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“And I trust you know this Amber well?” Draven said, his patience clearly coming to an end.
Slowly, I stood and raised my chin. “I know her well enough to know that she’ll do as I say. And if she doesn’t, then she’d better pray Conii gets to her before I do.”
Draven shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s good enough for me. Conii managed to get someone into our casino. Even if it’s an unwilling spy, she’s still a spy. Whatever blackmail is hanging over her head was enough to convince her to spy on us. How do you know it’s not enough to betray you?”
That same thought had entered my mind once or twice. Amber cared for her friend a great deal, and she might still side with Conii if given an ultimatum. But I’d talked with her. I’d seen the look in her eyes. The plan could work. It would work. It had to. Otherwise, the Vinduthi of the Black Star Casino could lose everything.
Not allowing any more doubts to creep into my mind, I held Draven’s gaze. “I’ll watch her closely. If she tries to fool me, she’ll realize she’s out of her league. Besides, this could be the opportunity we’ve been looking for.”
Draven narrowed his eyes. “Explain.”
“How long has Conii been a thorn in our side? How often have we looked for a way to end all of this and yet have found nothing solid to fight back with? But now we do. Amber could be the key to finally getting our way to Conii and bringing an end to this fight once and for all.”
I waited to see if Draven would accept my reasoning. There was still every chance he could decide it was too risky and torture Amber for information before killing her. And I would not be able to do anything about it.
For a second, I was taken aback by the sharp surge of anger at the thought of Amber being killed. I had just admitted that I didn’t know her very well, so why was it so painful to think of anything happening to her?
I forcefully shoved those thoughts into the back of my mind. This was no time to think like that.
Draven closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Then he looked at me with a half irritated, half weary expression. “Very well. You’ve always been able to read people better than the rest of us. I’ll trust you to handle this. With any luck, it’ll be just as you said. An opportunity to get at Conii.”
The relief I felt at his trust in my plan was instant. It didn’t hurt that it also meant that Amber would be safe. At least for now.
Keeping my expression neutral, I dipped my head in thanks. “I’ll do everything in my power to solve this.”
Draven dipped his head as well. “Good.”
Giving him one more nod, I turned to walk out of the room.
“One more thing, Ryrik,” Draven said before I could get to the door.
I paused and turned my head to him. “Yes?”
There was a hard expression on his face. “You had better keep a close eye on her because if this fails, I’m holding you accountable.”
Grimly, I inclined my head. “Understood.”
AMBER
“Wakey, wakey,” I heard a gruff voice say as a hand pulled the bag away from my face. He smelled worse than he looked.
I blinked slowly, my eyes still hazy from the bag. Sweat froze on my face as the room came into focus and I saw scattered boxes and supplies. I could tell I was in a storage space somewhere. I tried to sit up in my seat, only to find my hands were tied behind my back.
“Come on, look alive.” He moved away from my face, looking down at me with disgust.
“Griff,” I said as I finally registered Conii’s goon as an associate I've dealt with before. “A bag? Really?”
“Shut it,” he yelled, pushing down on my shoulder.
“What the hell, Griff?” I yelped as his heavy hands dug into me.
He put his face inches from mine. His big Quilthar mug smelled putrid as he peered his insect-black eyes into mine.
“What is this?” I demanded as I tugged at the binds. Suddenly, I wished Ryrik were there. It was a crazy thought I shoved down as I tried to calm myself. I needed to get out of this. I had to keep myself together.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
The color drained from my face as a thought popped into my head. But, no, there was no way they could know about my association with Ryrik.
