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Her smile disappears.

Briggs stops at the bar. “What did you give him?”

Lyric crosses her arms. “Nothing.”

The man looks between them. “She gave me her number.”

Briggs’s head turns toward him.

Lyric releases an irritated breath. “For work.”

The man hesitates. “You said we should get a drink while we’re both in Detroit.”

Briggs looks at her.

She gestures toward the castle. “He works for the Devils. I was networking.”

“Networking,” Briggs repeats.

“Yes.”

“At midnight?”

“It isn’t midnight.”

“Almost.”

The man reaches for his jacket. “I didn’t know she was with anyone.”

“You don’t need to explain,” Briggs tells him.

Lyric looks at the man. “You can go.”

He collects his jacket and leaves quickly, showing better survival instincts than most people who wander into our group.

Briggs watches him disappear before facing Lyric. “Why did he think you weren’t with anyone?”

“Because I don’t discuss my personal life with business contacts.”

“You gave him your number and asked him to take you for a drink.”

“It was harmless.”

“You told him you were single.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“He just said he didn’t know you were with anyone.”

“Because it wasn’t relevant.”

Briggs laughs once. The sound is low and broken enough that every part of me goes cold.

Bliss reaches him first. “Lyric, what the hell?”

“This doesn’t involve you.”

“Briggs is my best friend. It involves me the second you make him look like that.”