Bigger Stakes

Lois counted up what she had. Thirteen chips, with different markings on them. The reporter held up one with a red question mark on it. Now that she knew what to feel for, she could sense the potential there...like a balloon about to pop.

"The women. What happened to them?" She asked.

The chip vanished, fingers closing on emptiness. Blaze shuffled.

"They played. Won a little, lost a little. Then they lost a lot. It happens that way. People get addicted to winning. At the end, there was little left of them...and so they signed away everything they had, to me."

"Their lives? Their souls?" The reporter pressed.

The demon's smile was a tight line as she dealt out the next game. Lois grabbed another red questionmark chip. It vanished.

"I gave them the bodies they wanted, to pursue the lives they wanted," the scarlet succubus said. "And their souls are mine."

Blaze tapped the table, and Lois saw four new poker chips—but there were rimmed with gold, and each one had the image of a woman on them. Faces that Lois almost recognized...but different. Sexier, stranger. Fuller lips and lashes. One of them was sucking on a cock, the animated head sucking away eagerly.

"So that's why they disappeared." Lois said.

"Ante up," Blaze said, and tossed a chip into the middle. Lois saw another pair of breasts, bigger than the ones she currently had.

"What if we play for...bigger stakes." Lois said.

Just a hint of a curl to the demon's lips.

"You want to buy back their souls?"

"Yes."

"Fine," the demon said. "Ten chips per soul. Ten things that I take from you. Whether you wish to win them through games, or simply...offer them to me. Those are my rates."

Lois looked down at her chips. She had eleven chips. Right now. She could buy back one soul, and then...

What are you thinking, Lane? She asked herself. Blaze is literally the devil. I need to play smarter. Can't give in an inch. Bet big, win big. All I have to do is be better at cards, and I can leave here with everything!

The reporter looked down at her new cleavage. The bra tighter on her chest than it had been before. If she won enough, she could trade in those chips and still keep her new, bigger bust.

Blaze tapped her ante. The surface flashed, mercurial, as Lois tried to decide not just what she wanted...but what she was going to do.

Four souls. Forty chips. She thought. I could buy them all back right now, or I could play...