Amber

"Iwant to go with you."

From the way Ryrik suddenly tensed up, I already knew what he was going to say. "Amber," he started.

I cut him off before he could argue. "You guys still don't know your way around the compound. I do. Besides, you guys aren't the only ones rearing for a fight. Conii has Isa, and I am not leaving her with those monsters any longer."

It had weighed on my mind to no end that I had probably been so close to Isa the last time I was there. And yet, there was nothing I could do. I had to leave her there in order to get the information back to the Vinduthi. Not this time.

A war of emotion raged on Ryrik's face. I stood my ground, not showing any signs of weakness. Not giving him an excuse to leave me behind.

Finally, he let out a resigned sigh. "If Draven approves, you can come with me."

I relaxed a little. "Thank you."

Ryrik grunted, and we walked back to where the others were gearing up. "I'm more than likely taking you with me into imminent danger, I don't see how that could be anything good."

"You're trusting me enough to help you. And you're giving me the opportunity to take back a little of what Conii stole. That's no small thing to me." I made sure to look at him so he knew just how much it meant to me.

He glanced at me and then quickly focused his attention forward again. "Right. Of course," he said a little too quickly.

I looked away from him but I couldn't help the small blush that spread across my face. It was nice to see him a bit flustered now and then. Especially since I had been the one to do it.

Draven and every available fighter he could muster had gathered in the large arena normally used for boxing matches at the casino. The room buzzed with restless tension. Everyone there had either dealt with Conii before or had recently been screwed over by her.

And now, they wanted blood.

We walked up to where Draven and the rest of his inner circle had already gathered. For a moment, I was surprised to see Alkard and what must have been his own inner circle there as well. The boss of the Grimfangs had always seemed more of a legend than a real person, his cold eyes sweeping the room.

But now the looks on his men"s faces made me wonder if they had their own history with Conii to settle.

Draven glanced up at Ryrik and then shot a questioning look in my direction. Ryrik jutted out his chin. "She's coming with us."

I stood straighter and lifted my chin as well. I would show them that I was just as needed here as anyone else.

Draven seemed to ponder this revelation for a moment before nodding once. "Very well then. I assume you'll be acting as our guide once we break into the compound?"

"Long before that," I said, taking the initiative and stepping up to join the circle. "Conii has Quilthar stationed all over her district. If an alarm goes off, they're all going to catch onto us. We need to make sure that doesn't happen."

"What do you suggest?" one of the Vinduthi, Thelev, I was almost certain, asked.

I began to lay out the guard stations, routines, and important locations, and let the Vinduthi build a plan from there. As I spoke, I glanced at Ryrik a couple of times. Every time, his eyes shone with pride.

At one point we locked eyes, only briefly, but his approval was obvious. Warmth bloomed inside my chest. It made me feel bolder. Like I really belonged.

Once the plan was set, everyone rushed to prepare to move out. A twinge of fear entered my mind as the full weight of what I was about to be a part of really hit me. Ryrik came up beside me and brushed his hand against mine.

"No matter what happens, I will protect you."

And just like that, all my doubts and fears vanished. They all seemed small when Ryrik was by my side. I took his hand in mine. "And I will stand with you."

Ryrik opened his mouth to say something else, but Draven called for everyone to move out. He turned back to me and gave my hand one final squeeze before we joined the others.

The first part of the mission was the trickiest. Our group was too big to sneak past all the patrols. So, we utilized a two-pronged strategy.

For part one of the plan, I went into the busiest section of the part of the ship. My mission was a simple one—start a riot.

An attack would alert Conii and send everyone into lockdown. A riot, on the other hand, would simply draw the Quilthar away from their posts.

It wasn't difficult. A few insults were thrown, discreetly knocking over booth tables, and then pinning it on several different people, and in no time, fights broke out at her biggest restaurant.

Quilthar swarmed the area. They had a big investment in a lot of the businesses in this section and chaos breaking out wasn't good business.

When I was satisfied with the chaos I'd created, I quickly slipped away. I got three blocks before I nearly collided with a Quilthar. He glared down at me. "Where do you think you're going in such a hurry?"

