Page 110 of Gambler's Conceit

Seven looks down at the chips and tosses a few in as well. “I’m going to call, too, then,” he decides.

“Not gonna fold?” Vortex teases him. “You don’t have to lose any more than you already have.”

Seven rolls his eyes. “No. You should know by now I don’t give up easy.”

Not at cards, at least.

“Since nobody else raised, please reveal your cards, gentlemen,” Madeline says cheerfully.

I turn over my cards to show off my three sevens. Vortex groans. He only has two pairs, both of them low numbers.

“Look at that. I’m winning with sevens. You’re lucky for me, Seven,” I declare with a grin.

Seven’s lips curve into a triumphant smirk as he fans out his own hand. “Am I, though? Am I really? Because it looks like I just trounced you.”

His entire hand is spades—including the ace and jack of spades that had just been in Caleb’s hand. I gape and turn to Caleb. “Did you just cheat?”

Caleb places his hand on his chest and pretends to be outraged. “Excuse me? I am the owner of the Roi de Pique, one of the oldest and most well-regarded casinos in Calamity City. I would nevercheat. And anyway, I lost the round! I wouldn’t be doing a good job of cheating.”

Vortex starts to chuckle. “Well, that’s how you do it, Seven. Let the rest of us look like idiots while you hold the best cards in the game.”

“You’re all the ones who said I couldn’t bluff,” he points out, scooping up the chips from the table.

“You didn’t have to bluff, to be fair,” Vortex says. “You really did have the best hand at the table.”

“But did I know that?” Seven asks.

Caleb rubs Seven’s shoulder. “You knew I’d given you those cards, and you knew what Vortex and Havoc had. That’s how I like to play—using whatever tools I have at my disposal to come out on top.” He stops and glances at Madeline. “I would never cheat in an official game, of course.”

Madeline giggles. “Of course not. Then again, you aren’t allowed to play here anyway.”

We bicker amongst ourselves as Madeline deals the next hand. There’s nothing serious about how we play after that—Caleb blatantly shows his cards to Seven, Seven rubs his feet along my shins, Vortex tries his hand at lifting a few extra cards. I end up swapping a few cards with Vortex at one point, just to get ahead of the Caleb-and-Seven combo.

By the end, I have no idea how much money anybody has theoretically made. Caleb orders food from one of the restaurants for all of us, and Seven moves to sit on my lap to cheat with my cards instead.

And for those few hours, I don’t think about my empty new apartment or my mother’s bruised up arms.

I’m just happy.

Seven kisses my cheek and smiles at me. I smile back, and I know I was right.

Seven really is my lucky charm.

TWENTY-FIVE

SEVEN

Despite how muchfun poker was, I’m drawn to the blackjack tables again. I don’t know what it is about the game—maybe because there’s still an element of chance, or because I’m not playing against another person. I’m just playing some nebulous “fate,” and I want to believe I can come out on top.

I’m almost there, right? I can stop running—I can stop gambling—if I’m safe and free?

The casino is much less crowded on a Monday, especially at lunch time. That frees up the blackjack tables so I really am playing alone.

My cards currently add up to fifteen. That’s pretty good odds of staying under twenty-one, I think, but I can’t remember which cards have already shown up, and despite Havoc’s repeated attempts to teach me complex gambling odds math, it hasn’t stuck.

Madeline winks at me. “Are you surrendering this time, Seven?”

Too bad I can’t cheat at blackjack the way Caleb had helped me cheat at poker.

---