2025-08-01 22:47:50Tyler opened his palm and pulled on his bottom desk drawer.
He took out a small box ten inches long, four inches wide, and two inches deep, and dropped the activated Junster into the radiation-proof box.
It clattered on the others, also already charged.
Tyler closed the box and stared at it.
Payment complete, he mused.
Once this is delivered, the show will begin, he thought to himself.
Lord Edward Kramer…
It’s going to be a very exciting year for you. Your fiftieth birthday will mark the beginning of you and your family’s end.
==========
About the same time, Lord Kramer was busy with his assistants in his home office.
“Attacks are growing at our locations,” Sandy, his lead P.A., reported tightly as he stood before his Master.
“What are they using?” Lord Edward Kramer rumbled.
“Junster, Sir. Untraceable,” his second P.A. chimed in. Ruben. The quietest of his three closest aides.
“How can that be?” Lord Kramer snapped, his blue eyes moving between the two men.
“No one has reported any missing stock, and the shards we find are too small for any real analysis,” Ruben continued evenly.
“So, it's black-market goods,” the Master shot back, his eyes widening. It was not a question.
“Yes, Sir,” Ruben, the quiet one, responded.
Edward’s brow furrowed as his gaze fixed on Sandy.
“Why now?!” he complained, his voice getting more heated.
“Maybe it’s because we’re so close on the deal with our foreign friends. But it will all die down once we sign the contract.”
This time, Sandy replied. Taking the hint from his Master’s intense stare.
“How long has it been going on?” Edward all but snarled.
“About a month now,” Sandy replied steadily.
Lord Kramer gritted his teeth.
“And there is no pattern?” Edward rumbled.
“None, Sir. From Ashrone to the end of the continent, we’ve had a total of fifty attacks in the past month. It grows more aggressive, like their stock of Junster keeps increasing,” Sandy explained, his eyes shifting from his Master to a hand-held device containing the information the P.A. was sharing.
“Damn it!” Edward barked.
“Sir, we should focus on increasing security at our most important mining sites,” Ruben stated, taking over from the lightly perspiring Sandy.
“What of the damages? The impact on our production numbers?” Lord Kramer shot at Ruben.
“I have that here, Sir,” Lance, his third P.A., said smoothly, handing his Master an electronic file.
“And the workers?” Lord Kramer asked distractedly as he took the device.
“Sir, these locations are fully automated. Tech only,” Lance continued, taking over from his colleagues whose faces had become drawn, even as their voices remained calm and clear.
“So, it’s the humanist fascist movement? On MY sites?” Edward stated incredulously as he read the data in his hands.
“No, Sir, it’s not them. They don’t use violence,” Lance replied confidently.
“Then terrorists? Attacking Kramer property?” Edward shot back, his eyes snapping to Lance and narrowing.
“The hits are too clean, Sir, and there is no chatter in the shadows about who could be doing it or why,” Lance, his key aide on the more clandestine activities of Kramer businesses.
“Then why don’t the three of you prove your worth and tell me what the hell is going on at my plants?!” Lord Kramer bellowed, rising from his large chair and throwing the device Lance had given him on the table.
It held firm.
It was a fortified device.
Lord Edward Kramer, however, was also fortified.
He punched the device with his ringed fist, and it exploded into pieces.
Lord Kramer, like almost every noble in Ashrone, wore a ‘protection’ gem.
Named so for its primary purpose. Protection.
It could be for attack, defense, or both.
It could be to amplify the wearer's strength or conceal it.
Or both, as the user required, based on the magic applied to the stone.
Lord Kramer channeled power to his strike, and his gem did the rest.
All his P.A.s fell silent.
Edward glowered at them.
“We have three weeks. Three. To seal this contract. I won’t lose it. I won’t allow months of work to go down the drain. And you,” he growled, a long finger pointing round at the younger men standing before his desk, heads bowed and jaws clenched, “will make sure this ant is caught and squashed. Have I made myself clear?!”
“Yes, Sir!” all three aides replied in unison.
“Get out of my sight!” he snarled. The men bowed hurriedly and disappeared.
“You know they can’t do anything about it,” a deep voice rumbled from a blank screen.
Edward tapped a button, and a face appeared.
“With what I pay them, they’d better figure something out.”
“From what you’ve said, the locations are too widespread to be one person. It’s a team of people.”
“Yes, but how do I find users of stolen explosive gems that are supposed to be tightly watched and monitored when I'm working on a deal to sell the exact same gems to my target partners?”
“That’s what I’m saying! There are at least twenty other explosive gems on the market, both above and underground. Why are they using our product?”
Edward bit back the words at the tip of his tongue.
Our product? Indeed! He sneered in his mind.
Outwardly, he pursed his lips, his brow furrowing as he rested his chin on his fingers and sat back into his high-backed chair.
He was gazing away from the person on the screen, his eyes narrow.
“They know…,” Lord Kramer mumbled pensively.
The other person did not speak.
Edward continued.
“They are sending a message,” he breathed, “dangling it in my face that they know what I’m doing.”
His eyes snapped up to the face on the screen.
“This deal is secret. It’s still confidential, need to know basis only.”
“Are you trying to say I have a leak on my end?” the other party droned.
“Or they do on theirs,” Edward pushed forward unapologetically, “but if it IS from their end, it should be their property getting attacked, not mine.”
“So…,” Edward paused, his gaze shifting to the side.
The other party was silent again.
