“Truss him up,” Allcot ordered.

We were in a windowless room on the first floor of Allcot’s home. The group of us stood in a circle, surrounding Bandu while two of Allcot’s security team shackled the shifter and hung the chains from hooks in the ceiling, much like the pack leader had done to Pandora over the past thirty-six hours.

“Poetic justice,” I said softly to Dax.

Pandora, who still wasn’t one hundred percent healed but was looking noticeably better than she had back at the Gothic house where she’d been held, stood next to me and scoffed. “He deserves to have his dick cut off.”

“After we interrogate him, love,” Allcot said, brushing a long lock of her blond hair over her shoulder.

Dax and I shared a glance, and I took a small step away from Pandora, slightly unnerved by her vicious appetite for revenge. Not that the shifter didn’t deserve what she had planned for him. It was just so… violent.

Leo stood across from us, his arms crossed over his chest, gaze fixated on the pack leader. Hatred and disappointment radiated from him in volumes. Healer Imogen, Link, and David filled out the circle, waiting for the interrogation to begin.

“All done, boss,” one of Allcot’s men said. “Need us to stick around for backup?”

“You can wait outside the door. Thank you, Harrison.”

The giant dark-skinned man nodded once and slipped out of the room.

No one said a word as Pandora walked right up to the shifter and stared him in the eye. The low hum of the fluorescent lights illuminating the room filled the uncomfortable silence until Pandora unexpectedly spat on the shifter.

Bandu jerked his head back, startled, but didn’t make a sound as the pink-tinged saliva trickled down his face.

“You will suffer for what you did. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Bandu’s dark tortured eyes met hers and he said, “I already am.”

She let out a humorless laugh then slapped him hard across the face. “You don’t know what suffering is quite yet, but you will.”

He was quiet this time and she took a step back. “Now,” she said, her demeanor all business. “Where are Willow and Talisen?”

Bandu shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“He’s lying,” Leo said from the other side of the room. “He told Dali he’d be unavailable until late tomorrow night. Said he had something important to attend.”

“Of course he is,” Pandora agreed. “I overheard him talking about going to the ritual.”

Allcot stepped into the circle and took his place beside Pandora. He eyed the shifter. “Would you like to start talking or move straight to the torture portion of this production?”

“What difference does it make?” Bandu asked. “It ends the same way, doesn’t it?”

Allcot shot his hand out and grabbed Bandu by the throat. He didn’t squeeze hard, just held Bandu’s neck in his hand and moved the shifter’s face back and forth as he studied him. “Do you think you’re going to die tonight, shifter?”

“I don’t think I will, I know I will,” he said, meeting Allcot’s gaze. “It’s inevitable.”

The two continued to stare each other down. Then Allcot let him go and said, “He’s not going to tell us anything. This is a man prepared to die.”

I had to agree. The shifter wasn’t upset. He wasn’t fighting or bargaining for his life. He was resigned. The question remained though—if Allcot tortured him, would he give up Carter Voelkel and the location of Willow and Tal? Maybe. But I had a better way.

I turned to Imogen. “You up for some more magic tonight?”

The healer blinked. “What’s wrong? Is the curse still bothering you?”

“No, no. Nothing like that.” I waved a hand at Bandu. “I can do a memory spell if I can siphon some of your power.”

Her eyes widened, and she took a small step back. “I don’t—”

“Yes, a memory spell,” Pandora said. “Do it.”

“I don’t— That’s not something I think I can do,” she said.

“Sure you can, Imogen,” Pandora said impatiently. “You owe us that much.”

The healer frowned, clearly uneasy, but stepped up beside me anyway.

“What was that about?” I whispered to her.

She shook her head. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“If you’re sure…” I pulled out a small vial of herbs that Willow had spelled for me not long ago. She had the ability to magically infuse plants and turn them into useful edibles. She made things like Mocha in Motion, a drink that refueled a person’s energy, and Orange Influence, a substance that had the ability to control a person’s will, though that one was highly controlled by the Arcane. But the herbs, they were a special concoction she made just for me for when it was absolutely necessary to interrogate someone—someone whom the Void would never get to talk. Someone like Bandu where the information meant life or death.

