Nari scrambled for a way to turn his attention. “It’s my heart you want. Taking two of us at a time breaks your pattern. It’s not what you want and it’ll lead to bad luck. Very bad luck.”

He laughed. “I like how your mind works. To be honest, I’ve never eaten a brain. Yours might be interesting.”

She stepped away from the bars. Once he went for a stun gun, she was out of options. “You have changed your routine, haven’t you? Why?” she asked.

He lifted his chin. “I was in rehab for a long time, and then I took counseling from a friend in this game. Well, somewhat.”

The door out of sight opened loudly. Who was coming? Nari stiffened, trying to see.

Lassiter turned, the smile sliding from a face that most women would consider good-looking if they couldn’t see beneath to the monster. “What in the world have you done?”

Angus came into view, his wrists handcuffed together.

“Angus,” Nari breathed, rushing to the bars. She grabbed them. What was going on?

Opal walked behind him, her gun pressed to his back. Was this some type of rescue plan? What was happening? Nari stared at the woman, who was staring at Lassiter.

The two chairs. Wait a minute. Oh, crap.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The second Angus saw Nari’s terrified eyes, he settled. Everything inside him went calm and cold. He tilted his head to stare at Lassiter. “Looks like the bullet to the face did some damage.”

Delight filtered across Lassiter’s face. “Angus, my friend. It’s nice to have you in my space, but this is much too early.” He cranked his head to look beyond Angus. “Opal? The game is over. I have Nari in my cage.”

Opal pushed the gun barrel harder against Angus’s spine. “She’s still alive with a beating heart, so I’d say we’re at a tie.”

Nari stumbled back from the bars, her face going pale. “Opal?”

Angus scanned the entire area with his peripheral vision. Opal had refused to talk on the way here, promising that all his questions would be answered when the time was right. Not that he hadn’t figured a lot of it out already. “Here’s what I think.” He kept his focus on Lassiter to hold his attention.

Lassiter rubbed a scar on the lower half of his jaw as he stood and turned to face them. “This is quite inappropriate, Opal. You’ve pushed our game, but not me. He can’t be here right now. I’m not done.” The guy sounded like an impetuous child.

“I can’t very well set him free now,” Opal drawled.

In a split second Angus decided Opal didn’t exist. “Henry? How long have you and Opal been working together?”