His deliberately provocative response made several bears “laugh” before they settled back down. The wolves, too, were looking very interested. Apparently being mortal enemies didn’t mean you weren’t intrigued by gossip about the other party.

When she didn’t say anything in response to his words, Valentin gave her a distinctly wary glance. “What are you planning?”

“You’ll find out when you fall victim to it.”

Valentin’s smile was more real than she’d seen it since her operation, his bear right there in his eyes, so close to the surface that she could almost touch its fur. “You’re a scary woman, Starlichka.” Lifting a hand, he brushed tendrils of hair off her face.

Silver broke contact with a jerk that had those bearish eyes narrowing, a predator on the hunt. He closed the inches between them, until her sneakers brushed up against his boots. “Scared?” A challenge.

His body was a furnace, but Silver didn’t back off. This wasn’t the first time she’d tangled with this particular bear. “I don’t get scared. I’m Silent.”

“You sure you haven’t been willing those filaments in your brain to build bridges?”

Silver thought of the card she still hadn’t thrown out, of how she hadn’t washed the sheets on which he’d slept, of how she kept permitting him physical contact . . . and how she hadn’t ordered any food since she moved into this apartment. “Why would I exchange perfect efficiency for the messy chaos of emotions?”

“Wild-monkey skin privileges.”

Silver stumbled into him at the rough words spoken against her ear.

Valentin caught her. “Was it something I said?” This time, his eyes were laughing, his body a muscled wall that invited her to snuggle in.

And her stomach, it did that strange thing again. “Must be the uneven floor,” she responded, because to let him win this verbal battle would set a bad precedent.

Bear that he was, he’d think he could win all their arguments by bringing up physical intimacy. She broke contact, started to walk toward her apartment again. “Speaking of wild-monkey skin privileges—”

“Naked wild-monkey skin privileges.”

“As I was saying, speaking of naked wild-monkey skin privileges,” she repeated without a hitch, “are there changeling primates?”

“Nope. Nothing from that part of the animal tree.” He glared at her. “You’re trying to distract me from seducing you.”

“According to Wild Woman magazine”—to which she now had a subscription, strictly to further her understanding of changelings—“bear males have delicate egos. I don’t want yours crushed when I kick you out.”

The deep rumble of his displeasure at her back, a big, dangerous presence that made her feel deeply safe, she cleared them into her apartment. The door slid back to reveal a room full of natural light. Greenery cascaded beyond the windows, while she knew from her orientation that the roof was a living carpet.

“I see you went wild with the décor, Starlight.” The affectionate words had her looking at the apartment through his eyes; light and spacious, it was fitted out with modern furniture covered in oat-colored fabric.

That, however, was how it had come. Silver had added nothing to it, simply putting her clothes in the bedroom closet. Which was why she looked askance at the giant pink teddy bear sitting on her couch. “How did you manage that?” she demanded. “It wasn’t there when we left.”

“Don’t look at me.” His expression was affronted. “I would’ve gotten you a brown teddy bear.” Folding his arms, he curled his lip. “There are no such things as pink bears.”

Walking over, Silver looked at the furry thing. “Who does it smell like?”

Valentin looked pained but drew in a breath. “Yasha and Stasya.”

Spotting the little bag that hung from the bear’s neck, Silver tugged it off. Inside was a handwritten note folded into a small square.

We all thought you might be missing your bear, so we got you a substitute. (Honestly, he’s probably just as good to cuddle up with in bed. Plus, his feet aren’t boats and he doesn’t snore.)

Valentin, who’d come to read over her shoulder, made a loud noise and, picking up the bear, went as if to tear it limb from limb. She touched her hand to his arm. And he stopped.

“It’s a gift. Don’t ruin it.”

“It’s pink.” His chest rumbled. “And it is not as good as me.”

She tried to pull the bear from his grasp. He held on. “Valentin.” She tugged again.

The stubborn bear refused to let go. “Release this now, or you’ll be facing Kaleb and Grandmother while holding a pink teddy bear.”

“So?” he said, but released his hostage at last. “I’m going to dye that bear brown when you’re not looking.”

Leaving him scowling in the living area, Silver managed to get the plush toy into her bedroom and return right before her grandmother and Kaleb teleported in. Valentin still had a glare on his face, but he inclined his head respectfully at Ena. “Grandmother.”

His greeting to Kaleb was a curt nod. “Krychek.”

“Nikolaev,” Kaleb responded in the same vein, sliding his hands into the pockets of his black suit pants, his shirt a simple white.

“Grandmother, please sit,” Silver said, only taking her own seat once Ena was seated.

Valentin came down on the couch beside her, while Kaleb took a seat across from them. Ena sat to their right. They looked at her as one, waiting to hear what she had to say.

“I have,” she began, “completed my meeting with Akshay Patel.”

“I think you meant to use the word ‘interrogation.’”

Ena gave Valentin a speaking look. “A meeting is far more civilized.”

“My apologies,” Valentin said with such perfect politeness, Silver had to check he was the one who’d spoken.

Then, as they listened, Ena told them what the CEO had confessed—and what he’d betrayed. “The Consortium did have a role to play in this,” Ena said toward the end of her briefing, “but only in the sense it gave Akshay Patel tools to pull off actions he already wanted to take. The Bowen Knight incident was wholly Akshay and his brother-in-law—he didn’t want to involve outsiders in human matters.”

Valentin’s claws had slid out long ago. When he spoke, his voice was gravel. “Tell me he’s dead.”

“No. He’s more useful to us alive.”

Chapter 49

SILVER STARED AT Ena. “Grandmother, you’re not known for mercy.”

“A slight understatement,” Kaleb said in his usual emotionless way, which terrified people with its very calmness. “For many, the name Ena Mercant is synonymous with the words ‘cold-blooded’ and ‘ruthless shark.’”

“I believe your picture would also suffice for that dictionary entry,” Ena said without missing a beat.

Kaleb’s smile was faint but real.

“Grandmother,” Valentin said, his body a storm of turbulent energy barely contained, “I respect you, but that bastard tried to murder my mate. He needs to die.”

“He might be able to give us the Consortium.”

Her words filled the room with a potent silence . . . broken only by the noise of play from outside. The apartment was fully soundproofed, but that soundproofing wasn’t a default, had to be switched on, since most changelings preferred to live in proximity to others.