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But even as those thoughts came to mind, I knew they were useless.
Even if I had gotten past the obvious guards, who was to say Conii didn’t have security measures I didn’t know about? And deep down, I knew that no matter how much I wanted it, I could never take on all those thugs alone. I would have been caught and killed and so would Isa.
And with no one around left to protect her, probably Amber, too.
That thought alone twisted in my gut like a knife. I would not endanger Amber because of any brashness on my part.
After taking as many back alleys and hidden paths as I could, I headed to the restaurant Amber waited at. As long as we remained in the public eye, security on the station was pretty good. There were too many rich people on Thodos III to let things carry on in broad daylight. Even Conii wouldn’t be so bold to take Amber from such a public place in the middle of the day.
Amber sat in a booth in the corner of the restaurant. She perked up when she saw me approaching, a worried look on her face. I sat down heavily and she called over the waiter.
“Grab us another water, please.”
The waiter nodded and hurried off. Amber turned her full attention back to me. “What happened?”
I grimaced. “It’s as I feared. Conii’s got the Quilthar on full alert. She probably knows the Vinduthi will move against her soon, and she’s not taking any chances.”
Amber slumped a little in her seat. “I take it that means you couldn’t get too close to her, then.”
It wasn’t a question. We both already knew the answer. “The closer I got, the more closely those Quilthar would have looked at me. If they saw I was Vinduthi, even if they didn’t know who I was, they wouldn’t have hesitated to move against me.”
She nodded and fiddled with her hands. The waiter brought me some water, and I drank it down greedily.
When I finished, I gave her a grim look. “I’m afraid there’s no way we can do this on our own.”
“Yeah, except no one will help us. Hell, they won’t even listen to us,” Amber bit out.
I let out a low growl. “If only we had some sort of solid evidence to show them it’s Conii behind all of this. I’m sure they’d be gunning to help us get back at her then.”
Amber shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “Maybe I could admit my part in her scheme. That might convince them to help us.”
I set my jaw. “No.”
Amber sighed. “I don’t like it, either. But if it helps us get Isa back, it’s worth a shot.”
I shook my head. “I mean, no, it won’t work.”
She furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean they won’t believe you. They’ll think we’ve prompted you to make up a story about you being a spy for Conii. Then they’ll be even angrier at us for supposedly trying to deceive them.”
Amber grimaced. “I suppose you’re right.”
“More importantly,” I continued, making sure to keep my face neutral, “if they didn’t believe you for any reason, they’d be inclined to take out their anger on you. I will not allow that to happen.”
A small smile graced her face, and she sat up a little straighter. “I know. But before this is all said and done, I might need to take risks that endanger me anyway.”
The knot reappeared in my gut at the mention of her being in danger. Logically, I knew she was right. Nothing was certain right now and there was no way I could promise her absolute protection.
There was another side of me, though, that admittedly denied I could put her anywhere near the danger.
I forced my mind to calm and refocus on the situation. The best way to keep Amber safe, to keep everyone safe, was to focus on the task at hand.
“For now, we’ll have to find a way to get into the complex on our own,” I said with more confidence than I felt.
Amber nodded and visibly steeled herself. A bit of pride swelled up in me at that. Amber was no soldier or even a thug or gangster used to going into something like this. Yet she had more guts than a lot of them that I’d met.
Something flashed in her eyes and her gaze became thoughtful. I gave her a questioning look. Amber gave me a half smile. “I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.”
