Chapter 5: A Gamble with Fate

Elias Thorne had risked a thousand games of chance. He'd wagered in smoky dens, in taverns lit by candles, in establishments where men wagered their last breath as well as their gold.

But this?

This was not the same.

This wasn't merely money or survival at stake.

This was his soul.

The room Alistair took them to was concealed behind the brothel, a secret, dark room made of dark wood and the smell of old smoke. A heavy table took center stage, its surface even but adorned with old knife scars. Seated around it, the sort of men and women who didn't take exception to blood reclined in the shadows, their eyes shining with mirth.

Selene's fingers rested on the dagger at her thigh as she looked around. She didn't believe this. And neither did Elias.

But he was at a disadvantage.

Alistair waved at the chair beside him, smiling like this was a game between long-time friends.

Elias took a seat.

Selene remained standing behind him, arms crossed, lips tight. "This is a mistake," she whispered.

Elias smirked. "Most of my best stories start that way."

Alistair chuckled, reaching into his coat and pulling out a deck of cards.

"I admire your confidence," he mused. "Let's hope it lasts."

The Rules of the Damned

Elias observed as Alistair shuffled too smoothly, too neatly. The cards were frayed but not normal. The edges were blackened, the faces inscribed with twisted forms, sinister shapes, and things that seemed to quiver when he looked away.

This wasn't a game.

Selene tensed. "Where did you obtain those?"

Alistair just grinned. "What's a gamble without a little risk?"

Elias sat back. "Fine. How do you play?"

Alistair laid the deck on the table. "Easy. We draw." He poked the top card with a languid finger. "High card wins."

Elias scowled. "That's it?"

Alistair nodded. "That's it."

Selene let out a sharp breath. "This is a trap."

Alistair's smile grew. "Oh, it's definitely a trap." He leaned in. "But it's the only way out."

Elias could feel the chill of the amulet against his chest.

Loose, Alistair had spoken. That was the trick. That was the only way to lift the curse.

The catch?

The amulet had never failed him before.

Elias moved his tongue over his teeth, weighing the options. He could leave. He could seek out a different means.

But in the back of his mind, he knew the truth.

There was no other method.

He reached for the deck.

Selene's fingers tightened around his shoulder. "Elias, don't."

He gazed up at her. And for once in a very long while, he did not have something smart to say.

Because he was afraid.

And so was she.

There was no going back, though.

He drew a card.

The First Draw

The instant Elias flipped his card over, the atmosphere in the room changed.

The markings on the face glimmered as if they were alive, contorting into something that should not be.

He gazed at it.

The King of Swords.

A strong card. A winning one.

Alistair smiled, as if not surprised.

"Impressive," he said softly. "And yet…"

He pulled out his own.

A snap of the wrist. A deliberate spin.

And there it was.

The Ace of Crowns.

A better card. A winning card.

A losing hand for Elias.

Elias's breath stalled.

Selene tensed.

The amulet burned cold on his chest.

For the first time in years, he had lost.

And the instant that dawning awareness stabilized, the world shattered.

The Breaking of the Curse

A violent shudder traveled through the room. The lanterns trembled.

The shadows grew long and hungry.

Then pain.

Elias gasped, his chest freezing, his pulse pounding.

The amulet burned hot. Like it was fighting something it had never experienced true defeat.

The symbols on Alistair's cards started to shine, pulsing like a heartbeat. The air thickened, heavy with something ancient.

And then.

The amulet shattered.

Not with a sound, not with an explosion but with a creepy, crushing silence.

Elias could feel it shatter against his skin, dissolve into dust, disappear.

His breathing was rapid and shallow.

For the first time in years, the burden was lifted.

The curse was lifted.

The Price of Freedom

Selene was beside him in a moment. "Elias"

He raised a hand, gasping, attempting to make sense of what had occurred.

Alistair merely stood there, looking far too smug.

Well," he reflected, leaning back, "that was entertaining."

Elias scrubbed a hand over his face, then regarded him. "What in the world did you do?"

Alistair grinned. "Oh, nothing special. Merely assisted you in paying your debt at last."

Elias's fists clenched. "Why?"

Alistair's smile sharpened to a blade. "Because, Elias Thorne, I don't like owing things."

He stood, patting an invisible speck of dust from his coat.

"And now" His eyes darted. "Neither do you.

Elias should have experienced relief. He should have experienced something besides the creeping unease seeping deep into his bones.

Selene's gaze narrowed. "What's the catch?"

Alistair smiled.

"Oh, there's always a catch," he whispered. "But that's for you to discover."

He tipped his hat and headed for the door.

"Enjoy your freedom," he called back over his shoulder.

And then he was gone.

The Aftermath

Silence fell between them.

Elias released a long, slow breath.

The curse was gone.

The amulet was gone.

He was free.

So why did it feel as though he'd just made the worst decision of his life?

Selene placed herself in front of him, her face an enigma. "How do you feel?"

Elias bent his fingers.

Odd. Light. As though the air that surrounded him was altered.

As though something was missing.

"Fine," he replied, although he wasn't certain if that was correct.

Selene wasn't satisfied.

"Elias," she said slowly. "What if losing the amulet didn't just steal your luck?"

His gut knotted.

"What if it stole something else?"

Elias couldn't think of an answer.

But as he looked down at his hands, at the strange ache of hollowness where the amulet used to lie.

He had the dreadful feeling that she was correct.

The Morning After a Curse.

Elias awoke to the smell of whiskey, rain, and something else emptiness.

