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He inclined his head a wary inch. “What about it?”

“The most powerful being in Otherworld.”

“I was.”

“Why would you give that up?

“Because I no longer wished to be anyone’s trained assassin. I will kill if I have to, but never again at another’s bidding.” His mouth curled in disgust. “A weapon in the wrong hands is always dangerous.”

“But you could destroy the human world.”

“If I wanted to, I suppose I could.” He glanced over at Ella. “But while my mate lives in this realm, I promise you will all be safe.”

Ella cleared her throat. “Does anyone have any more questions?” Everyone looked at her. “About the case, I mean. I don’t think we’ll be able to get Brad’s and Ms. Phelps’s faces back, seeing as they’re dead, but we can certainly try… What?”

“Don’t you realize that you hold the fate of humankind in your hand, Ella?” Liz grinned. “You’d better stop pissing Vadim off immediately.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” She managed a fake sigh. “Perhaps he’ll have to learn to be nicer to me first.”

“Very funny, Ms. Walsh.” Vadim wasn’t smiling. “Mr. Feehan, is the nurse Delia still at the hospital, or has she recovered?”

“’She’s still there. We have her under SBLE guard. There’s been no change in her condition.”

Vadim rose smoothly to his feet. “Then I think that if everyone is satisfied with Ms. Walsh’s version of events, we can consider this case closed. Despite these latest revelations about my reputation, I assume you still wish to employ me, Mr. Feehan?”

“Sure I do.” Feehan smiled up at Vadim. “I consider you an asset to our team.”

“Then I’ll be off to the hospital to see what I can do for Delia. I’ll see you all later.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Ella asked.

He turned to look at her. “No, thanks.”

With a cool smile, he left, and she slumped down into her chair. So, he was annoyed with her. What was new? Didn’t he understand that she’d just been trying to protect his ass?

“He’s not very happy with you, is he?” Liz murmured.

“Men.”

“What did you do?”

“Killed someone he wanted to dispose of himself.”

“Adam?” Liz lowered her voice even more. “By the way, you left out a load of stuff from your story.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m a Fae-Web specialist, dork. I see the truth, I can’t avoid it.” She hesitated. “He really is incredibly dangerous, Ella. Don’t you think you should’ve left him in Otherworld, where he belongs?”

“To be ordered to kill on command like a hunting dog? He hated that existence, Liz. It destroyed his soul.”

“Then who will keep order in Otherworld, now?”

“I don’t care, as long as it isn’t Morosov. He deserves a break.”

Liz started laughing. “Trust you to end up with Death Bringer.”

“I know, it’s sort of like mutually assured destruction, isn’t it? I’m the person who makes him the maddest in the whole world, and he can’t kill me because I’m his mate.” She patted her heart. “It was obviously meant to be.”