Skulduggery 8: Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Exactly,” I agreed. “Now just try to act natural when things go back to normal. We might get a few odd looks from the people around the gambling table since we weren’t here a second ago, but there’s so many people crowded around here that I doubt they’ll think very much of it.”

  I closed my eyes and imagined that everyone was moving and talking again, and when I opened them back up, I saw that it was true. I hadn’t even held or thought about the Opalstone amulet. I had just thought about what I wanted to happen, and then it happened.

  Shit. Maybe I really was magic.

  “To remember…” Tevian tried to continue his sentence, as the room stirred to life all around us. “To remember…”

  The poor night elf seemed at quite a loss for words, and I was sure that was because he was trying to find my friends and me in the crowd again. He must have felt so sure that he saw us, and now he wanted to scan the whole room, but he had to finish his silly elven speech.

  “But I would ask you not to celebrate me,” Tevian finally managed, “but to remember that this celebration is really about you and the fact that your city is now free from the wild orcs that threatened to overrun you.”

  The crowd erupted into cheers, and as the night elf continued his speech that was very much about himself-- no matter what he said otherwise-- I turned back to my friends around the gambling table. While Tevian finished talking, I had a chance to study the game in front of us, so I would be able to place a few bets and strike up a conversation with the people around us.

  When I’d first seen the game, it had looked more like a game of chance and luck than anything else, but based on the markers that everyone had put down on the table to show their bets, I could see what colors and symbols had won so far, and I could already tell that it was rigged for the house.

  There were three different kinds of symbols on the long table in front of us: axes, spears, and daggers. Each symbol came in three different colors-- red, blue, and gold-- and the idea of the game was to bet on which symbol and color would get the next marker based on the roll of the dice.

  There were too many possibilities to make it a game of skill, but maybe that was why people liked it. They all thought it was purely a game of chance, and that put them all on the same playing field.

  No one seemed to realize that it was set up to make sure that they almost always lost, but I was about to change that. I watched it for a few minutes before I made any bets, and it didn’t take long for me to realize how to crack the system. I wouldn’t win on my first bet, but on my second bet, I should be able to win back the money I lost, plus gain some.

  “…success!” Tevian finished his eternal speech.

  The crowd burst into cheers and applause again, but I figured that had to be because they were just so grateful that the night elf was finally done, so they could go back to their party.

  Just before Tevian turned around to talk to the other people on the main platform, he glanced over the crowd again, but he couldn’t see us anymore. If he had seen us at all, he had probably decided that it was all in his head by this point, and I intended to keep it that way.

  When Tevian’s back was to the room again, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went back to their entertainment, while the musicians started to play again like they had never stopped in the first place.

  “Put me down for fifty on the blue axe,” I called to the halfling who ran the table in front of us.

  “Fifty on the blue axe,” the halfling said with a nod.

  “Aren’t you afraid someone might have sensed your magic?” Penny hissed into my ear while everyone else at the table made their bets. “I mean, you did just freeze a whole room full of people, and that includes elves.”

  “Maybe they can sense something,” I said with a shrug, “but even if they did, there’s no way for them to tell where it came from.”

  “Are you sure?” Dar asked.

  “Oh yeah,” I laughed. “This room is full of the smell of magic, and I’d bet at least a quarter of the elves here have some sort of magic capabilities.”

  “That’s not the only smell that this room is full of,” Ava said as a waiter carried a tray full of elven fish delicacies past us, and the assassin’s nose wrinkled up at the stench.

  “Between the food,” I said, “the bad wine, the magic--”

  “And don’t forget the sex,” Penny interrupted with a smirk. “I mean, did you see all those people getting it on when we moved through the frozen crowd?”

  “Must be something in the air,” I said and winked at Ava. “But between all those smells, I highly doubt that any elf will be able to tell that I just used magic to freeze and unfreeze the room.”

  “Well, it’s true that nobody seems particularly alarmed or worried about anything,” Dar said.

  “Probably because they’re all half-drunk on sacred temple wine,” Ava said.

  “Except for old stick-in-the-mud Tevian,” Penny sighed. “He wouldn’t know a good time if it bit him in the ass.”

  “Winner, red spear!” the halfling in charge of the table called. “Next round of bets, go ahead.”

  “One hundred on the blue axe,” I said as I paid my debt from the previous failed bet.

  “That’s a lot of coin to put down on the same symbol,” Dar whispered. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m just playing the odds,” I said with a shrug, but then I gave my friends a quick wink. “Or at least, that’s what it’ll look like.”

  “Plus, it’s not like we can’t afford it,” Penny said with a toss of her red hair.

  “Alright, fair enough,” Dar said.

  “Now while I do this, I want you all to move around and do the same thing,” I said. “You don’t have to play any games, but I want at least two big new clients before we leave this party-- and I mean, really big. The kind that will introduce us to other clients through them, you know?”

  “On it,” Penny said. “Ava, you come with me. Between the two of us, no man will be able to say no.”

  “Or woman,” I added with a grin.

  “We do look good,” Ava agreed.

  “Meet by the exit when you’ve found a client,” I said, “and I’ll see you all there before too long.”

