No one to call, nowhere to go. The walking helped me cool off a bit, but I had a bad taste in my mouth. The fuck had I just seen? Was Ma afraid of help? We couldn’t afford to be stubborn or afraid, if she’d have taken that money our problems would’ve been solved, well for a while. Romeo was generous so I doubted he tossed her anything less than a hundred chips. Gone in a moment, and for what?

I hopped on a bus that shot right to downtown. I always felt weird in this part of the city, something about seeing the new skyscrapers shoved next to buildings hundreds of years old hit strange. Our budding city was built on ancient foundations. A moon crested the sky, marking it as the fun time of night.

Downtown wasn’t claimed as turf by any of the street gangs since it was impossible to hold onto. Everyone filtered in and out, resulting in a hodgepodge of who you might run into. Might see more Brass Kings—or Emerald Serpents. I needed to blow off some steam, and the best way to do that was to find a place to gamble. There were plenty of nooks tucked away to bet your life savings at.

Besides, I’d make up for Ma’s mistake. I’d hit it big. I felt lucky.

I knew all of the tricks to every game, the ins and outs of gambling dens. I'd been on both sides of the table thanks to the Brass Kings, I had a system.

Downtown bloomed with lights and crowds, even at this time of the night, New Valentine was a city with insomnia. After a couple of quick questions, I got a sketchy guy to point me to a nice little gambling den, by the name of the Foxy Fortune.

I’d gambled at a lot of fucked up dens before. Places that reeked of mold and bad choices, but walking into the Foxy Fortune was unique. Their servers and croupiers were all attractive, stuffed in well-fitted clothes. Not like a type of degenerate cesspit—no, fine-fitting dress shirts and pants, to give off a vibe of class and professionalism that left my head whirling. They split up their den into three rooms on the first floor, aside from a central bar. There was one for cards, dice, and Mahjong, each its own gambler's dream world. I beelined for the dice room. Seemed like the purest way to chase the thrill, weaving my way through the lights and thick smoke polluting the air.

Walking on the deep red-carpeted floor made me beam. The tension of fate clashing with reality charged the air. Intoxicating, far better than a bottle of whiskey. My heart hammered, and I licked my lips, scouring the tables for the king of dice games. Sic Bo.

A woman leaned on a table, tossing three dice onto a vibrant green felt surface. The crowd rewarded her with a chorus of cheering and complaints. In short order, she collected and distributed tokens with scary precision, and a twisted grin on her face as she raked in more tokens than she gave out. I paused and lit a smoke, walking over as a waitress came to the table.

It was a basic tactic. Make it easy for the clientèle to get drunk so they gambled more.

Impressive all around. Most dens I frequented used spirit chips and didn’t bother with tokens, this place was professional. “Chip me in?” I asked, tossing the rest of the spirit chips I had onto the table. Wasn’t much, but I intended to walk away with a lot more.

My Soul Seed practically inhaled the buzzing atmosphere filling this den, thrilled by the fortune and misfortune in the place. Made it hard to concentrate as the lady frowned at me. Cultivation required embracing the path of dao your Soul represented. But too much at once stunted growth, and at my stage, could harm my Spirit Seed. Or so the Sects said. Being honest? Think they were full of bullshit. I felt good.

The woman sized me up. “Bit lost, aint ya schoolboy?” the table chuckled.

I raised my eyebrow, nabbing four of the spirit chips I’d tossed in, instead I slapped them onto the server’s drink tray, taking an unnaturally blue drink. It reeked of strong booze. I didn’t break my gaze with the lady running the game, tipping my head back and downing the drink, letting it burn down my throat.

“Don’t test me, lady.” I shook my head, fighting the urge to scrunch my face. What, did they liquefy sugar and blend it with stale blueberries? I gave my best curled-lip smirk and then pointed to the ‘All Triples’ spot on the table. “Chip me in, then put’em all on that.”

"Schoolboy, that is a poor spot. Don't risk all your lunch money on that. Why not this?” she asked, digging out nine wood tokens. She slid them to the spot betting table for ‘Odds.’ That bet only paid one to one. Whereas mine gave twenty-four to a single chip. I didn’t come here to mess around. Didn’t know the actual chances of three dice making a triple. But that honey-dipped tone of hers pissed me off.

I stared her down and pushed my pile of wood chips into the ‘Triples’ section. I took a quick moment to admire their beauty—each burned with a fancy lotus in the middle.

“Let’em waste his money! Just roll the dice!” some yelled, shoving their bets in their places. Our croupier puckered her lips.

“Whatever, kid.” At last, she stopped paying attention to me to track another gambler's bet. Guess I wasn't worth the space in her head.

I took a calming breath and slipped my hand under the table while leaning in. Pretending to read over the different sections. Sic Bo—it's a beautifully complicated game. Yet at its heart, simple as could be. Place a bet on the dice showing different things. Roll three dice. House pays out or takes your loss. A few different types of bets to make, each with different payouts based on math which always benefited the house. But to me? Didn’t matter.

The only thing that held any importance was just what showed up on those three plastic cubes. My Soul Seed pulsed, eager to influence fate. My fingers brushed my thigh, causing a burst of numbness as I called upon Fickle Fate.

From this position, I certainly couldn’t see the spark of light. No idea how my dice landed. But that’s what made it fun. I leaned forward, feeling that sweet primal anticipation. My attention fused to the woman as she tossed the dice into a cup. A mocking smile on her painted face before she let the dice free.

They clattered against the table. Even with the felt muting them, I swear I heard each tap as they bounced. My focus honed on them, the air thick with fate and the taste of chance.

