Lucian was sitting at his desk, trying to pay attention to the spreadsheet in front of him. For some reason his brain wouldn’t cooperate and nothing was making sense. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his leg over his knee. He took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes.

He still thought it was ridiculous that an immortal would need help to read, but that was indeed the case. His body might look like a fit thirty-five year old, but his eyes felt their 372 years.

He was just putting his glasses back on when the phone rang. “Hello,” he answered.

“Hi, Mr. Holloway,” Jenny, his assistant, greeted. “Security just called and asked if you could come down and check out a situation. Said it was a Class C.”

“Ok, thank you, Jenny.” Lucian hung up the phone, feeling grateful for a reason to get out of the office. He was interested to see who would be brave enough to try counting cards, which is what the security team termed as a Class C.

He made his way two floors down to where the security office was located. The walls were filled with all sorts of different sized monitors, each one showing a different section of the casino. There was a bull pit area where employees were busy scanning footage. Lucian walked to the back of the room towards his head of security’s office.

Billy Mills was a tall man, he had a shiny bald head and skin the color of mocha. His smile was big and contagious and it took a lot to ruffle his feathers. Billy smiled as Lucian entered his office.

“Hey boss,” he said.

“Hi Billy. Jenny said there was a Class C?”

“Yep. In the Diamond Room. Table five, blonde female,” Billy said as he pulled up the footage on the big screen that was hanging on the wall.

Lucian stood quietly and watched the footage. The person in question was a younger women, who seemed to be playing it cool. He continued to watch the footage while Billy filled him in on all the details.

“Do me a favor,” Lucian asked. “Rewind to when she first sat down and play it from there.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Lucian watched the footage from the moment the women stepped into the room. She didn’t look nervous, she was dressed casually. She seemed to walk around a little bit before she decided on which table she wanted. She sat down and had yet to get up once.

“Ok, I’ve seen enough,” Lucian said. “Let’s go downstairs and deal some cards.”

Billy laughed. “You know I love to deal,” he said as he got up. He walked over to a closet and pulled out a dealer's jacket before following Lucian out of the office.

The two rode the elevator in silence and parted ways when the doors opened. Billy walked through the middle of the casino floor, making his way to the Diamond Room. When he arrived at table number five, he tapped the dealer on the shoulder. The dealer quietly stepped back and let Billy take over the table.

Lucian watched from the edge of the room, taking in everything as he moved around the perimeter. The blonde was still sitting at the table and had just raked in a large pile of chips. She added them to her rapidly growing stack. Judging by the colors, Lucian estimated there to be about twenty-thousand dollars worth. Billy gave him the signal and Lucian went to sit down next to the woman.

She nodded politely as Lucian sat down and traded in for his chips. He played a couple of hands, not caring if he won, just to see how she handled herself. She didn’t seem to have a tell, but you could see that she was clearly tense about something. She was meticulous in her betting, and she played every hand she was dealt.

Having been in the casino industry for longer than he cared to admit, Lucian was more than capable of knowing how to count cards. He followed along and sure enough, every hand that was a winner, she placed a larger bet and won. He let it go on until he was absolutely sure and then he nodded to Billy.

Billy winked and a second later a security guard approached the woman and escorted her out of the room. She didn’t throw a fit or yell, she simply got up and went with the man. Lucian got up himself and waited for Billy to join him. Together they made their way to the holding room, where Lucian could talk to the thief in question.

Once Lucian was in the holding room he gave Billy the signal that it was okay for him to return to his office. The woman was sitting with her back to him and he walked around the table to sit down in front of her. When she saw who he was, she gasped and pointed her finger at him.

“You?” She questioned.

Lucian sat down and closed his hands in front of him. “Yes, me. I’m the owner of the Yellow Canary Casino. My name is Lucian Holloway. What might your name be?” He asked.

“My name is Ariella Fontago,” the woman answered.

“Well, Ariella, what brings you to my lovely casino?”

“What brings anyone to a casino?” She joked. “I had a bad week and was looking to distract myself, I guess.”

“Do you visit casinos often, then?”

“No, not really. This is my first time.”

“Oh really? Well how wonderful of you to choose us for your first trip. What do you do for a living, Miss Fontago?”

“I’m an accountant. I was recently let go from my firm though. Hence the rough week.”

“I see. That would indeed count as a rough week,” Lucian agreed. “Miss Fontago, can you please tell me why such a smart woman like yourself would feel the need to count cards?”

Ariella was silent. She wasn’t sure what to say, but saying nothing seemed wrong. “I’m not sure what you're talking about.”

Lucian smiled. “I however, think that you know exactly what I’m talking about.” He leaned in to be closer to her. “I’m going to ask you again, why were you counting cards? Did you think that you wouldn’t get caught? That everything would be sunshine and butterflies? Tell me, what would make you commit an act with such strong consequences?” He leaned back and waited for her reply.

Ariella knew the jig was up so she decided she might as well be honest. “My former employer had me blacklisted and now I can’t find a job. This was my last resort. I guess I was silly enough to think it would work,” she said quietly.

“What did you do to be blacklisted?” Lucian asked.

“I unveiled a ponzi scheme. Which just so happened to be ran by my boss.”

“I see.” Lucian stared into her green eyes and there was something there that captivated him. He was quiet a minute before he went on. “Ms. Fontago, I am truly sorry for your current job situation, but you have committed a major crime in this casino. My casino. Luckily in your case, I am willing to work out an arrangement with you.”

Ariella let out a sigh of relief. “That seems to be more than fair,” she said.

“But there is one minor thing that you must know before you work for me,” Lucian cautioned.

“What is that?” she asked.

“I am a vampire.”