The road stopped giving warnings.
Cole noticed it the way a man noticed losing a tooth—by what wasn't there anymore.
No prickle before danger.
No tug in the gut.
No quiet nudge that said slow down.
Just ground. Sky. Forward.
Luck had thinned to nothing after the ridge. Not gone. Worse. Present, but unhelpful. Like a man who watched you drown and took notes.
They rode until the land dipped into a long shallow basin cupped by low stone shelves. No cover worth trusting. No echo to blame. The air felt settled here. Decided.
Dusty slowed without being told.
Cole stopped the mule.
He felt it then.
Not pressure.
Invitation.
The air ahead folded inward on itself, subtle as a breath taken by something large and patient. The dust on the road lifted an inch, then settled back down like it had been tested and approved.
Cole dismounted.
"You stay," he said to the mule.
The animal didn't argue.
Dusty moved to Cole's side, hackles half-raised, eyes fixed forward.
A shape formed in the basin.
Not stepping in.
Already there.
Not a man.
Not fully.
The outline suggested shoulders. A long coat. A posture that knew it didn't need to rush. The details refused to hold—sliding, rearranging, like the world couldn't agree which version of him to present.
Cole knew without being told.
King.
Not metaphor.
Not title.
Role.
The pressure behind Cole's eyes sharpened, but the House stayed silent.
That silence rang louder than any text.
The shape spoke.
Not with a mouth.
With weight.
"You've been expensive," it said.
The voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. It arrived inside Cole's chest like it had always been there and had finally decided to surface.
Cole didn't reach for his gun.
He didn't touch the cards.
"Didn't ask for you," Cole said.
The shape inclined its head a fraction. Amused. "No. You asked the House."
The dust at its feet shifted, arranging itself into faint, geometric lines—squares, angles, clean edges that hurt to look at too long.
Royal distortion.
Cole felt his ribs burn. The old injury answered the presence like it recognized a predator.
"What do you want," Cole said.
The shape laughed softly.
"I want what's already mine," it said.
The House chose then to speak.
Text appeared, slow and deliberate, each line settling into place like a verdict.
HOUSE OF RECKONING // ROYAL WAGER INITIATED
PARTICIPANT: KING-ALIGNED
SCOPE: EXTENDED
TERMS: DIRECT ANTE REQUIRED
Cole's jaw tightened.
Direct.
No intermediaries. No Dealers. No buffers.
The shape gestured, and the air between them cleared like a table being wiped clean.
"Your account is thin," the King said. "Luck gone. Focus scarred. Memory already bleeding."
Cole didn't flinch.
"What's the ante," he said.
The King's attention shifted—not to Cole.
To Dusty.
The dog stiffened, growl rolling up from deep in his chest.
The King smiled.
Not with lips.
"With approval.
"Or," the King said, "what little fortune you have left."
Cole felt something cold settle under his sternum.
Not fear.
Decision.
Text overlaid the basin, stark and undeniable.
ANTE OPTIONS:
— REMAINING LUCK (CRITICAL)
— DEFERRED ASSET (CANINE)
Cole didn't look at the text for long.
He looked at Dusty.
The dog stood his ground, teeth bared, tail low, eyes locked on the shape like he understood exactly what was being weighed.
Cole reached down and put a hand on Dusty's neck.
Warm. Real. Breathing.
"No," Cole said.
The King watched him carefully now. "You should consider—"
"I did," Cole said.
He straightened.
"I wager luck."
The word tasted bitter. Familiar. Like giving up a habit you'd already quit once.
The House didn't hesitate.
WAGER CONFIRMED
ANTE: LUCK (CRITICAL)
OPPONENT: ROYAL-ALIGNED
VARIANT: BLIND DRAW
OUTCOME: PENDING
The basin went still.
Even the wind held back.
The King extended a hand. In it, cards formed—not pulled from anywhere. Just assembled, edges knitting themselves into place out of dust and probability.
Cole reached into his coat.
Ace of Spades.
Ten of Clubs.
Three of Diamonds.
He felt their weight shift.
Then change.
The King smiled wider.
"Blind," the King reminded him. "You don't see what you're playing."
"Fair," Cole said.
The cards lifted out of Cole's coat on their own and joined the King's, shuffling in midair with a sound like dry paper sliding across bone.
Cole felt something tear loose inside him.
Luck didn't leave all at once.
It unraveled.
Small threads snapping one by one. The sense of edges dulled. The timing of things went slack. The world lost its habit of leaning his way at the last possible second.
Cole gritted his teeth and stayed standing.
The cards stopped.
The King let one fall.
Face-down.
Cole did the same.
The House waited a full breath longer than usual before resolving.
RESULT: WIN — SUBJECT
The word win felt hollow.
Cole waited for the other shoe.
The King chuckled.
"See?" he said. "Even stripped bare, you still land on your feet."
The House continued.
ANTE COLLECTED
LUCK: NEAR-ZERO
SECONDARY EFFECTS: WARNING SUPPRESSION
Cole felt it immediately.
The last quiet instincts went dark.
No more internal alarms. No subconscious flinch.
The world became honest.
Brutally so.
"And the King?" Cole said. "You lose."
The King shook his head.
"I profit," he said gently. "Every time you survive without luck, you become something else."
The shape began to recede, folding back into the basin like it had never been separate from it.
"One more thing," the King said, voice already distant. "When the warnings stop… most men don't last long."
Cole watched him go.
"I'm not most men," Cole said.
The House left one final line hanging in the air, heavier than the rest.
ROYAL FLUSH CONDITIONS — APPROACHING
Then silence.
Real silence.
Dusty exhaled hard and sat, shaking once like he was shedding something invisible.
Cole stood there longer than he should have.
The basin looked ordinary again. Just dirt. Just stone.
But the world felt flatter.
Colder.
More literal.
Cole mounted the mule without ceremony.
They rode on.
No hints.
No favors.
No grace left in the margins.
Just the road.
And whatever came next would come clean.
For the first time since the cards fell from the sky, Cole Marrow rode without luck.
And the House watched closely to see how long that would last.