“Not as fancy as your boss’s place,” the Viper Queen said, reading the disbelief on Bryce’s face, “but it does the trick.”

Bryce didn’t bother agreeing that the space was far from anything befitting a serpentine shifter whose snake form was a moon-white cobra with scales that gleamed like opals—and whose power was rumored to be … different. Something extra that mixed with her venom, something strange and old.

Hunt took a seat beside her, twisting the chair frontward to accommodate his wings. Roaring from the fighting pit rumbled through the concrete floor beneath their feet.

The Viper Queen lit another cigarette. “You’re here to ask about Danika Fendyr.”

Bryce kept her face neutral. To his credit, Athalar did, too.

Hunt said carefully, “We’re trying to get a clearer picture of everything.”

Her remarkable eyes narrowed with pleasure. “If that’s what you want to claim, then sure.” Smoke rippled from her lips. “I’ll spare you the bullshit, though. Danika was a threat to me, and in more ways than perhaps you know. But she was smart. Our relationship was a working one.” Another inhale. “I’m sure Athalar can back me up on this,” she drawled, earning a warning glare from him, “but to get shit done, sometimes the Aux and 33rd have to work with those of us who dwell in the shadows.”

Hunt said, “And Maximus Tertian? He was killed on the outskirts of your territory.”

“Maximus Tertian was a spoiled little bitch, but I would never be stupid enough to pick a fight with his father like that. I’d only stand to gain a headache.”

“Who killed him?” Bryce asked. “I heard you pulled in your people. You know something.”

“Just a precaution.” She flicked her tongue over her bottom teeth. “Us serps can taste when shit is about to go down. Like a charge in the air. I can taste it now—all over this city.”

Hunt’s lightning grumbled in the room. “You didn’t think to warn anyone?”

“I warned my people. As long as trouble doesn’t pass through my district, I don’t care what goes on in the rest of Lunathion.”

Hunt said, “Real noble of you.”

Bryce asked again, “Who do you think killed Tertian?”

She shrugged. “Honestly? It’s the Meat Market. Shit happens. He was probably coming here for drugs, and this is the price he paid.”

“What kind of drugs?” Bryce asked, but Hunt said, “Toxicology report says there were no drugs in his system.”

“Then I can’t help you,” the shifter said. “Your guess is as good as mine.” Bryce didn’t bother to ask about camera footage, not when the 33rd would have already combed through it.

The Viper Queen pulled something from a drawer and chucked it on the desk. A flash drive. “My alibis from the night Tertian was killed and from the days before and during Danika and her pack’s murders.”