Page 31 of Samhain

“No more bets,” the dealer said, and we watched the ball spin around the wheel and land on twenty-three red. “Winner!” He pushed our earnings toward us.

The woman shouted and threw her arms up in the air, wrapping them around my neck and giving me a big kiss on the cheek.

“I got lucky. I got lucky,” I said.

“Do it again!”

This time, I put it down on sixteen black. The dealer spun the ball in the wheel, and it landed on the same number and color.

“Winner!” he called again.

“Jesus, cutie pie,” the woman said. “Do you have a horseshoe in your pocket?”

Apprehension slithered around my spine, and I shivered. From what, I didn’t know. The analogy rocketed through me, not because I actually had a horseshoe, but because there was something about me being lucky. It wiggled around in my chest like a fucked-up monster from an ’80s movie, preparing to bust out of my rib cage and kill us all.

“Okay, one last time.” She handed me a big stack of chips.

“That’s too much,” I protested and tried to push them back.

“Don’t tell me how to spend my own money.” She slurred and tumbled on her heels, but I caught her and pushed her back upright.

“All right,” I conceded, and I placed another bet.

We won again, but this time, we won big. Really big. To the tune of half a million dollars. It drew the attention of the dealer and the security staff, who came over to “monitor” the game. It was enough to scare me off, especially because I didn’t know what was happening. Could it have been a coincidence? Sure. Nothing was impossible, only highly improbable. But I’d made myself and a stranger a lot of money in a very short amount of time.

The house always wins, right?

Not tonight.

“What’s your name?” The blonde slung an arm over my shoulder, leaning on me as we walked out of the casino. She smelled like cigarettes and gin and regret. “I’m Candy.”

“Carter,” I said.

Once we were on the sidewalk, she put a cigarette between her lips and eyed me up and down.

“Candy and Carter,” she repeated. “A match made in heaven.”

I snorted a laugh and ran a hand over the back of my head. I could have her, if I wanted. I could take her back up to my room and fuck her brains out and forget all about Miri and Lex and Ivy. But my cock shriveled at the idea, revolting at the images coursing through my brain.

“I should go,” I said. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Yeah.” She flashed me a grin. “Likewise. Take care of yourself. Thanks for the luck.”

That uneasy feeling choked my windpipe again, the one that had me wincing and trembling with anticipation.

Luck.

I’d never been superstitious. I didn’t believe in ghosts or things that went bump in the night. Something strange had happened to us in Ireland, sure. There were things about that experience that I would never be able to explain, but there was a logical explanation for it, whatever it was: someone had drugged us, someone had burned marks into our hands, someone had fucked with Ivy.

I needed a way to test this, a way to be one hundred percent sure.

A stupid idea rattled around in my idiot brain, but once it was there, I couldn’t find a good reason not to do it.

I went to another casino a few blocks down, one where I’d be able to get in and get out before their facial recognition system picked me up again.

One game. Just walk up to the first table. Put it all down. See what happens.

I found a blackjack table and sat down to bet it all on the first hand. Half a million dollars. Bam! Right on the green.

---