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“In different Territories,” I rub a hand down my face. How many times have they recreated thisexperiment? Or tried new ones? How many people have died?

“All over the world, Beatrice,” King says insistently. “This isn’t just in America. That is why we came together.”

My shoulders slump as those words penetrate. If it’s that widespread, how do I stop it? What chance does one idiot healer stand against a global plot?

“We’ll have to continue as agents,” King looks around the table. “We’ll work under the assumption that she told them nothing, playing innocent.”

“That’s insane,” Mal argues with a puff of smoke. “We need to let that part go and work as we did before.”

“We’ll lose our in,” King says with gritted teeth.

“We’ve already lost it,” Mal points out as they snarl in each other’s faces.

“We can keep tabs if we play pretend,” King hisses in a strange bestial tone.

“They’re going to notice that GV is gone,” I raise an eyebrow at him. “The attack on Tremaine is all over the news. How convenient is it that anagenttook her hand? Specifically, the hand with the ring of unknown fuckery.”

“Let me worry about that,” King replies with a smirk.

“He can convince someone they’re a hamster if he wants,” Mal’s scowl gets deeper. “Now that he’s young again it can work over the phone. I didn’t think about that.”

“You’re going to cover up an agent’s death and a blown-up house with a phone call?” I ask with disbelief evident in my tone.

King’s grin gets wider as if anticipating a great chess game.

“If that’s the case, then they can’t stay here. I’m a terrifying beast. We wouldn’t want to ruin the image,”Ben looks at me with a sweet smile. I bite my lip to keep from grinning back.

“Oh, but we can,” King practically purrs in response, leaning towards me with an innocent, convincing smile. “How would it look if a known mender was alone without proper guidance? We were out investigating the validity of her presence when the explosion happened with Iris tragically inside. A mender would open her home to anyone with such misfortune.”

I stare at him in stunned surprise.Mental note: don’t try to outwit King without the presence of a giant ugly ring.

“You should say that Mitri was there,” Mal smirks, eyeing the immortal gleefully. “We had to wait for his recovery to notify anyone.”

“You don’t think losing such a vital team member is enough to delay contact?” King teases and smiles at Mal with clear affection.

“No,” Mal replies curtly and turns not just his face away but his body as well, completely closing him out. He misses the crestfallen look on King’s face.

Mal stares at me with a stony expression. Not as if he’s seeing me, but with the same kind of resolution I’m using to not look at Mitri. Sympathy wells up in me for him, and I look down to hide it. I doubt he’d feel warm and fuzzy if he knew I felt terrible for him.

What happened between them to fracture them this badly? I figured they would be all over each other with the break of the manipulation.

And how is that any of my business? It isn’t. I cast a guilty glance at Ben to find him smiling softly while he shakes his head. Great, now there’s a witness to my weak moment.

I open my mouth to make a snarky comment, and my phone rings, interrupting me. It’s probably for the best. I didn’t come up with anything good to say.

As I reach for the phone in my back pocket, don’t ask me how it survived the impromptu shower because I have no idea. Ben moves in a blur to snatch it up and answer it. My mouth drops open as I freeze in place. He’s not even being subtle about stealing it anymore?

“What?” he answers grimly, not even checking the caller ID.

I barely hear Alzghoul’s voice on the other end of the connection. The bartender is usually the person who calls, even though I have my number posted everywhere. I guess the Pub is the safest place to meet up with me, and they abuse his hospitality. He says something to Ben that makes him scoff with disdain.

“No.”

Alzghoul continues speaking as if Ben never objected.

“The answer is still no.”

The bartender’s voice becomes tense and louder. I frown as I study Ben’s reaction or lack of one. His face doesn’t change from an irritated scowl as he listens.