Ryrik

"Hmm," I grumbled to myself.

"Do… Do you believe me yet?"

As I stood before Amber, looking over her files on my device, I slowly became more convinced. Not entirely, mind you. But more so than I was twenty minutes prior.

Yet still, an anger coursed through every fiber of my body. This mole managed to sneak into our walls. Work among our staff. There was no telling the damage this had already caused to our operation.

"You're saying Conii forged this to get you working at our casino?"

"Yes, exactly. I never wanted any of this! But I was forced to because they have my friend Isa."

Amber's story, at times, was hard to believe. Her never truly being indentured just didn't make sense. What human hung out with the Quilthar by choice? And parts of her tale maybe sounded a bit rehearsed at times. But the tone of her voice sounded completely sincere. Plus, it was so detailed.

On top of that, the files weren't perfect. It was a good forgery. Whoever made it clearly knew what they were doing. But it was far from perfect.

Some details were fudged. The symbols on the non-fungible stamp of authenticity seemed off. The digital audit trail looked as though it was artificially inflated. Details you'd never look for on first inspection, because no one in their right mind would lie about being an indentured servant.

Certainly no human would. They'd be signing away their own freedom. So one thing was for sure, she was working with others and was probably forced into it. Whether it was actually Conii had yet to be determined.

"Are you still on shift?" I asked as I put away my device.

"Yes, I'm scheduled to work the rest of the night."

"Good. Go back to work," I ordered. "Don't do anything not in your job description and don't leave at the end of your shift until you check in with me. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," she said timidly. "Does this mean you believe me? Believe my story?"

"I didn't say that. Go."

"Sakkar," I pinged him on my percomm. "Take a look at this. Tell me what you see."

The answer from our resident tech genius came back in just a moment. "Fuck," I muttered, leaning back and rubbing my eyes. Definitely forged. "Do me a favor. Don't say anything about this for a few days, all right?"

"It's a security breach," he argued, voice rough. "I don't like it."

"It potentially leads to a bigger problem," I insisted. "And trust me, I like it less."

With minor muttering and bitching, Sakkar agreed. "For now," he grumbled as he logged off. "Not for long."

Amber was telling the truth, about that at least. But what about the rest of her story?

If Amber was lying, how did she possibly know Conii's name? Unless, of course, she really worked for her. This type of plan had Conii's fingerprints all over it. Especially the part where she had others doing her dirty work as she lurked in the shadows.

Plus, this would just be a strange story from start to finish to make up. If she was lying, she wouldn't lie about being a mole. Or lie about working with our worst enemy.

I might've just been on the edge of believing her. At least a little. Though, trust in her was a far way away. She'd admitted to not having the Black Star's best interest at heart, and I was not so na?ve as to see that changing.

I left the file room and paused in the hallway. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I still felt anger coursing through me. But that anger would not be helpful. It would not solve anything.

When I stepped back out on the showroom floor, I needed to be calm and unbothered. No one, especially the guests, could see anything but that on my face.

Once I was sure I was sufficiently calmed, though the anger was still present, I quickly returned to my position on the game floor. My eyes immediately found Amber, serving drinks without her usual flirtatious energy.

"Did I miss anything while I was gone?" I asked a bartender.

"No, don't believe so. Been a slow shift for the past hour or so," he responded. "Oh, but that new hostess, Amber, she disappeared for a while. Are we giving the new girls extra breaks?"

"Hmm, I'll keep an eye on that, thank you."

"Yes, sir."

I returned my eyes to Amber as she tried very hard not to look back at me. As I watched her, many thoughts ran through my mind. Different solutions to the problem I stumbled upon. Easy, simple solutions. Chief among them was the fact that I could kill her.

That would certainly solve everything. Well, it wouldn't solve everything. But it would solve all of my problems.

The issues for the casino that she presented would clear up for sure. Another rat squashed beneath our heel. It was a simple choice.

Sure, Amber definitely wouldn't like that idea. It wouldn't solve her problems, though she would get to stop worrying about them.

Though, her friend's problems would only be just beginning. I doubt Conii would be kind. But that wouldn't be my problem to solve.

