Page 65 of Blinding Light

“No,thedata chip, Moargan.” Aviel wiggled his brows. “It seems a virus was installed in your man’s empty folders.”

The captain nodded. “Our specialists will still need to go through all the details. We haven’t finished our investigation yet.”

Moargan turned over his shoulder to where Cyprian sat waiting for him in the car. He looked back, mind racing. Could Cyprian have tried to murder Aviel and Yure? It sounded absurd and something his brilliant, complicated Royal Consort wouldn’t do.

“Installing spyware and explosives onto a data chip. That sounds like a complicated job to do.”

The captain pinched the bridge of his nose while Aviel chuckled. “As I say, we haven’t concluded our investigation yet. I am no expert, but I would think that would involve advanced technical skills.”

“Exactly. Cyprian is an art student,” Moargan said.

Aviel snorted, chuckling under his breath. “What are you implying? That your precious Cyprian doesn’t have the brain to frame us?” He shook his head, letting out a tssk. “I say he’s a bit of a bad boy. We’ve just got to figure out how bad.” His eyes flashed with delight.

Moargan contemplated his options. There was no way Cyprian had faked his desire to meet his biological parents, of that he was sure. But… his mind zoomed in on the only other possibility.

“Whatever was on that chip was important enough to kill for.” He thought out loud.

Aviel tilted his head from left to right. “What are you implying?”

Moargan shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve got no fucking clue what’s going on, or if Cyprian is involved.”

“Well, whatever’s behind this—” Aviel glanced over at the smothering remainders of the boat. “We will drag it out from the shadows and punish it properly.”

They stared at each other, amethyst and gold glimmering with understanding.

The captain cleared his throat. He looked uncomfortable. “I will be in touch with you as soon as we can confirm our findings.”

“Thank you.” Moargan shook his hand, then turned back to Aviel. “Tell Yure to grab whatever is left of his belongings, if anything. I'll have your rooms prepared.”

On his way back to the car he called Helianth. There were still people lingering in the hope of a glimpse of anything.

Suddenly, his gaze picked up on a glimpse of platinum hair in the crowd. Curls, just like he’d seen before. His purple gaze searched around, but whoever he’d just seen, had vanished.

“Hey.” Helianth sounded tired.

“Congratulations on your catch,” Moargan teased. “Are you pleased?”

“Catch. You could hardly call that a catch. The guy was a spluttering mess, although he was a good fuck.”

“I bet you say that to all the boys.”

Helianth let out his disdained huff, making Moargan laugh even louder. “We’re going to keep an eye on him. I take it you’ve already let him go?”

“Yeah. He was too weak to be a soldier and I’m in no need for slaves. Where are you?”

“Outside Yure’s boat. It exploded.”

There was silence. “What?”

Moargan grimaced at the thought of Yure’s sad expression.

“Why? How?”

“I can hear your mind racing from here,” Moargan teased. His brother, the eternal detective to be. “A data chip contained artificial dynamite. As for the why, we don’t know yet.”

“Do you want me to come over?”

“No. We’ll talk again when the fire brigade has finalized its investigation. But let’s just keep an eye on Theo. Aside from Cyprian, he’s the only one who touched that chip. I’d bet my money he’s lied to us.”

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