A set of triple fours dominated the table as the dice came to rest. Our croupier’s mouth dropped, and the rest of the gamblers lost their collective shit.

I broke out in a grin, feeling that cold sweat still coating my skin. Fuck yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! The woman running the game slowly counted out my pile of tokens, including one made of engraved steel, and another set of wood with a different marker.

“This one here is a hundred, schoolboy,” she traced the metal token. I focused on the dragon engraved on the token, barely aware of what the other wooden ones were worth. I diligently considered the table. If I walked out now, I’d have somewhere a little under two hundred chips. Not more than a month or two of helping out my family, but it could go a long way.

Or I could go bigger.

Everyone went quiet as I piled my chips, then pushed the lot of them into the same triples space. “What are you doing? Take your chips and go home, schoolboy.”

“I’m winning.”

She looked like she’d seen the biggest idiot on this fucking planet. And hell, she might be right. The guy next to me formed a circle with his hands, and then steepled his fingers together, along with a shake of the head. I scoffed. An ancient gesture—one with a history as a supplication to the Immortals. Now though? People used it sarcastically, asking the Immortals to oversee a fool.

Screw’em all, I had this.

“One last chance, kid. I’ll let you take your tokens back.”

“Naw, roll the dice, lady.” I threw a little venom into that, accompanying it with a cocky grin. Before brushing my fingers against my thigh—my will iron, demanding Fickle Fate to go my way. I watched her collect the dice before my Soul Seed burst with a spark of power. Numbness ran through my leg, as I pulled the trigger.

Didn’t know if it was good or bad. I’d either leave with nothing or five-fucking-thousand chips.

Sweat rolled down my face, everything came in sharp detail. My Soul Seed thrummed with energy as my breath ran fast and heavy. Lightning coursed through my veins. I still felt good. Drowned in the tense atmosphere as fate turned, waiting for those dice shaking in her cup to hit that table.

Those beautiful plastic dice rolled, turning up to show triple fours, again. Their slick white plastic surface was far more perfect than any girl on this planet. Each of those matching black dots was a thing of beauty. Loved to see it.

“Hahahahahahahaha! That’s what I’m fucking talking about!” I threw my hands in the air. The croupier gazed at the dice with eyes as wide as saucers. She exchanged the iron and wooden tokens for five jade tokens, each with a coiled serpent engraved on their delicate surface. “Bring them here! Ya doubted me! All of ya! Ah by the Immortals, anyone got a fucking smoke?!”

The man who’d made the mocking gesture fished me out a cigarette, palming me a lighter as well. Cloud nine, everything numb as I lit the mother-fucker, and shoved those jade tokens in my pocket. Letting that sweet nicotine calm my jitters. With a quick exhale of bliss, I caught a shuffle of quick two men dressed in fine suits meandering this way. High rollers? Pffft, probably hoping to get to this table because it was hot.

“Hey lady, where can I chip out?”

“Entrance lobby, at the counter,” she paused, glancing at something. “Hold on kid, sure you don’t wanna make another bet?

My heart skipped a beat. I looked at the table, then at her eyes. That mocking expression of hers wiped; her face was as still as a tranquil pond. I really wanted to shove those tokens right back onto the triple spot. I was on a hot streak. My mind turned over the numbers—If I won, that’d be something like a hundred-and-twenty-five thousand. A number I had a difficult time wrapping my head around.

I’d be able to buy a goddamn house. Ma and I wouldn’t worry about jack-shit with that kinda money in our lives. My finger ran over the smooth surface of the jade in my pocket.

Should I overthink this? No, Ma turned down what probably had been a life-changing amount of money. I wasn’t going to do the same thing. Without hesitation, I yanked the jade tokens out of my pocket, then slammed them down onto that lucky-fucking ‘Triples’ spot. My Soul Seed shuddered in pure delight. The air was thick and heavy, intoxicating waves of fate. Who left on a hot streak this good?

No one else placed a bet. The lady running the table quietly collected the dice, shoved them into the cup, then shook them.

My Soul Seed cried out, and I discretely brushed the tips of my fingers against my leg. As far as I could tell, influencing Fickle Fate gave a little better odds than flipping a spirit chip. Meaning, I held a slight edge in my favor. Even if it were just straight half-and-half odds, those were much better than the normal chances offered by the house. The dice flung across the table, time seemed to slow as they came to a rest.

A gasp came from the crowd, as they settled into a set of triple fours. Defying the very heavens with their existence. My heart stopped, and a thousand thoughts rammed through my mind. I’d spend that money on a bike, we’d move out of our shitty neighborhood. Hell, I couldn’t wait to see Ma and Alex’s faces when I swaggered in with pockets full of spirit chips. I’d blow their minds. Turned out we didn’t need Romeo’s cash after all. There was no shot she’d turn down what I brought home.

The laughter flowed out of me, my head tilting back to take in the neon lights that studded the ceiling of the gambling den. Giddy, excited, and sweet fucking relief that my life finally changed for the better.

“Yeah. You’re coming with us.”

“Huh?”

A set of hands clamped down on my wrists, dragging me by the arms. I struggled, noting the two well-dressed men who’d grabbed me. The woman across the table slipped my five sleek jade tokens away from sight. Her cold eyes were uncaring as I got forcibly dragged away. I kicked and yelled, but it got me nothing, except a disgusting hand covering my mouth.

“Quiet kid, or it’ll get worse.”

My fingers bite into his fingers, and he cried out in pain. The back of the other’s hand smacked across my face, splitting skin from the cold metal of a jagged ring. They shuffled around and elbowed me in the gut. I gasped out, “Who… What—“

“We’re the ones asking the questions, Shut your trap!”