Anger began to boil like acid in her stomach. She lifted her chin. “We’ll see about that, King.” He may be powerful, but they’d mated. His powers belonged to her now. “Please take Caleb out of here.” If she decided to make a go of this, the vampire had some things to learn.
Dage glared at his friend and then at his woman. Both needed to be dealt with and soon. “Caleb? Talen’s waiting to discuss strategy with you. Let’s go.” He’d handle his mate later.
Caleb gave a low growl and followed him from the room.
Dage didn’t look back, choosing instead to keep striding toward the conference room. “Stop being an asshole.”
“Me, an asshole? You just threatened brain damage on your own mate,” Caleb shot back.
Dage rolled his eyes, stopping to gesture his friend inside the room. “She’s got the strongest brain you could imagine. Stubborn woman.”
Caleb grinned. “Your perfect match.”
Damn straight. The little blue eyed scientist would admit it before the week was out. Dage was done with this crap. He needed his home life settled so he could concentrate on fixing the rest of the fucking world.
Talen glanced up from his seat at the table, the swirling colors of his golden eyes giving Dage pause. He’d forgotten. Talen had been so calm lately, usually in front of either Cara or Janie. The women were absent, and the vampire was pissed.
“Nice of you two to join me.” Talen nodded to chairs. “A traitor is hiding in our safe little world.”
Dage dropped into a chair. “Yes.”
The table jumped when Talen pounded a fist into it. “We’re doing a piss-poor job of protecting our women, now aren’t we?”
“Yes.” Much better for Dage to let Talen get this out of his system. Then that clear, rational, strategic mind would create a plan.
The gold fled Talen’s eyes. “Are you envisioning anything?”
“No.” Dage hadn’t seen any of this coming. “Fate is being an asshole about visions. I see nothing right now.” While Emma was having visions, they weren’t focused on Talen’s family, at least not yet. There was no way to control the visions of the future.
Caleb grabbed a chair and sat. “That’s because nothing’s set right now. Too much jockeying is going on.” He blew out a breath. “I can’t believe a prophet was infected at the Realm ball.”
Anger ricocheted through Dage. He couldn’t believe it either. “No. I failed to protect her.”
“Nay, that’s not what I meant.” Caleb raised an eyebrow. “I meant, why at the ball? Was she unreachable before that? Did they want to show you how close they could get? Or was it the first opportunity?”
Talen nudged some papers their way. “Here’s Lily’s schedule for the last six months. If I were targeting her, I’d have chosen at least five easier times to infect her than at the colloquium.” He grabbed a pencil and snapped the utensil in two. “Cara and Katie have been under wraps. It was the first opportunity to reach them.”
Understanding dawned on Dage. “So it was the first opportunity to infect all three of them.”
“Yes.” Talen threw the pencil pieces toward a trash can.
Caleb cleared his throat. “I’m assuming there were other mates and shifters at the ball?”
“Yes,” Talen said.
“Then it’s safe to conclude those three women were specific targets.”
“No,” Dage said. “Cara and Katie drank herbal tea while most everyone else drank champagne or hard liquor. The tea ordered for Cara was spiked. Katie just happened to order that.”
“Lily loves herbal tea,” Caleb noted.
“Yes.” Talen grabbed a fountain pen. “She confirmed she drank the tea. Why Cara though?”
Dage shrugged. “Revenge for Lorcan’s death?” The Kurjan leader had deserved death after kidnapping Cara. “Or because of the baby?”
Talen growled low, danger all but sliding across his face. “I’ve asked if anyone else ordered the tea, insinuating the herbs caused the food problems, and so far no one has replied in the positive.” The pen broke in two and he tossed it to the garbage. “Jase is tracking down the waiters from that night, and one is missing.”
“He’s dead,” Caleb noted without expression.
“More than likely,” Talen agreed. “We must find who he was working with from our end. My men are searching his apartment and going through his laptop.”
Talen’s cell buzzed and he lifted it to his ear. “Kayrs.” He sat to attention. “When? How bad? Great.” He snapped the phone shut and threw it across the room. The device hit the freshly painted wall and shattered into pieces. “Rachel Davis is dead.”
Shock stormed into Dage’s gut. “Emma’s friend, the geneticist? How?” Another woman he’d failed to protect.
Talen yanked the band out of his hair. “They’re calling it a botched robbery. Someone broke into her Paris hotel room last night and apparently she fought back, ending up with a broken neck.”
“Kurjans. They probably wanted to kidnap her.”
“More than likely.” Talen jumped to his feet to pace. “We knew of her and should’ve assumed they knew of her as well. I’m so tired of being three steps behind these bastards.”
“Me too.” Dage’s mind ran through likely scenarios. “Find out if she was working with anyone on her research. We won’t make the same mistake twice.”
The land line rang on the table and Talen exhaled, grabbing the handset and raising it to his ear. “What?” Metallic eyes rose to meet Dage’s gaze. “Yes. He’s right here.” Talen dropped back into his chair, an incredulous look flashing across his hard face. “Are you kidding me? No?” He slammed the phone down, breaking the handset in two pieces.
The lab wasn’t sturdy enough to withstand Talen’s current mood. Dage steeled himself. “Who was that?”
“Conn. The demon nation just declared war on the Realm. Happy fucking Tuesday.”
Chapter 13
The night filled with the loud hooting of a lonely owl outside the large lab, searching, calling for something in the darkness. For someone. The mournful demand slithered down Emma’s spine as she straightened from her bent position over the charts, an ache setting up between her eyes. She’d spent half the day supervising Devon and the other geneticists in the all-access labs, the other half in a heavy, thick suit dealing with the virus in the private clean lab by herself—because humans weren’t invited into that space. With a sigh, she put a hand to the small of her back and stretched, stifling a groan as her vertebra popped.
“Time for bed, love,” came a deep voice from the doorway.
She jumped and pivoted toward the exit where Dage once again leaned against the doorjamb. Broad and packed hard, clothed casually in cargo pants and a cotton shirt, mere camouflage for the vampire lurking within. The temptation to cross to him and taste that dangerous flesh had her mind spinning with denial. “No. I’m not finished working.”
He raised an arrogant eyebrow. “You’ve been working nearly fourteen hours. You need rest.” The low rumble of his voice held a direct line to her core. Sandalwood and power wafted her way.
Fourteen hours? It seemed like more. She’d already been deep into her research when Dage showed up in the late afternoon with the prophet. “I’m not leaving, Dage.” Her multi-channeled pod buzzed and she turned to push a series of buttons. Time was running out for her sister and the shifters. She just knew it.
Strong arms grasped her hips and whirled her around, and she emitted a startled yelp. The king ducked. The world tilted as she was flung over his broad shoulder. Her stomach impacted solid muscle and the air whooshed out of her lungs. Man, he moved fast. Desire battled with irritation.