The Phantom Gamblers of the Silver State

Previously

…Agnes, bless her weary but wise heart, had performed her quiet ritual, a gentle release that felt more like a loving farewell than a forceful exorcism. The air in the Starlight Casino, once thick with an almost palpable despair, now felt lighter, clearer, imbued with a subtle, grateful quietude. Elias swirled the ice in his glass, watching the liquid catch the ambient light. He’d arrived in Nevada with a familiar skepticism, a methodical mind trained to seek evidence, to quantify the unquantifiable. He’d expected fleeting apparitions, residual energy, perhaps the lingering echo of a particularly