“Are you two ready yet?” I called out to Akira and Vesta after I finished checking myself out in the mirror.
The witches slowly emerged from behind one of the many clothes racks and flashed me a shy glance. I tried not to open my mouth as I stared at them, but it was difficult.
They looked sexy as hell.
Akira was wearing a skin-tight black dress that glittered as she moved under the green chandelier above us. Her breasts bounced as she walked, and a sliver of her leg peeked through the dress as she spun around. She even took the time to apply a little bit of makeup. She wore a deep purple colored lipstick and lined her eyes with a bright pink liner. Her dark hair was down and loose, and she paired her dress with matching black boots.
I then turned my attention to Vesta. She wore a short, glittering silver dress that matched her eyes, and her long, wavy green hair tumbled past her shoulders and grazed her tiny waist. Her wrists were adorned with heavy bangles, her lilac skin shimmered as brightly as the dress, and her pointed ears were adorned with long charms.
“What do you think?” she asked. “How do we look?”
“Hot,” I replied, but as much as I wanted to just stare at them, I knew we had to get out there and start gambling. “Come on, we don’t have time to waste. Be sure to hide your uniforms, as well.”
The witches blushed, but they quickly schooled their expressions and hid their robes underneath a pile of dirty clothing. We then marched toward the door, stepped out onto the casino floor, and looked around.
“Where’s Morgana and Faye?” Vesta asked.
“They should be here,” I replied as my eyes scanned the room.
Finally, we spotted them. The other two witches were both wearing the same sheer dresses as the servers, and I could see the outline of their erect nipples and the gap between their perfect thighs through their see-through dresses. The pair of them glanced over at me from across the room, and they both scowled and blushed as I made it obvious I was eye-fucking them. Then they turned their noses up into the air, grabbed serving trays, and disappeared into the crowd.
I offered my arms to both Akira and Vesta, but the two witches scoffed and tried to step away from me.
“Take my fucking arms,” I hissed. “We need to fit in.”
They rolled their eyes but then hooked their arms into mine. Then we wandered around the maze of the casino, and I carefully observed each table as I wondered which one I would tackle first.
After half a lap around the expansive room, I felt a magnetic pull toward a corner table with five or six creatures drunkenly playing with a set of cards.
“That one,” I whispered as I pulled the witches toward the table.
“Do you even know how to play?” Akira whispered under her breath.
“It’s like another version of poker,” I replied as I used my sixth sense of premonition to determine that. “I’ve got this.”
“You don’t even have anything to bet with,” Vesta hissed, and worry colored her voice.
“You underestimate me,” I said with a wink before I broke away from them.
I confidently sat between a pale green skeletal man and an overweight looking slug of a man. They shifted uncomfortably in their seats and shot me a pair of dirty looks.
Akira and Vesta took a seat with the other creatures who were not playing, and I tried not to look at their worried expressions as I focused on the game at hand.
The dealer, who was tall, thin and beastly, had massive curled horns that protruded from his red, bumpy head. With clawed fingers, he handed us each a set of cards, and I remained neutral as I looked at my straight flush. It was a good hand, but what if one of these fuckers was hiding a royal flush in their sweaty palms?
I took a deep breath and focused. Then I recited the incantation in my head as I looked at everyone’s cards, but I grew anxious when I couldn’t get a reading on their hands.
It was a blank slate.
“Who’s in?” the dealer growled.
I set my mouth in a tight line as the group all bet their money. I breathed in one more, long slow breath, and then it hit me like a bullet.
These idiots were all bluffing. Each one had a shitty hand.
“I’m all in,” I said as I tossed a stolen gold coin on the table.
I had no idea what it was worth, but at least it was something. Everyone at the table chuckled, but when I placed my straight flush down, their eyes widened, and some cursed violently under their breath.
“Fuck,” hissed the slug-like creature on my right.
I smiled, took my share, and settled in my seat for another round.
Several rounds passed like this, and each hand saw me gain more and more gold coins until I had a neat pile before me on the table. My premonition skill was never wrong, but I threw a hand or two so as not to arouse suspicion. Still, I’d accumulated a good stack of coins in less than half an hour, so I’d say I was doing pretty good.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Morgana walking around with a tray, and I snapped my fingers in her direction.
“Some drinks over here, please, and keep them coming.” I grinned.
The brunette rolled her eyes and served the table.
I glanced over at Akira and Vesta, who looked bored and irritated as the dealer handed out the next set of cards. Vesta whispered something to Akira, who nodded, and then they moved to my side.