Maybe I should kill her, I thought. Just get it over with. Move on. Forget about all of this.

"Ryrik!"

I was snapped out of my thoughts and turned to see Draven approaching, a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Draven, how can I help you?"

"Just pretend we're having a conversation," he responded in a hushed tone.

"Who's the mark?"

Draven subtly gestured over his shoulder to a Mondion behind him in a finely tailored suit.

"He's a high roller," Draven responded. "I'm trying to get him to spend big bucks on box seats for him and his family for the big fight next month. Now, pretend I just asked the impossible from you."

"But, sir, it can't be done," I said loudly while shaking my head, emphatically enough for the Mondion to notice. Then I leaned in to speak in a quieter voice. "We don't have a big fight scheduled for next month."

"If this guy forks over the money, you better fucking believe we will," Draven said with a sharp smile.

The Mondion watched us, rapidly and nervously tapping their foot.

"Sorry, Draven," I said loudly. "All those seats have already been booked. Unless someone has a big offer, we can't?—"

"All right!" the Mondion shouted as they raced over to us. "What if I pay double the asking price for the seats? And rent out a full floor of the hotel for three nights. Can I get those seats? I can't miss that fight! I can't miss… Wait… Who's fighting?"

"It's a surprise," Draven said with a smirk. "Why don't we go back to my office and finish working out this deal, okay?"

Draven led the Mondion away, only looking back at me once to wink.

I returned my attention to the floor and instantly spotted it. Amber watched me, her face pale with a slight glisten of sweat. Draven and I had served two purposes with the fake conversation.

Draven would get a lot of money coming into the casino. Meanwhile, I got the fun of making her nervous. I probably put her on edge, thinking I was about to tell Draven everything about her.

"Shit," I muttered to myself.

"What was that?" the bartender asked.

"Nothing, back to work."

I had every opportunity to tell Draven everything about Amber and Conii, and it didn't even cross my mind. If I told Draven about it, he'd probably immediately order Amber be killed. Then I'd have to do it.

Not that I needed his permission. If I saw fit, I could do it right now. But I didn't.

Something, some pit in my gut, tugged at me. It told me not to do it. Let her live. For now.

With that, my mind shifted away from any thoughts of killing Amber. Mainly because it would accomplish nothing.

If we killed Amber, Conii would just send someone else. Maybe another hostess. Or possibly someone in the maintenance crew. Or on the security team. Or all of those possibilities.

She'd just send more and more and more. We'd kill her agents just for another to take their place. Killing Conii's goons and the poor folks she forced to do her dirty work wouldn't get us to her.

A more drastic solution was needed. A more direct strike against her would be preferred.

Besides, this was all Conii's doing, after all. That's where my focus needed to be. Not punishing this human, who for all intents purposes, was not a threat anymore. My eyes would be on her constantly. Her days of passing information to Conii were done.

Conii had been a thorn in the side of the Black Star Casino for far too long. Her schemes and plans to destroy us had been foiled time and time again, even as she managed to cause a great deal of damage. We thought after the last time that she'd be gone for good, but clearly, she didn't know when to quit.

With any luck, this current ill-advised plan of hers would be the one that would finally get her caught. Get her in our grasp. Soon, she'd pay for all she'd done.

"Ryrik!" Amber rushed up to me. "I can't work like this, with you staring at me. I need to know what you plan to do!"

I grabbed her by the arm and tugged her away to a quiet part of the room.

"Do you believe me?" she continued. "Do you not? Are you going to kill me?"

"No," I responded. "I won't kill you."

The words just naturally flowed out of my mouth. But they were right. I no longer planned on killing her, and I felt in my core that it was the correct course of action.

I also no longer felt that anger from before bubbling under the surface. My next course of action was determined. I knew just what to do next.

"You won't?" she responded with a smile.

"No. You aren't important enough to kill."

Her shoulders sagged. "Oh… Thank you, I guess?"

"Conii won't stop until we stop her," I continued.

"Wait…" Amber's face lit up. "You're going to help me?"

"No, Amber. You're going to help me."