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“When I first saw you in San Francisco, I said that you were a fraud, because my brother was already dead.”

“Because you’d killed him, and things Death Bringer kills never survive.”

“That’s what I believed.” Vadim drew in a slow breath. “It appears I was wrong.”

“What?” His father’s jarring voice bellowed in his ear. “Are you suggesting this is really Ciaran? How ridiculous is that? Good God! Death Bringer, will you doanythingto bring this family down?”

Vadim kept his gaze on the prisoner. “Is that why he helped you?”

Adam blinked very slowly. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

“I can do that for you, Morosov,” Ella said softly. “All I have to do is touch him again.” She looked up at him. “This is what he was hiding. He didn’t really want my face, he wanted you back.”

“For revenge.”

“Even though you obviously didn’t kill him after all. Was he always jealous of you?”

“Of course. My father professed to love him the most yet spent most of his time training me—his personal weapon.”

“That isn’t true.” Adam practically spat out the words. “I always knew I was loved, while you were hated and feared.”

“But you were willing to do anything to get power like mine, weren’t you?”

“I did what anyone faced with an impossible situation would do.”

“Forced a confrontation between us? Used your twin sister as bait?” Vadim fought to control his voice.

“She loved me. She was willing to help me in any way she could.”

“That’s not love,” Ella said. “That’s stupid.”

“I regret having to lend you my sister’s face, Soul Sucker. You are not worthy to wear it.”

“Strange, it doesn’t bother me in the least.”

Adam sighed elaborately. “It amuses me to know that my brother will have to live with it for the rest of his unnatural life.”

Vadim drew Adam’s attention away from his mate, who looked ready to do him harm. “Did you kill her?”

“Who, Nia? No, she was weak. She couldn’t live with the idea that she’d betrayed you by pretending I’d died in your attack. She was more than willing to listen to my suggestion and take her own life.”

“Is that what gave you the idea for your little game, then?” Ella asked. “To take her face as a trophy?”

“Yes, Soul Sucker, how astute of you to notice.” He snarled. “I obviously underestimated your intelligence.”

“Most of us do.” Vadim recovered his veneer of calm. “So if we assume that you follow the sect’s usual rule of three, and that you wanted my face next, whom did you choose to complete the pattern?” Adam’s gaze flicked momentarily to Vadim’s right. “Ah, you wantedFather’sface, because once you had his, no one would remember you as Ciaran, and you could move on with your plan to control the whole of Otherworld.”

“What?”

In his desire to get up close and personal with the captive, the Fae king tried to push past Vadim, who put out an arm to hold him back.

“He intended to kill you. Didn’t you get that?”

“That’s impossible! I—” The king suddenly broke off as if aware that his estranged spouse and mother-in-law were regarding him suspiciously. “It’s not true.”

“Why would I lie?” Adam said. “I’m not expecting to come out of this encounter alive, are you?”

Blustering, the Fae king turned to survey his audience. “The man is mad. He obviously wants to implicate as many of us in his crimes as possible. Perhaps Death Bringer was right in the first instance, and Adam was trying to annihilate our whole family. Isn’t that rather more important?”