Page 53 of Moon Kissed

I stood there, eyes glued on his face waiting for—

Edric’s eyes bugged.

“Ah-ha!” I clapped. “Boom! I didn’t know the big reveal would come this soon, but it’s even better than I imagined.”

“What is this!”

“Shit! I should’ve had my phone out and snapped a pic of your face.”

Rage shattered Edric’s unsettling calm. Right then, he looked like he was about to leap over the armchair and tackle me. “This is a trick! My hack didn’t work. She found out and fed me false coordinates.”

I laughed. “I mean, even if that’s true, you’ve still got nothing. If you send the worst of Wolf Nation to that spot, the fallout will be...” I whistled, hands falling, and mimed the explosion. “Whether she’s actually there or not doesn’t matter. No one is going to risk it.

“Awww,” I mocked, pushing out my lips. Edric’s clenched jaw audibly cracked. “Did you really think I was that stupid? I knew there was a chance someone would go after my tech support, so I chose someone who lived in a place no wolf would go.”

“You’re a fucking monster.”

I winked. “Now you’re getting it.”

“What happened to you! You’re the high priestess of Wolf Nation—chosen by the moon goddess herself! Everyone who knew you said you were the sweetest, kindest person.” Edric roared up on me so fast, there wasn’t a chance of escape before he slammed his hands on either side of my head, trapping me against the wardrobe. “You were supposed to save us all. Make Wolf Nation the greatest dominion on the planet, and instead, you’re nothing but a traitorous psycho who’s only out for herself!”

“Me?!” Indignation burst through my calm. “I’m the one who’s only out for myself?! That’s fucking rich coming from the guy who just tried to sell out his friends and make a deal with a murderer, all so he could get rich!”

“That’s not why!”

“Oh, please.” I blew a raspberry right in his darkening face. “You think you can feed me some sob story about the money going to a good cause?”

“It is!”

I shoved up on him, smashing my nose against his. “Tainted blood money that you got from rolling around in the mud with me,” I hissed against his snarling lips. “No one who has to get money that way is doing it for a good reason.” I laughed, and his heart thrummed louder in my ears. “You’re right, baby. We are a match made in hell. For all your morals, in the end, Castor’s death is just something for you to trade on. A means to an end.”

“You’re wrong!” Wood splinters showered my neck as his claws shredded the wardrobe doors. “It was Castor who wanted this! He was going to get the money but—but now there’s only me and—and— I don’t have a choice!” Edric’s eyes sharpened. “But if I fucking did, it’d be you in the ground and not him.

“Castor was the best of people. He wasn’t a nice guy, he was a good man. He was going to do good. He wanted tohelp people,” Edric tore from his throat. “He did nothing wrong and you killed him!”

I was expressionless in the face of his rage.

“So don’t you dare compare me toyou,” he spat, infusing so much hate into the word—my neck hairs stood on end. “Everything I do is in Castor’s honor. You can’t understand that because you’re a worthless piece of shit that I was going to betray the second I got my money. Of course I don’t give a fuck if they treat you fairly. I want you burning in the deepest, darkest hellpit they can throw you in— Scratch that, I’ll throw you in myself.”

“Wow,” I said lightly. Ducking his arm, I broke free from his orbit. “Strong words. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“Fuck you.”

I tsked. “So hostile, but I’m not without pity. Going after Lucia is out, but I’m still willing to make a deal with you.”

Edric turned, his eyes tracking me under furrowed brows. “What are you talking about?”

“The two million dollars?” I drew it out like he was an idiot. “Did you forget?”

“What about it?”

“I will blackmail the council for you. Two million dollars, and I won’t tell anyone who it’s really for.” Moving to my bed, I draped myself over the sheets. “If it’s really for a good cause, far be it for me to stand in the way. It’s not like I give a shit if the council is out a couple mil. And if you saw the houses they live in, they don’t give a shit either.”

Edric moved slowly and deliberately toward the door. The one sensing a trap... was him. “What do you want?”

I raised a brow. “Can’t I be doing this out of the goodness of my heart? Apparently I’m a worthless piece of shit. I could use some good deeds to get me off the naughty list this year.”

“There is no goodness in your heart,” he replied, blunt as a truck. “I repeat, what do you want?”

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