“You had someone following me?” That tidbit of information shouldn’t have surprised me. Then the implications of her statement sank in, and fury trembled in my voice. “What are you insinuating?”

“I have made no insinuations,” she informed. “I have stated facts in an attempt to clarify your whereabouts during the past few days. As to your former question, yes. I did not trust the warg, and I assigned a guard to you for your protection.”

I held in my snort and almost choked on it. A guard. Assigned for my protection. No doubt her plant had texted her updates on our every move. Nice.

“I have other information at my disposal. Either I reconstruct the timeline with possible errors, or you can report to me now.” She cocked her head, expecting a recitation of dates and times and other damning intel. “The choice is yours,” she prompted, her gaze tagging the chair opposite hers. “Do have a seat. You must be tired from your activities last night.”

I sank into the plush cushion and debated how much to confide in the magistrate I wasn’t sure I trusted anymore. I chose the safer option, the one where she filled in blanks and I corrected her when she got things wrong. “How much do you know?”

“A substantial amount,” she said, not falling for the ploy. “Enough that any deviation will be apparent.”

“Graeson met me in my hotel room. He wanted to discuss the case. He asked for my help with a plan he had concocted. I declined.” I kept it short and to the point. “He refused to leave my room until I heard him out. I declined that too and left when he refused to go.” She nodded encouragement, and I continued. “I noticed Harlow hadn’t returned from the Sardis Lake site yet, and I made the decision to go to her, hoping by the time I returned the warg would have lost interest and left. At the site, I was unable to locate Harlow. Graeson appeared, without invitation, and we searched for her together.”

“Did you feel threatened by the warg?” she interjected.

“No.” There was no hesitation in my answer. “He would never hurt me.”

“Hmm,” she replied. “You sound certain of that.”

A tingle of doubt spread through me. I got the impression I had given away a personal truth I should have kept to myself, but it was too late now. If Vause had been following Graeson and me as closely as she claimed, she would know the warg had formed an attachment and that I was, sadly, not immune to his charms. Graeson was a gorgeous specimen of wargdom. I had seen every inch of him nude, many times, and had yet to isolate a single physical flaw. No. Those emerged as soon as he opened his mouth. The man was a master manipulator.