JUSTICE
Justice
Aria had an arm around my waist, holding tight as she led me down a dark hallway. Aria was good at her job. She developed vast profiles on her clients, cataloging their likes, proclivities, and interests so she could give you exactly what you wanted. To the public, she appeared fierce and untouchable so that in private, you felt, well, special. On our first date, we’d had a two-hour conversation about rock climbing. And it wasn’t superficial. I still think about her take on the psychological appeal of trad climbing versus sport.
And because she was good at her job, she knew I didn’t like small, dark spaces. Her arm around me was less about affection and more about lending me her supercharged omega aura.
The door at the very end of the hall was ajar. She pushed it open into a carpeted, dimly lit room. The walls were lined with books and paintings. All leather bound. I kept my smile to myself. They had obviously come from some ‘Elegant Trust Fund Chic Starter Pack’. The room was big enough that it didn’t feel completely awful. I wished there was more light. Aria arranged herself on a blood red love seat.
“Twill.” Winston Knightbridge stood and shook my hand, then gestured to a plush armchair. “I’m not actually sure you’ve met my brother, Star.”
“We’ve met.” I shook Star’s hand and sat.
Win and Star didn’t share a family resemblance. That happened in packs, especially in packs as large as the Knightbridges. Different bio moms, different bio dads. Their pack was unusual in that four sons were born into this generation and all four were alphas. And all four inherited the pack fortune, the businesses, and Port Haven itself.
Technically three. No one was sure if Beg Knightbridge was still alive and I wasn’t about to ask.
“Library fundraiser, wasn’t it?” Star said, folding himself back into his chair and running fingers through his hair. A woman, an omega, stood behind him, half in the shadows. She wore a black dress with knee high black boots and had pale blue hair. Arms crossed, her eyes traveled over me like a scan. It was unnerving.
“That or a dinner for the university.” I sat back in my chair, bringing my ankle up to my knee.
“We’re doing some work in the Mired that you might be interested in. Small business grants, infrastructure updates.”
“I’ll loop in my CFO. She’s big on community outreach right now.” I hoped that was noncommittal enough. I didn’t know if Daisy would appreciate a close business tie. The board, however, would probably eat it up.
“Let’s get to it,” Win cut in as if this much small talk was painful. “As to your first request, we can only do so much about the press. We can catch and kill a lot of stories, but that doesn’t necessarily deter a determined reporter. With blogs and shit now, editorial control on a company level isn’t what it used to be.”
My company had a PR team, so I was quite aware that this was a big ask.
“No one can keep the news of you forming a pack out of the news entirely. We can discourage lengthy thought pieces on your choice of packmates. We, however, are much better equipped to encourage stories we do want coverage for.” He indicated the paragon. “Aria has already suggested some vehicles for that.”
I knew it would be impossible to keep everything out of the news. There were already some trending videos out there of the not-quite-a-brawl on the Games deck. Surprisingly little about the auction. If I had to guess, that was Aria’s work all on her own. I didn’t want connections made between the Delano in my pack and the restaurant fire. I didn’t want that investigation opened. Not because I didn’t want the heat for it, but I didn’t want Ren to relive his parents' death.
“Problem number two is no longer a problem.” Win continued. “We know exactly where Nolan is. No one in his pack was strong enough to take over leadership, so that pack fractured.”
My stomach flipped. I knew exactly what broken bonds did to a person.
“Should questions get asked, I have someone who can work on your video and make sure it’s not a problem.”
Translation—He could and would doctor any video evidence of Ren committing a crime.
“And three.” It was Star’s turn, apparently. “The Pax will reopen shortly. Lana is confident that we’ll hear about any…” he leaned forward slightly to emphasize the word, “shenanigans first and discourage that activity.”
Shenanigans was a hell of a way to phrase “retribution plots.” Ren didn’t have enemies. Not exactly. But there were enough people who knew about his work and would see this as a money making opportunity. Ren already felt like he was a liability. We didn’t need someone getting the bright idea to extort cash from Justice Twill over a dumb car.
