Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling 14)

“A microbrewery?” That didn’t fit into any of the Liu Group’s business interests. “Is it highly profitable?”

“It was a small family operation and profitable at that level. Now it’s just sitting there, nothing in production.” Lucas’s frown deepened. “Two changeling-owned clubs used that brewery almost exclusively to supply their patrons. You see what I’m talking about? It’s like they’re playing a game, probably because we won a couple of recent contracts for which Liu also put in a bid.”

“That doesn’t sound like Jen Liu.” The family matriarch was ruthless and would continue to be a thorn in the Ruling Coalition’s side, but she didn’t waste money or energy. “I’ll speak to her. This may be a junior member of the family who’s let power go to his or her head.”

“Appreciate it,” Lucas said before signing off with a small nod.

Contacting Jen Liu immediately, Aden raised the question. She called him back after forty-five minutes with a very strange report. “It appears we have been doing the things alleged by the DarkRiver alpha. However, we have no record of anyone ever giving the orders to action the incidents.”

“Could a junior have circumvented your decision-making process?”

“Highly improbable, though I’ve asked my deputy to investigate.” Her expression was faultlessly Silent, but Aden had the feeling the green-eyed, silver-haired telepath was annoyed. “I’d like to speak to Lucas Hunter and see if we can come to an accommodation. I currently have people tracking the supply chain to see where the parts may have gone—” She paused, her head angled, as if listening to another voice.

“The parts have been located,” she said a second later. “They were delivered to a family warehouse, and since the documentation was in order, the warehouse manager simply put them on the shelves.” The matriarch’s expression grew even more icy. “Someone is playing games, and those games may have an impact on our business activities.”

Aden knew the changeling sector was a lucrative one that had long been closed to Psy. With the fall of Silence and with other changes in the world, that door was now partially ajar. Aden wouldn’t put it past another family group to scuttle the Liu Group’s reputation with changelings in an effort to win contracts.

“I’m sending you Lucas’s contact details.” That done, he said, “Have you had any other similar experiences?” It could be simply petty business politics, but Aden never assumed anything.

“My family hasn’t, but Kalani Chastain mentioned that a human business association recently filed legal papers that delayed a crucial project.”

“It sounds like an ordinary dispute.”

“Yes, until the other side didn’t turn up to any of the hearings. The judge threw out the filing but the damage was done.”

The hairs on his nape prickling, Aden contacted Chastain as soon as he and Jen Liu finished speaking. The barely twenty-nine-year-old head of the family assumed the Ruling Coalition was taking her to task for the delay in what was a Coalition-funded comm station upgrade, and had no hesitation in giving him the full details.

Since he didn’t have a contact within the human association in question, he asked Zaira to get in touch with Bo. The Arrows and the Human Alliance had a cautiously “friendly” association that boiled down to “don’t step on my toes and I won’t step on yours.”

Making the contact, Zaira called back. “He’s checking, will get back to you within the next hour.”

Every cell in Aden’s body seemed to awaken at the sound of her voice. “Did Miane have any further success with Olivia?” he asked, conscious the BlackSea alpha was currently running everything from a base in Venice while she did what she could to help her packmate heal.

“No, but Persephone was alive as of ten minutes ago.” Zaira’s voice turned edgy, hard. “A new e-mail came into Olivia’s account, warning her against talking. Persephone was holding a printout of the most recent Beacon update, complete with a date and time stamp. And her captors didn’t forget to obscure her face enough to make it useless for a teleport lock.”

Aden’s own anger was a razored thing—he would never forget those recordings of Zaira in that cell of a room, and the idea of another child undergoing the same made him want to do cold, deadly violence. “That implies Olivia does know something.”

“The Halcyon may have done its job there; her memory is shot. Persephone’s abductors will realize soon that Olivia didn’t give us anything.”

Because if she had, Aden thought, the squad would’ve moved. “Stay on it,” he said. “They won’t risk harming the child until they’re dead certain Olivia is contained.” The breathing room was minuscule, but it might be enough to save a tiny and vulnerable life.

“Amin tells me Blake is like a rat in a hole,” Aden said, knowing she wanted to be kept up-to-date on that hunt. “The team doesn’t have him yet, but they know he’s trapped in New York.” There had been no new murders that bore the rogue Arrow’s signature, likely because of the unremitting pressure created by the squad’s tracking teams.

“Good.” An icy response, followed by the unexpected. “I miss you. You’ve addicted me to you.”

He felt his lips curve again, the smile starting in his heart and spreading outward. Like the children, he, too, had discovered there was more to life than being an Arrow or even the leader of the squad. And he’d discovered it with his deadliest commander. “Success.”