Flatly, Jules claimed, “Not anymore. Svana has him now. She’s turned him against you.” Those demonic blue eyes gauged her reaction. “It wasn’t hard.”

Of course she had. Leslie Kantor would have locked right on to him.

“You already knew...” For just a flicker of a second, Jules appeared intrigued.

Claire still had something to hold on to—something important the Follower discounted. In every photo she had seen, Corday still wore her ring. Whatever Jules, Svana, or Shepherd believed was not the total truth. So long as Corday wore that ring, he still had faith in their shared belief.

That was all that mattered...

A curve came to the corner of the man’s mouth. “Do you still think I am your friend?”

Face bloodless, Claire looked up from where her eyes had been boring a hole in the table. Leaning back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest, Claire countered, “And the Omegas? How have they been corrupted?”

“Do not worry on their account.” He set down her paintings. “They are still cossetted and well-fed.”

“And Maryanne?”

The jerk took a grape from the lunch tray Claire had yet to touch, popping it in his mouth. “Will get herself killed eventually. Nothing anyone can do about that.”

Claire growled, menacing and angry. “If you eat one more grape off that tray, I will stab you in the eye with this paintbrush.”

Jules actually laughed, every aspect of his face coming alive. But the burst was hoarse and almost unnatural, a long unused reaction that ended almost before it began. But a smirk remained. “During training I have seen the scratches and the claiming mark on Shepherd. You are quite a possessive little Omega.”

“Be careful about who you call little, Beta.”

Whatever false playfulness he had been enacting faded, but he was not offended, not even in the slightest. Putting his hands on the table Jules leaned over and asked, “When she tries to kill you, what are you going to do?”

The answer was simple. “I’m going to die.”

The way his thin lips stiffened, Claire could see he was disappointed in her answer. “Your dramatics do not impress me.”

“I think you comprehend a lot more about what’s going on than even your leader. Shepherd knows she does not love him, she has used him, yet still he, like you, believes in something incomprehensible and obeys.” Claire tapped her finger on the table. “With all this knowledge, you both follow the psychopath we know wishes Shepherd’s mate and his unborn child dead. The situation as it is, with men like you, how long do you really think I will survive? You and all your unsolicited guidance, friend, do not impress me.”