“Someone in Ashrone is trying to fuck with Karmer Holdings,” Edward declared, his eyes widening as he turned back to the screen.
“Who would be so bold?” he droned incredulously, a feral smile on his handsome face.
“They’re sneaking around, and you call that bold?” the guest remarked dispassionately.
Edward’s smile shrank, but remained, his eyes bright.
“They are too small to face me. No one is big enough to face me,” he rumbled. The other man held the Lord’s gaze without flinching.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 99
“What are you doing with Lord Kramer’s photo?”“Hmmm?”“What are you doing?”“Which Lord Kramer, Father?” Anton Voltera droned to his father as he sat at his computer screen, adjusting the close-up shot, high-resolution photo he had been playing with for over three hours.Maricius approached his son’s chair.He had come to his favorite child’s office at Voltera Enterprises to get an update on his visit with the Kramer servant.He had walked in, without knocking, the boy had not acknowledged him, so he had walked around his large, yet minimalistic, designed desk to see what had engrossed his son to such a degree.“Lord Henry,” the elder Voltera remarked.Anton’s head snapped up even as the boy remained seated.“It is, right?!” he exclaimed, his grey eyes bright.His son was not one for exclamations. Maricius’ eyes narrowed at the boy. He glanced back at the screen and stared at the light blue eyes, which were the o
Chapter 98
Tyler’s eyes drifted to Emily’s, and she held his gaze. A moment later, his hand dropped, and he glanced away from her, back to the city.Emily stayed where she was and shook his chair.He turned back to her, slowly, like his body was too heavy for him, like he was underwater.“What have you done?” she asked patiently, her voice calm as she repeated her initial question.“I helped Raymond.”“How?”“Magic.”“Why?”“I owe him.”“What did you give him?”“An earring, of a sort.”“I didn’t see one.”“You won’t. No one will.”“Why?”“To heal his body.”Unlike Ashley, Emily knew full well the limitations of a hospital on some matters.She held Tyler’s gaze.“Will he wake up?”“Maybe.”“Do you think he’ll wake up?”“Yes.”“Why?”“He’s a strong kid. A strong mind. A focused drive. Passionate. He loves life. Loves living. He should wake up.
Chapter 97
While Tyler was being grilled by Ashley Belarnt, Lord Henry Kramer was searching for an old servant. His people drove to one of the servants’ estates used by the nobles’ retired staff.It was rare for any former masters to visit their past servants, but as soon as Lord Kramer’s vehicle reached the property line, every living former servant of the Kramer Estate got the information.He went directly to the administration office, which was equivalent to the town hall premises, and met the curator of the property.There were sixty houses on the grounds and thirty apartment complexes. The estate, like all the others, was a community unto itself.Most of the residents were over the age of fifty, but many had relatives who stayed with them; as such, there were people of all ages and walks of life on the grounds.By the time Henry was greeted by the curator, the chief administrator of the estate, and had been seated, fifteen of the oldest Kramer servants w
Chapter 96
Tyler had woken last night, after over forty hours of sleep. He had taken a potion to help him move, despite all his wounds and pain, despite knowing what the reaction would be in the morning, and had turned down the strength of his black rock clock.Limiting its range to twenty feet and activating a cloaking spell once he got out of range.He went to Raymond’s room. A private one on the topmost floor of the hospital.Tyler’s floor was in the middle of the hospital building, ensuring that if anything happened at his location, the entire structure would suffer for it.He stared at the boy who was in a body cast and had been unconscious for over four weeks. He had gotten all the information from his men about the boy’s injuries.He had been beaten, with magic fully involved, breaking bones, damaging nerves, and rupturing organs.A weaker person, physically, would have died.Whether it was intentional or by accident that the boy was stil
Chapter 95
“How did that bastard get into my Tower?” Lord Ashton Belarnt rumbled.“I,” Raymond grunted, “I approved it,” he replied hoarsely, facing his uncle, even as he hung suspended, he held his uncle’s gaze.“How did he rise so fast through the ranks?” Lord Ashton rumbled. “He was under you, yet of all your staff, you kept him in your office. Directly. How did that happen?”“I pushed for it,” Raymond rasped, not using more words than necessary to end his torture.“How, then, in the name of every fucking sage there is, did that nobody get the free hand and access he got to our oldest contracts and locations within months of his arrival? Something reserved for the most senior officials?”“I allowed it. He was useful. I used him,” Raymond croaked, forcing his voice to come out loud and clear.No matter the question from his uncle, Raymond accepted the blame. More than once, he heard the only female of the group gasp, but she remained silent. Ashley B
Chapter 94
When Raymond woke, he was in a stone room. No windows, low ceiling, thick door. A dungeon.He almost laughed, but his face wouldn’t move. His cheekbone was broken, his jaw shattered. The pain was the only thing that let him know he wasn’t asleep or hallucinating.For two days, he was left there, alone. No food, no water, no company.In his silent prison, he kept his mind as light as he could, focusing on little things, like how the space wasn’t dark. Gems in the wall and ceiling lit up the room.He was also glad it was dry, as he knew much about the Belarnt private cells; every noble family, at least, everyone at the very top of nobility, had such things, and he knew how bad the Belarnt ones could get.The Belarnt’s, miners by trade and profession, had very special cells. Old, former mines. Places no one would ever go, or simply stumble into. Places where, if they liked, the gatekeeper could forget their prisoner and have no need to make burial arr
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