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I aided in part of her torment, and she has glossed over the remembered pain as a tiny fragment. To me, it is a glaring atrocity too big to ignore.

I have no issue with torturing an individual who is guilty. But my leanings are more towards the psycho-logical than the physical.

Beatrice is guilty of nothing more than wishing to help us. To ease our suffering and make us well again.

I tried to destroy that.

I harmed the female that is my second mate.

True, I was under command at the time, but the guilt will always remain.

I don’t remember feeling the pull of matehood towards her while I was under Iris’ control. She had too much control over me for it to be a consideration.

My first sight of Beatrice appearing from the dark miasma of smoke that is her guard felled me. I shut down every emotion as I watched her embrace Mitri like a long-lost loved one. Her fear of Psycho, who they call Kimi. Then, her mental break when she saw the instruments laid out for her use.

Everything came into sharp focus then.

My mate was in danger, where no one else could reach. Trying to soothe her was instinctual. I failed because she has never known true comfort or care. The things I once took for granted are foreign and frightening to her.

It saddens and enrages me in equal measure. She knows struggle, sacrifice, and pain. Andlies. Many, many lies.

I look at Mitri’s intense focus on her, Kimi’s blank stare, and her guard’s misty hovering presence.

When I turn to Mal, he glances away from me. The pain of our disconnect is sudden to me, while he has been somewhat aware of my neglect for years. A ploy to keep us separated and untrusting of our matehood.

If I could kill her again, Iris would be in this chair, and her suffering would be never-ending.

How do I fix this? And then add another female to our matehood without causing us all to shatter?

“Are we talking, or is this the terrible blind date that won’t end?” She interrupts my musings and brings my attention back to her.

Mal grumbles wordlessly at my side and eyes me.

“We’re talking,” I reply quickly. I’ll be honest with her inquiries. She deserves better than to have even more lies thrown at her.

“Iris was sent to us from the House of Delegates, just as any other agent has before.”

I pause here to let it settle into her mind that her still being in the house with us was an anomaly that should not have been allowed.

Her eyes narrow as the point swiftly slides home and I continue.

“I believe our team of spies is now out in the open.”

Mitri gives a stiff nod and Mal curses.

“She was sent to keep an eye on our activities. I knew it,” Mal snarls and glares in my direction. “I told you!”

I ignore the accusation and carry on, “It took her a year to fully ingratiate herself. Her mental control was never mentioned in any of her documentation.”

“The Delegates know that we’re not really acting in their interests. You’re going to ignore that?” Mal snaps.

“I can only control so much,otto,” I protest.

“Yeah, I figured that out,” he snarls back and turns away from me.

“You guys are TGT agents to keep an eye on the Delegates?” Beatrice asks, her nose wrinkled up in adorable confusion.

“The Assembly and the Delegates have been corrupt long before they invented the names,” Mitri tells her flatly.