I made a great show of shrinking back and lowering my head. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to get away from that horrible riot."

The Quilthar hissed. "No one leaves this area until peace has been restored."

He moved to grab me, but just then, a knife slashed across his throat and he fell dead. I looked up to see Ryrik standing over him, his eyes blazing.

I gave him a smile. "I see phase two of the plan is underway?"

He nodded. "It is. Well done handling phase one."

Phase two was for our forces to stick to the shadows and make their way toward Conii's sector. If they encountered any of Conii's thugs, they were to kill them quickly and quietly. With the majority of Quilthar focused on stopping the riot, they wouldn't notice their missing comrades before it was too late.

"Let's move," Ryrik said, already moving down the hall. I squealed and hurried to catch up with him.

As we moved, I spotted other Vinduthi and their allies moving in the shadows. And wherever a Quilthar might appear, they were quickly taken out by one of those shadows. Before we knew it, we were upon Conii's stronghold.

We went around to one of the back entrances that held the transports. Sakkar pulled out a device and immediately scrambled the outer security cameras. "We only have a few moments before they realize something's wrong, get those explosives set," the security specialist said.

Ryrik and some of the other Vinduthi rigged up the explosives along the large back doors in impressive time. We stood clear of the explosion range. Ryrik hit the switch and the bombs went off with a resounding boom.

Everyone leaped to action instantly. Up until now, we'd played a slow, quiet game. The time for games was over now. And the time for quiet was definitely over.

As we entered the transport dock, Draven gave out only one order. "Waste everything!"

Everyone let out an enraged battle cry and did exactly as they were told. The transports were gunned down before the first Quilthar guards made their way in. From there, it was a firefight.

Shots rang out all around us, and I did my best to return fire. The first guards who had responded to the explosion were killed in a matter of minutes. We pressed on and Draven ordered us into our teams. We spread out and took the compound.

Our team was the largest, and our first priority was to find Isa. We encountered several patrols of Quilthar, and every time, Ryrik would put himself between me and the gunfire. I returned fire where I could and stayed out of the way where I couldn't.

It was hard to tell how much time passed with the chaos all around us, but it felt like we made good time.

I had just turned a corner into another room when something shot barely an inch away from my face. In the next instant, Ryrik tackled me and pulled me back behind a pillar. He snarled up at a balcony overlooking the room. I followed his gaze and my blood froze.

Conii. Conii, who held a blaster firmly in her grip.

It was only then that I realized what had flown just past my face, what had barely missed me, was a shot Conii had taken at me. My heart beat wildly as I realized just how close to dying I'd come.

"Conii," Ryrik snarled. "You'd better hope someone else gets their hands on you before I do."

The Nazok woman just sneered. "Don't be ridiculous. None of you are leaving here alive."

Seven Quilthar appeared beside her, all armed. They fired on our group. Everyone ducked for cover now, desperately trying to return shots.

Ryrik gestured to his Vinduthi brothers, and they all moved at once. Covering each other, they kept running to different positions and taking shots. It was incredible and something that clearly only could be done by people who had fought side by side together for a long time.

One by one, the Quilthar fell until it was only Conii. She growled and aimed her gun right at Ryrik.

I didn't hesitate. My gun was pointed at Conii in an instant and I fired. My shot hit her in the shoulder, and Conii's shot in turn went wide and didn't so much as clip Ryrik.

He turned to me and gave me a nod of thanks. Then he turned his attention back to Conii. "You've got bigger problems than just us. The Ardik Federation is on their way. They will take you."

Conii let out an enraged scream before trying to run off.

A squad of other soldiers from the casino made to follow her, but Ryrik stayed back with me.

"Shouldn't you go after her?"

He shook his head. "I trust our team. Even if she uses her little hidey holes, we've got this place surrounded." He reached for my hand. "Our first priority is Isa right now."

The knot in my chest loosened, just a bit. He was right. Today was Conii's last day of power, but Isa still needed help.