Page 78 of Problematic

His gaze found mine.

I had no idea what I meant to say. Perhaps I wanted permission to be angry. Perhaps I wanted him to tell me why part of me kept waiting for a monster who had no right to follow.

The darkness outside shifted.

The light filtering through the trees thinned as a broad shape separated itself from the yard. My pulse stopped. Calcifer fell silent.

Kalon noticed before I spoke.

A tall figure stood between the trees, too solid to belong to the night. His mask caught the faint wash of light from the living room.

There you are.

Relief hit first.

The reaction frightened me more than the cameras. He had followed me across the city. I had left him broken surveillance equipment and anger, and he had answered by standing outside another man’s house.

The glass slipped from my hands and shattered against the floor.

He remained beyond the window, broad shoulders hidden beneath black clothing, face concealed behind the mask. He didn’t tap the glass or move toward the house.

He watched.

Then he lifted one hand and gave me a small finger wave.

As though appearing outside Kalon’s home to ruin my mental stability counted as flirting.

My stomach dropped.

And then he was gone.

Chapter 13

Lux

I preferred to think of my red flags as branding.

The cameras, for example, were objectively indefensible. I knew that. I had a working understanding of ethics. I often ignored it, but I did know where people kept it.

Following her to work? Also bad.

Buying the café because I disliked her compensation? A bit excessive, but I had a deep-rooted attachment to caffeine that somehow justified owning a coffee shop.

Threatening rude customers until they returned trembling, apologetic, and financially generous? Public service.

All things considered, I had shown admirable restraint.

The Southern Lords did not agree, although to be fair, they were referring to Valkyrie’s territorial balance and not Olivia Heart, which made their opinions less relevant.

They sat across from me in the East Conference Room beneath black glass and old bone, polished, armed, and smiling like we weren’t all one bad sentence away from violence.

A map of Valkyrie glowed across the table.

New Abaddon sat at the center.

Hollowside belonged to me now.

The northern freight routes folded next.