Auren’s steps were silent as he approached. He pushed his hood back with a blackened, stained glove. The ends of his blonde hair were slightly frizzy, like he’d been standing amid a lightning storm.
Vesperin settled into Cyrus’s arms as she said, "We have to go back to Solar City."
Rhyden scrolledthrough listings on his laptop.
Boring, dull, too big, too small, too flashy, too plain, too far.
"Fuck," he muttered.
He was tired of this shit. Why were houses so fucking expensive in Solar City? He wanted something close to the Hunter’s Guild Academy. Preferably tall. With lots of windows… facing the direction of the Academy dorms.
Maybe he was playing it too clean. Fuck, his Soulbond and the moral assholes she kept around were rubbing off on him. He closed the website, bringing up a map of apartments in the area.
He clicked his tongue, staring at one in his ideal location. "Wonder what rich fuckers live here."
He searched up the address, and news articles flooded his screen.
Owned by Hallina Marxus. Age fifty-two. Waterborn. No next of kin. Filthy rich socialite. And currently on trial for supposedly killing her fifth husband with a tube of toothpaste contaminated with an illegal, fast-acting poison smuggled in from Tarz. The trial was in two days. How convenient for him.
Rhyden pulled out his phone, dialing someone who owed him quite a few favors in Solar City.
The owner of Briar Law Firm answered on the first ring. "Yes?"
"Kester Briar," Rhyden purred, "how have you been?"
The man stuttered, "Rhyden Valkar. If you’re calling about the payment, I’ve already sent it to your associates. Two months’ worth."
"That’s not why I’m calling, Briar."
"Then, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"So formal. Especially considering the last time we had a little chat, you begged me on your hands and knees to get the Rogue poachers you pissed off in Lunar City off your back."
Briar drew in a sharp breath. "I’ve already paid your fees for protection and?—"
Rhyden cut him off. "Like I said, this isn’t about that. I’m calling about a case your team took on. Marxus."
"The poisoner. What about her?"
"Oh, you think she did it, then?" Rhyden prodded, running the tip of his tongue over his fang.
"Of course she did. No one innocent ever comes to Briar Law Firm for defense."
Rhyden smiled. "Good. Make sure she loses and goes to prison."
"You want us to sabotage the case? Our reputation would be ruined!" Briar objected.
"I can always tip off the poachers and give them your address. And the address of your wife’s little shifter fucktoy. She should be there right now, shouldn’t she? She always tells you she’s going to exercise, but when she comes home all sweaty, it’s not from a run. It’s with shifter come dripping down her thighs." Rhyden was bluffing. He wouldn’t drag Briar’s wife—or her two decades younger wolf shifter fling—into it. But the man didn’t have to know that.
"Fine," Briar hissed finally. "We’ll throw the case. It won’t be hard. She’s guilty as sin. Marxus will go to prison for a long time for premeditated murder—on five counts."
"Make sure of it. I’ll be watching." Rhyden hung up and threw his phone on the desk.
He kicked his boots up and crossed his arms, staring at the gorgeous penthouse suite on the screen of his laptop—right outside the Academy’s gates, with a window looking straight down into his wife’s dorm.
Soon, it’d be his.
Lucien pushed open the door.The air was cold and still in the darkness. The lights were off.
