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“Easy for you to say when you’ve never crushed a girl under your half-naked body before.”

Darien smothered his amusement, managing to compose his expression right on time as Lumen glided to a stop beside their table.

“Darien,” she said, dipping her chin. “Maximus.” She eyed the latter with contempt, the set of her mouth causing her lip ring to catch the lights rippling through the club. “Careful to keep your distance, please. I don’t feel like getting crushed tonight.”

Maximus bristled, hands squeezing his knees. “I was drunk—”

“And thoroughly ruined the mood. You would’ve been a good ride, but alas.” Tossing her hair over a shoulder, she measured Darien from head to toe, the dusting of black shadow on her lids sparkling like crushed onyx. “You free later, Darien? I heard you know how to please a woman without nearly breaking her nose by passing out on her.” She tossed another pointed look in Max’s direction.

Darien choked on a laugh.

Maximus shifted in his seat. “Fuck me,” he muttered. Glancing about, he brought up a hand to cup his brow, looking like if he could have any wish in the world granted, it would be to turn invisible.

“No, I’m not free,” Darien replied, the words barely audible around his subdued laughter. “Now, if you’re done picking on my friend—”

“Thank you,” Maximus hissed, clapping his hands together in a prayer-like gesture.

Darien finished, “—then I’d love to hear what your Head has to say.”

Lumen gave him a tight smile. “She wanted me to let you know that she is bowing out of this agreement. She has no interest in your title, and she respects that you are to lead the city’s Darkslayers until you decide to move on. As for taking down the dealers, she wants no part in it.”

Darien gave one slow blink. “Did she happen to tell you why?”

“She didn’t say. And I know my place, so I didn’t ask.” Tucking a strand of hair behind an ear, the crescent moon tattooed below it reflecting a soft green under the murky lights, she added, “Though if you want my opinion, my mother has always weighed risk and reward carefully. She’d rather—”

“Stand back and let others get their hands dirty,” Darien finished.

Lumen looked down her nose at them, assessing them both. “If you want to put it that way.”

“Tell her that I respect her decision,” Darien began, “and that I trust she will stick to her end of the agreement in terms of maintaining peace and compliance with all houses.”

The way Lumen tilted her chin alerted Darien to the fact that she had picked up on the threat buried carefully beneath sugar-coated words.

Perfect.

“I’ll tell her,” the Warg said. She began to turn away, but paused, assessing Darien from head to toe. “If you change your mind, give me a call. It would be me and Umbrielle.”

“I’m good.”

“Suit yourself.” She left without another word, ignoring the sleazy gazes that tracked her through the building as she wove through the dense crowds, heading back the same way she’d come. Umbrielle eventually joined her, neither of them looking back as they took one of the tunnels out of the Doghouse.

Max said, “What do you think that’s all about?”

“I don’t know.” He took his phone out of the pocket of his pants and unlocked it. “But I’m going to find out.” Stretching his legs out in front of him, he sat back in his chair and dialed Malakai. He pressed the phone against his ear, straining to hear the line ring over the pounding music that shook the floor.

The Reaper picked up on the first ring. “Hey.”

“Channary backed out,” Darien said, concealing his voice with the bass of the music. “She’s touting her peace-not-war nonsense and pretending she’s accepting of my place as leader.”

“Horseshit,” Malakai spat.

“That’s what I said. I want eyes on Channary at all times. Watch her house, watch her Wargs. If anything even remotely interesting happens, I want to hear about it.” The last thing any of them needed was for Channary to snoop around and try to find out who Gaven was—and then spill the beans to the arms-dealing dickhead about Darien’s plans to take down his operation.

Shit. He thought he’d bought her out, but now that he was looking at it this way…

Fuck! How could he have been so goddamn stupid?

He forced himself to breathe, forced his fist to loosen where it hung between his spread legs. Just because he was jumping to this conclusion about Channary didn’t mean it was actually happening.