Page 7 of Throne of Secrets

Even though she worked from home, she had office hours to maintain. Her small business specialized in medical dictation transcription, catering to doctors who refused to use automated voice recognition software. On top of that, she took freelance overflow work from court stenographers, particularly those based in New York, where caseloads were brutal.

The steady workload was a blessing, but it also meant she couldn’t devote every waking hour to fixing the house. With that in mind, she walked to the small apartment refrigerator she had brought from her last residence and grabbed a water bottle.

Her current predicament? The kitchen, or, actually, the wiring. The house’s ancient electrical system had made itselfloud and clearwhen she’d plugged in the coffee maker and toaster at the same time—a decision she’d immediately regretted. The resulting snap, crackle, and pop had nearly sent her into cardiac arrest.

Since then, she’d strategically rationed electricity use like a general planning a battle. The small fridge sat on a dedicated circuit, with nothing else plugged in. The coffee maker? Exiled to another room. Hairdryer? Curling iron? Not a chance. She wasn’t about to overload the system andaccidentallyburn the place down.

Kyle had given her the names of three electricians, and she’d already lined up quotes. She had no doubt the entire house needed to be rewired, which was precisely why she was putting the patchwork projects on hold. She wanted outlets where there were none, and goodness only knew how many holes they’d cut into the walls to fix the wiring.

Instead, she’d decided to focus on stripping the downstairs floors and staircase. The original dark mahogany stain felt heavy, oppressive—like the house was still weighed down by ghosts of the past. She wanted warmth. Life. A fresh start. She’d chosen a lighter stain that would bring out the depth of the red oak floors while still honoring the home’s history.

But first, she needed more varnish stripper. And maybe a little courage. The buffer she’d invested in—one of her best purchases—was an absolute workhorse.Renting one would’ve cost her five times what she’d paid to own it outright.

But there was one small problem. Given the whole kitchen electrical debacle, she wasn’t sure if she should actually plug the thing in again. The buffer required a heavy draw on the system, and she had zero faith in the house’s wiring.

So, for now, she would concentrate on the manual work, scrubbing and scraping corners and edges where the buffer couldn’t reach, using pure elbow grease and determination.

Star went back to the master bedroom and changed her clothes before heading to the hardware store. The walk wasn’t far, and she needed the exercise. And maybe, justmaybe, she’d find a way to stop humiliating herself in front of Ethan while she was at it. She did make an amazing sauce; cooking was her forte. She loved it, and when the kitchen was renovated, she’d have an incredible, modern refuge with all the latest appliances. Or, knowing her luck, she'd probably just add to the ever-growing collection of things that could go wrong. But that was the excitement of life, wasn’t it?

CHAPTER3

Ethan had just made it back to his house when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen and smirked before answering.

“Hey, Pops. What’s up?”

Lycos’ chuckle rumbled through the line. “Are you up for dinner tonight?”

Ethan’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “Are you in town?”

Lycos snorted. “Well, it’d be kinda hard to have dinner with you if I weren’t.”

Ethan rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Yeah, okay, that was a stupid comment.”

His father chuckled. “You know, for a genius, sometimes you say some pretty dumb things.”

“Without a doubt.” Ethan laughed. “Is Mom with you?” Ethan asked, tossing his keys onto the kitchen counter as he walked through his house.

“No, she went to visit Jewell, Bengal, and the kids. Kelly and Karson wanted to start hydroponic growing for their science project this year, and Jewell went to the source for information. I came out to work with some of the recruits.”

Ethan stilled, his fingers drumming against the granite countertop. He knew exactly what his father meant by recruits.Lycos wasn’t talking about bright-eyed college grads looking for internships. He oversaw the Shadows—not just their handling but their mental health and wellbeing. Since taking over for Demos, Lycos had become the steady hand guiding new assassins into the life and ensuring those already in the field didn’t burn out before their expiration date.

And expiration dates were very real in their world. Ethan had never met anoldassassin working in the field. Older? Sure.Old?No. The ones who lasted either transitioned into leadership, intelligence, or training, but eventually, everyone either retired or ended up in the ground.

“Is this a recruitment check or an update?” Ethan asked as he descended the stairs, unlocking his secure work area.

Thor, his loyal companion, padded after him, curling up on his soft bed in the corner of the room with a low grunt of acknowledgment.

Lycos made a noncommittal sound. “A little of both, perhaps.”

Ethan raised a brow. “Where are you?”

“Across the street.”

Ethan barked out a laugh. “You mean you’ve been sitting over there, watching me, instead of just coming over?”

“Well,” Lycos drawled. “I’ve got to admit, the little fiasco with your neighbor was interesting.”

Groaning, Ethan scrubbed a hand down his face. “Whichfiasco?” He didn’t even want to know how comical her falling on top of him looked.

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