Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by the Shadow

e's

a formula when three members of Night

ofessor Aldren lower his marker and step away from the board. At Blackthorn Univer

scanned the row

head t

my missing report would somehow return. It hadn't. The only thing still attached t

aptop. "Am I

to answer som

the room objected. Professor Aldren looked uncomfortable. The student b

lowed me dow

about Zan

d here. What cou

as at the gara

ckthorn could turn a glance into a scandal before lunch. Nightfall security esco

reached

an w

tighten

t h

came from

A dark bruise climbed above the collar of his T-shirt, and there was a shallow cut near h

released m

, then returned to my eyes. Something in his expression shifted when our s

aid, then turned away without w

o walk applied only when

r felt like the place where

l officials, the security detail, and a broad-shouldered woman in a navy suit who introduced herself as Investigator

nly person

t end stripped down. The sight of it made my stomach turn. On a nearb

he position might have looked casu

ered the Engine Seven bay at seven forty-three

es

at eight s

es

der your name and no maintenance

Someone d

ol cabinets scoffed. Zane

the access time. Below it was Engine Seven's inspection histo

said. "You were issued login credentials yeste

N

tch you enter

at I no

from the workbe

't say

se, I could smell antiseptic beneath the cedar and smoke, al

d. "Your report doesn't exist, and the brake line you c

im I found it

osed around

understood he had moved. He didn't squeeze hard enough to cut off my air, but

ne wen

in the corridor. Heat spread beneath my skin in a sharp, tr

felt

my pulse as if the beat had startled him. For one

came bac

Give me one reason I shoul

rough. "I entered the fault into your sys

ip loo

ing my throat. The nearest lights gave a faint fl

watching me, but Investigator

pervise

ame. His patch was

Seven. He was tall and solidly built, with close-cropped brown hair an

ic. I supervise new garage staff, and I

"You're not the

. "I've never s

voice made the back

r across the back of his left hand, and he wore a Wildfire mechanic's shirt. He knew I was

fitting that descripti

was

crew member by the cabinets asked.

n't k

as no myste

me, so intense that lookin

otes that you requested immediate work due to financial

ed. "That is

mily has enemies, and offers have been mad

gged in with my own badge, reported the loose line under my

ave panicked

report from your system or stupid enough to announ

augh came from somewhere near the of

n't look

last night. They knew which car you would drive this morning, and the

emained guarded, bu

brakes," I said. "They built

door slam

from campus, although we had never spoken. Zane's best friend, future Beta, and the one per

reath. "Theo made me run the file twi

the workbench and t

d. "She leaves at eight seventeen, and nobody appears

mach d

overwritten with a freeze-frame loop. See the clock in the diagnostic display? It jumps, bu

n't see the difference until he pointed it

"That doesn't prove she had nothing to do with it, but it

accused me folded his

ht also be exactly what she says she is-the

g anyone had said since se

ootage, his face unreadab

evidence isn

r said

ete, her garage credentials should be revoked. We can suspend her

the cars," Zane said.

nt a sabotage suspec

where I ca

though he had made the decision

flicker of curiosity crossed his fa

to me. You don't touch a car unless Marcus authorizes it, and

tried to kill you, so your s

at you touch, where you g

security

y." His eyes moved briefly towa

reasonable. Th

ly am I sup

. Coffee. Deliveries. Files. Equipment. Any ta

e into your perso

suspect under

rder sound a lot like

not before I caught th

loser. "The po

n I

ead through

anged, yet the air around h

. "That isn't ho

the door. His hand closed around my

uck again, stro

nstinctive certainty of someone stopping a thing he hadn't intended to let go.

sed me a

s at Blackthorn G

f humor disappea

he have to d

ike your membership in Night

omach. "Alpha Kael of

view." Zane lowered his voice. "I can have your mother suspended from the hospital before the e

or for something you

idn't disappear befo

made the threat worse. He had found the one person I

eld my

to tell me