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Uriel shook his head, glaring at Eliana, then toward Severin. “What fucking summons? The first order I got was to get here within sixty seconds. I had to rip the sky open over Chicago to get here. Hopefully, I didn’t cause any flights to crash.”

There wasn’t a real chance any of them would crash from ripping through the air, since planes and such didn’t see the disturbance they made.

“How the fuck did he not get it when the rest of us did?” Castle rumbled, getting to his feet.

Uriel sat back, folding his hands over his abdomen. Then Severin noticed blood on the knuckles of his second.

“Did you run into some trouble in Chicago?” Severin asked, looking at Uriel’s hands first, then his face.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle. What the fuck is up with this summon non-summon bullshit?” Uriel asked on their private path.

“It appears someone hijacked the three of your minds and sent the message to meet me here. I just happened to be coming here, so either this is an ambush that I’m early for or it’s a setup for you,” he said, looking at Enzo, Castle, and Eliana.

“Shit.” Castle squeezed his eyes shut.

Severin flowed into each of their minds with ease, saw the path they’d been contacted through, and noticed the familiar-looking link. With a little work, he followed the pathway back to the source, shocked to find himself flung out.

“Did you go in and track the culprit?” Eliana asked, grinning, but a strain showed behind her green eyes.

“I did. It led me to a familiar being, but—it embarrasses me to say this. Whoever the bastard was, he kicked me out before I saw his face.” Severin clenched his jaw so tight he could hear his teeth grind.

“How do you know it was a he then?” Uriel shifted in his seat.

“Males and females have different auras. I can tell the difference between the two, and trust me, whoever created the false link was definitely a male. He was good enough and close to all of us that he could mimic me to the point where the three of you were unable to differentiate between us.” Severin pointed out.

“Everyone except Uriel, it appears,” Eliana groused.

“That’s because we’ve known each other the longest, and obviously, my mind is too strong to be manipulated,” Uriel said. He smirked, making the other two males growl.

“It doesn’t matter who didn’t get the memo. I need all of you to fortify your minds against any external attacks. If we were to be in battle and our enemies were to be able to fuck with any one of your heads, we’d be fucked.” He carved a new path into their heads, severing the false one as easily as snapping his fingers. But he worried that if it was that easy for a stranger to get into their heads once, how easy would it be for them to do it again? No, he would double back inside their minds and place additional wards.

“Now that we are aware someone got in using a false link, I think we will be able to recognize it next time.” Castle worked his jaw after he spoke. Severin could tell the words hurt him to say.

“I wish I could put trust in the future what-ifs, but this isn’t something I’m willing to bet on. I never thought I’d be faced with the three of you getting hijacked in the first place. If any of you have an issue with this, speak now.” Severin let his hands relax and met each of their eyes in turn.

Enzo and Eliana agreed at the same time, and Castle followed. Uriel was the last to agree, with a curt nod.

“That’s settled, then. I’ve put extra wards up around here, along with protection runes. You’ll all feel them when you come and go. I’ll be instantly alerted when anything crosses my borders. The big question is, why did they want us all here?” Severin closed his eyes and drummed his fingers on the surface in front of him.

“Well, if your protections are up, then whoever did it is fucked if they try to get in again. That is, unless they try to use one of us.” Eliana gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth.

“I thought of that, which is why I cleansed the path they used. Now we have a meeting with the Jao Syndicate. Are you ready?” Severin stood, straightening his right sleeve and then his left. He checked the cufflinks on each side, adjusted his collar, and met their gazes. He let them see nothing but strength and resolve in his expression. However, a flicker of unease skittered down his spine. He’d never thought anyone in his Clan would double-cross him in any lifetime, and he didn’t want a sliver of doubt to enter his mind now. But Severin hadn’t lived as long as he had by being stupid.

Thana moved around the docks until she reached the warehouse. She found the darkest corner, hid in the shadows, and watched the old woman. She dared to talk about killing Scepter’s brother like it was the weather. The dumb bitch must have a death wish, one that Thana couldn’t wait to grant her. Shit. Pump the brakes, girl. Thana didn’t understand why her instinct to kill overtook her. She glanced at the sky, then down at her watch, wondering how Severin would let the meeting play out. She didn’t think he could be completely unaware of the treacherous female’s plans, but then again, she didn’t know him all that well. From the conversation she’d overheard, they were obviously friends. Not that Thana was jealous or anything. Nope, that was not it at all.

Mai’s head shot up. Thana held her breath, realizing the female sensed her presence, or possibly she had a sixth sense that there was more to the world than what you could see. Either way, she wondered if Severin would be prepared for such deceit.

“He is not my problem,” she muttered in a low voice. Although she said the words with conviction, they still sounded hollow.

Unwilling to keep chasing her thoughts, she returned to the club where her friends were preparing for the evening.

“Hiya, Thana,” Starla said, waving from behind the bar.

Pasting on a smile, she prayed it looked authentic. Thana reached for a glass. “Hi, sweetie. How’s it going?”

“Good. Scepter is amazing, of course. Which means I have no complaints. Well, except that the man has endless stamina and seems to forget I’m a mere female who used to be human, that’s less than a quarter of a century old, unlike his old ass,” she laughed.

“Good lord, have you never heard of the term TMI? Thank fuck you’re not as diabolical as Savage or one of the others who would’ve thought it funny to push some images into my head instead of just words.” Thana shuddered.