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Conn snatched the thick cotton out of the air and wiped off his forehead and chest. “So I heard.” He grinned. “My witch is a good woman, no question about that.”

“Yes, she is.” Dage narrowed his gaze. “Just let me know when you want to go and we’ll go.”

“I leave tomorrow.” Conn tossed the towel into a nearby bin.

Dage stilled. “We leave tomorrow.”

“No.” Determination hardened Conn’s square jaw. “I go. I’ll call if I need help.”

Dage shook his head. “No—”

“Yes.” Conn set his stance. “Something’s going on here. You need to stay.” He reached out and clasped Dage’s arm. “I promise I’ll contact you if necessary.” He let go, gesturing around the room. “We have a problem here, and I’ll be back as soon as possible. But I have this weird tickle at the base of my neck ...”

“Me too.” Dage shifted his focus as Jase loped into the room.

“I’ve got a weird feeling,” Jase said, a deep frown on his face. “Something’s bugging me and I can’t quite put my finger on it.” He eyed the destroyed bag on the ground before shrugging.

Kane crossed into the room with a stack of papers in his hands, his eyes a sizzling purple. “Cara’s orange juice was infected with the catalyst.” He handed a printout to Dage. “We brought all the food and drink out of Talen’s suite before blowing up the residence facility.”

“What about my rooms?” Dage scanned the report.

“A bottle of soda in your fridge was infected with the virus, but no one had opened it yet.” Kane shifted through his papers.

Dage growled. “Somebody managed to infect something in my private suite?” The idea of the enemy being so close to his mate clenched his gut and fired his spine. Did those damn humans who’d broken into the lab find a way into his private quarters? Maybe he should’ve killed them.

“Yes.”

“Have you informed Talen about Cara’s juice?” Dage asked.

“Yes, he did,” Talen answered from the door, stalking inside with a furious scowl on his face. He handed Dage a computer printout. “Here are the names of anyone who had access to both of our suites. Family, friends, guards, and humans.”

Dage smiled for the first time that day. Only five people knew he read minds, and four of them stood in the room with him. Emma was the fifth. “Apparently we need to meet one-on-one with some people.” When he found the traitor, he’d rip off the bastard’s head with his bare hands. “We need to speak with the scientists we fired.”

“I’ve kept track of them.” Talen nodded. “I’ve already scheduled the times to interview our people. We meet with the guards one at a time first.”

“Good.” Dage cleared his throat. “I wanted to thank all of you for covering my back when I thought—”

“And mine,” Talen said solemnly.

Kane ran a hand through his thick hair, and Jase shuffled his feet. “No problem,” they said in unison.

Jase grinned. “Though I am never getting mated. Ever.”

A vision swam into Dage’s head where Jase stood at an altar with a woman in white. A veil shielded her face. “Don’t be so sure.” Dage chuckled and then left them to hash it out, striding down the hallway and up two flights of stairs.

The king quickly lost his smile as he remembered someone had been in his suite at the residency facility. Someone had been close enough to harm his mate. His thoughts shifted to Emma as he pushed open the door to their rooms.

His mate, dressed in jeans and a dark shirt, waited, stance set, hair pulled back. Spiced peaches filled his senses. He cocked his head to the side. “Emma?”

She lifted her chin. “A couple of things occurred to me earlier today, Dage.”

Why did this not sound good? Without question he’d been rough with her in the forest. He deserved a tongue lashing. “Okay.” His blood began to hum with the spirit of her challenge and the need to take her to the floor. Diplomacy squashed instinct inside him. For now.

“I don’t take orders from you.” She spoke slowly, clearly as if wanting to get each word exactly right. Her gaze focused hard on his jaw.

“I’m the king, love. Everyone takes orders from me.” Only pure strength of will kept him from grinning. He waited to see how clear and calm she would stay.

“But that’s just it.” Triumph filled those stunning eyes when she lifted her gaze to meet his. Finally. “I’m with the man, not the king. The king can kiss my ass.”

The king had every intention of kissing her ass, maybe biting it as well. “Frankly, you’ve done a piss-poor job of following my orders anyway.”

Her gasp made him want to roar with laughter.

She put her hands on her hips. “I just wanted to make things clear.”

His mate was on the offensive. A true sign of someone feeling defensive. Why? He narrowed his gaze. “It’s always a good idea to strive for clarity.” His mind flashed through the last twenty-four hours to seek the reason, and everything in him stilled. Ice pricked inside his veins. How did he not see this before? “Emma,” he breathed.

She took the smallest step back, her blue eyes widening. “What?”

The blood rushing through his ears made it difficult to focus. Fury like he’d never known swept the breath from his chest. A crimson haze clouded his vision. “You knew.”

She froze in place, a soft blush coloring her high cheekbones. “I don’t know what you’re—”

“Stop!”

His barked order had the color deserting her face. He was past giving a shit. “You knew.” Her slight shrug sent a snarl bubbling up from his gut. “You fucking knew the lab would explode.”

“Not until the spring,” she whispered, clasping her hands. “In the vision the smell of tulips always preceded the explosion. I figured I had until next spring.”

He’d assumed she’d been granted a vision seconds before the missiles fired. But she hadn’t. “How long?”

“How long what?”

“How long have you known about the explosion?”

Emotions ran across her face as she considered lying. He waited her out. Finally, she sighed. “For years.”

His blood heated and his veins began to burn. Anger whipped through him. Trust. They hadn’t come close to trusting each other. The earth rumbled a warning. He stamped down on the need to explode and focused on the woman standing before him. His mate. “You’ve gone too far.”

Emma readied her stance across the room from the king and gulped in air, searching for a logical way to diffuse the situation. She did what she had to do.

He cocked his head to the side, his rage slamming into her. “You managed to shield the information.” His eyes flashed black. “From me.”

Her own temper began to raise its head. “Why wouldn’t I?” She lifted her chin. “You already had me banished from the lab once. I couldn’t let that happen again.” The focus of her entire life had been to protect Cara. No way would she stop now.

His nostrils flared. “I should’ve known. I should’ve guessed this.” He took a step toward her. “You think I haven’t noticed? The way relief fills your eyes when you see Talen taking care of Cara? In case you die?” Dage took another step and the air around Emma heated. “The way you study him for weaknesses. Just in case.”

She frowned. “In case of what?”

“In case he hurts her and you need to take him out.”

Emma wanted to deny the statement but couldn’t. The king understood her better than she thought. “I don’t want to hurt your brother.”

“You think that’s why I’m mad? Really?” Dage’s voice lowered to a timber promising retribution. “I’m angry you don’t trust me to take care of things. Don’t trust me with the truth.”