“And if not?” Cinn didn’t know why she was whispering. A quick glance at the guy—she would not accept that he was anything else—didn’t show any awareness gleaming in those scary black eyes.

“We’ll destroy him.” Cold and emotionless, this was a new face of Sparkle Stardust. “Right now he’s a danger to himself and anyone near him. It would devastate Taurin to see his brother like this.” She shrugged. “It would be kinder to allow him to keep searching and to never find Dacian.”

Cinn felt like Sparkle’s words had sucked every bit of air from her lungs. Her boss was calmly discussing murder. “You can’t kill him.” She edged toward the door. If she escaped, she wouldn’t stop running until she got to the police station.

Sparkle looked puzzled. “Of course I can’t. He’s already dead. I can destroy him, though. If nothing’s left of his mind, it would be a kindness to Taurin and to him.” She watched Cinn’s slow creep to the door. “I wouldn’t bother if I were you. The door’s locked, and I have the key.”

Cinn ignored her in favor of yanking on the door. Right. Locked. She pounded on the wood and shouted, “Help! I’m locked in here with a maniac. Someone get me out!”

“The wood’s a foot thick and the room is sound-proofed. No one will hear you,” Sparkle offered helpfully.

Cinn abandoned the door. She pulled her cell phone from her pants pocket and blessed the habit that never allowed her to go anywhere without it. Frantically, she hit 911.

Sparkle had a patient expression pasted on her face. “You won’t get a signal down here.”

Cinn shoved the useless phone back into her pocket. She eyed Sparkle. The woman was taller than her, but Cinn was in good shape from digging, planting, and toting bags of fertilizer.

Sparkle smiled. “Don’t even think about it, sister. You along with all your friends and family couldn’t take me down. But hey, if you want to try, knock yourself out.”

Cinn wanted to try. She flung herself at Sparkle. About a foot from her goal, she smacked into an invisible wall. She couldn’t see it, but it was damn well there. After pounding her fists on it and delivering a few kicks that only served to hurt her toe, she backed away from Sparkle.

“Good. Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, we can get down to business.” Sparkle hopped onto a table with a bunch of ominous-looking straps. Crossing her legs, she motioned for Cinn to join her.