Hand of Fate

Fate parked outside the B&B, waiting for Georgia, though he knew he shouldn’t get involved. Even in this supernatural town, the name Noqoìlpi inspired fear. He-Who-Wins-Men. And this beautiful little human was hunting him.

Her poker skills were impressive, but just because she’d cleared a table of amateurs at Chonky’s Bar last night didn’t mean she could take down a Navajo gambling god.

His orange and black cross fox, Mel, crawled into his lap. Fate scratched behind his ears and cooed, “That one’s trouble. Just like you.”

Georgia came out a few moments later and smiled when she spotted him.

“Need a ride?” he asked.

She climbed into his truck and Mel promptly left Fate to curl in her lap. 

“Fine,” Fate said. “I’ll eat these by myself.”

Mel’s ears perked when Fate rattled the cup of multi-colored doughnut holes, but he still wouldn’t move, so Fate handed them to Georgia. She extracted a bright blue one and fed it to the fox.

“Foxes eat doughnut holes,” she mused.

“That fox eats everything. He has a reputation, and I always have a vet bill. There have been rings, coins, a lighter …”  Fate shook his head. “Where are you headed?”

“Chonky’s.”

He drove most of the way in silence, then said, “Are you going to tell me why you want to play Noqoìlpi?”

She studied him. “Why?”

“Because I’m worried.”

“You don’t know me,” she said. “We just met yesterday.”

“So, I can’t worry about you?” he asked as he parked outside the bar.

“No,” she said, holding Mel and reaching for the door handle. “You can’t.”

“Georgia, wait!” he said. “I know what he is. You can’t beat him.”

“I did once,” she said defensively. “He has my little brother, Fate. My father lost us in a game three years ago. Last month, I challenged Noqoìlpi to a game for our freedom, and I won. He got mad and let me go, but he kept Luke. And he wouldn’t play me again.”

“Georgia—”

She shook her head. “He takes you to the shadow world. You don’t understand how awful it is. Luke can’t survive another four years. I’m going to get another game, and I’m going to free him. Don’t try to stop me.”

She stalked inside. He trailed in behind her just in time to hear her ask Larry for a Jack and Coke.

Fate nodded at Chonky, the cyclops who owned the bar, and held up two fingers to indicate he wanted the same. Larry grunted.

“Don’t mind him,” Chonky said. “He’s grumpy because I’m making him do the charity Bachelor Auction.” 

“They’re not seeing eye-to-eye,” Leo the werewolf joked, and Chonky scowled before leaning to taunt Larry.

“Think of the chil-dren, Larry,” he said, then snickered.

“It’s your bar,” Larry groused. “You should do it, too.”

Fate and Leo both laughed. Chonky scowled.

“What?” he demanded. “I’m sexier than either of you pretty boys.”

“He’s the one eye adore,” Leo said, blowing Chonky a kiss.

Chonky frowned. “I’m not scared. I’m in. But you and Fate are, too.”

“Eye, Captain.” Fate tapped off a salute and Georgia laughed.

Chonky took it all in stride. He told Georgia, “You should bid, darlin’.  You could probably get all three of these for a dollar.”

The door blew open. The banter stopped and Mel’s hackles rose when a man in an expensive black suit and cowboy boots walked in.

Chonky stiffened and his smile looked forced as he said, “Noqoìlpi. Long time, no see.”

The gambling god didn’t answer. He was too busy scanning the room. Then his gaze lit on Georgia and his lip curled. He turned to Chonky. 

“I want a game. What do you have?”

“I’ll play you,” Georgia said. “Right now.”

He ignored her, and Chonky made a show of wiping down his bar. “Ah, it’s a little slow right now. We don’t have any tables going.”

“What’s this?” Noqoìlpi tapped a flier advertising tomorrow night’s poker game.

“Nothing you’d be interested in. A charity event, with human players only. That’s really all that will be—”

“I’m playing," Georgia interrupted. "You could sponsor a human to play against me. That is, if you have someone who can play better than you. I’d like a real challenge.”

Chonky gasped and Fate jumped to his feet.