“We have to get our coins,” Akira bent down to whisper in my ear.
“I don’t think that will be a problem,” I said as I gestured to my winnings. “That’s probably over three hundred, and I’ve only been playing for--”
“No,” she huffed. “We need our own winnings. I’m not taking your coins. You don’t own me. I’ll play for it myself.”
“Then sit down.” I nodded to the chair beside me.
“No, we want to play a different game.”
“Well, take some of my money,” I suggested as I rolled my eyes.
“I want to earn it,” she retorted. “We both do.”
“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any money?”
Akira opened her mouth to speak, but then she closed it and narrowed her black eyes at me.
“You’re going to have to start off with something,” I continued. “Take some of my winnings to start with and stop arguing, alright?”
The dark-haired witch grumbled and crossed her arms, and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head before her shoulder slumped.
“Fine,” she groaned.
“I knew you’d see reason,” I teased.
“Just give us the money,” Vesta demanded impatiently over the other witch’s shoulder.
I chuckled before I gave Akira a handful of coins. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”
“Whatever, Cole.” Akira snatched the money, spun around, and marched off, with Vesta by her side.
“And not even a thank you,” I snickered as I turned my attention back to the table.
It felt like all eyes were on me as the dealer handed out the next set of cards. I could sense everyone’s frustration and concern as I leaned back and coolly sipped on my drink.
I picked up my next set. This time, I had a royal flush.
Fucking bingo.
I cleared my mind and dug down to my premonition powers. I could feel everyone had decent hands, but not one of them had a royal fucking flush, so I began casually pushing coins into the center of the table.
When I showed my hand, everyone growled and someone even tossed their drink away.
“I guess that means I’m the winner.” I smirked.
I played another few sets, and each time, I won a respectable amount of coins. I was on such a roll that I managed to piss off quite a few other players. Some decided to just toss their cards into the air and storm off, while one player nearly flipped the table over in a violent fury.
I finally felt that I’d milked this table for all it was worth, so I stood up with a grin on my face and my pockets filled with gold. When I found Vesta and Akira, they were both sitting together at a dice table, and each of them seemed to have increased the small handful of coins I gave them to what I guessed was a few dozen each.
“How are you both doing?” I asked as I stood at the table between them.
“Fine.” Vesta cleared her throat as she glanced sideways at me, and then she let out a sigh of frustration when the dealer rolled the dice and half of the coins laid out on the table grid were taken off.
“Doesn’t look like it,” I said.
“Shut up, Cole,” Akira said, but instead of her usual bitchy tone, this sounded more playful. I could see her cheeks were flushed, and I noticed the drink next to her small pile of coins was almost gone.
“Make me?” I chuckled as I rested my fingers on her shoulder. Her skin was like satin, and I half expected her to growl and rip my hand off.
Instead, she turned up to look at me, and I saw her flush deepen.
My, my, my. What did we have here?
“You did amazing back there,” Akira finally muttered. “I hate to admit it, but it was kind of hot. We saw you cleaning up in between different rounds.”
“Yeah,” Vesta added as she took a sip of her tall, lime colored drink. Her silver eyes were hazy, and I could tell she was on her way to a nice buzz. “I’m actually kind of glad you’re here, Cole. But don’t get used to it.”
“You both want to go to the bar, get another drink, and relax for a bit before we play some more?” I suggested.
“Sure,” Akira said as she grabbed her coins.
“Yeah,” Vesta agreed and also collected her winnings.
Both women stood, and I traced my fingers down Akira’s arm and then wrapped my fingers around her elbow. She didn’t complain at my touch, so I reached out with my left hand, grabbed Vesta’s hip, and pulled her to my side. She also didn’t complain, so I turned both of them toward the bar across the casino floor, and we began to walk.
The three of us found secluded seats at the edge of the bar. I was about to gesture to the bartender, but I spotted Morgana and Faye serving drinks. They looked pissed off, and I figured they weren’t making as much money as they had hoped. I hadn’t done a count of my coins yet, but I figured I’d easily have enough to pay everyone’s three-hundred coin price to get back before the night was over.
I was going to tell Morgana and Faye that I would cover them, but first I wanted to have a little fun.
“A round of drinks, please, ladies,” I called out as I dropped a handful of coins down on the bar.
The main bartender, who was a tall, pale man with a golden suit, nodded as he took the coins, but when I glanced at Faye and Morgana, they both shot me a dirty glare and refused to move.
