“Lights on,” I say. “Done. Anything else?”
Slowly, she shakes her head.
I brought a ring, for just such a submission. It’s two carats, round cut, set in platinum. I take the box from my pocket.
Her fingers tremble, just a little, when she extends her hand. When I settle the diamond into place, it looks spectacular against her creamy skin.
“It’s a pleasure doing business with you,” I say. “My dear.”
16
KATE
Safe behind my bedroom door in Canton, I sit in front of my computer monitors. My hands are on my keyboard, but I’m trying not to stare at my engagement ring.
Granny wasn’t exactly thrilled when I showed it to her. I introduced her to Wolf, telling the truth: “Here’s the shitehawk Da chose to be my husband. I forced a twenty-million-dollar dowry, so there’s that.”
Granny eyed Wolf like the predator he is. She thanked him stiffly, telling him she appreciated her new room. She was stoic when I told her she’d be coming to live near us in DC.
Da took note of my engagement ring when I got back to the house, squinting like he was calculating the loan he could get if he put it up as collateral. Mam sniffed and said she preferred an emerald ring like her own.
Only Breagha oohed and aahed, like I was showing off the Hope Diamond. She and I are as different as two sisters can be,but I appreciate her enthusiasm. Even if the ring is just a financial transaction.
That’s it. There’s no one else to tell.
I certainly can’t let the Raiders know I’m marrying Cole Wolf. For one thing, they think I’m a bloke. For another, they’d hunt me down and kill me if they knew I was anywhere near Lone Wolf Enterprises in real life.
This has been the longest stretch—four full days—that I’ve gone without talking to the Raiders since I brought everyone together. I’m still stinging from MaskedMarauder’s accusation. He’s always been cautious—paranoidmight be a better term. But to outright accuse me of working with the feds…
I wonder if they’ve made any progress, going after StarCoin. I’ve spent most of my online time this week digging into the cryptocurrency. There are rumors that StarCoin’s ledger system—the programming meant to keep crypto safe for investors—may just be a false front. StarCoinactuallylets its owners walk off with everyone’s cash.
They deserve to be brought down by Red Cap.
But I can’t do it alone. My key strength is getting us in the back door. DarkMoney666 is our expert on banking; he knows details about how crypto works. Shaddow—who’s otherwise an absolute eejit—has access to a server farm that can give us the raw power we’ll need for a takeover. Icekiller sells anything we steal on the dark web, handling transactions, taking the most risk.
And MaskedMarauder… He’s valuable. He codes nearly as well as I do. He’s better at keeping the rest of the guys on task. And he’s brought his share of targets to the group. He’s the one who identified StarCoin in the first place.
Having failed at taking down Banque Wagner, weneedStarCoin to work. It’s not just the money that Da expects me to pump into the Crew. It’s the Raiders’ morale. When we’re winning, MaskedMarauder doesn’t throw around the type ofaccusations that could get a mob princess killed if they ever went public.
I wonder how I’ll get online with the Raiders once I move into Wolf’s house. His network is sure to be as locked down as the Crown Jewels. It’ll take every hacker trick I’ve ever learned to keep my exploits secret.
My life will be turned upside down—just so Da can get me out of his house. And land a decent match for Breagha. And get Wolf working on the clan’s computer system, which is years out-of-date, despite my regular pleas to help out.
Fuck Da.
Fuck MaskedMarauder.
Fuck Shaddow and Icekiller and DarkMoney666.
But self-pity will get me nowhere. And rage just makes my blood smoke.
Winter Reckoning—that’s what I need. And not some group trek—not today. I just want to kill something online, fast and brutal and bloody.
I spend a handful of game credits on a Mask of Invisibility and a fistful more on a Cloud Cape to get me to Shadow Peak in record time. It only takes a minute to track down the lair of an ice ghoul, the most dangerous creature in the online world.
The shitehawk’s faster than I expect it to be. My Mask cuts off my peripheral vision, and I lose my Dream Dagger before I’ve solved two equations. I switch to an Echo Lance, working a quick geometry proof which earns me a glancing blow, but the ghoul shatters the shaft before I can do serious damage. I’ve never mastered fighting with a Soul Mace; it’s hard to estimate a derivative when a deranged snow-and-ice creature is lunging for your throat. Case in point, I’ve barely summoned my mace from my pack when the ghoul freezes it into a thousand poisoned shards.
Heart pounding, fingers shaking, I pull up a Snow Star. It’s the most expensive weapon I own; it took dozens of raids for me to acquire enough silver to buy one.