The artwork above is not mine.

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    Ruhn let his hands dangle between his knees while he waited for the boy to speak. Beside him, Sarai sat unnaturally still. He assumed it was because she didn't want to frighten the boy. "What's your name?" Sarai asked.

    "August." The boy stared at his shackled hands, not meeting either of their gazes. "I...I can't tell you very much. They didn't really let me know anything unless it had something to do with my assignments."

    "Just start at the beginning and tell us what you can," Sarai urged.

    August's eyes lifted and took in the one way glass window behind them. "Are those Angels watching us?"

    Ruhn angled himself between the boy and the window. "Don't worry about the Angels. They aren't going to bother us."

    August's throat bobbed. "You're the Fae Prince, aren't you? I've seen you on broadcasts." He tilted his head, locks of blond hair dusting his brow. "I like your tattoos."

    "Thank you, but you were going to tell us about your employer?"

    "Oh, right." August pursed his lips, then began. "I didn't mean to get mixed up in all of this. I just wanted to make some extra money to help out my mother. Liam saw me and said he needed someone fast and well acquainted with the Meadows to deliver messages."

    "At first, I was just taking messages to different businesses. Then it switched to individual people. One day, Liam told me I had to take a message to the Boss. He never did give me a name. Just an address. It was the warehouse where you found us. I met with the Boss a few times, taking messages back and forth between him and Liam."

    "What did the Boss look like?" Sarai asked.

    "I never saw his face. He wore a mask, but I knew he was Human."

    "Did he wear a suit like Liam and the others?"

    August shook his head. "He wore a plain black shirt and matching pants. He seemed more like a bodyguard than a Boss to me." Ruhn frowned at that. "He was the one who gave us the crate, but we were given strict orders not to open it. It had to go straight to the buyers with no interference."

    "Do you know what was in the crate?" Sarai asked. August shook his head once more.

    "You said he looked more like a bodyguard than a Boss," Ruhn said. "If he wasn't the Boss, do you have any idea who he might've been working for?"

    "Someone outside of the Meadows. No one inside is rich or powerful enough to hire bodyguards for themselves. All of the guys working on the deal with Liam came off the streets, just like me."

    Sarai rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Whenever you went to the warehouse, did you notice any of the security cameras were missing?"

    "There were never cameras around when I was there," August answered. "I thought they might've been removed before the Boss and I began meeting."

    "How long ago would you say that was?"

    "A month or so?"

    Sarai glanced at Ruhn, a suspicious gleam in her eyes. "Thank you for your cooperation, August. We'll do what we can to help you and your family."

    An Angel entered the room and removed the shackles from August's wrists. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes and dripped down his cheeks as he was escorted away. Ruhn and Sarai left the room as soon as the door hissed open. They found Isaiah and Naomi where they'd left them, although the third Angel was gone.

    "That didn't yield much," Isaiah remarked.

    "It yielded enough," Sarai countered. "We know we're looking for someone outside of the Meadows, and there should be footage from that warehouse before the cameras were removed."

    "A whole month and that warehouse was without surveillance cameras." Naomi fixed a cold stare on Ruhn. He went rigid. "The Fae are determined that they're the only ones allowed to monitor Asphodel Meadows, but you must be going slack in your work if someone stole city issued cameras over a month ago and you didn't know."

    "I'll question the unit who patrolled that section of the district around that time," Ruhn said, gritting his teeth against a sharp insult.

    "What sentence was that boy given?" Sarai asked before Ruhn could say anything more.

    "The same as the others from the bust. Five years," Isaiah replied.

    "Revoke his sentence and give him something a little more lenient."

    "It's not up to us."

    "Then talk to whomever makes those decisions. The kid did nothing wrong. He probably didn't even know what was in those messages he was carrying. He certainly didn't know he was involved in anything drug related."

    "We only have the boy's word to testify for that."

    "He's fifteen and was trying to help his mother," Sarai spat. "Put him on probation and give him community service. He'll get the message." She was interrupted by a ringing cell phone. Sarai pulled it out of her pocket and glared at the name. Ruhn recognized it before she answered. "What? I'm busy."

    Ruhn didn't doubt that if anyone else answered a call from Rafe Fenix like that, they'd lose their tongue before an hour had passed. Sarai listened to her Alpha in silence for several minutes, then ended the call.

