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T he Factory was in an abandoned grocery on the west side.

The sign outside still read Allen’s Stop-and-Shop; it worked as camouflage, and suited Adric’s sense of humor besides.

After they’d gutted the place, there’d been plenty of space for the shop that Jace Jones had set up to test and manufacture the clan’s quartz-based smartphones.

When Adric entered Tuesday afternoon, the jaguar fada was already there, deep in conversation with his small team of quartz-crystal techs.

Jace turned to him. A tall, rawboned man, he had cropped black hair and the same serious hazel eyes as his niece Merry.

“Ric.” A smile lit his face. “We have something to show you.”

Jace and the three techs spent a few minutes bringing Adric up to date on their current projects, including the quartz mine on Rising Sun Fae land which was the clan’s hope for turning the smartphone technology into a money-maker.

“We could have them in production by summer.” Jace handed him a prototype made from the mine’s high-quality quartz.

Adric fingered the smartphone. Durable and waterproof, one side of the quartz had been ground down to mirror-smoothness so the user could access the technology. “You’ll be able to make enough for every adult in the clan?”

“Absolutely. With enough left over to start selling them to other clans.”

“Impressive.” Adric included the entire team in his nod of approval. “Keep up the good work.”

Zuri and Marjani arrived as the meeting broke up. The four of them climbed down the ladder to the war room, a chamber carved out of the bedrock that had been magically soundproofed so they could speak freely, even refer to the fae by name.

They took seats around the round table that Adric had carved himself from a massive slab of granite.

He looked around at his three remaining lieutenants.

“You know why you’re here. Dion do Rio came looking for me last night, seriously pissed off.

A wolf trespassed on his territory—a large brown wolf. ”

“Luc.” Marjani’s face remained expressionless, but Adric scented her distress. She’d probably always feel guilty that Luc had accepted Blaer’s geas to save her.

The wolf had loved her since they were both teenagers. The problem was, she’d never felt the same way.

Adric nodded grimly. “That’s my guess. And if he’s here, then so’s Lady Blaer.”

“But why would she send him to Rock Run?” his sister asked.

Zuri’s jaw hardened. “To piss off both clans, of course. If she’s really lucky, she’ll set off a war between us and Rock Run.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time a night fae tried that,” Jace muttered.

Adric exhaled and came to his feet. He felt like he was banishing Luc all over again, but Zuri was right. His lieutenants needed to know the full story about what had happened in Delaware.

“What I say next doesn’t leave this room.

” He waited until the other three nodded before continuing, “It was Luc who tracked me to Lewes. He brought Blaer and another fae—a male—straight to the B&B. They came in after midnight and tore the place apart. It was sheer luck that I got out of there with my hide intact. And Rosana do Rio, too. You may as well know she was with me.”

Marjani drew a sharp breath.

“Yeah,” Adric said. “He’s not to be trusted. He’s completely under that fae bitch’s control. We have to consider him one of them.”

Zuri’s dark brows lowered. “Fuck, Ric. You should’ve told us this immediately.”

“Maybe. But there was a minute, right at the end. Luc and the fae were in the parking lot, and I was on the other side of the fence. I know Luc scented me. He could’ve fingered me then, but he didn’t.” Adric lifted his shoulders, let them drop. “I didn’t want the whole clan to know.”

Zuri swore. “He knows everything we do. The location of our dens, the Factory. Our secret tunnels. He even knows about this room.”

“He can’t get through the ward,” Adric said. “Any of our wards. I made sure of that when I expelled him from the clan. But—"

“—he could bring Blaer to the Factory,” Marjani said.

“Or even your den. He might not be able to bring her inside, but all they have to do is wait outside for you to show up. And Blaer knows the secret incantation. If she gets close enough, she doesn’t even have to force you to accept her geas .

She can control you through your quartz. ”

Adric growled. “Let her fucking try. I was this close to her.” He held up his index finger and thumb, the pads almost touching. “ This close. But I had to let her go. Luc would’ve fought me and given her time to ’port out. And I would’ve had to kill him.”

“Plus, you had Rosana to think about,” said Marjani. “You did the only thing you could. But you can’t let Blaer get that close again.” She toyed with the smooth ivory handle of one of her daggers.

None of them paid it any mind. Marjani’s blades were as much a part of her as her claws.

She scowled. “I don’t like this. You have to increase your security.”

“Jani. I can take care of myself.”

By tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter anyway. He’d be on his way to Virginia. But no one—especially his sister—could know that.

