Chapter 6: The Cult of Dionysus

Chapter 6: The Cult of Dionysus

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 couldnt afford to be stubborn or afraid, if shed have taken that money our problems wouldve 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 wasnt 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 Kingsor 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, Id make up for Mas mistake. Id 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.

Id 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 cesspitno, 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 clientle to get drunk so they gambled more.

Impressive all around. Most dens I frequented used spirit chips and didnt bother with tokens, this place was professional. Chip me in? I asked, tossing the rest of the spirit chips I had onto the table. Wasnt 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 Id tossed in, instead I slapped them onto the servers drink tray, taking an unnaturally blue drink. It reeked of strong booze. I didnt break my gaze with the lady running the game, tipping my head back and downing the drink, letting it burn down my throat.

Dont 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 putem 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 didnt come here to mess around. Didnt know the actual chances of three dice making a triple. But that honey-dipped tone of hers pissed me off. New novel chapters are published on

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

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! Thats what Im 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 whod 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 dont 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 numbersIf I won, thatd be something like a hundred-and-twenty-five thousand. A number I had a difficult time wrapping my head around.

Id be able to buy a goddamn house. Ma and I wouldnt 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 wasnt 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. Id spend that money on a bike, wed move out of our shitty neighborhood. Hell, I couldnt wait to see Ma and Alexs faces when I swaggered in with pockets full of spirit chips. Id blow their minds. Turned out we didnt need Romeos cash after all. There was no shot shed 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. Youre 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 whod 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 itll get worse.

My fingers bite into his fingers, and he cried out in pain. The back of the others 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

Were the ones asking the questions, Shut your trap!