One of his guards shouted and anger swept Garret’s desire aside. He had left orders that no one interrupt him. The scuffle continued and trepidation bled through his annoyance. Disentangling himself from his slaves, he shoved both women to the far side of the bed. All his conventional weapons were in his own room and he had just begun to feed.

The doors burst open and Sylina Tesch strode into the room, auburn hair whipping around her face as the door slammed behind her. “You left me there to die!”

Expecting an invading force and not a single woman, Garret laughed, then he lunged for her. She darted to his left, moving so fast she blurred. “How did you get in here?” How the hell had she found him? He’d moved his hideout twice since his run in with Rhys. He gathered energy into the center of his being and launched it at her in an abrupt burst.

She neatly sidestepped the blast and said, “You’ll have to do better than that, but wait, you can’t. I interrupted your feeding. Didn’t anyone teach you the value of knowing your enemy?”

The haughty bitch! Who did she think she was? He summoned every slave in the house, projecting urgency along with the mental command. Footfalls echoed through the hallways, moving steadily closer. He could shift. He was stronger in his Setti form, but slower, and agility appeared to be her advantage. She’d timed her attack perfectly. He was naked, unarmed, and depleted.

The doors groaned as his slaves fought to obey his summons.

“Call them off,” she said calmly. “This is between you and me.”

“I don’t think so.” He glared at her. No one challenged a Setti shifter and lived.

“I know where Chevon is; now call them off.”

Shock ricocheted through his mind. If she was lying he’d kill her in her sleep! He halted his slaves, stationing them beyond the door. “I’m listening.”

She advanced toward the bed, her green eyes bright with indignation. “You literally sucked the life out of Lance and abandoned me to the enemy. I knew you were ruthless. I had no idea you were a coward.” He motioned his women toward the exit on the opposite side of the room. Sylina blocked their path. “They stay. I want to see how it’s done.”

Tension knotted his gut and he forced himself to swallow. In preparation for the battle that night five weeks ago, he’d gorged himself on energy then infused both Lance and Sylina with higher levels of Setti essence than he’d ever attempted before. If the actual infusion hadn’t killed her, the detoxification should have. Yet here she stood, making demands of him!

“You want to see how what’s done?” he asked. She couldn’t mean what he thought she meant. His slaves were gripped by sexual frenzy when he infused them. They never remembered exactly what transpired.

“Rhys said you were injecting me with some sort of chemical that made me highly susceptible to suggestion.” She took the blonde and shoved her toward the bed. “He said it’s extremely addictive. Is it in your semen or is there some other means by which you inject it? I want to watch you inject one of your slaves.”

“You’re no longer addicted, so why are you here?” He pulled the blonde behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her warm body against his back, oblivious to the conflict raging around her. The brunette was cowering in the corner, her knees drawn up to her chest, eyes glassy and unfocused.

He studied Sylina’s unrelenting expression. Why wasn’t she afraid? She’d seen his true form during his fight with Rhys. She should be terrified. Any human would be terrified.

“I have a proposition for you.”

He paused. Was this more than just morbid curiosity? She’d overpowered his guards and slammed the door with her mind. What other abilities was lovely Sylina hiding? “Tell me how to find Chevon.”

“First I want to know exactly what I’m dealing with.”

“Rhys explained all you need to know. I’m able to imbue humans with unusual abilities, but they often develop a certain dependency as a result.” He’d never been uncomfortable with his nudity, yet this confrontation had his face flaming and his hands itching to cover his crotch. Pride alone kept his shoulders squared and his arms at his sides. “Tell me how to find Chevon or I’ll --”

“You’ll be plagued by nightmares for the rest of your life.” Her lips parted in a cold, menacing smile. “When you’re able to sleep at all.”