“Excuse me?” I grinned. “I’d love another round from you two gorgeous creatures.”
“Are you bitches deaf?” the bartender growled. “Get the man his drinks.”
Morgana and Faye rolled their eyes as they poured us a round of colorful cocktails. When they slammed the glasses down on the platter, some of the alcohol spilled over.
“Easy there,” the bartender grunted. “You break it, it comes out of your paycheck.”
“It’s alright, I’d actually like these two lovely ladies to join us for a drink.” I tossed another gold coin on the bar, and the bartender chuckled before he turned to Morgana and Faye.
“You heard the man,” he said. “Get your asses over there.”
The witches nodded, and as quickly as possible, they walked over and stood by my side.
When the bartender was out of sight, Morgana and Faye smirked in my direction.
“Check this out.” Faye grinned. She pulled a handful of coins from the inside of her dress and discreetly showed the rest of us the money she’d acquired.
“Turns out we’re pretty good at pickpocketing drunk patrons,” Morgana snickered.
“Impressive.” I winked.
“How are you three doing?” Faye asked, but her eyes were only on me.
“Oh, Okay. I suppose.” I pulled out as much money as I could hold in one hand, and the coins were overflowing in my palm.
“How in Satan’s name did you manage to do that?” Faye breathed with wide, green-gold eyes.
“Skill.” I grinned.
“He’s good at this,” Akira sighed.
“Really good,” Vesta said as she drained the rest of her drink.
“Come on,” I told Faye and Morgana. “Let’s the five of us have a drink.”
“Fine,” the redhead said as she sat down at the table across from me. “I guess we have time. It isn’t even night time yet.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Morgana said as she joined us. “I guess we are due for a break.”
I gestured to the bartender, and we soon each had a tall glass of teal-colored drinks with bright purple fruit slices wedged on the brim of the glasses.
“Cheers,” Morgana toasted, and she surprisingly smiled at me.
It looked like I was winning all over tonight if I could get these reluctant, stubborn women to smile.
We drank and chatted about the patrons and various games on the floor, and then I ordered another round while we talked some more. The music was so loud, and the people were growing rowdier as the coins, booze, cards, and dice flowed through the fantastic casino.
I continued to order drinks for the four beautiful witches, and they continued to drink them. The alcohol made my skin tingle, and I craved more of the sweet liquid on my tongue almost as much as I craved each of the four women around me. Yeah, they were all bitchy witches, but both Akira and Vesta were insanely hot in their elegant dresses, and Morgana and Faye were practically naked. I knew the women were getting hornier with each drink, since Akira and Vesta leaned against me on our seat, and Morgana and Faye each stole glances at me while their nipples pushed urgently against the sheer fabric of their servant dresses.
“I think we should get back to work,” Faye finally said as she set her empty glass on the table. “I still have a few hundred more coins to acquire.”
“Same,” Morgana groaned. “Fuck, I just want to relax for the rest of the night.”
“The sooner we get the coins, the sooner we can relax,” Akira sighed. “Are you two going to stick with your pickpocketing routine?”
“It’s been working so far,” Faye said with a shrug that caused her perfect breasts to bounce. “No one is paying attention to the staff.”
“I’m going to get back to gambling,” I said as I stood from the table and turned to Akira and Vesta. “You both want to come with me?”
“Yes!” Akira blurted, but I decided not to raise my eyebrow or snicker at her.
“Of course.” Vesta nodded.
“Hopefully, we’ll see you both tomorrow,” I said to Faye and Morgana as I took Akira and Vesta on each arm.
“You will.” Morgana’s blue eyes narrowed at me, and then the two of them turned around to thread through the crowd.
“Come on,” I said to Akira and Vesta, and we wandered through the rooms as I looked for another table to conquer. “Let’s find some trouble to get into.”
“I like trouble.” Vesta winked. “What do you think about the room in the back there?”
“I feel good about it,” I said, and the women followed me into a room that was painted rose-pink.
Inside, there were large purple seats around a cream white table. A set of cards was laid out on the table, and four men were seated at each chair. There was one seat with two open chairs on each side, so I sat in the middle while Vesta and Akira perched next to me.
“You need to pay a fee if you want this table,” an alligator skinned man with giant, snake-like eyes growled.
“No problem.” I smirked.
I laid out three golden coins and passed them to the dealer, and his eyes widened.