  As the two women wandered off into the crowd, Dar moved back toward the bar. I didn’t ask him what his plan was, but I knew that my halfling friend always had something up his sleeves. In the meantime, I turned my attention back to the gambling table, just as the next winner was announced to be the blue axe.

  “I had a feeling,” I said with a smile, and then I scraped all my winnings together before I made another, smaller bet.

  I played the tables for a solid half an hour before I felt someone’s eyes on me. When I glanced up across the table, I saw that it was a human woman dressed as a madame. She was middle-aged and brunette, but she still had a fine figure, and unlike Madame Rindell, she didn’t flutter her eyelashes or try to shake her tits with every breath. Instead, she just smiled, glanced at my wins on the table, and gave me a round of silent applause.

  I moved toward her around the table.

  “You’re good at this game,” she said when I reached her side. “For a game of luck, you seem to be particularly lucky.”

  “I have my moments,” I said with a shrug.

  “To be honest with you, I don’t really give a shit about luck,” the brunette said.

  “And what do you give a shit about?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Skill,” the madame said with a smile. “You seem to have a lot of money to throw around, so you must be skilled at something-- or maybe you’re talented in all sorts of areas.”

  “I might be,” I said. “I might even be skilled at something you would have an interest in.”

  “Oh, I’m sure,” the brunette replied. “I’m just surprised I haven’t seen you come through my doors before. After all, I’d remember a man like you.”

  “And exactly what doors would those be?” I asked. “I’m a trade
r, so I haven’t been in town for very long.”

  “Ah, that would explain it,” the madame responded. “I’m talking about my dancehall, if you want to know.”

  “Really?” I smiled.

  That was fucking perfect. I already knew how much whiskey a dancehall could sell, especially when the madame had a good head on her shoulders instead of one filled with elven nonsense, so this was exactly the kind of client that I wanted in the Gold City.

  “Really,” the brunette said. “We’re quite popular here, you know.”

  “Would I know the name?” I asked. “Of your dancehall, I mean?”

  “Madame Felicity,” she said and offered me her hand. “You really ought to come by and spend your money on something that’s guaranteed to give you pleasure, instead of on a game that’s just chance.”

  “I appreciate the invitation,” I said as I took her by the arm and guided her away from the table so we could talk somewhere a little more private. “Do you tell all the high rollers at these parties to come and see you?”

  “Only the very handsome ones,” Madame Felicity said with a sly smile. “Do you mind if I ask exactly what kind of trade you’re in, Mister…”

  “You can call me Wade,” I said. “And let’s just say that I’m in the business of… well, it’s not strictly legal, to be perfectly honest.”

  “In this empire, what is?” the brunette sighed and then glanced around to make sure that no elves had overheard her. “I’m just lucky to be here in the Gold City, where things are a little more relaxed. I’ve heard stories of the way things are in other cities, but then I guess you probably know about that, since you’re a trader and everything. Have you been to all the other cities?”

  “I’ve traveled around,” I said, but I wanted to get her back on to the subject of what I had to sell. “My trips can take a while, too, since it’s a little more… complicated… to sell illegal goods.”

  “It’s not spices, is it?” Madame Felicity whispered. “I’m afraid there’s already an over-abundance of those around here.”

  “No, it’s not spices,” I said. “It’s more along the lines of the wine they keep passing around this party-- only it doesn’t taste like ass.”

  “I’ve heard about things like that,” the brunette replied without the faintest sign of shock.

  “I thought you might have,” I snickered. “If your dancehall is as popular as you say it is, you could probably benefit from what I have to offer.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt that I would,” Madame Felicity purred. “Why don’t you tell me a little more about it?”

  “Why don’t you tell me if you’d be interested in having your girls sell it?” I asked. “Then we can get down to details.”

  “Honey,” the brunette sighed, “my girls and I will sell literally anything that makes us more of a profit.”

  “Even if it’s illegal?” I demanded.

  “Especially if it’s illegal,” the madame said with a wink. “I’m sure you’re well aware of the fact that the more illegal something is, the more people tend to fucking want it. Don’t you agree?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Especially when that illegal substance lets you forget all your troubles.”

  “So what exactly are we talking about here?” Madame Felicity asked. “Do you smoke it, eat it, drink it, or something else?”

  “You drink it,” I replied. “I’m talking about whiskey. Have you heard of it?”

  “That’s a human drink, isn’t it?” the brunette asked.

  “It is,” I said with a nod. “Still interested?”

  “Well, it’d be a betrayal to my own race if I said no,” Madame Felicity said. “After all, who am I to say no to good human alcohol? Assuming, of course, that it really is good.”

  “See for yourself,” I said with a shrug, and then I handed her a flask that I’d kept hidden on myself.

  The brunette madame took a small sip, just enough to taste it but not so much that she seemed greedy. As soon as the whiskey hit her tongue, she closed her eyes, swallowed, and then sighed.

  “You’re right,” she said as she passed the flask back to me. “That most definitely doesn’t taste like ass.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” I laughed. “Can you sell that to your clients in the dancehall?”

