I opened our bond. Do you want me to calm you? Killing a member of our Tribunal is frowned upon. Probably.

Yes. And Are you sure? They might let me pass on first offense.

I’m mostly sure. I chased my words with a shot of calm, taking some of his anger into myself. Not all of it—his emotion was normal, justified, and understandable. I took just enough to keep him in control so he didn’t go wolf and rip out Woodbridge’s throat. Though it was tempting. Soooo tempting.

Mama Ami cleared her throat, and when she spoke, her words were so sharp I was surprised they didn’t slice him to teeny, tiny ribbons. “Next time the police share information pertaining to my apprentice and Declan, you will notify the rest of the Tribunal as well as Lou and Declan and myself by telephone immediately.”

Woodbridge looked like he wanted to argue, but Mama Ami cut him off. “If you don’t, we will petition the Uncanny Tribunal Commission to remove you from the case and replace you with someone who won’t endanger their lives.” She tapped the coffee table in front of her with her fingernail to make sure she had his full attention. “The only reason I’m not already doing so is because it would take time and I’m not sure we have it.” She glanced at Declan, no doubt taking in his tense body language. “I might do it anyway.”

Woodbridge’s mouth pinched. “Fine.”

Declan stood. “If we’re done, I need to contact my sister.”

Woodbridge perked up.

“No.” Declan clenched his fists. “You don’t get to talk to her. Eva never bonded her anyway, just me. My sister has had enough of this mess.”

“If she was never bonded like you were,” Woodbridge argued, “she could give us a better picture of the data.” The arcanist was almost vibrating with excitement.

The muscles in Declan’s jaw ticked. I took more of his anger, though I had to be careful. Much more and I’d punch Woodbridge myself. He had a very punchable face. Which was probably a cat thought. Ugh, they were so seductive!

“When this is over,” Declan said, “I will ask her if she’s willing to be interviewed by my counselor, because I trust her. If my sister agrees, and if the counselor feels sharing the information won’t cause her further harm, you can read the report. That’s the closest you’ll get to my sister unless she says otherwise.” I could tell from his tone that Zoey agreeing to talk to Woodbridge was as likely as me joining a traveling circus as one of those people who swallowed swords.

I was definitely full of cat thoughts now—of the “evil glee” variety, because I knew Juliet and her mentor would zealously guard Zoey’s privacy. Not only because of client confidentiality, but because Juliet knew exactly what kind of man her father was. Since her mentor was the one handling the lion’s share of Declan’s counseling, if Woodbridge tried to harass or browbeat her into divulging anything, she could simply turn him over to Dr. Kobayashi-Jones.