“She’s sure,” Pandora said. “What do you need?”

“Anyone have a mortar and pestle lying around?”

Imogen sighed. “I do.” She turned and started walking toward the door.

“Wait,” Pandora said as she pulled Allcot’s phone out of his pocket. She texted in a message and a second later handed it back to him. “Someone will bring us one.” Turning to Imogen, she added, “Work out the plan with Kilsen.”

I frowned as I watched a silent exchange pass between them. Again, I wondered what was going on. What did Imogen owe them, and how had they managed to get her under their thumb? Resentment for the vampire couple, despite their help, curled up in a ball in my gut and sat there like a rock. Their contradictory actions never failed to piss me off. One minute they were helpful and the next they were forcing people to do shit against their will.

Vampires sucked.

“I assume you’re going to use blood magic?” Imogen asked me, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Yes. But only his. What I need from you is a power boost. So that thing you did earlier when you helped to heal me?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll need something like that. The herbs Willow infused for me are great, but they require a larger power boost than I can summon.”

“Oh.” Her arms fell to her sides and she relaxed. “Is that all?”

“That’s all,” I said, glad she seemed more at ease. If she’d been sure I was going to use her blood for the spell, that would explain some of her reluctance. Blood could be used for a lot of spells, most of them pretty nasty. And every witch I knew was extremely wary of letting their blood get into anyone’s hands, much less a fellow witch.

The door opened and Harrison walked in with a ceramic mortar and pestle.

“Thank you,” I said as he handed it to me.

“No problem, Phoebe.” He winked and strode back out. Harrison had been one of Willow’s bodyguards at one time. He’d proven to be a decent guy even though he worked for Allcot.

I walked over to Bandu and met his tired gaze. “This isn’t going to feel good.”

“I didn’t expect it would,” he rasped.

“There’s one thing I don’t get.” I tapped his chest right over his heart. “If you have such a hard-on for justice, why did you put your entire pack in danger? Why expose most of them to kidnapping and attempted murder charges? That holier-than-thou crap is really tired, Leader Bandu.”

He sucked in a deep breath and glanced away, no longer willing to meet my eyes.

“Pathetic.” Then, without warning, I jabbed my uncursed blade into his shoulder and twisted, sat down on the tile floor, and gestured for Imogen to join me.

He howled with pain and bucked, trying to jerk away from the knife, but it was no use. His wrists and ankles were bound. He wasn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

Imogen handed me the mortar without comment, and I held it up to the wound to collect his blood. When the trickle slowed, I twisted the knife harder and got a perverse pleasure in listening to his agony. Good—let him suffer.

Footsteps caught my attention, and as I was yanking the tip of the knife out of Bandu’s flesh, Leo appeared in front of the shifter leader. There were tears standing in his innocent eyes as he clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. “Why, Bandu? That’s all I want to know. Why?”

The leader slowly closed his eyes, his shame at being called to the carpet by one of his wolves appearing to break him.

“I thought you stood for something. You’re just another liar. A user out to further your agenda,” Leo continued. “You made me party to something that goes against everything I believe in. You make me sick.” Leo started to walk away but then turned abruptly and rammed his fist into the leader’s gut.

Bandu let out a whoosh of air and grunted but never said a word and never looked Leo in the eye.

When Leo returned to his spot in our makeshift circle, Link sat next to him and rested his big wolf head on Leo’s knee. Leo glanced down at him and smiled. “Thanks, wolf. I needed that.”

“He can stay silent, but he can’t keep his secrets.” I sprinkled a bit of the memory herbs into the mortar and sat down on the floor across from Imogen. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

I grabbed the pestle and mixed the herbs with Bandu’s blood, then placed it between Imogen and me. Holding my hands out to her, I smiled. “Let’s do this.”