  “Fuck, yes,” Madame Felicity said. “I’ve tried to smuggle in temple wine, since everyone in this city seems to like it so much, but the damn elves won’t sell it to me. I guess I’m not good enough for them, since I’m just a human woman.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” I rolled my eyes.

  “But if I could sell this, all my clients would drink it,” the brunette said, “and as soon as they had their first taste, they would never go back to that temple wine shit. Or to any of the dancehalls who are allowed to sell it.”

  “They’d be all yours,” I said. “And that means their money would be all ours.”

  “How much do you want for this?” Madame Felicity demanded. “How much is a barrel’s worth?”

  “If you order a barrel every week, I can give it to you for a good price,” I said. “One hundred gold per barrel.”

  The madame narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side while she considered my offer. I knew that it was a steep price, and it was definitely more than I charged back home, but this was the Gold City. It might seem like an outrageous amount of money, but the people in this city could afford it, and I wasn’t about to undersell my product.

  “And you would deliver the whiskey yourself?” Madame Felicity asked. “What I mean is that I wouldn’t have to go out and bring it back myself, right?”

  “I would make sure that it was delivered to you,” I said. “All you would have to do is hand over the gold and then sell it to your clients. And for right now, no more than two drinks to any client per night.”

  “Then you have yourself a deal,” Madame Felicity said. “It’s a steep price, but it would be more than worth it.”

  “I happen to agree with you,” I said with a smile. “Can I send your first shipment to you by Friday?”

  “Absolutely,” the brunette replied. “I’ll have your money ready for you.”

  “Then it’s been a pleasure, Madame Felicity,” I said.

  “I aim to please,” she said, “and Wade-- if you want to stop by my dancehall before Friday, just know that our doors are always open to you.”

  “Thanks,” I laughed. “That’s always good to know.”

  We shook hands and separated in the crowd, but before I moved toward the exit to meet up with my friends, I glanced at the main platform again to check on Tevian. The night elf wasn’t there anymore, but even though that made me nervous, I also didn’t see him anywhere around me, and when I looked toward the exit, I didn’t see him there, either.

  Wherever he was, I just hoped that he wasn’t about to cause me any problems.

  I saw a flash of red hair over by the exit, so I knew that at least Penny was there, and that meant Ava had to be with her. Even if the two women hadn’t gone off into the crowd together, I had no doubt that the redheaded pixie would have found the assassin soon enough.

  Ava would be lucky if Penny ever let her out of her sight for the duration of her pregnancy, but somehow, I didn’t think my beautiful assassin would mind. I smiled at the thought of my two women taking care of each other, and I wondered how long it would be before Cimarra and Twila found out about Ava’s pregnancy, too. I had a feeling that they would all be as eager as Penny was to take care of the blonde assassin.

  When I reached the two women by the exit, I changed my mind. I didn’t think anybody would take as much care of Ava as Penny would. The pixie thief had kicked some old halfling bastard out of his chair and forced the assassin into it, and as I approached them, Ava glanced up and rolled her eyes.

  “Would you please tell her that I’m fine?” the blonde demanded.

  “You just keep doing what you’re doing,” I told Penny but gave Ava a quick wink. “
I want my woman and my child to be healthy, and I know you’ll make sure they’re both taken care of.”

  “Damn straight!” the green-eyed pixie said. “Besides, I only wanted her to sit down until you and Dar joined us.”

  “So, did you two get a client?” I asked.

  “Obviously,” Penny sighed. “Did you?”

  “Obviously,” I snickered. “Now where the fuck is Dar? I’d like to get out of here so we can talk about what we found out.”

  “You mean somewhere that the music isn’t louder than the sound of our own thoughts?” Ava asked. “I agree, that would be nice.”

  “I’ll tell the musicians to shut the fuck up right now,” Penny told the other woman. “If that noise is bothering you, I can march right up there and--”

  “It’s fine, really,” the blonde laughed, “but thank you. You’re a good person to have in my corner, Penny.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” the pixie huffed.

  “There you are!” Dar said as he finally pushed his way through a cluster of half-drunk dwarves. “Damn, Ava, are you already sitting down on the job?”

  “Ava’s allowed to do whatever she wants,” Penny growled. “Maybe she just got tired of waiting for your slow ass.”

  “Damn, Penny,” Dar said. “Is it that time of the month or something?”

  “You know that’s really offensive, don’t you?” the redhead demanded. “My feelings are perfectly valid whether or not it’s that time or not.”

  “So… is it?” Dar snickered. “Or do you need a snack or something? I’m always in a good mood because I take my snack breaks very seriously.”

  “Do you want me to take care of him for you?” Ava stood up beside the pixie thief. “We could start with bamboo shoots under his fingernails, maybe progress to--”

  “Alright, by the Ancients, I’m sorry!” Dar swore. “Don’t even joke about that, Ava. Penny and I have been jesting since she was little, but you’re like… super scary, you know that?”

  “Who said I was joking?” But the blonde assassin smiled as soon as she asked the question.

  I wasn’t completely convinced that her smile made Dar feel any more relieved.