Everyone started talking at once. Everyone except Noqoìlpi and Georgia. 

Noqoìlpi held up a hand and the room fell silent. He beckoned Georgia forward.  

“I want Luke’s freedom,” she said, facing him.

Noqoìlpi smirked. “And if you lose?”

“Then you get me back. Seven more years.”

Noqoìlpi shook his head. “New game, new bet. If you lose, your brother will still go free, but you will belong to me forever.”

“Deal!” Georgia said without hesitation, and the room erupted in protest.

Noqoìlpi smiled. 

When Noqoìlpi left, Fate said,“I’m not going to let you do this. Maybe your brother’s tougher than you think. Maybe he can do four more.”

“He can’t. I know he can’t.”

Chonky tried to reason with her, but she’d made up her mind. She punched a few numbers in the jukebox before walking back to Fate and taking his hand. 

“Dance with me,” she said.

***

When Fate took her back that night, he didn’t leave. He lay awake long after she’d fallen asleep in his arms. After Noqoìlpi had left, she’d acted so carefree, while each sip of his beer had made him want to throw up. He tried to tell himself that she’d be playing another human, not Noqoìlpi, but still, it would likely be another person playing for their life. He barely knew Georgia, but he already knew he couldn’t lose her.

They stayed in bed until noon, then he took her to lunch. She laughed and joked and cleaned her plate, while his food remained untouched. 

“Fate… ” She took his hand. “Don’t worry about me.”

She kissed him at the table, not caring who was watching.

“Either way, if Luke is free, it’ll be okay.”

She wrapped up a biscuit for Mel, and Fate drove to Main Street, where vendors were set up for the Christmas Festival. Fate bought a red rose from a little boy. Turning to Georgia, he broke it off, removed the thorns and tucked it behind her ear. “The Chinese think red is a lucky color. Brides wear it to ward—”

Mel suddenly bounded from Georgia’s arms. Fate lost sight of him, then he heard someone yelling. He found Mel in Benny’s Donut’s  booth, helping himself to a batch of freshly iced doughnut holes while Benny tried to shoo him away. Mel stood his ground and hissed, his mouth stained green from the icing.

“I’m sorry!” Fate said, scooping up his pet. 

He threw down some cash and a mollified Benny handed him the half-eaten cup of doughnut holes.

Fate chastised Mel as they walked away, but in baby talk, making Georgia laugh. 

“Now you know where the phrase ‘crazy like a fox’ comes from, but I’m not sure they’re as smart as people think.”

Mel gave him an offended look, which was comical because of the green and pink icing clinging to his whiskers. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Fate purred. “I’m not the one who ate a tube of Krazy Glue once. That was bad. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t open his mouth and he was scared. We were all chasing him around the Chonky Tonk.”

Too soon, Georgia glanced at her watch and said, “I guess we’d better head that way.”

When they walked in the bar, Chonky looked at Georgia and said, “How ya doing, sweetheart? It’s not too late to change your mind.”

“I’m good. It’ll be okay.” She smiled, but when Fate took her hand, it was icy.

Mel made a keening sound and the bar quietened as Noqoìlpi walked in. Fate didn’t immediately notice the man trailing behind him, but Georgia did.

A tear streaked down her cheek as she said, “Father.”

***

Georgia’s father said, “Hey, Sweetpea.”

“Is it not enough,” she demanded, “that you caused all of this in the first place? Did you come to finish destroying your own children?”

Her father dropped his head. 

“Georgia, I didn’t have a choice. I tried to win you back, but I lost, and now I belong to Noqoìlpi.”

“That’s what you’re playing for today? Your freedom versus mine? You’re such a great dad.”

Across the bar, Chonky announced, “Poker contestants, your seat numbers and positions were assigned randomly and our local coven has taken steps to ensure there will be no magical interference at the table.”

Georgia’s seat was  directly across from her father. Noqoìlpi gazed at her as he rolled a smooth piece of turquoise through his fingers.

Seven contestants had entered, and only one had been eliminated by first break, taken out by a careless all-in against Georgia’s father.  

“Let’s go outside,” she told Fate.