    "Take care of that kid," she growled, storming past the Angels and reclaiming her weapons. Ruhn hurried after her.

    "Sarai, what's going on?" He called, ducking into the elevator behind her.

    "My pack has a patrol and Sabine wants to see me about something." She whipped out her phone and began texting. "We need to follow up on the cameras around the warehouse. The footage from them has to be somewhere. It could at least show us who removed the cameras."

    "I'll start working on that today. I'll check in with the person running tests on our sample too. I doubt the Angels will be willing to share what was in the crate or what their own tests yielded."

    They reached the main floor of the Comitium and headed towards the exit. Sarai walked with angry and purposeful strides. Ruhn hesitated, wondering if he should walk with her. She almost seemed anxious about the meeting she was about to attend. It reminded him of his own anxieties when he met with his father.

    "I could walk with you back to Moonwood," Ruhn offered. Sarai breezed out of the Comitium, ignoring him. "Sarai?"

    She rounded on him, anger sparking in her onyx eyes. "Don't start pretending we're friends, Chosen One. I'm only here because I have to be, not because I want to be."

    Ruhn narrowed his eyes. "I'm not being your friend. I was just offering to keep you company because you seem anxious."

    "I don't want your sympathy, and don't act like you know what I'm thinking and feeling."

    "I said you seemed anxious, not that you were. Forgive me if I was mistaken!" Ruhn spun on his heel and stormed away. "I don't know what the Hel I ever saw in you. You're just a snotty, proud bitch, aren't you, Rai Rai?"

    "Oh," she scoffed. "Now I see. You weren't pretending to know me. You already do."

    Ruhn didn't deign to respond. He just kept walking and soon, he heard Sarai head in another direction.

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    "A whole month?" Declan echoed, scrolling through a list of units, names, and agendas. He was trying to determine which Fae unit had been patrolling around the warehouse when the cameras went missing. Flynn was off on another assignment, leaving the house surprisingly quiet for a change.

    "That's what the kid said," Ruhn replied, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

    "And you trust him?"

    "He's fifteen years old and in prison for something he doesn't understand. I trust him to do what's in his best interest, and that was talking to Sarai and I."

    "Fair enough. How are things going with her anyway? Flynn keeps hinting that he's going to come along on one of your outings and sweep her off her feet."

    "Like Hel he is." Ruhn bit down on his lip ring, thinking of a response. "Things are as expected, I suppose. We were almost getting along when we arrived at the Comitium. She stopped a fight between Athalar and I. We stood up for that boy together. And when we left, she seemed anxious about a meeting with Sabine so I offered to walk back to Moonwood with her."

    Declan glanced up, raising an eyebrow. "And how did that go?"

    "She reminded me that we're not friends and I don't know her or her feelings."

    "Hm." Declan's amber eyes reflected his curiosity, although he asked no more questions. "Bring me some of that, would you?"

    Ruhn smiled and poured another glass of whiskey for his friend. He joined Declan on the couch and offered him the glass. "If that's the kind of luck I'm having with Sarai, I doubt Flynn will do much better. Besides..." He toyed with his lip ring again. "I think she might be involved with Connor Holstrom."

    "I thought Holstrom was hung up on Bryce?"

    "Me too but when we went to the warehouse on the first day of our investigation, his scent was all over her. And not in a 'they were just hanging out together' kind of way."

    Declan took a sip of his whiskey and scrolled some more. "They'd make a good match, you have to admit. Close power levels, matching ranks, equally skilled warriors... I doubt even Sabine Fendyr would object to that pairing. She'd certainly appreciate any children that came out of it." Ruhn frowned, swirling the amber liquid in his glass as he thought. "You don't like that idea?"

    "Why would I care?" Ruhn countered. "Flynn's the one who wants to hook up with her."

    "Like you don't?" There was a hint of teasing laughter in Declan's voice.

    "I learned my lesson a while ago."

    "That didn't stop you from volunteering to be her partner for this investigation."

    "I gave my reasoning for that."

    "Mmhm."

    Ruhn rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Can you tell me who was on patrol there or not?"

    "Just found them. And, I can do better than that. I think I can hack the security feed around the Meadows and find out who stole the cameras. I might be able to find the footage from them too."

    "If you can, you'll be my hero." Ruhn tipped his head back on the couch.

    "That always was my dream job." Both of them laughed at that.