“This is more than enough for five rounds,” the dealer told me.
“Perfect,” I replied. “Hit me, then. I’d also like a couple of drinks for the ladies and a round of coins for them to join as well.”
The dealer snapped his fingers, and a young, serpentine looking woman dressed in the same sheer gown like the rest of the servers went over to the bar and began mixing a blue and red concoction.
When she returned with the three drinks, I took a sip and felt my head spin almost instantly. I gave a quick warning glance to Vesta and Akira, but they were beyond buzzed and close to drunk now, and they sipped the concoction like it was iced tea.
We gambled, and by using my skill and spell, I won another five rounds. I felt like I was on fucking fire. Vesta and Akira killed the game as well, even though they were obviously drunk. They earned less than what I ended up with, but it was still impressive. As I left the table, I could feel the other gamblers’ gazes burning a hole into the back of my head, but I didn’t give a fuck.
But soon, our luck seemed to run out.
I noticed one of the guards, a brutish, blue skinned beast with elvish ears, stared right at us with a deep frown. I had a feeling he was watching the girls a little too closely.
Akira suddenly cackled beside me as she started to collect another batch of gold coins, and the guard pushed himself off the wall, walked over to our table, stood behind me, and placed his beefy hands on Akira and Vesta’s shoulders.
“Hey, ladies,” he murmured. “If you wouldn’t mind following me into the back for just a moment?”
“What?” Akira looked up with startled black eyes, and the color drained from her already pale face.
“Why do we have to go with you?” Vesta challenged.
“It’s just for a moment,” the guard said, but his grip tightened on the witches’ shoulders.
“Actually,” I growled as I turned to face the male, “they’re fine right here.”
The guard scowled at me and raised his meaty fist.
“I’m not asking,” he snarled. “Come with me, girls.”
“First of all, they aren’t girls, they are women,” I corrected. “More importantly, they are my women, and I don’t take kindly to my women being told they need to go somewhere with another man. Now, do I need to speak with the owner of this fine establishment? Because I’m about to stab a motherfucker.”
The guard wanted to argue, but my confident tone and the way I stared directly into his eyes without flinching must have made him realize I wasn’t a pushover.
“Apologies, sir.” He pursed his lips and nodded. “Please enjoy the rest of your evening.”
I nodded as the guard withdrew from our table, and to my surprise, Akira and Vesta smiled at me. I thought they would have been pissed about being called my women, but they didn’t say a word about that.
“Thank you,” Vesta whispered.
“Yeah, thanks or whatever,” the dark-haired witch grumbled and averted her eyes, but a rosy blush rose in her pale cheeks.
“Don’t mention it.” I grinned.
After the small confrontation, I was on a high, and my head swam from the latest glass of alcohol. Even though this was technically a quiz, I was having a goddamn blast.
“Let’s get out of this room,” I told the witches.
“Sure.” Akira shrugged, and they quickly gathered up their winnings before we left the pink room.
“Do you both have enough?” I asked.
“I think so,” Vesta said. “I last counted two-hundred, but that was many hands ago, and my stack is twice the size now.”
“Same.” Akira shrugged. “I don’t need to gamble anymore.”
“But we should, since it’s fun.” I smirked as I noticed a massive, multicolored roulette in the distance. “How about roulette?”
“I’m game.” Vesta smiled. “Literally.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely ready to beat you at roulette,” Akira boasted.
“Good luck with that,” I snickered.
All three of us headed arm in arm toward the game and then took our places in three empty seats. The dealer, who looked part bear and human, scowled at us until I spilled three coins onto the table.
His demeanor then shifted, and he smiled a sharp, toothy grin.
“All in?” he asked.
“Hell, yeah,” I answered. “I’ll go with the five number bet.”
The other players gasped. This bet was a monster gamble, and the chances to win were slim.
But not for me.
I placed my bets on the five consecutive numbers, and the dealer slowly spun the wheel. His lips were curled up into a small, satisfied smirk, because he figured there was no real chance for me to win.
His smile died, though, as soon as the ball landed on each number, one after the other. Akira and Faye cheered as I collected my winnings, and I winked at the rest of the players, whose mouths hung open in disbelief.
Gambling was so much damn fun. Especially when you could predict the outcomes.
Indistinct chatter and laughter filled the air as we continued to play and wander through the rooms. I gambled more and more until my pockets were overflowing with golden coins. We’d been here for hours by now, and the music and chatter were starting to die down. People were slumped over in sofas and chairs, and they fell asleep wherever they could.