When they were away from the crowd, Georgia snuggled against him . He cradled her close, careful not to crush Mel between them.

“You’re doing great,” he said. “You are so crazy smart and intuitive.”

But so was her father. At the table, he was all business. He hadn’t even made eye contact. 

The second round went faster. Three more players folded by the next break, leaving only Georgia, her father and a young man hidden behind a hoodie that covered most of his face as he attempted not to betray any signs. But Georgia didn’t need his face.

“He has a nervous knee,” she whispered to Fate during the next break. “I think I’m getting a tell that my father can’t.”

 Georgia got her chance to test her theory a few hands later. Her father folded after the flop. The river gave Georgia four-of-a-kind, and apparently gave nervous knee something as well. Knowing only two hands could beat her, she said, “All-in,” and the guy called, sealing his elimination.

For the first time, Georgia had the chip lead. She asked her father,  “Have you even checked on Luke? Do you feel any remorse from sending a fifteen-year-old boy to the shadow land?”

He glanced at her as he checked on the flop. “I never thought I’d lose. I’d lost my money. I’d lost my house. I really thought I’d figured him out and was going to win. I never …”

He trailed off, and she said, “Raise 400. You never what … gave a damn? That I believe. I remember after Mom left, how you’d leave us in a motel room with some cheap pizza for the weekend while you went to the casino. We were just little kids.”

He called, then looked at the turn card. “It was hard for me, too. I didn’t know how to take care of you, or hold down a real job. Cards and the game are all I know.”

Fate peeked at her cards over her shoulder. She had middle pair but was it good enough? She looked shaken. 

Then her father blurted, “Remember your Uncle Frank? I’ll never forget that wild game in Boise when you were  learning to play. He was so impressed when you took me out.”

Georgia stared at him. 

Georgia’s father stared back, his dark eyes boring into hers. The look on his face pleaded, Trust me.

Georgia hesitated, and her father said softly,“Come on, Georgia Ann. Whatcha gonna do?”

Fate watched something unspoken pass between them, then she pushed her chips her chips forward and said, “All-in.”

Her father gave a triumphant grin and Georgia blanched.

“You bastard,” she whispered.

“Call!” he crowed, and flipped up queens.

She barely had enough to ante up for the next round, but her father took that pot, too. 

It was over.

She belonged to Noqoìlpi .

“Can I at least see him?” she asked.  “When you bring Luke back, can I see him for a moment?”

Noqoìlpi gave a slight nod.

“Wait!” Fate cried. “Play me, double or nothing. One hundred years labor, my freedom for hers.”

Noqoìlpi shook his head. “Demons are a dime a dozen. I don’t need another pet demon.”

“I’m not a demon,” Fate said. “I’m nephilim. I bet you don’t have a pet one of those.”

Shocked, Georgia stared at Fate as his eyes began to glow a brilliant, icy blue. The room erupted in a chorus of surprised muttering.

Noqoìlpi leaned forward, interested. 

“No!” Georgia shouted. “I won’t let you do this.”

“Deal,” Noqoìlpi said. “Choose your game, Nephilim.”

Fate handed Mel to Georgia and said, “Billiards.” 

Georgia dragged Fate to the corner and said, “You can’t do this! You barely know me.”

“It’s only a hundred years,” he said, and kissed her forehead. “My father may not have given me anything else, but I’ve inherited his immortality.”

What he didn’t say, and what he saw on her face, was that in a hundred years, she’d be gone. If he lost, they would never see each other again.

“I’m pretty good. A lifetime of misspent youth.” He scratched Mel’s head. “You have to take care of him, though. He doesn’t like anyone else.”

“Fate—”

“Shh!” He kissed her. “I have no regrets, win or lose.”

Noqoìlpi stood at the table, rolling the turquoise stone between his fingers. Georgia’s father had already slipped away.

 Chonky glanced at Fate and said,“Nine-ball, best three of five. Flip to see who breaks?”

Noqoìlpi waved dismissively. “He can break first. We’ll alternate each game.”