Her hands were warm in mine as I closed my eyes and called up my power. Hers instantly sprang to life, mixing with mine. I started to feel light-headed, almost drugged with the sensation. My skin tingled and my blood hummed.

Euphoria.

“Phoebe?” Her sweet voice filled my senses, only fueling my ecstasy, and when I opened my eyes the room was bright with brilliant white light and everything else had disappeared.

“Hey,” I said.

Her lips curved into a shy smile. “Hey.”

“This isn’t so bad, is it?” I rubbed my thumbs over the backs of her hands, reveling in our joined energies.

She chuckled. “No, not at all, but…” Imogen glanced around the room, leaned in, and whispered, “But I think we might be putting on a bit of a show.”

“We are?” I blinked. I saw nothing but Imogen and the brilliant white light. It was as if everyone had faded away.

“Yes, and they’re getting a little impatient.” She cut a sideways glance to where Pandora had been standing. “Allcot said we can get a room later.”

I laughed. What was happening didn’t have anything to do with romance. It was… an intoxicating drug that took me out of the present and into a place I’d be happy to never leave. Except… Willow and Talisen needed me.

“Right,” I said, focusing on her, then the mortar between us. “Let’s finish the memory spell.”

She nodded. I let go of one of her hands and dipped my fingers into Bandu’s blood. Immediately the blood turned to a fine mist and rose up around us, obscuring her face from my view.

Then the scene opened up, revealing the memories for the entire room to see.

For me it was like I was plunged into an alternate reality and was standing off to the side as I watched Allcot and Pandora hand over a handful of drug bottles to Imogen. The memory was a surprise. I shouldn’t have been in Imogen’s memory, but I supposed our connection had been so strong that my curiosity about her had brought me to her memories first.

The three of them were in Allcot’s office at the Red Door. Pandora was her usual sleek, sexy self, hanging on Allcot’s arm while he peered at the healer. “These should help within the week. But you’ll need to be available for the next month so the researcher can study your reaction.”

“Can I work?” she asked, her voice heavy with fatigue. She had dark smudges under her eyes and looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Yes. Just set up a schedule with the head of research. Some nights you’ll have to stay here as your sleep patterns will be monitored.”

“All right.” Imogen stuffed unmarked pill bottles into her bag and turned to go.

“We’ll help you kick this curse, Imogen. Don’t worry. You’ll be back to seeing patients in no time.”

The scene shifted and it was another day. Imogen was in Allcot’s office, beaming and shaking his hand. “I can’t thank you enough, Eadric. I thought I’d never see the day I could practice healing again. Your drugs brought me back.”

He nodded and made her sign a document that said she would be available for further testing until the drug was approved by the government.

Holy shit. That’s why Imogen owed them. They’d found a drug to help kick a curse that she hadn’t been able to heal herself—the kiss of death for a healer. If she was infected with a random curse that was zapping all her strength, she couldn’t see patients and her livelihood would be threatened. The drugs must’ve worked, because the Imogen I knew was powerful and full of light.

And Allcot was responsible for bringing her back to life. Of course, now she owed them that life, which was no doubt why she was in her pajamas in their mansion in the middle of the night. They either had her on staff or were doing more testing.

Damn Allcot. Him and his drug company. There was no denying he was doing something great for the community with miracle drugs, but he was also a manipulative bastard. And that was the rub. He was neither all good nor all bad. The only question was did his good outweigh the bad?

Sitting on the floor in Allcot’s house, basking in Imogen’s beautiful power while we extracted a memory we needed to save Willow and Talisen, I was saying yes. Yes, his good outweighed his bad.

The scene shifted again, and this time I was where I was supposed to be—in the purple Gothic house where Bandu had held Pandora.

The pack leader strode through the parlor on the main floor and into a library filled ceiling to floor with old leather-bound books.