“One more game,” I suggested with a grin. “Something with … dice. I can feel that’s where my senses are leading me.”
The witches grinned as I led them to a simple, round red table where only three other creatures were playing. They looked like triplets, and all of them had pale green skin and yellow frog-like eyes.
“We’d like to join,” I said, “all three of us.”
The triplets laughed and took a swig of purple colored beer.
“Sure.” One grinned with a few brown teeth and a single gold front tooth. “Why not?”
We smiled before we sat down.
“I’ll start,” said the creature in the middle.
He rolled the dice and looked right into my eyes as they tumbled in his closed green hand.
“Well?” he said. “What’s it going to be?”
“Six,” I replied.
I could feel it so clearly, and it sent a thrilling chill up my spine.
He smirked before he tossed the dice, but then his face fell when the pair of dice showed a perfect six.
“Beginners luck,” he growled and snatched up the dice. “One more.”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
He played with the dice in his hand and stared at me as he waited for my guess.
“Two,” I said without breaking eye contact.
He violently tossed the dice, and low and behold, there was a two on the table.
The frog-like man cried out in frustration and nearly flipped the table in anger. His partner, on the other hand, just shook his head and handed me my winnings.
“I think you’d better make yourself scarce before he really loses it,” the second creature muttered as he leaned toward me and gestured to his irate companion.
“Fine by me.” I smirked as I collected my money.
We left the table, and we noticed the casino was growing even quieter. Vesta stifled a yawn as she discreetly turned back to look at the dice table.
“What a fucking sore loser,” she grumbled. “We didn’t even get to play.”
I was about to reply, but I saw a man with a badger head walking toward us, and beside him were two larger badger-men who had muscled arms as big as my chest.
“Uh-oh,” I groaned.
“Wha--” Akira started to say, but then she saw the badger men, and her mouth snapped closed.
“Good evening, sir,” the badger-man in the middle said as he reached us.
“It is quite a good evening,” I agreed with an arched eyebrow.
“You have been quite successful tonight,” he continued as he nodded.
“Yes,” I agreed again.
“We would like to offer you a gift,” he said as he reached into his coat, and the movement was slow, but my hand still strayed to my dagger. Then he pulled out a golden key, and I let out a long breath.
“A room?” I guessed.
“The penthouse.” Badger-man smiled as he passed me the key. “We’ve prepared some … amenities up there, for you and your women.”
“Well, thank you,” I said as I gave him a nod.
“We’d appreciate it if you--” he started to say, but I interrupted him.
“We were just about to call it a night. We’ve had a good time. We’ll be leaving early tomorrow.”
“Very good, sir. Your room is on the top floor.” He nodded, and then the three of them turned around and walked through the crowd.
“I guess they are sick of us,” Akira whispered when they were gone.
“I don’t want to leave just yet,” Vesta pouted.
“We’re all a little drunk, we’ve won enough coins, and if we don’t go up to the room they gave us, we might not live until tomorrow,” I pointed out.
“True,” Akira agreed.
“And besides,” I continued, “I’m sure the room is fucking amazing. Shall we go see it?”
The two witches nodded eagerly, and we went up a flight of curved, sleek purple stairs to the top floor. The penthouse was the only door up here, and my key easily opened the door.
It was like another palace inside, with rich red carpets, polished black marble floors, and golden columns that held up thirty-foot vaulted ceilings. Every corner had a statue made out of gemstones, and a massive jacuzzi bubbled in the center of the room, but behind the jacuzzi squatted a dining table filled with brim with feasting foods and a stack of bottled wine.
“Wow,” the three of us gasped in unison as soon as we walked inside, and we stood in silence for a few moments while we glanced at the palace.
“Am I just really drunk, or is this place amazing?” Akira asked.
“Maybe both?” Vesta laughed.
“What’s in here?” Akira wondered as she walked to the right side of the foyer where a red velvet curtain hung. She pulled back the curtain, and inside there was a massive, king-sized bed covered with a red satin comforter and guarded by another light red sheer curtain canopy.
“Well, whatever will we do with this massive bed?” Vesta smirked.
“I can think of a few things,” Akira purred.
Both of the beautiful women strolled inside, and then they turned to me. Instead of the usual contempt and anger they directed toward me, there was something else in their eyes.
It was a deep, lust-filled hunger, and I smiled since I knew exactly where this was headed.
This night was definitely going to be an unforgettable one.