Fate made three balls on the break, then circled the table, making shot after shot. He ran the table, then called his 8-ball shot. The crowd erupted when he made it. Noqoìlpi’s face remained inscrutable . 

Noqoìlpi took the next two games, allowing Fate only two shots, and both of those were trying to shoot around a safety.

Fate noticed Georgia whispering something to Chonky, and then Chonky went to consult with the witches.  

It was Fate’s shot and once again, Noqoìlpi laid the piece of turquoise on the rail. This time, however, when he turned to search for a chalk cube, Mel lunged from Georgia’s arms, darted across the table and gulped down the turquoise stone that undoubtedly reminded him of the doughnut holes he adored.

“No!” Noqoìlpi yelled, and grabbed for him. Mel scampered down the rail and up Fate’s arm to sit on his shoulder, where he promptly hissed at Noqoìlpi.

“That’s my lucky talisman!” Noqoìlpi shouted, looking panicked. “I want it back!”

Fate sighed. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to happen for a day or two. You can have it back then. ”

Noqoìlpi removed a knife from his pocket. “We can cut it out right now.”

“You most certainly will not,” one of the witches said. 

“Magic is against the rules,” Georgia said. “I’ve noticed how you hold that stone with each shot, even if it makes it cumbersome. But when it’s Fate’s turn, you  lay it on the table. When you do that, Fate misses. Surely a god such as yourself would have no need to cheat, so I assume it’s just a harmless charm. Guess we’ll see now, huh?”

Noqoìlpi shot her a malicious glare and Fate knew she was right. The powerful gambling god was nothing but a cheat, and he was stuck now, because admitting it would forfeit the game and destroy his reputation.

Mel, he thought, stay right where you’re at.

Fate didn’t allow Noqoìlpi another shot for the rest of the game, making a beautiful, nearly impossible eight-ball shot.

They entered their last game tied. Fate made five balls on the break, but scratched, so Noqoìlpi got a shot. He clumsily missed a wide open ball in the corner. Fate looked at Noqoìlpi and purposely missed a bank shot. Noqoìlpi scowled, because he knew what Fate was doing. Noqoìlpi missed his next shot as well, and people whispered behind their hands. 

Georgia caught Fate’s gaze and said, “Finish him.”

Fate ran the rest of his balls, but lucky charm or not, Georgia could tell he didn’t like his chances of scratching on the eight and giving Noqoìlpi an automatic win, so he did a safety, tucking the eight in a cluster by the side pocket.

Noqoìlpi tried to make his five-ball in the corner, but he sent the eight-ball shooting down the rail to sink in the pocket. 

He had lost. 

The room erupted in cheers and Georgia darted around the table to hurl herself into Fate’s arms. 

Noqoìlpi snapped his fingers, filling the spot where he was standing with a cloud of dust.  For a moment, Fate couldn’t see anything. But then the dust settled, and a thin, pale boy stood where Noqoìlpi had stood. He looked around, bewildered.

“Luke!” Georgia screamed.

“Georgia!” he gasped. “Is this real? Am I free?”

Fate grinned at them. He could've sworn Mel was grinning, too.

***

The party was in full swing at Chonky’s when Georgia pulled Fate outside. Luke sat at the bar with Leo, devouring a plate of wings while Mel snatched up the discarded bones. Fate picked Georgia up and spun her around and she laughed before kissing him passionately. 

“That dirty cheat,” she said .“Thank goodness for that hungry-eyed bottomless pit rascal of yours.”

Fate laughed. “Yeah, I guess we need to find a vet, just to be safe, but he’s eaten worse.”

He opened his arms and Georgia snuggled against him.

“Nephilim, huh?” she said. “Good angel or bad?”

Fate winced. “You don’t really want to know.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re not like our fathers.”

He cleared his throat. “I am going to ask you a favor. That auction thing tomorrow … please bid on me. Chonky’s sister was saying something about a reverse harem and I’m scared.”

Georgia giggled. “She better keep her eye off my man.”

“Your man, huh?” Fate asked, pleased.

“Oh, yeah. I bet all I have on you, Fate. I’m all in.”

“I am, too,” he said, and kissed her as the snow began to fall.