Page 82 of Eclipse Sector

“I’ll save you a seat, Ivana,” Cael said to me.

I smiled. “Thank you, Cael.”

He winked at me—likely pleased by me addressing him informally—and turned to help Benz escort everyone to the lodge in town for breakfast.

Once they were all well out of earshot, I shifted to face Cillian. His hands followed the movement, allowing me to complete my rotation before settling once more on my hips.

“Look, I’m sorry for what happened between us, but?—”

“Stop,” I interrupted. “We can talk about that later. What I want to know is when the jet will be here, who will be piloting it, and is it going straight to Night Sector, or will it be stopping in Blood Sector first?” Because those were the questions that the Omegas would want answers to.

He stared down at me somewhat warily as he replied, “In an hour, Lorcan, and straight to Night Sector.”

I nodded. “Do all of us need to go to Night Sector, or can Blood Sector be an option?”

“You don’t want to go to Night Sector?”

“I would prefer my own nest,” I admitted. “But if I’m permitted to go to Blood Sector, others may want to go there, too. So before I make any decisions, I want to know what all the options are.”

“I imagine all the others will prefer Night Sector since it’s their home.”

“I agree,” I told him. “But on the off chance anyone suddenly decides they would prefer to go to Blood Sector, I want to know if it’s even an option.”

He stared at me. “You can go back to your nest in Blood Sector, Ivana. And if anyone else wants to go there, that’s fine, too.”

I nodded. “Okay, good. Now, what can I tell them about Sylvia, because they’re going to ask about her.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know anything yet. She’s… unconscious. Lorcan’s trying to heal her, but whatever is in her system can’t be reversed.” The frustration in his tone grew with each word, ending in him releasing me to run his palm over his face. “This is my fault. I was distracted and?—”

“Did you drug her?” I demanded, cutting him off.

“What?” He looked at me as though I’d physically slapped him. “No. Of course not. How could you?—”

“If you didn’t drug her, then this isn’t your fault,” I snapped, interrupting him again. “So stop blaming yourself and focus on mitigating the situation. What I need are details I can share with the others to keep them calm. What can I tell them?”

He just blinked at me.

“Great, that’s very useful, Cillian. Thank you.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re choosing now to sass me, Omega?”

“I’m always going to sass you, Alpha. Now stop stalling and answer my question so I can take care of the Omegas while you focus on finding out who hurt Sylvia.”

Cillian gaped at me for a beat, his shock palpable. However, he quickly recovered with a subtle clearing of his throat.

“Tell them the truth—Sylvia’s heat isn’t natural. Kieran will be here soon to evaluate her, then we’ll be questioning all of the Alphas with access to this sector. Because one of them dosed her with something. And that Alpha will be removed.”

I didn’t need him to elaborate on whatremovedmeant.

“Thank you. I will do my best to relay all of that in the softest way possible,” I promised him. “I’ll also ask if anyone has seen or heard anything suspicious.”

And I’d start with Ashlyn.

With the plan set in motion, I stepped around Cillian to head toward the lodge.

But I found myself suddenly unable to move because my nape was caught in his palm.

He gently pulled me back to face him and pressed his forehead to mine for a long, silent moment.We’ll talk soon,he promised into my mind.