“You ruined an event I spent ten of your lifetimes planning. What would you call that, if not a debt?” Harlow fingered the hem of her shirt. “This girl is a start, but I will require much more compensation.” Casual malice danced in the depths of her eyes. “How is your family, by the way? Have you seen your parents lately?”

“Leave my family out of this,” I growled, magic flushing my skin.

“You are in no position to make demands. Bargain, perhaps. Think very hard and you might find something you possess of value to me.” A shudder rippled through Harlow, and she wet her lips as though deriving pleasure from the fury wafting off my skin. “You have my attention now, Camille Ellis. I grant you permission to summon me when you have made your peace.” A smile tilted her mouth. “Until we meet again.”

Blind rage at him threatening those I loved propelled me several steps forward before Graeson caught me around the middle. “He’s baiting you,” he murmured. “Attack now, and the only one you’ll be hurting is Harlow.”

Slumping in his hold, I took a long moment to tamp down all the blazing animosity Harlow didn’t deserve. Taking my outrage out on her would make me as pathetic as Bessemer, and I wasn’t about to follow in his sadistic paw prints.

Gaze fixated on Harlow, I froze at the gradual change sweeping over her. Like a reset switch had been thrown, the light vanished from her eyes, and her head turned until she faced forward once again. Abandoning the fabric of her shirt, she slid her hands back into her lap, fingers linking. The pose was the same, as if she hadn’t moved, hadn’t addressed us at all.

“This is bad,” I murmured. “She’s like a radio transmitter and receiver all rolled into one.”

Graeson’s attention never wavered off her. “What should we—?”

“We’ll talk about it later, once we get her someplace secure and warded for sound.” I tapped my ear and broke from his arms, the temptation to stay in their shelter becoming harder to resist. “He’s just proven he can drop in and listen whenever he wants. I don’t want him overhearing any plans we make.”

Crossing to Harlow, I murmured a Word I learned in marshal academy, one that bound her hands together at her lower back. I used another to muzzle her in case Charybdis turned out to be a biter. Graeson cupped her elbow and helped her stand then led her down the hall. With one final glance at the box of items meant for me, items I had no way to carry or capture since I’d left my phone behind so it wouldn’t get waterlogged, I committed each one to memory then exited the bedroom for what I hoped was the last time.