A small whetstone appeared in Marjani’s other hand. She began sharpening the already keen-edged iron blade. “We could buy you a protection charm.”

“We don’t have the money, and you know it.”

“But—”

“No. The best defense is to eliminate the threat.”

Marjani compressed her lips and swiped the blade viciously over the whetstone.

Adric set his hands on the table. “Lady Blaer is up to something, and thanks to my asshole cousin Corban, she knows the secret of our quartz. It’s time to take her out.”

Zuri’s smile was all teeth. He and Luc had been close friends. “I’m your man.”

“Agreed. But take your time, assemble a team—the woman’s powerful, and she’s smart. I’ll be damned if I lose anyone else to her. And before you do anything, ramp up our defenses. You and Jani both.”

Marjani jerked her chin in assent.

“I’ll let the clan know that the cubs aren’t to go out alone, and that even the adults need to take care.” His jaw set, because Gods, he hated to do this. “I’ll also warn them that Luc can’t be trusted. Anyone seen talking to him will answer to me.”

Zuri fingered his soul-patch. “The wolves aren’t going to like it. One day Luc’s a hero for saving Jani, the next, he’s bad news. If you don’t tell people about Lewes, they’ll say it’s just another example of how the cats have taken over since you became alpha.”

Jace scowled. “Ric appointed two wolves as lieutenants. What more do they want?”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying it looks bad. And then there are your cousins,” Zuri said to Adric. “Two out of three of them are dead.”

“Thanks to me and Jani.” Adric blew out a breath. “I know. It’s damn convenient that out of Leron’s immediate family, only Nash is left. A suspicious man might think we planned it that way.”

And everyone knew Marjani’s Gift was strategy.

Zuri moved a big shoulder. “Nash says himself that it’s Corban and Kane’s own fault they’re dead. But you gotta admit it looks shaky.”

“He’s right,” his sister chimed in. “And I have an idea. You need a new lieutenant—why not Nash?”

Adric sank back onto his chair. “Nash Savonett?” he asked, as if she could mean anyone else. “I don’t know, Jani.”

“He’s a Gifted tracker,” she returned, “one of our best, and he’s backed you since day one. If he wasn’t Leron’s son, you probably would’ve considered him before now. And he’s a wolf. It keeps the balance.”

“She’s right,” said Zuri. “The lupines appreciate that you appointed me and Luc as lieutenants. After the way Leron treated you, you could’ve turned on the wolves, but you didn’t.

You brought us into your inner circle. But these last couple of years have set some of them off again—too many wolves have died. ”

“Because they attacked me and mine,” Adric shot back. “Every damn one of them would be alive today if they’d accepted that I’m the alpha now. Not Leron, and not any of his sons.”

Zuri spread his large hands. “I know that. Even they know that. But…”

Jace had been sitting back in his chair, silently observing.

Now he leaned forward. “Nash has my vote. Keeping the balance is important, and the man is smart. Plus, he doesn’t have the prejudices his brothers had.

Take Evie’s brother, Kyler. Nash has gone out of his way to be a friend to him—a human.

He’s been working with Kyler, showing him how to defend himself. ”

“So it’s unanimous,” said Adric. The clan wasn’t a democracy—the final decision was his—but these three were his lieutenants precisely because he trusted their judgment.

“I’ll inform Nash that he’s my newest lieutenant.

But he’s on probation for the next six months.

If it works out, we’ll make it official. ”

“Fair enough,” said Zuri.

“Anything else?” Adric glanced around the table.

When the other three replied in the negative, he adjourned the meeting.

Marjani fell in beside him as they left the Factory. “I keep telling myself that Luc’s not responsible, that he doesn’t have a choice, but he knows what that bitch is capable of. If she’d captured you…” She shook her head. “It’s like I don’t even know him anymore.”

He set an arm around her narrow shoulders. “It hurts.”

Her chest heaved. “Yeah.”

“You sure you’re okay with Nash making lieutenant?”

“I wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise.”

“Even though his own brother was behind your—” He halted.

They didn’t discuss the attack on her. At first, it had been because she wasn’t talking to anyone but Suha, the clan’s head healer. Then, as the months passed, he’d let it go. Some things were better left buried.

“You can say it—I won’t break. Corban Savonett was behind my kidnapping. And—” she swallowed, then lifted her chin—“it was because of him I was raped by those bastards.”

Dragging in a breath, he forced the words past the hot ball in his throat. “I’m sorry. So fucking sorry.”