Rebecca Zanetti - Claimed

The woman had some serious power. “That’s quite the talent, Prophet.” He kept his voice low and his face set in pleasant lines, ignoring Talen’s sudden stillness next to him.

“Thank you, King.” Irritation began to swirl through those otherworldly eyes. “May I ask why you thought to plumb my brain?” She kept her voice low and pleasant. So much so that conversations continued unhampered around them.

He narrowed his gaze. “You had access to my suite and Talen’s. You’re the only one who did.”

Surprise flashed in her eyes followed by anger. And then hurt.

It was the hurt that gave him pause. “I’m sorry, Lily.” What had he been thinking?

She frowned, her hands twisting the napkin in her lap. Her gaze dropped to her plate and disbelief filtered through her expression. Her breath hitched. Shock flashed across her pale face. “No. I wasn’t the only one,” she whispered, lifting her gaze to meet his.

He stiffened, every cell in his body standing to attention. “What do you mean?” he whispered back, letting his words barely carry as conversations continued in the room.

She glanced down to the end of the table and back up. “Prophet Milner escorted me both times. On poker night, I used the facilities and came back out to find him gone. I didn’t think anything of it.” Her face paled more than normal. “And he retrieved ice water for the queen and me in your suite earlier that day when we dropped by for a visit. It was his idea to do so.”

Talen sat forward, a pleasant smile on his face, his eyes hard as stone. “This raises a question about the Kurjan Idaho compound. They’ve been concentrating so hard on research, why have a complete compound without any labs? I mean, why take Milner to that place? It’s almost as if ...”

The back of Dage’s neck prickled. “Almost as if the whole thing was staged?” His gaze narrowed on the prophet at the end of the table. Why were the soldiers at that compound so young and inexperienced?

Talen lowered his voice even further. “Yeah. Think about it. There was no research to gather, no prisoners to free besides Milner. He was rather easy to get to.”

Compared to Guiles. They’d almost lost a couple soldiers rescuing him. Come to think of it, while Milner had a couple of scratches, the man certainly had avoided torture. Were the slight injuries just for show?

Anger ripped through Dage and he ruthlessly stamped it down. He slid a smooth smile on his face, winking at his mate. “Emma? How was breakfast?” He narrowed his focus while keeping his expression bland. Get up from the table and walk this way, love.

She started and pushed back her chair to rise. “It was wonderful, thank you.” Her eyes lit with curiosity.

Damn but his mate couldn’t lie worth shit. She began to move around the chair when Prophet Milner grabbed her arm.

He smiled. “I’m still a bit woozy, Highness. Help an old man up, would you?”

Dage fought the urge to leap across the table and take him down. Nobody touched his mate.

Emma faltered and tightened her wrist against her hip so he could hold on. “Of course, Prophet. Here you go.” She gently helped him up.

Milner’s muddy brown gaze met Dage’s, and he stood. “King?”

“Yes, Prophet Milner?” He forced politeness into the words. Dage had to get the man away from Emma.

“I believe we have a problem.” Swift as a snake, Milner yanked Emma in front of him and pressed a thick knife to her neck. “Sorry, Highness.”

She began to struggle and stopped abruptly when the knife drew blood. Her wide-eyed gaze met Dage’s across the room as red dripped down to stain her blouse.

The sight of her blood chilled him into a deadly focus.

Sound erupted around the table as warriors shoved back chairs and leaped to their feet. Jordan herded Maggie and Katie toward the door, reaching out a hand for Cara as well.

“No.” Cara slapped him away. “I’m staying.”

Jordan waited for Talen’s nod before pushing the shifters out the door and shutting it, leaning his back against the thick oak. No one would get through the lion to escape that way.

Caleb edged to the left and rested against the only other exit. He smiled and crossed his arms.

Stay calm, love. Dage waited for her slight nod before focusing on Milner. “Prophet? If you release my mate right now, I promise I won’t kill you.” He used his most reasonable tone, while rage and fear battled in his gut. He began to ease around the table while Conn mirrored his moves on the other side.

Milner scowled. “I’m a prophet determined by the fates, Kayrs. You can’t kill me.” The hand on the knife handle began to tremble.

Damn it. The blade was large enough to take her entire head off. Large enough to kill her. “You are threatening my mate. Last chance. Or you die.” Dage took a couple more steps. If the bastard shook any more, he’d slice Emma’s jugular by accident. She’d heal from that, but not from decapitation.

Milner’s face paled and his eyes widened. “You don’t understand. I’ve seen the prophesy. They must die.”

“Who must die?” Talen drew the prophet’s attention toward him, allowing Dage and Conn to draw nearer.

Milner flicked his gaze to Talen. “All of them. They can’t live. The Paulsen women. They can’t.”

Talen growled low and flashed his fangs. “Why not?”

Dage maneuvered even closer, pausing when Lily darted forward and placed one pale hand on Milner’s arm.

“Samuel? You’re confused. Please release the queen.” Lily reached her other hand to grasp Emma’s arm.

Milner swung his swirling gaze to his fellow prophet. “You don’t understand, you’re nothing but a figurehead, Lily.” Spittle formed at the corners of his mouth, and he yanked Emma harder against his trembling body. “I’ve seen the future. The child cannot live.”

Dage gave Lily a subtle nod to step back. She released Milner and did so, the skin on her face so pale as to be nearly translucent.

Caleb spoke up from his vigil at the door. “What child?”

Milner shifted his stance so Emma stood directly between Dage and the prophet. “The child. The prophesy. They’ll bring destruction upon us all. I’ve seen it.” His eyes began to glow as madness swirled through them. “I have no choice. The women must die.”

How had Dage missed this? The prophet was insane.

Emma drew in a shaky breath. “You infected them.”

“Of course.” Tears leaked from Milner’s eyes as he focused on Lily. “I’m so sorry. You were not to be infected, Prophet Sotheby.”

“But I was?” Cara shoved away from Talen, fury spinning red through her skin. “Twice?” He grabbed her arm and yanked her behind his large body until only her pale face was visible as she peered around his back.

“I had no choice. This must be stopped.” Milner’s mouth began to move in a barely audible chant.

Dage? Why don’t I teleport? Emma drew in a shaky breath, the blood still dripping down her neck.

He had to fight his rage just to mentally answer her. It’s too soon since last time.

She rolled her eyes.

In danger, a knife to her throat, the woman had the audacity to roll her eyes at him.

Freakin’ trust me. I can draw on enough of your power to make it. Please trust me. And then she winked at her sister. Winked!

Dage drew air in through his nose. He could send her enough power to make it work and he did trust her. Okay. But try to land close .

Milner’s hand tightened on the knife handle. “The queen must die.”

“Now,” Dage roared, shooting power through the air to Emma. She fizzled and disappeared to thinly materialize next to him. He reached for her and felt ... nothing. He reached deeper, past oxygen, past space and grabbed her arm, ripping her through dimensions to land next to him.