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“Eat.” When she hesitated, he huffed. “I didn’t poison it. If I want to kill you, it’s a lot faster to snap your neck.”

“Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” she grumbled and lifted the cover.

Marek’s eyes narrowed as her hands trembled. The dark circles under her eyes had gotten worse, and despite her quick tongue, he sensed the exhaustion weighing her down. She’d been at Zylotech when he’d attacked, meaning she’d been working late. Was that a common occurrence for her?

Which was none of his business.

Olivia cursed when her hands twitched so hard that the spoonful of rice fell onto the tray. Scowling at him, she asked, “What’s wrong with me? What did you do to me?”

“It’s not me. You’re the one who used too much magic at once.”

“Magic?”

His phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Sascha. Marek went to the other side of the room to answer it. “What’s up?”

“Boss, you’ll never guess what I found out about your woman,” Sascha said.

“Tell me.” Sascha had continued to dig into Olivia’s background after providing Marek with the initial report. Mate or not, he wouldn’t trust anything Olivia said unless he could verify it with cold, hard facts.

Was he secretly hoping Sascha would find something to prove Olivia’s innocence? To prove she wasn’t involved with the Organization? Maybe. Whatever Sascha uncovered would be unbiased, uninfluenced by the mating bond.

“Remember those witches who blew up the Ruins in LA?” Sascha asked.

Marek’s gaze didn’t leave Olivia, who lifted a spoonful of rice without dropping anything.

“Yes. What about them?”

Two weeks ago, forty human witches had cast an immensely powerful spell, destroying the Ruins in Los Angeles. The Ruins, clusters of buildings scattered all over the world, were the remains of an ancient civilization they knew nothing about. No one had ever entered any of the buildings until the witches obliterated the one in LA.

The witches had worked for a vampire House from China, but since they all had turned comatose after the spell, no one knew if they were coerced or worked willingly with the Chinese vampires.

“Well, Dr. Olivia Rodriguez is sister of Betsy Rodriguez, one of the witches from LA.”

Marek’s brows lifted. Interesting. What were the chances his mate worked for the Organization, had a magical bracelet, and her sister was a witch currently in a coma?

“Get this. She bought a ticket to LA. Ten guesses why she’s going there?”

Olivia was halfway finished with her food. Her gaze strayed a few times to the door with a helpless desperation that tugged at his now beating heart.

“Thanks,” Marek said. “Is that all?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll let you know if I find more.”

“Keep me updated.”

“What did you mean by magic?” Olivia asked as soon as his call ended.

“Magic drains the caster’s strength.” Marek lifted the bracelet from his pocket but didn’t move from his spot. “When you attacked me with this, I was stronger than you thought, and you used more magic than you should.”

“Youarecrazy,” she said it after a two second pause.

Marek ignored her proclamation and asked, “Last night, were you in the laboratory in the left wing? The one I broke into?”

“That was you?”

“Yes, and I didn’t find you. Do you know why?”

“Because you’re bad at your job?”