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“I also, as you’ll recall, can play rap beats on my violin. Masculinely.”

“Yes, yes, your beats were very assertive and testosterone-fueled. Listen, those guys are probably only here because they want an excuse to openly scope out the place and find the wolf case.” Remembering that he’d had an unpleasant encounter with one of their minions, I added, “They’re the ones who hired that thug who hurled you into a post.”

“Oh, I don’t like them then.”

“ Good .”

“I had to go to the ER.” Bolin touched his eyebrow, the scar remaining though the stitches had long since been removed. For the first time, his expression turned troubled as he gazed in the direction his father had led Radomir and Abrams.

I glanced at the parking lot again, but Duncan had disappeared. Maybe he was spying on them. I hoped he was spying on them.

Kashvi came over, holding her phone out toward Bolin. “I talked to our agent. Their offer came in and is exactly what we’re asking.”

“Better make sure they included proof of funds,” I said.

“Of course, and they did.” Kashvi nodded. “I’ll tell Rory.”

As she headed toward the back of the complex, Bolin spread his arms. “Maybe they’re legitimate buyers.”

“They’re not,” I said. “I promise. They’re criminals.”

“If so, they’re very well-off criminals. The asking price for this complex is substantial.”

“If only I could imagine how criminals would acquire piles of money. And priceless werewolf artifacts.”

Bolin sighed. “My parents were talking about being able to retire and relax more if this goes through. In a year or two, after I’ve got more experience, they could see letting me run the daily operations of the whole business.

I could finally travel to their various complexes around the world and have a real career.

And—” his eyes grew sharp with imagined pleasure, “—if my brother wants to be involved, I would be in charge of him.”

“You’ve got a vendetta against your brother?” I remembered Bolin talking about how they’d wrestled as kids and knocked over a candle. The story hadn’t led me to imagine them being terribly rambunctious or antagonistic. “Isn’t he younger than you?”

“Yeah, but he’s athletic and confident about everything and has…” Bolin groped in the air. “ Je ne sais quoi .” He made a face. “Girls in school send him notes all the time.”

“Probably because he doesn’t say geeky things like je ne sais quoi .”

“Oh, he does. He’s got the family smarts too. It’s exceedingly obnoxious.”

“So, you naturally want to be his boss.”

“ Yes .”

“If your smirk gets any more gleeful, I’m going to classify you with the two evil overlords.”

“I wouldn’t be mean to him. Just… superior.”

I sighed, far more concerned about Radomir and Abrams than the family dynamics of my intern.

“Look, Bolin. That isn’t a legit offer. Your parents aren’t going to get to retire this month.

If you’re as smart as you think you are, you’ll nose around and look those two up.

You’ll see that they don’t have any other multifamily properties. They don’t want to be landlords.”

I opened my mouth to argue further, but Bolin held a finger to his lips and nodded past my shoulder.

Rory was returning with Kashvi, Radomir, and Abrams. I clamped my mouth shut, though I didn’t care that much if those two learned I wanted to thwart their scheme.

They had to know I would warn everyone who would listen.

As they approached, movement on the rooftop of the building they’d left caught my eye. Duncan crouched up there, peering over the crest.

Hah. He had been spying on them.

I hoped he’d learned something useful, though he probably hadn’t. Since Rory had presumably been with Radomir and Abrams the whole time, they wouldn’t have said anything to give away their ruse.

Kashvi led the group into the leasing office, but Abrams deviated, heading toward me. I tensed and glanced toward Duncan, but he ducked out of view. Abrams also looked toward the rooftop but not in time to spot him.

“Ms. Valens, was it?” he asked, stopping in front of me.

“You know damn well who I am. You and your buddy have been stalking me—and my family’s artifacts—for weeks.

” Technically, the wolf case wasn’t a family artifact and didn’t, as far as I knew, have anything to do with my pack, but it at least had to do with werewolves.

Yes, it protected the holder from werewolves instead of working on behalf of our kind, but it was in the ballpark. And these two wanted it.

“I’m certain I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Abrams said blandly with a much less charming version of Duncan’s accent.

“Bolin knows who you are. He was at the cabin when Radomir charged in and tried to get Duncan to attack me and my son.”

Bolin opened his mouth, probably to remind me that he hadn’t seen Radomir. I glared at him, and he closed it again.

“That sounds like a fanciful accounting from a fictional tale,” Abrams said.

