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“It is most charming, to see the two of you,” he said. “…Most charming.”

When I quirked an eyebrow, letting my skepticism show in my light, he blew me a kiss, grinning before he walked to the club’s front door and pushed it open with his palm. The affection radiating from his light, the near…happiness…I felt there, was weirdly disarming. It had been since that first conversation I’d had with him in his expensive Burj Kalifa suite.

Even after he informed me I would be dancing for Revik?or else he would be forced to drug Revik and leave him at the club while we went after the Listers alone?Terian never stopped being friendly, or grinning at me, or touching me affectionately.

I still didn’t know if the thing with Revik had been an empty threat or not.

At the time, I hadn’t been willing to risk it.

Because yeah, Terian.

Even so, something about how he looked at me and Revik felt so sincere, I fought not to return the smile, despite the odd eddies and fluctuations still sliding around his light. I felt more eyes on me then and glanced to the side.

Jax stood there, along with Chinja, Dalejem and Declan.

They had Kat with them, too, so apparently Terian took me at my word when I told him she needed to come with us. I saw Revik looking at her, puzzlement in his light, and clenched my jaw, but didn’t try to explain. All of them avoided looking at me once I’d turned?Chinja, especially, who had her arms folded and stared stubbornly off to the side.

The sole exception was Dalejem.

Dalejem stared right at me, but I couldn’t read his expression at all. I saw his eyes drift from my damp hair down my body to my legs. His eyes paused on the stilettos, then slid slowly back up, taking in my body in the clinging dress.

I felt pain leave his light in a dense cloud.

Before I could even react to it, Revik shoved the other seer in the chest with the flat of his hand, and not gently. The pulse of anger that flared off hisaleimitook me aback.

“Fuck off,” he growled, as if the message wasn’t clear.

Dalejem stumbled a few steps back. He didn’t speak, but Kat jumped, blanching, not far from where he ended up. She looked around at the other seers, as if requesting an explanation, but none returned her gaze.

There was a loud-feeling silence.

Then Dalejem shrugged, taking a further step back with his body as well as his light, his expression unmoving. Even so, I saw something flicker across his eyes, right before he motioned neutrally towards the front door.

“Are we going with him or not,laoban?”he said, his voice openly deferential.

Revik followed the gesture with his eyes. I felt another flush of indecision on him, coupled with a denser irritation at the other seer that made me wonder again.

I knew Revik might be pissed off that Dalejem gave me to the trader. I knew he might be pissed off that Dalejem had his hands on me, too, while he’d been playing the part of drunk, horny guy at the pier.

Something about this felt different from either of those things, though.

Did something happen between the two of them? Something more recent?

The thought brought a flicker of uncertainty into my light, along with a paranoia intense enough, I had to fight to control it, even with Revik holding me.

Revik must have felt it. He looked down, holding me tighter, even as his mouth curved in a slight frown.

“What do you think?” he said. Seeing the question in my light, or possibly in my eyes, he blew away my concern, nudging me to focus on the immediate. “Terian. Do we follow him? Or do we end this now?”

Looking up, I sighed, then looked around at the others.

“Do you really want to abort the op?” I said.

I pulled at his light, just enough to make my point, and his pain abruptly worsened.

“If he’s causing this…” I said, then trailed. “What do we do? Just live with it? Take the chance he won’t be able to use us to get at Lily?”

Revik’s jaw tightened.