I pulled Catherine’s phone and the thumb drive out of my pocket, placing them on the table. Catherine had been so kind as to put all the information she’d acquired in a handy folder titled “blackmail.” Gaston had not yet been effective in leveraging the information they had gathered, but it was a gold mine for someone like Win. Anything about Ren or myself was carefully scrubbed down to the machine language levels.
“Do we have a deal?” I asked when no one reached for the goods.
Win regarded me, like his mind wasn’t made up yet. Did he think I was going to flinch or melt? Win held considerable power, and was probably super scary under the right conditions. And none of that mattered to me.
Inexplicably, he turned to the omega with the pale blue hair. “Moxie?”
Without moving or changing expression, she said “no.” Star folded his hands in his lap and tried to hide a smirk. Win gave a “what the fuck” hand gesture.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You asked me to crawl out of my warm, cozy nest to come down here and tell you what I thought about this deal, him, and I’m telling you no. And you’re somehow surprised by that?”
Win’s annoyance was now like a tangible thing in the room with us. That was how strong his aura was. I would have loved to know if it was because an omega was speaking to him like that or if it was just Moxie, whoever she was.
She held out one finger. “He can afford the best PR team in the country. Will they be as fast and effective as you? No, because you don’t have morals. And you have over 100 years of Knightbridges owning media companies on your side.”
Win conceded the point with a nod of his head. She held out a second finger.
“Nobody but the bottom feeder gossip magazines care that Nolan is dead and that his pack is going to die a slow, agonizing death, too. If they did? He probably has enough money to buy his packmate’s freedom. And again, a little stroke for your ego, you’d be more effective here too, seeing as you have your own personal spank bank of every important person in this city fucking somebody they shouldn’t.”
That had me suddenly interested in the state of my cuticles and had Star rubbing his temples.
“And three, you are not adequately prepared for the consequences should you fail on the only one that really matters to him.” She let that hang in the air for a moment, just long enough for Win to roll his eyes and gather himself. “Should anything arise from the past and sneeze in his pack’s general direction, you are not prepared for the monster you will create with this deal.”
Red fiery anger flashed through me, making my teeth hurt from clenching my jaw. Moxie leaned forward, out of the shadows, like she had to get a closer look.
“Exactly.” She said, like she could see my… aura.
I took a second look at her. Her hair wasn’t pale blue. That had been a trick of the lighting. It was white. Colorless even.
She was a fucking auracle.
Win Knightbridge had an auracle on his payroll.
“That jagged stripe of ruthlessness that tastes like old fashioneds that runs through you,” she said to Win, “runs through him. His is tied to love for his pack so he might, and I cannot stress this enough,” that was directed at me, “might maintain his humanity. You though? Hm.”
She put her hands on the back of Star’s chair and leaned further into the light. “And like a good knee to the nuts, you’re going to grin and take it, because having that,” she pointed at me, “loose is a worse outcome. You have conveniently laid all the risk in my alpha’s lap, and I promise you, Win, if you don’t take ultimate responsibility, you do not comprehend the mayhem I will create.”
Star reached for her hand, kissed her fingers, and set her hand on his shoulder.
Star Knightbridge’s omega was a fucking auracle.
I took a calm, cooling breath. I knew with certainty she was absolutely right.
Fifteen minutes, twenty if I cared about being subtle, and Daryl’s email would be mine. I could end his digital life while Mackenzie cuddled with me on the sofa. If Gaston was careless enough to pass us on the street, I could peel his skin off with his pack registration card. And Rose? I could play with her first, give her her own AI chat bot to fall in love with and then humiliate her off of every social platform that existed.
There was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect what was mine.
Not a fucking thing. And it wouldn’t matter who I became in the process.
Star leaned back into Moxie, and the temperature in the room dropped. The look the brothers shared was a promise of destruction.
Win turned to me and gestured at the phone and thumb drive. “This, and a favor.”
“Done.”
He stood and pocketed the phone. “Aria, shall we?” He offered her his hand, as pleasant as can be. They filed out, followed by the auracle and Star.
“Fuck, Mox,” Star’s voice faded as they moved down the hall. “Personal spank bank?”
“You know I hate it when he plays mobster and gets all cryptic.”
