“Because that was the only way to stop the Soul-Eater being freed, and to ensure everyone who knew where he was died with him. I came along with you thinking that…” His gaze sharpened and his eyes flashed past her to the door. “What was that?”
23
Julian
The door exploded.
Julian pulled Francine behind him automatically, and then he hit the floor. He twisted, shoving a heavy weight off his back.
Francine was on the floor next to him, someone’s arm around her neck. He snarled, tearing the man off her and flinging him into the wall. His dragon roared inside him. The shadows writhed. He flung himself at another guard, Francine’s mind reverberating shock against his—
And somehow, in that moment, the faltering thread of the mate bond strengthened between them.
And then the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against his neck.
“Stop!” someone roared. *Or I’ll kill him!*
Francine’s eyes stared into his, wide and wild. But at the sight of him with a gun to his head, she froze.
Another guard stepped up beside her, leveling a pistol at her skull.
“Let’s be civilized about this, shall we?” Eloise purred from the door. “After all, it would be a waste to kill you both now, after I held off forsoooolong.”
She knew.Julian saw realization in Francine’s eyes. Eloise had known who he was all along.
They were escorted to a room Julian hadn’t been in before. Eloise’s base of operations. Sourness roiled in his stomach. The delicate décor couldn’t have been more different from Gerald Harper’s offices, but the air had the same thick taste of terror.
He and Francine weren’t the first people she’d brought here, forced to their knees in front of her.
The guards took up their positions, guns still pointed at them. A thin man stood at the very edge of Julian’s line of sight—Angelo Clay, one of Eloise’s team. Something about the way he smelled made Julian’s dragon want to back away.
Eloise herself perched on the edge of her desk. She must have come straight from dinner. She was wearing the same glittery dress, the same sizzling expression of excitement.
How long had she been waiting for Francine to slip up?
He exchanged a glance with Francine. *You need to—*
“Oh, can younot?” Eloise burst out, disgusted. “Honestly. Talking so we can’t hear you? So rude. Angelo? Please?”
Something pricked his neck. He turned in time to see a needle withdrawing.
“You’re drugging us?” Francine snarled.
“Which I should have done from the beginning if I thought you were going to make such a fuss,” Eloise told her calmly. “Although—it has been fun, watching you try to play along.”
“Play—”
“Don’t worry. It won’t affect you, other than to block your telepathy.” She bestowed a brilliant smile on the doctor. “We’ve been doingsomany exciting things with shifter physiology.Honestly, I can’t believe nobody’s expanded into this market before.”
“What market?” Julian asked coldly.
“Anything at all. Honestly, the possibilities areendless.Why rely on fate, or our inner animals’ less-than-spectacular judgment, when we could take control of our own destinies? Wouldn’t you prefer to be a little more in control of your own destiny, Francine? Or in control of anything? Anything at all?”
Francine swayed. Julian’s first instinct was to steady her, but the guards held him in place, guns to his head. “How long have you been planning this?” she asked Eloise. Her voice was strong, but something beneath it was about to break.
“Oh, no no no. We’re not playing it this way.” Eloise smiled.
It wasn’t a nice smile. It wastriumphant.
