The nurse came in and stopped short. “Dear God,” she whispered.
“Mr. Leshing has made a remarkable recovery,” Alex declared. “Would you mind checking his vitals for us?”
“Yes, Sir.” She hurried over to Edward, and he gave her a brilliant grin.
“She's right,” Edward said to us. “I mean, I wouldn't have gone again, but they've been sending me invitations ever since my purchase.”
I looked at Alex.
“We need to find out how they're transferring magic from supes to humans,” Alex said with a nod. “It looks like you're going undercover, Spectra.”
“How exciting!” Edward Leshing declared.
“Are you out of your mind, man?” Davorin asked. “You almost died but you want to jump back in the ring?”
“I'm not going to buy anything.” Leshing paused to smile at the nurse again when she stepped back from him.
“His vitals are good, Sir,” the nurse said to Alex as if she couldn't believe it.
“Thank you.” Alex nodded to her. “Destroy his paperwork, Agent Lansing.”
“Yes, Sir.” The nurse nodded and retreated.
When the agent/nurse was gone and the door shut again, Malik growled, “I don't like this idea.”
“I could go,” Lily offered.
“Amara's abilities allow her to collect more information than you can,” Alex pointed out. “It needs to be her.” Then he turned to Malik. “We'll be with her. Wherever they go, we'll be there too. We'll have them monitored the whole time and once we have confirmation, we'll raid the auction.”
Malik grimaced and looked at me. I stared back until he nodded.
“When is the next auction, Edward?” I asked.
“Uh, I need my tablet.” He looked around. “They took all my things.”
“One moment.” Alex went to the door. “Someone fetch Mr. Leshing's belongings!”
A few minutes later, a soldier came in carrying a plastic tub. He nodded to Alex and set the container on the bed. Edward dove in immediately but didn't go after the tablet—he pulled out his clothes. Leshing slid off the bed and slipped into some boxers, pulling them up beneath his hospital gown as he winked at me.
Malik stepped forward and snarled, “You will respect my wife or you will die.”
Leshing paled.
“He's not going to hurt you,” I hurried to say.
“Not as long as you keep your hands to yourself,” Malik added.
Edward cleared his throat and hurried into his pants. “I will, of course, treat your wife with the utmost respect.” He shot a confused glance at Kyrian before adding, “I'm indebted to her.”
“Good. Remember that,” Malik advised.
“This is Malik, my husband,” I introduced them as Leshing yanked off his hospital gown. “Cyprian is also my husband and Kyrian is my consort.” I motioned to the men, and they nodded at Leshing as they were introduced.
Edward's eyes widened. “How... modern. Uh.” He fumbled in the plastic tub and pulled out his tablet. “Here it is.” Still barefoot, he sat halfway on the bed, one leg bent on the mattress and the other on the floor. He started tapping the screen, then lifted it to his face. A light scanned his face before he lowered the tablet and tapped more. “Give me just a second to find the email.”
“I can't believe they emailed you,” Leo muttered.
“It's all untraceable online.” Leshing looked up long enough to shake his head at Leo. “They're smart enough to cover their tracks. I had someone look into them and we found nothing, just dead ends.”
