The Ultimate Bet

The devil stood. “I assume you had the full house. May I look?”

Jim just nodded. The devil leaned over and turned Jim’s hole cards over one at a time.

King, king—and another king, giving him four!

The devil’s eyes popped. He leapt back as if the cards had turned into a growling Pit Bull.

Jim breathed out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank God,” he said.

“I’m afraid he had nothing to do with it. And please, the language. It’s hurtful.”

“What? Okay. Just slipped out.”

Ignis regained his composure. “Well,” he said, walking toward Jim and holding out his hand. “Congratulations. You’re a hell of a poker player. The best I’ve ever been up against. Must have been a quite exhilarating game for you. I’ll bet your blood was rushing the whole time. It will be hard to duplicate that just playing for money again.”

“Yeah,” Jim said standing and taking the devil’s hand. “Well, this was probably enough excitement for the rest of my days. I think I’ll just forget about gambling and go back to enjoying everything I have in my life.”

“I hope you do.”

“Thank you,” Jim said. “I almost want to say it was a pleasure. But I can’t make myself do it.”

“Understandable. Most mortals don’t especially like my company. But I can tell you that it was a pleasure for me. I enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, I’ll return home without the soul I wanted. But it’s not the first time and likely won’t be the last.”

He took the contract from his pocket and dropped it on the table, where it disappeared in a puff of smoke. “You know your way out. Your car is parked in the driveway. When you leave, you’ll be back in your world again. No time will have passed.”

“That’s it?” Jim asked.

“Correct. That’s it.”

“All right, Ignis. I’ll see you arou— Whoa! No! What did I almost say?”

The devil laughed. “Live a good life, Mr. Steadman. Be good and fair and kind and generous. Just because you won this game doesn’t mean you’re forever exempt from my domain.”

“Yeah,” Jim replied. “But I know the manager. He’ll save me one of the cooler spots.”

Jim turned to walk away, then stopped and looked back to the devil. “I’ve got a question for you.”

“What’s that?”