“Uh-huh. What the hell do you two want? And what’s up with the big charade? Most people who want my stuff just rob my apartment to get it.”

“Is that an invitation?” Abrams asked.

“ No . You wouldn’t find any artifacts in there anyway.”

That was sort of true. I’d given Mom’s magical medallion back to her, and the wolf case was in the heat duct under the apartment, not inside of it.

“I see.” Abrams looked at Bolin, then inclined his head in the opposite direction. “Might I chat with you briefly in private, Ms. Valens?”

“Do you want to interview me for a possible property-management position should you buy this complex?”

“We would like to know more about your qualifications.”

“Right.”

Even though I wanted to punch Abrams, not chat with him, it would be silly to pass up the opportunity to learn something. Reluctantly, I trailed him to a private spot under a tree, the birds chirping cheerfully in the branches, unaware that the fate of their home lay in the balance.

“Radomir told me what you did.” Apparently, Abrams wasn’t one for small talk.

That suited me fine. “It’s so nice that you two are buddies and can confide in each other.”

“You were the one to destroy the dux .”

“Is that the device that could manipulate Duncan? Call him from far away and force him to do evil shit?”

Last time, it had only forced him to hunt for a magical medallion, but Duncan had spoken of the past, of the unpleasantries Abrams had once made him do.

“It was inextricably linked to him at birth,” Abrams said.

“Well, it’s unlinked now.”

His lips pressed together in a thin line. “Yes. And with that, you’ve marked his fate.”

I’d been on the verge of feeling smug that I’d destroyed his ability to control Duncan, but, as the words sank in, I started to worry. What was Abrams implying?

Originally, I’d intended to steal the control device, not bite it to pieces.

Even knowing nothing about how the magic worked, I’d worried that destroying it would have ramifications, that it might hurt Duncan.

Of course, in my furry state, with the savagery of the wolf flowing into me, I hadn’t been able to think about such complex concepts.

“What fate?” I asked warily when Abrams didn’t continue on his own.

“The magic of the dux tapped into Drakon’s life force. The abrupt breaking of the link…” Abrams shook his head and looked toward the rooftop where Duncan had crouched. Abrams’s brow creased, and he almost looked as though Duncan’s fate still mattered to him, like he cared .

If I hadn’t been worried, I would have scoffed. This guy had ordered Duncan tossed naked into a ditch. Abrams wanted him dead. At least according to Duncan. Only Radomir, because he’d wanted to use Duncan for his artifact-gathering plans, had decided on a less fatal disposal.

“His life force will wither—all of him will—as if he were a plant whose roots have all been severed. Within a week, maybe two, he will die.”

“He’s not dying. I just talked to him—and sparred with him. He’s fine .”

“It will start slowly, deep within him.” Abrams touched his forehead, near where Duncan’s scar was. “Then it will accelerate as his end approaches.” He looked back at me, frowning. “As I said, you’ve sealed his fate.”

I froze my face, not wanting to react, to show him that he’d worried me, but I longed to reel back, to deny that I’d been responsible for breaking the device. I had been, however. The wolf in me had been. But the wolf hadn’t known. I hadn’t known.

I wanted to tell Abrams to beat it and to knock off whatever scheme he and Radomir were enacting, but he was the only one who had answers, answers I now craved. “How do we reverse things and make sure Duncan doesn’t die?”

“There is no way. The dux was an ancient tool from another time, from when magic was more abundant in the earth and powerful craftsmen could make such devices. As far as I know, there isn’t another like that one remaining in existence.”

Radomir walked out of the leasing office and nodded to Abrams.

“Your recklessness ensures that Drakon dies within weeks,” Abrams said before turning away from me.

Guilt slammed into me, but my response was to snarl. “You’re the one who was controlling him, who linked him to that thing, you bastard. Don’t blame this on me.”

My fingers curled into fists and I almost sprang upon Abrams, longing to strangle him and demand more satisfying answers. He knew more than he was telling me. There had to be a way to help Duncan.

But Rory and Kashvi walked out of the leasing office, and I remembered the police car parked out front. I couldn’t strangle people that the world believed were upright businessmen in the middle of a legitimate transaction.

“If he dies, it’ll be your fault,” I growled as Abrams walked away.

He didn’t look back. He didn’t believe that. Unfortunately, my heart wouldn’t let me believe it either. If Duncan died, it would be because of me.