Chapter Thirteen #3
“I understand. I want to go again. Spin again.”
“Okay. Choose your number.”
I don’t move the chip. Leaving the purple disk atop the number eleven.
“Let it ride,” I tell Chance.
He raises his eyebrows once, then pulls the ball from the wheel and spins both again.
Time drags on as Kane and I look on. Finally, the white ball eases enough to descend from the outer track and makes its way into the middle, bouncing among a sea of black and red with the occasional pop of green.
The blurry numbers whipping around start to come into focus, and I can see the ball jumping and moving closer and then further from the black eleven.
My eyes stay glued to the number, willing the ball to find that one space among the thirty-eight possibilities.
Finally, the ball rests as the wheel comes to a stop.
Chance grabs the weight and places it on the winning number. The transparent win marker rests firmly upon my purple chip as he announces, “Eleven. Black.”
For a moment, I can’t process it. My eyes dart immediately from the wheel, to the table, to Chance.
“Seems it’s your lucky day,” he says deviously.
“Tell me.” My voice shakes. “Tell me how to get to my Maddy, my dove.”
“A deal’s a deal.” Chance straightens his shirt again, suddenly all business. “Here’s what you need to do. Find the stone that wants to speak, but never does. Underneath lies the key. Use it to unlock the unknown and face what lies below.”
“What is that? More riddles? I want answers. You promised.”
“And I’ve given them to you. What you do with that information may or may not take you to The Catacombs.”
My mind begins poring over possible answers to his trickster words. Then another thought about the strange presence of this odd man comes over me, and I cannot help but ask, “Why are you telling me this?”
Chance tilts his head. “Because I can.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.” He collects the roulette ball from the wheel, tossing it hand to hand.
“Because I felt like it. Because I’m bored.
Because, because, because, because … because when my darling sister slams a door shut, I like to break a window.
Because my big Sisters think they control everything and I love to prove them wrong. ”
“And how can I trust you? How do I know this isn’t just another game?”
“We’ve already established you can’t trust me.
Not even a little bit. And everything is a game.
Some souls just take it a bit more seriously than others.
” Chance’s grin is all teeth now. “What fun! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I don’t have to leave, but I want to.
I feel a bit of a draft. Did someone crack a window? Brrrr.”
He snaps his fingers, and both he and the roulette table vanish.
The white ball drops to the carpet, rolling until it comes to rest at my feet.
Kane and I stand alone on the casino floor. Around us, dealers are still picking up scattered chips from Gerald’s outburst, looking confused. The living remain oblivious to what just transpired.
“Did that just—” Kane starts.
“Yeah.”
“And he said—”
“Yeah.”
Kane is quiet for a long moment. Then, “What are you going to do?”
I bend down and pick up the white ball, closing my fist around it. The surface is still warm.
“I’m going to find Maddy.”
“Asher—”
“Don’t.” I turn to face him. “Don’t tell me it’s impossible. Don’t tell me it’s too dangerous. Don’t tell me I’m going to end up in The Nothing for this.”
“I wasn’t going to say any of that.” Kane’s expression softens in a way I’ve never seen before. “I was going to say, let me help you.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
“Really? Why?”
“Rue believes in second chances,” he says quietly. “She believes everyone deserves to find their way home. If Maddy is your home”—he shrugs—“then we find her. Together.”
Pressure presses down on my chest, but it feels comforting rather than constricting.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Kane pulls out his Tombstone Phone.
“We still have to solve that ridiculous riddle. Then figure out how to actually get into The Bliss. All while not getting caught by Big D or the Sisters. Then hope Chance wasn’t lying about everything.
” He shakes his head. “Remember when we used to take souls to ALP and move on?”
I give him a dry chuckle. “To be fair, you started it. We were happy little soldiers until someone decided to go against orders.”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on. We have a report to file with Rue about Gerald’s crossing. And then we have a riddle to solve.”
Find the stone that wants to speak, but never does.
Underneath lies the key.
Use it to unlock the unknown and face what lies below.
I don’t know what it means yet.
But I will figure it out. I have to.
My Maddy is in The Bliss. And I’m going to find her. Even if she doesn’t remember me. Even if she chose to erase every memory we’d ever made.
She’s there.
And nothing—not locked gates, not insurmountable walls, not the rules of the OtherWorld itself—is going to keep me from her.
Not this time.