"All in," she said calmly after giving her cards one last glance.
Spike raised his eyebrows. "That's awfully brave of you, pet. You do know what I do to little kittens when I win at poker, right?"
"I'm fully aware of the consequences," she said in a haughty tone, giving him a look that was far too triumphant for his tastes. It was like she was practically begging him to call.
Spike glanced at what little he had had left. He was down to a few cartons of cigarettes, and there was no way in hell or Earth he was going to let the witch walk away with those too. With the amount of excitement she was oozing, she must have one hell of a hand.
"Bugger all," he snapped, throwing his cards angrily down on the table. "Fold."
There was a chorus of angry hisses and growls around the table. The demons he played cards with had not been happy when they found out the human he brought was here to play rather than be put into the pot. They liked it even less that she had beat them all.
"I think I'm going to cash out now," Willow said happily as she gathered together all her winnings.
"You're not going to even give a bloke a chance to earn back his dignity?"
Willow looked Spike up and down appraisingly. "I'm afraid you have nothing left that I want," she said with a wink.
"Wench," Spike growled as Willow gave him a cheeky grin.
Ignoring the evil glares that all the occupants of the room were sending her, Willow turned to examine her winnings. "Don't worry precious ones," she cooed as she picked up one of the mewling kittens from off the table, "I won't let the bad men hurt you. I'm going to find you all good homes."
"Oh, for the love of all that's unholy! You're supposed to eat your winnings…not pamper them," Spike grumbled.
"Well, seeing as I won …I can do whatever I want with them. Who knows…maybe I'll decide to keep them all," she said in a light tone.
Spike heard the warning hidden in her statement. He'd better shut up if he knew what was good for him.
After putting all the kittens into the pet carrier she had brought with her, she slid the rest of her winnings into her purse. "Goodnight boys," she said with a wave. "We'll have to do this again sometime."
Half the occupants of the room tried to lunge at her, but she had placed an invisible barrier in front of them all to prevent just such a thing. Even if they were Spike's friends, they were still demons, and they ate little things like her for dinner all the time. Or at least, they tried to. But by the time the barrier lifted and the demons were free to rush out into the night, she was long gone.
Spike did not join his friends in the chase though. He'd deal with her later. There was something more pressing on his mind at the moment. He knew it was against the rules. He had folded, so he had no right to see her hand. But he was a vampire…playing by the rules wasn't really his thing. So without a single pang of conscience, he picked up her cards and turned them over. His jaw clenched in anger at what he saw.
"Bloody hell!" Spike grumbled, throwing the cards back onto the table. "I'm never bringing that witch to play poker with the boys again…I don't care what outfit she promises to wear to bed. I have a reputation to maintain after all. She's never going to let me live this down."
Willow had beaten him with a pair of threes.