Page 41 of Moon Claimed

I could do this.

“Stewards, welcome to our tribal lands. Welcome.” Totally borrowed that line.“Thank you for your effort in Water last week. It’s never easy to face failure, but I can assure you the next meeting in Water won’t end the same. Next week’s battle is in Iron, and I’ve heard this is a particular strength of ours.”

The crowd exchanged smiles.

“I look forward to seeing the Luthers retreat, tails between their legs.” The harsh darkness returned to my voice.Jesus, maybe I’d come down with something. I cleared my throat. “We’ve always dominated Iron, but the real danger to us in this grid is complacency. Face this grid as you’d face Water. The worst thing we can do is assume a win. I wager that the leader of the Luthers is taking the opportunity with Iron that I took with Water. He wants to seek out our weaknesses. Don’t let him find any.”

I let the seriousness of my words sink in. Their smug smiles were gone.Good.“The strategy teams have outdone themselves in readiness. Soon, Valerie and Nathan will take you through final strategies, and I hope our plan excites you as much as it excites me. Before they do that, I want to take the chance to thank each and every steward for their ongoing effort. Your job, whether in our various businesses, in deliveries or security, or in strategy, iscrucial.I will never be unaware of that—and I will never be complacent—even if I don’t know all your names yet.” I slanted them a grin as chuckles arose.

Walking back to Rhona’s side, I fixed my outward attention on Valerie and Nathan on the stage.

I couldn’t wait for sleep tonight; My eyes felt scratchy. My body ached from holding the damn book up for hours on end. Despite that, I’d read the journals tonight until exhaustion claimed me again.

“You okay?” Rhona whispered.

“Might have to see the doctor.”

“It’s not the wound, is it?”

I froze.

Oh.

Fuck.

“It could be infected or something,” she added.

Sascha said werewolves could be made, but not from biting. I forced myself to breathe. “The wound is pretty much gone now. Just stress, I’m sure.”

“You know,” she said hesitantly, “if you need me to take on more responsibilities, I’m here for you.”

She’d already taken on a huge job. “Honestly, once the debt is gone, that will clear a lot of emotional space for me.”

“You spoke to Neve then?”

Neve was a lawyer who’d dealt with a lot of the Thana’s legal matters over the years. She drew up the papers for the transfer of funds yesterday. Another lawyer was working on conveyance for the house, so that would save me over a grand. “Yeah, I’ll transfer the leftover balance from the manor accounts after house settlement. Not gonna lie, I can’t wait to be free of that shit. Thanks for helping me with that.”

She pressed her lips together, and I could almost hear the angry outburst about Ragna on her lips, though she swallowed it back.

Even now, I couldn’t help feeling a loyalty to the woman who’d raised me.

Even calling her Ragna felt disrespectful.

Calling Herc my father felt like a lie.

But I had a sister. I had to remember that.

Valerie and Nathan finished, and I listened to the energetic murmur rising from the stewards.Perfect.I didn’t want to dampen their spirit with thedon’t be complacentspeech, but arrogance was a certain way to lose a grid in my amateur opinion.

Now, there was an edge in the air that told me they were ready to bring their A-game.

Wade approached with a middle-aged woman on his arm. “Andie, have you met Harlow Greene? Let me introduce the two of you.”

Switching on myhead stewardsmile, I shook her hand.

An hour of introductions passed before I managed to escape to my room. I dragged the last journal from beneath the tallboy. After Pascal’s office search, I didn’t want to take any chances.

Therehadto be something in here.

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