Page 100 of Dragon Unleashed

I shrug out of his grip, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Fine. But more coffee.”

He flashes me a smile and gets us both a cup as we plod toward Divination.

“What about the energy thing?” he asks, and I squint up at him. “Do you want me to take your negative baggage?”

Val’s warning skips around inside my brain.

“Nah, I’ll keep my nasty little feelings.”

The day drags by. Nothing interests me, not even the subjects I normally love. The court case hangs over my head, blotting out the joy in everything. By the last lesson I’ve simply given up. My tablet is out, sure, but instead of following along with the supernatural history lesson, I’m scrolling, doing my own thing.

Nothing. On the whole damn internet there’s nothing concrete on the logo from the amethyst mine. It’s a bust. Reverse image search shows the very occasional picture, but they’re all dead ends.

A flash of purple hair in my peripheral vision is all the warning I get before Kai is leaning over my tablet sticking his nose in my business. He’s so close there’s no missing the flash of recognition on his face. I grab his sleeve as he edges away.

“What is it?” I hiss, keeping my voice low enough the prof won’t care.

“It’s a logo.” He shrugs. “It’s got a littleVand a crown and if you squint maybe there’s a heart.”

“I can see, idiot. I mean…do you know it?”

“Sure.”

“Where? I’ve looked!”

“In Moyatura. I don’t know what they do, but that company runs out of our country. Or used to.”

I type frantically into the search bar, adding Moyatura to the algorithm. Nothing.

Kai snickers. “Yeah, fae don’t put their whole lives online. You need to know where to look. Try faenet, the dark net.”

He pulls up a new window, enters some kind of command prompt, and the whole damn thing goes black. His fingers fly over the keys and suddenly it springs to life again. The display is complex and hauntingly beautiful, a work of art in its own right.

“Fuuuuck.”

“Miss Bal, kindly concentrate.”

I duck my head, giving Kai the thumbs-up. I’ll work this out tonight.

Faenet is a wormhole. I’ve barely eaten or drunk since yesterday. But I’ve found it. We’ve found it. The information I need. And it definitely points to the Virrey. My favorite person. Sure, the company is run out of Moyatura, out of the fae realm. But they’re funded by a shell company, funded by another shell, funded by the Virrey. Chano’stiowas telling the truth; the Virrey did employ them.

Kai seems to know every backdoor on faenet, every sneaky way in,andwho to speak to when we come up against a brick wall. I save my final document and email it to myself. I’m sure there’sa safer way to keep all the information in one place, but Kai bugged out at 2 a.m. and I’m not asking him for more help.

I tap my fingers on the desk, jiggling my knee. The Virrey is behind some really dodgy shit. I still don’t know exactly what. Just that whatever they’re making, whatever magically enhanced chemical they’re transporting, it isn’t good. Or maybe it’s the effluent that’s the issue. I tug distractedly at my hair. I don’t know enough. I don’t have enough evidence to go against the Virrey.

But what if I did? Just one thing that shows he knew—he knew what his company was doing and kept doing it anyway. He has to know. Why have shell companies otherwise?

I glance at the clock over Naeve’s bed. Barely five o’clock. I’m not waking her and dragging her into this. She’s not exactly handy in an emergency. I slip into my gym kit and pull on my running shoes. It’s not safe. I’m not putting her in the Virrey’s sights. Zephyr won’t be up, and if he is he’ll have some dumb chick in his bed. I am not subjecting myself to that. And Farrell…it’s his father.

That leaves Chano. He hates the Virrey. Maybe he’ll put our issues aside and help… It’s for his mother. Kinda.

“No,” he grunts, moving to a set of weights and crouching down.

The gym is silent and his words echo like a gunshot. No one else is around to see me flinch. Chano ignores my reaction and hefts the weight in the air, sweat slowly trickling down his neck, his T-shirt slick to his body already. Just being this close to him makes my heart pound harder. Apparently, he doesn’t feel the same. Not if the disdainful lip curl is anything to go by.

“What, just because it’s me asking? This is for your mother, you asshole.”

The weight crashes to the ground at my feet and I jump back with a yelp.

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