Page 83 of Feral King

“Lyra. Lyra. Stay with me…”

His voice is close, yet far away at the same time.

The floor comes up to meet me.

Then everything goes black.

CHAPTER 30

JULIAN

The hospital is becoming a recurring location in my life. And that’s a problem.

Ethan is beside me, just outside the ER. His sling is gone—he ditched it a week ago against medical advice. His phone is pressed to his ear as he orders the person on the other line to run plate numbers and pull security footage from every camera on West 26th.

Two detectives stand in front of me with skeptical energy. The taller one—Martinez—does the talking, while his partner takes notes with quick efficiency.

“Mr. Volkov, we’ve recovered a shell casing from the scene.”

“And?”

I’m tired, and the only thing on my mind is Lyra. She’s safe but scared out of her mind. And once again, I’m the one responsible for her being in the line of fire. I couldn’t give a goddamn what these two detectives want.

“Initial ballistics suggests three shooters,” Martinez goes on. “Automatic weapons, firing from a van that’s registered to a holding company in Flushing.”

Thatgets my attention.

Flushing—again.

“The van was reported stolen two days ago,” Martinez goes on. “You know anything about it?”

“Just what you’ve told me, Detective.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Ethan. His eyes flash when he looks at me—he’s learned something. “Now, is there anything that can’t wait until tomorrow?”

The detectives share a weary look. They both know that there’s nothing they can do if I refuse to cooperate.

“We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions,” Martinez says. “But you ought to keep a low profile, Volkov. Someone out there has you in their crosshairs—literally.”

The other detective flips his notepad shut, and they leave. I don’t give them a second thought before turning my attention to Ethan.

“What’s up?” I eagerly ask.

“Got the van’s registration. It traces back to the same company flagged in the highway incident.”

“Triad.”

“It’s really looking that way,” Ethan replies. “But I’ll investigate the connection.”

“No investigation needed,” I say. “Two attacks in three weeks, both connected to Triad infrastructure, both targeting me and the people close to me. Either someone within Yang’s organization is acting without his knowledge, or Yang himself made the call.”

Neither option is good. The first means Mrs. Lee is assuming authority, and the second means I’ve been played like a goddamn fiddle by the boss himself.

“You have to get in touch with Yang,” Ethan says. “Not sure how else we’re going to get any more info, other than by going straight to the source.”

“I know.”

“And if it’s Lee,” he goes on, “Yang needs to hear it from you before he hears it from someone else. But if Yang authorized this?—”