drunken cards

Depressed and lonely, Larten drank more quickly than before, a mix of
wine and ale. Remembering what Tanish had said, he ordered absinthe, but
the barman had to show him the correct way to drink it, and even as a
vampire he found it a bit too strong for his liking.

Larten decided he’d had enough. He got up and tried to leave,
determined to go after Seba and beg his pardon. But he had drunk more
than he realized, his legs wobbled, and he couldn’t find his way to the door.
As he staggered around, blinking dumbly, he spotted Tanish sitting at a
table, playing cards with a group of serious-looking men. Larten’s eyes
swam back into focus and he grinned, seeing a way to be part of the good
time that everybody else was having.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Larten asked, stepping up beside Tanish.
Tanish squinted at the woozy-looking vampire. “We’re playing for high
stakes,” he warned. “This is no game for a beginner.”

“That’s all right,” Larten smiled, taking a seat. “I have played before.”

“Do you have much money?” one of the other men asked.

“No,” Larten said. “But I will soon.”

As the others laughed, he held out a hand for the pack of cards. Tanish
passed them across, not sure whether he should let Larten play. As soon as
the cards were in his hands, Larten started shuffling swiftly. As the other
men stared, he shuffled at an almost impossible speed with his right hand,
then passed the cards to his left hand and shuffled equally fast with that one.

“You have hands like quicksilver,” Tanish murmured, finding it hard to
follow the movement of the cards, even though he was a vampire.

“Aye,” Larten chuckled. “I know a few tricks too.” Still shuffling onehanded,
he let an ace slip from the pack onto the table without pausing, then
another, the third, and the fourth. He stopped and passed the pack to the
man next to him. “But you have my word that I will not resort to trickery
tonight. I will play fairly, and if I win, I will buy the most expensive drinks
for everybody in the house.”

***

The Saga of Larten Crepsley: Birth of a Killer, Chapter 24