Page 180 of Eclipse Sector

She’d given them a little wave and murmured, “I hope you weren’t relying on Sylvia to wake up anytime soon. I may have used some of those drinks from Glacier Sector—you know, the ones meant for me and the others—to keep Sylvia hydrated during her heat. As you can see, she’s still, well, in the throes of it, as it were.”

Tadhg had lost his shit, snarling right in Ashlyn’s face, telling her she was a fucking menace.

To which she’d just shrugged and replied, “I’ve been called worse.”

Furious, he’d grabbed her by the arm and disappeared.

Granger had waited over an hour for him to return, but when he never did, he slunk back to Lunar Sector in a huff.

It wasn’t until a few days later that Tadhg had reached out with a revised plan.

“That psychic cunt will play a part in this after all,” he’d said, pleased with himself for his new idea. “We’ll send them on a hunt through Eclipse Sector—fitting, given recent events there—while we take down Quinnlynn MacNamara and that damn shield around the island. Then I’ll notify my contact that the fun can begin.”

Granger had asked about the contact and whatfunhe meant, but Tadhg hadn’t elaborated beyond replying, “Let’s just say, it’ll be the most impressive estrus party yet.”

Granger, the idiot, hadn’t asked any additional questions.

A follower through and through.

“Why this asshole was your Elite, I will never understand,” I said to Cael, aware that he’d come to stand beside me a while ago. He hadn’t interfered with my work, just waited quietly while Ivana and I ripped through his Elite’s mind.

Rather than reply, he simply asked, “Learn anything useful?”

Kieran joined us, his gaze and thoughts telling me to answer Cael’s question.

So I did, elaborating on everything I’d just discovered, including how Ashlyn had thwarted their plans.

“Was he ever faithful to me?” Cael asked, sounding tired.

“Yes,” I admitted. “He just doesn’t share your morals. Tadhg’s appealed to him more.”

Cael nodded. “Dixon has never cared for Granger. I’ll have to inform my brother that he was right and I was wrong.” His tone deepened with that last part, suggesting he wasn’t used to admitting to making errors. But the fact that he could state it so plainly out loud spoke volumes about his own personal character.

“Kill him,” Kieran demanded, the words seeming to be directed at Cael.

The Alpha Prince glanced at me. “I smell Ivana’s blood on him.”

“He attacked her.”

He nodded, as if he’d already gathered as much. “The bastard betrayed me in the worst way. But I wouldn’t have known about it had you and your mate not discovered the truth. So how about we… work together?”

I arched a brow. “What are you suggesting?”

“You remove his head. I’ll burn the body.” He uttered the words so casually, like he wasn’t announcing Granger’s future death right in front of him.

“I want to use my hands.”

“That’s fine.” Cael smiled, and a hint of the predator beneath glimmered up at me. “I’m all for making it hurt.”

Ivana made a sound, causing me to glance down at her. She wasn’t disgusted by the notion, as it hadn’t been a gag or even a note of disapproval. It’d been ayawn.

One glance at her face told me why.

It’d been a fucking long day, made even longer by however much time had passed while I’d been inside Granger’s head. Given that all the other Alphas were already burned to ash in the street, and the sun was high in the sky, it’d definitely been hours, just like I’d suspected earlier.

My Omega—my beautiful,pregnantOmega—was exhausted.

I’m fine,she whispered into my mind.