Page 74 of No Charm Done

“We’re just here to scout,” Luna whispered, clutching her satchel tight. “Map the security wards, check out the conference rooms.”

Elias turned to her, confused. “Why would there be wards? These are just folks, aren’t they? Just boring old citizens?”

“Given that your old friend Burke is mixed up in this? Who knows what’s going on up there in that office?”

The mention of Burke’s name made Elias’s gut turn sour. “My old friend, yeah, right. Old fiend, maybe.”

Luna gripped his chin, drawing his face close. “No nonsense today, you hear me? No tricks—this is just recon.”

“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart.”

“I’m not your—” Their eyes locked, and a shared vision of the Oyster Bar seemed to float above their heads. She quickly looked away. “I mean it, Shaw. We can’t afford to mess this up.”

“When have I ever messed anything up?”

“Shall I get you that list alphabetically or chronologically?”

The building’s revolving door admitted two people from the street: a woman in her mid-thirties wearing a blazer that looked expensive but somehow apologetic, and a man about the same age carrying a messenger bag with more pockets than was structurally possible. Both wore visitor badges on lanyards. LEXI JONES, BEHAVIORAL MARKETING SPECIALIST. KYLE GORDON, BRAND NARRATIVE ARCHITECT.

Brand Narrative Architect. Elias pressed his lips together to keep from sneering. Do they craft stories brick by brick? Is there a blueprint for bull?

They approached the elevator bank, and Kyle pressed the up button while Lexi consulted her phone.

“We should’ve prepped more for this,” Kyle said. “Burke’s going to ask about the Series-A narrative framework, and I haven’t even⁠—”

“We’ll improvise,” Lexi said, checking her watch. “It’s just the investor pre-sync. Low stakes.”

“Burke doesn’t do low stakes.”

“Ha. Fair point.”

“Did you hear that?” Luna whispered. “This is—” She cut herself off, but he could read her face. This was exactly what they’d been hoping to engineer out of thin air. A room full of investors. Decision-makers. And here they all were, served on a platter. A perfect moment to deploy a token. “But we’re not prepared. We don’t have credentials, we don’t have a cover story⁠—”

“We have them.” He nodded toward the consultants waiting for the elevator, then he waggled his eyebrows. “You could . . .” waggle waggle “You know?”

Luna’s eyes widened. “No. Shaw, that’s insane.”

“Ohhh okay,” he said winkingly. “I mean, if you can’t handle it then⁠—”

“Hey! I can handle it.”

The elevator dinged. The doors opened, and Kyle and Lexi stepped inside.

Luna gripped Elias’s arm; at first he thought she’d drag him out to scold him. Instead, she breathed in, squared her shoulders, and led him into the elevator.

“Heading up?” Lexi asked pleasantly as they crowded in.

“Yes,” Luna said, her voice steady despite the death grip she had on his sleeve. “We are.”

“You here for the CastR pre-sync?” Kyle adjusted his glasses. The man looked like he’d been assembled from a catalog titled Inoffensive Corporate Professional Monthly.

Luna’s smile didn’t falter. “Of course.”

“Oh, are you with Burke’s team?” Lexi perked up. “I don’t think we’ve met⁠—”

“We’re handling the, uh . . .” Elias glanced at the badge “. . . brand narrative architecture. Obviously.”

“Oh, you’re those consultants,” Kyle said brightly. “I thought you weren’t due until next week.”