Chapter 121: Dice
The inn was alive with shouts, music, and the clatter of dice on wood. At the center of it all sat Ezra and Liam, their dark-orange curls wild, their grins wide, and their luck suspiciously perfect.
Liam rolled the dice again, two neat cubes spinning through the air. One landed clean on the table, a six. The other tumbled off the edge, landing with a soft thud on the floor.
Liam picked it up, grinning. Another six.
The man across from them, heavyset with gold-capped teeth and a scar twisting across his cheek, leaned forward. His eyes narrowed as he grabbed the dice from Liam's hand.
He rolled them himself. They bounced once, twice, then settled.
Six.
Six.
The man's lips peeled back in a slow grin. "You two little rats think Kairo Goldjaw don't know a trick when he sees one?"
The noise in the inn seemed to dim. The name Goldjaw carried weight here, and the men flanking him, three thick-necked brutes, were already rising from their seats.
Ezra's grin twitched. Liam started tapping the table with his finger.
Kairo stood, cracking his knuckles, the faintest golden shimmer dancing around his fists.