"Griffen, no!" Mai exclaimed. "Don't do it like that!"
"You are joking," Peter said.
"Not at all," Griffen said. "Absolutely nothing I do now would change what I've been dealt. It's one hand. You have exactly the same chance of winning or losing that I do. It's a major stake. What do you say?"
The other dragon smiled broadly, showing sharp white teeth. He put his hand down without looking at it. "I agree. Just lay out the other five cards, Mai. No sense in prolonging the agony."
Griffen held his breath. This was a turning point in his life. Mai flicked out the flop, the turn, and the river facedown, then showed them one by one.
Three threes and two twos. Griffen laughed out loud.
"Let's see 'em," Peter said.
"You first."
Peter grinned. He flipped over the first card. A king. Then the second.
Another king.
"Full house," he said.
Griffen's heart pounded, but he was trusting to the little voice in his head. He turned over the first card.
An ace.
His mouth was dry as he went for the other card. Another ace would cement his victory. There were three more in the deck. He fervently expected, no, hoped, to see one. How badly did the Big Easy want to keep him there? He wanted desperately to stay. He had changed his whole life to be there. Let chance show him that he had made the right decision. He turned the card.
A three.
Four of a kind. The only card other than an ace that would make that hand work was right there under his fingers.
He stared at it in disbelief, then let out a whoop that echoed through the fifteenth floor. Then he sat down in his chair and leaned back, resting his left ankle on his right knee.
"Gentlemen and lady, get out of my town. I'll know you in the future. I am vetting every player in every game from here on out. I will know if there's a dragon there, in whatever disguise you wear. You can do what you want, but not at any of my tables. Sorry, Peter, this means you, too."
"Okay, Griffen. Congratulations."
"We will keep to the agreement," Jordan Ma said though his face twisted as if his mind were carrying on an internal argument. "I will report to the elders that we have failed. You are smart as well as a fine poker player. I am sorry that this was not for pleasure."
"I found it pleasurable," Griffen said.
"Me, too," Peter said. He put out a hand. "No hard feelings, I hope?"
"I wish I could say that," Griffen said. He looked at the hand but decided to shake it anyhow. "Maybe someday."
"Let us go," Rebecca demanded. "I want to go home. Aaggh! You will have to use your credit card to pay for a taxi, Jordan!"
"I told you she was too young for this mission," Jordan Ma told Winston Long, as the elevator doors closed on them.
Griffen stood up and stretched. His muscles felt like lead. He looked at the clock--8:00 p.m. He had been playing for thirty hours straight.
"Thank you," he said to Mai. "I owe you."
"You don't," Mai said. "You did it all yourself. It was difficult to be in the same room with them. They have caused me a lot of trouble in the past. They are very tricky. I am surprised that they played the game honestly. I watched for ruses, but they did not use any. It is a compliment to you."
"I'm glad you didn't tell me that until afterward," Griffen said. "I might have screwed up."
"I doubt that very much. But it was very satisfying to see you beat them so thoroughly."
Griffen went into the bathroom and splashed his face. His eyes were red, and his chin was covered in stubble. He came out wiping his face with a towel.
"Good riddance to Jordan Ma. He can catch a plane to anywhere but here."
Mai looked smug. "Oh, well, he may make it to the airport, but he is not leaving New Orleans for a while."
"What? Why not?"
"I gave him a going-away present. A priceless relic of the Ming Dynasty."
Griffen looked at her suspiciously. "What kind of 'priceless relic'?"
"Oh, a dagger. It has a jade hilt in the shape of a dragon, eight-inch blade. Ruby eyes. Utterly beautiful and completely priceless." She grinned up at him sideways. "I called someone I know who went to Jordan's room and hid it in the lining of his suitcase. Oh, and there is a rope matching that which strangled Jesse Lee in the lining of Rebecca's luggage. They will probably sit in the Transportation Safety Administration office cursing my name." Mai smiled, a chillingly bloodthirsty expression. "I am enjoying the thought. They are responsible, after all."
Griffen returned the smile, uncharacteristically enjoying the sangfroid. "So am I. Do I want to know how you knew that?"
"No. It is better if you don't."
Griffen reached into the heap of coins on the table and offered Mai a handful.
"Are you trying to insult me? I don't do tips."
"But you do gold." He had seen her eyes glowing the same color as the game went on. "It's a gift for not killing any of them until I could clean them out."
Mai smiled. She took the coins in her small hands. "Yes. Thank you. I can see why they use them. I would find them impossible to resist." She held one up to her ear. "No, too heavy to use as earrings. Perhaps I will have one set in diamonds for a necklace. As a symbol of your success."
"Won't you get in trouble now, helping me against them?"
"If you had lost, it would have been me helping them," she pointed out. "You make your own luck. Even the elders must respect that."
Griffen nodded. "Will they try again?"
"Of course."
"Do you know what the next attempt will be?"
Mai was silent for a moment, considering her own plans and orders. With Jordan gone, her plan was back on the table.