Zed roared . . . and the redheaded man took off running. Dani was missing. His mate was somewhere out there, hurt, and he didn’t know what to do. He almost launched himself out the front door, but he stopped, sniffing the air. He closed the door and crossed to Lara’s desk, sniffing all the way. He tossed aside paperwork and manila folders until he found the source of the sickly-sweet odor he was picking up. It was a copy of Popular Photography. He could feel crinkly, stiff patches on the cover, as if Lara had spilled something on the page and then it dried. He ran his nose along the glossy paper. Formaldehyde. The magazine smelled like formaldehyde. Dani mentioned a sickly-sweet odor on the person who’d attacked her in the library.

Lara. He’d noticed the intense way she’d stared at Dani, but he’d thought it was just Lara’s personality. What had she been plotting?

“Zed, honey, what are you doing?”

Jillian’s voice was the only thing that kept him tethered to reality.

“It was Lara,” Zed growled, his fangs elongated. Jillian pushed a button under Lara’s desk and Zed heard the click of a lock in the building’s front door.

“What was that?” Zed asked.

“Automatic locks. I just don’t want you to run off half-cocked and get yourself hurt. Just hold on for one second,” Jillian said, pushing a couple of buttons on her cell phone, and setting it to speakerphone.

Jillian’s robot friend’s voice sounded from the phone. “What’s up, sweetie?”

“Sonja, I need to use your evil computer mojo to access some employment records you’re not supposed to read.”

“Ooh, my favorite!” Sonja said.

“You’re wasting time,” Zed grumbled.

Jillian held up the “wait a minute” finger. The sound of clacking keys filled the room while Zed’s panicked rage bloomed. “Okay, I’ve got HR’s secret files open. What do you need?”

“Lara Gershwin.” Jillian replied. “When was she hired by the League?”

“About six months ago,” Sonja said. “A little bit before you got sent to the Bayou. Dr. Montes recommended her to the board, based on a paper she wrote on ‘Dynakinesis and Human Potential.”

“Dr. Montes recommended a receptionist, based on a paper she wrote on a completely unrelated subject in experimental physics?” Jillian asked.

“Yeah…Oh, no.” Sonja replied.

Jillian pinched the bridge of her nose. “Dr. Montes’s fuckery strikes again. So it would seem that my receptionist is the one who’s been tampering with the rift. I’ll fill the appropriate paperwork out after I handle the extremely angry bear shifter in my—Zed, no!!”

By that time, Zed had done the only thing he could think of, running at the office door at full speed, leaving a Zed-shaped hole in the door as he ran toward his motorcycle.

As he fired up his engine, he heard Jillian yell, “Dammit, Zed!”