All the Time to Lose (Wormverse)

Ch 19: Ah the Luck of the Irish

I walk over to where Gregor is sitting in the Palanquin. I sit down across from him, a grin plastered on my face. "Hey Gregor, Anubis and Shamrock are going at it again. I bet ya Anubis puts gum in Shamrock's hair."

Gregor looks at me, his face looking somewhere between bored and annoyed "Don't be stupid Newter. That won't happen." I scoff "Oh yeah?" "Yeah." "Wanna bet?" I ask, leaning my arm on my knee as I lean forward conspiratorially.

Gregor stares at me for a good long minute before speaking "20 bucks." I nod "Deal." I'm sad to say that I lost that bet. But, it gives way to more bets between us. Emily walks over as we're agreeing on our latest bet.

She puts $50 on the table "I bet Shamrock messes up Anubis so bad, that he teleports over the crowd in the club accidentally." Even I think that's stupid. I'll take that bet. I tell her so, and Gregor does the same, siding with me.

More bets are placed over the next few days, ranging from putting hair dye in shampoo/conditioner bottles, to guns jamming, to bad hair days. Just as we're determining the bets for the day, we all get called in to Faultline's office.

However, it is not the entire team...just Gregor, Emily, and me. We enter her office and she looks at each of us in turn before speaking up "I've noticed that each of your accounts have had a lot of money move around lately between each other."

She lets this sink in before continuing, only increasing my anxiety "If there is any tension or problems among you three, I'd like you to tell me now." Wait. She thinks we're having problems? Emily giggles. "We're not having problems Faultline. We're betting."

Faultline's eyebrows arch in interest "Oh? On what?" I grin "Anubis and Shamrock have been pranking each other all week, we've been betting on what they'll do to each other and who wins the prank war each day."

Faultline hums, thinking for a moment before grinning. "I'm in." "Huh?" we all ask in unison. None of us expected our boss to say that. Her grin gets bigger "I said, I'm in. Fill me in on the open bets."

We all start listing off the bets we've made today and she looks at Emily and I in disappointment. "Why would you take those bets?" I shrug "It's interesting and those two are pretty creative with their pranks."

She sighs "I'm in and siding with Gregor. There is no way Shamrock is going to dye Buck green." I grin "Sure. You say that now." Faultline pulls out a notebook and scribbles down the bets, listing them off as she goes.

She records the date and time the bets were placed, the terms of the bets, who was on what side, and how much everyone bet. Once finished, she slides the book into a drawer, locking it shut. She looks at us.

"We'll meet here at the end of every day to check the bets and determine winners. No one can get to the book so no one can change what the bets are. Agreed?" We all nod. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting Faultline to join in. Things are getting good.

Anubis and Shamrock are showing no mercy. They aren't hurting each other, but Anubis did manage to to actually dye Shamrock's hair green. Yesterday, she downloaded something onto his computer...but Anubis refused to let anyone know what it was.

Our only hint? His death stare at Shamrock as he growled "You will pay for this Shamrock." before he stormed out of the room. This morning, we meet in Faultline's office, as usual, to determine today's bets.

Just as we're wrapping up, Elle strides in "$200 says Anubis gives Shamrock a full day without luck." How can I say no to a bet like that? I grin at her "You're on Elle." I'm not the only one in on it. Emily and Gregor side with me, while Faultline sides with Elle.