Page 56 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

“Well?” I snap.

He jumps. “I have it here.”

I hold out my hand, and the fucker hesitates.

“Show me,” I say. I flash him a wad of cash.

He pulls his backpack around to the front and unzips the smallest compartment, revealing a glass bottle.

“They’ll—”

“Shut. Up.”

He wisely presses his lips together and accepts the cash I toss to him. I shove the bottle in my pocket and raise my eyebrows. I wait for the other part of our agreement.

Tracking down this boy was more trouble than it might be worth, but then he nods and hands over a stack of papers.

“I don’t know why—”

“Seriously, kid,” I interrupt. “You’re supposed to be a genius. And yet, you keep talking.”

He grunts. “Insatiable curiosity, unfortunately.”

I grin at that. “It’ll get you in trouble someday.”

He backpedals away from me. “Not today, though?”

“No. Get the fuck out of here.”

He rushes across the street, and I head up to my apartment. I flip through the papers and smile. For all the kid’s flinching, he came through. And was paid for his efforts…

Things are falling into place, but I need to move faster. I slide the papers into an envelope and jog back down to the street level. My phone vibrates, but I ignore it and hurry to campus. I could drive, but I need to get out the restlessness in my muscles if I have any chance of sleeping tonight.

I get on campus and head for the library, following the stacks all the way to one of the alcoves in the back. A girl stands beside one of the desks, helping another student pack up their bag.

I hang back and wait for the latter to leave, then approach the girl.

She eyes me. “You have it?”

“I do.” I hand her the envelope and smirk. “You have what I want?”

“I shouldn’t.” Her gaze falls to her shoes. “This could get us in trouble.”

“Trouble has already found me.” I shrug. “It’s just a matter of if it finds you, too.”

She blushes, and my irritation flares. Girls always fell head over heels for my friends in high school, became bumbling idiots around them. Us, I suppose, although I never paid attention to them. But she’s bringing back sour memories.

At least Lux never pulled a stunt like that.

She recovers from the vague threat—and I mean, honestly, what am I going to do? Destroy her, too? She isn’t worth it.

“Relax.” I roll my shoulders back. “It can’t be traced back to you.”

“Right,” she mutters. But she relents and retrieves a padded envelope, handing it over like it’s going to detonate on her.

“Thank you.”

She grimaces. “Whatever you plan on doing—”

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