Not merely in the room, not merely in the space next to him where Selene had slept lightly, one hand always close to a weapon.

Inside him.

For the first time in his life, something felt wrong.

The heaviness of the amulet was gone, but it wasn't relief that took its place. It was absence. A hollow, gnawing feeling that burrowed into his chest like something essential had been removed from him in the darkness and no one had seen fit to sew him back together.

Elias rubbed his face with a shaking hand. His hands had never shaken before.

Selene stirred on the other side of the bed, moving under the meager sheet. Her eyes fluttered open, dark and wide awake even as she woke. She looked at him.

"You look like shit," she said softly.

Elias smiled, though it didn't feel so much like a natural reaction anymore. "You always know what to say."

Selene sat up slowly, her naked shoulder catching the pale morning light that filtered in through the cracked shutters. She wasn't the kind to wake up soft, to stretch like a woman well-rested. She woke like a hunter. A fighter.

And at the moment, her eyes were scanning him.

"Something's wrong."

Elias let out a sharp breath, reaching for the cigarette on the bedside table. His fingers fumbled the match.

That had never happened before.

Selene's eyes narrowed. "Elias."

He didn't respond immediately. Just lit the cigarette, took a drag, and let the smoke seep into his lungs like it might drive out whatever was scuttling beneath his skin.

"I should be different," he conceded.

Selene raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"

"Oh, I'm different, all right," Elias growled. He exhaled a languid cloud of smoke, staring at the ceiling. "Just not in the way I'm supposed to."

Selene pulled the sheet close, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "No amulet, no curse. You should be free."

Elias puffed a silent laugh. It wasn't freedom.

It was losing something and not knowing what.

Selene hesitated, then asked the question he did not want to consider.

"What did Alistair take?"

A Test of Fate

Elias did not have an answer.

But he had a feeling.

And he needed to know.

He tossed on his coat, laced up his boots, and headed to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Selene demanded, hurrying after him as he strode out into the leaden, rain-slicked streets.

"To find out if I can still win," he replied.

They discovered a gaming joint in just a couple of minutes because naturally they did.

The town was a den of vice, and luck had always brought him to establishments such as this. A smoke filled hall, heavy with the odor of sweat and cheap cigars, was filled with men who made their fortunes on risk.

Elias strode in as if he owned the joint.

The burden of eyes descended upon him, some suspicious, some curious.

Selene trailed behind him, arms folded. Silent. Observant.

He sat at the closest table, drawing out a coin. "Deal me in."

The dealer a man with a scar across his jaw and a vulture's grin nodded and started to shuffle.

Elias hadn't lost a game in ten years.

Not once.

He had always known before the card turned, before the dice landed. There had been a certainty, an inevitability, to his hands. The amulet had made it so.

And now?

Now, he felt nothing.

The cards were laid out.

Elias picked them up. Studied them. His heart was steady, but something icy twisted in his stomach.

He put down his bet.

The second round arrived. He played intelligently and cautiously. But there was no hint of knowing. No turn of luck shifting things his way.

The last card was dealt.

And he lost.

A soft hush fell across the table.

Selene's breath caught, so soft only he heard.

Elias leaned back, breathing out. The men around him laughed, one thumping the table. "Bad luck, stranger."

Elias grinned. "Looks that way."

Selene bent down, speaking softly. "We have to go. Now."

Something Is Missing

They walked in silence.

The rain had begun again, light at first, then growing heavier, seeping through Elias's coat as they walked through the streets that were emptying out.

Selene continued to look at him like she was waiting for something to break.

Elias lit a second cigarette. His hands were steady now. That should have been comforting. It wasn't.

At last, she broke her silence.

"You've always been lucky."

Elias smirked, exhaling smoke. "You make it sound like a sin."

"You don't get it," she spat, anger creeping into her tone. "You weren't just lucky, Elias. The amulet it didn't only protect you, it influenced you. It made you appear wherever you were supposed to, whenever you were supposed to be there."

Elias scowled. "And now?"

Selene hesitated.

Elias halted, turning to her completely. The rain streamed down his face, wetting his hair, but he didn't budge.

"Now what, Selene?"

She looked at him as if she were seeing something he wasn't.

At last, she spoke.

"Now you may not be you anymore."

The words crept through him with a slow, writhing fear.

Elias hadn't merely lost the amulet.

He'd lost something deeper.

Selene moved closer, her tone softer now. "Have you seen? The way they look at you?"

Elias snorted. "Like they want to steal everything from me?"

Selene shook her head. "No. They used to look at you like they knew you. Like you were home, even if they didn't know why." Her dark eyes scanned his face. "Now, it's different."

Elias turned back toward the road, brushing off the unease curling in his chest. "I'm still me."

Selene didn't argue. But she didn't agree either.

The First Sign

By the time they reached the inn, the rain had turned into a storm.

Elias pushed open the door, shaking water from his coat. The innkeeper a grizzled old man who had served them drinks just last night looked up from behind the counter.

Elias grinned. "Tough night, old guy?"

The innkeeper scowled.

His eyes scanned Elias, slow and probing.

Then he said something that made Elias's blood run cold.

"Do I know you?"

The sentence rang like a sledgehammer.

Elias halted. Gawked.

Selene went stiff beside him.

The innkeeper's forehead creased, as if he were attempting to recall a memory that had already escaped him.

"I swear I don't recall you coming in before," the man muttered, rubbing his temple.

Elias's pulse roared in his ears.

Selene reached out, gripping his wrist.

Whispering just for him, "Elias. We have a problem."

He wasn't just unlucky now.

He was disappearing.