The stench of rotten citrus washed over me. Not good.

We stepped into a huge room. It was the size of my entire first apartment with all the walls knocked out. The vast ceiling rose to fully thirty feet in height, and gloom obscured the massive wooden beams running high above. Clothes lay strewn all over the floor, some shredded, some stained, punctuated by crumpled papers, food-stained plates, and shards of broken glass. A large wooden bed piled high with pillows and clumped blankets stood against one wall. A pregnant woman sat on it, her long hair tangled and dangling down over her purple dress. She looked up. Her irises shone with orange shapeshifter fluorescence.

I looked at Andrea. She looked back at me. I saw the exact same thought on her face: this job was going to suck.

“Hello, Desandra,” Curran said.

“Fuck you.”

“That’s nice,” Curran said. “It smells like rotten food in here.”

Desandra shrugged. “Why are you here?”

No trace of an accent. She spoke like she was born in the United States.

“We’re here to take care of you.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” She bared her teeth. “You’ll make the deal with whatever clan pays you more and sell these little parasites in my stomach. So go, make your deals. Nothing will change for me. Nothing ever changes for me.”

“Are you done?” Curran asked.

“You could’ve taken me away from all this,” she snarled.

“You wouldn’t last a week in Atlanta,” he said.

She stabbed her finger in my direction. “And she’s better? After all of your grandstanding, and oh, I’m the Beast Lord and nobody is good enough for me, you mated with a human? A human? You’re just like them.” She waved her arm at Hibla and the djigits. “You don’t give a fuck about what happens to your human wife if she’s challenged. Why don’t you just leave?”

Muscles played on Curran’s jaw. “Think what you want, but I’ll stay here and I will protect you.”

“Do you really think they’ll give you panacea for it? Come on, even you’re not that stupid.”

Gold flashed in Curran’s irises. I had to stomp on this fast before it spiraled out of control.

I put my hand on Curran’s shoulder. “I think it would be best if you gave us a little space.”

He glanced at me.

“And if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you sent Doolittle up here.”

Curran shook his head and looked at Derek. “Close the room. Nobody comes in unless Kate says so.”

“Yes, my lord,” Derek said.

Curran strode out of the room.

“That’s right!” Desandra called out. “Walk away!”

Derek parked himself in the doorway.