I stood and smoothed down my tie, buttoned my jacket, adjusted my cuffs. An eerie calm settled over me that pushed back at the tight feeling the walk down the hall should have caused. We stepped back into Sanctum. The bar was infamous. It lived up to its reputation. Small groupings of seating ringed the room, creating intimate spaces for conversation. Sanctum was home base for paragons. They met and entertained clients here.
My pack had an area near the back corner of the bar. Mackenzie and Theo sat on a cream-colored sofa, their heads together, whispering. A collection of drinks littered the low table in front of them.
Ren watched our approach across the polished floor. He looked good in a suit, but there was something in his posture that made you not want to approach him. He tracked Win, not me, considering him the bigger threat. The brothers paused to share a word. Star’s arm went around Moxie. It wasn’t a protective move. They were creating a unified front.
I slid into the armchair they left open for me. Mackenzie beamed, but tucked hair behind her ear. She had been nervous about the dress. I couldn’t wait for the day when she accepted how gorgeous she was. Theo had been equally nervous, not that he had said anything. He had scanned the room when we had arrived, as if to confirm he was the only male omega here. And I couldn’t wait for when that no longer mattered to him.
“Don’t you look divine, Mackenzie.” Aria cooed as she slid between my omegas, sending them scrambling to make space on the sofa for her. “Theo, all better now, baby?” She twirled a lock of his hair back into place. And with that, she acknowledged that she now considered my pack part of her clientele.
“Well fuck,” Win said, approaching our table, “I guess I’m going to have to let you back into my casino, Delano.”
“Twill.” Ren corrected him and then shrugged. “Where he goes, I follow.”
The comment almost stole my breath. We hadn’t discussed it, but he knew that coming here was not about impressing Mackenzie and Theo with the most exclusive bar in Port Haven. I could have picked any other bar in the Paramour complex, in the Floating District. He knew I had just made a deal with Win. He knew it was about him. And he’d follow the path I’d just laid down. It was a show of solidarity, but it was more than that.
“I’ll make room on my payroll for you. My pit could use a boss with your particular skill set.”
“My alpha’s a 9-5 type. I’m not working nights.” Ren casually drew a finger down his bite mark. It would be gone soon.
“Day crew then, the casino is 24 hours.”
“And let my omegas be all lonesome without me?”
Ren was dishing out his own cryptic shit now. “My alpha. My omegas.” He was claiming his own ownership of us. Win narrowed his eyes, making the corners crinkle as he read into the subtext.
“Moxie,” Ren said, done with the Win conversation, “Give Nico my love?”
“Give Nico the five thousand dollars you stole from him.” She was talking to Ren, but fixated on Theo and Mackenzie.
“Won, not stole.” Ren smiled.
Moxie took a step closer to the table and leaned toward Mackenzie. “What does he smell like to you?” She indicated Theo.
“Coconut.” Mackenzie replied, sitting up straighter in surprise.
“Did you two bite each other?” She asked Theo, who shook his head. “Childhood friend? No? Shared near death experience?” They shook their heads, looking confused as Moxie was. She looked back at Ren, taking him in from head to toe.
“Ren Twill, I’ll give this one to you for free. Consider it a pack warming gift, but you still owe Nico. Fix what you broke.”
That landed like a ton of bricks on Ren. I could feel it in the pack bonds, heavy and almost desperate. It was guilt. She turned to our omegas next, gesturing at them with both hands.
“I don’t know what the fuck this is. You two look like scent matches, and that is literally impossible. Omegas don’t scent match to each other. Can’t scent match to each other. We don’t have the biology. So I don’t know what the fuck to tell you.”
“You’re an auracle.” Mackenzie said in awe as our pack bonds went quiet with shock.
“And you,” Moxie turned to me, “Get over yourself. If you’re going to play this game,” she used her thumb to indicate Star and Win behind her. “Lean into this,” she made a circle with her index finger to encompass my pack, “all of it, with all of you.”
What the fuck does that mean? This was worse than cryptic mobster shit.
“I’ll go make your drinks. You. Come with me. I want a word.” She pointed at Theo and then strode away from the table.
Theo looked to me, then to Ren, as if for permission, and I refused to set that precedent.
“Excuse me,” he said to Aria as he followed Moxie to the bar.