“Is it done?” The raspy voice of the sorceress came from the corner of the room.

“Yes, Morena, the fairy and her spouse are being held at Mizer House until tomorrow night when we can complete the ritual,” he said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his tone.

The sorceress uncurled from her position on the velvet chaise and floated over to him. As her scarred, distorted face came into the light, Bandu shrank back from her. “Your life is extended because of me, wolf. What do you think you’d look like if I hadn’t given so much of my power to you?”

“Nothing,” he said, staring out the window. “I’d be dust by now.”

“That’s right. You’d be ash and your pack wouldn’t have their righteous leader to keep them on their moral path. Though I daresay the knowledge that you steal the youth of a fae or two every four years would make them rethink their loyalty, don’t you?”

He spun around, hatred flashing in his eyes. “You’re the devil.”

“Not quite, my darling.” She ran an arthritic finger along his jawline. “But close enough.”

The scene distorted and when the mist parted, I found myself in the room where Willow was being held captive. Only she wasn’t there. Not in this memory. The cell was empty and Bandu was pacing the floors. The redheaded vampire was sitting in a recliner, his left foot propped on his knee as he watched Bandu fidget with his keys.

“Calm down. I’ve got this covered,” Carter said. “You need to relax.”

“How can I relax when you’re telling me our only option is to abduct the fae under Allcot’s protection?” The shifter ran both hands through his dark hair. “This is going to blow up in our faces.”

Carter rose from his chair and walked over to Bandu. He gently placed his hands on Bandu’s cheeks, leaned in, and whispered, “You need to relax. I’ve got a plan to deal with him. All we need to do is keep him busy looking for that bitch Pandora and he won’t give a shit about the fae. Pandora is his only weakness. We’ll carry out the ritual, you and I will get another four years together, and our followers will become all the more dedicated. You know how powerful it is when the young ones think their souls are saved. Four years from now, we’ll have an army of loyalists. Allcot will never survive this war.”

“Only if we can get the city to believe his people are behind all the fabricated attacks,” Bandu said.

“Oh, we will. Didn’t I tell you? Five of the city council members have reached out to me after my invitation. They feel it’s time to turn in order to have a fighting chance at pushing Allcot out of the city. I named my price and they gladly agreed. Once they get an indictment on the entire Cryrique organization and install me on his board of directors, we’ll push him out and I’ll be in charge of everything that bastard has built. Even if the charges never stick to Allcot, he’ll be out of the city forever and the council will be in my pocket.”

Bandu closed his eyes, clearly troubled by the plan.

“Come on, baby. You know this is how it has to be if we want to clean up this city. Make it safe for humans, shifters, and vampires alike. I know it seems unethical, but it’s for the greater good. Once we get past this, we’ll make a stronger, more equitable New Orleans. One where everyone matters. You’re with me on this, right?”

“You know how I feel about the sanctity of life,” Bandu said, trying to take a step back. “It’s not right to take a life just so I can keep living a stolen one.”

Carter let out a huff of frustration. “How many times have we been over this? Your life, the good you do, it’s worth a hell of a lot more than two fae who do Allcot’s bidding. You care about people. Not money. You make their lives better. You make my damned life better.” Carter brushed his thumb over Bandu’s cheekbone and leaned in, giving him a soft kiss. “Tell me you’re with me on this, love. Say yes and I’ll put it all in motion.”

Bandu stared up at the tall redhead, eyes searching. “How are we going to keep Allcot from finding Pandora exactly?”

Carter’s lips curved into something too sinister to be called a smile. “I summoned our sorceress, Morena. She helped us once, she’ll help us again.”

Bandu let out a tortured sigh and glanced away. Then when he turned his attention back to Carter, he returned the kiss and whispered, “Yes.”

I glanced away, always a bit uncomfortable with public displays of affection, and found my eyes locking on someone spying on them through their window—someone I hadn’t seen in eight years.

I let out an audible gasp.

Seth.