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finger to my lips. “I have a plan. If you don’t know the details, no one can try to force it out of you.”
    “I want to help.”
    “Conveniently, my plan involves you, although at a later stage. Humor me, Alexa. You’ll like what I have in mind, and I saved one of the best parts for you.”
    “Fine, I’ll humor you, but only this once. I want to help.”
    “I’ll need it when the time is right. I want to limit your exposure to Mr. Smith as much as possible, especially after this morning. Please make sure you take either me or Colby with you whenever you’re forced to see him. I don’t think he’ll give up without a fight.”
    Rob was right, and I knew it. Instead of fighting a pointless battle, I nodded. “I should have known better.”
    “Lesson learned. If he wasn’t in such high favor with so many elite right now, I’d get rid of him. Still, there are other issues we need to address, including Dean Lewis and Arthur Hasling. Lewis will be our biggest problem. Kenneth Smith is repulsive enough, but he has limits and plays by certain rules. If those videos we found are any indication, the dean doesn’t play by any rules, and proving his crimes will be difficult at best. He’s simply too far up the ladder to disgrace without a great deal of work.” Rob grunted and stretched out, draping his arm over his eyes.
    “No luck finding Hasling?” The dae who had kidnapped me had vanished without a trace along with the children he had taken from the college. Arthur’s willingness to torture me to strengthen his powers sickened me—and made me worry for those still with him.
    “No luck,” Rob confirmed with a heavy sigh. “He probably left the city. With all of the other problems right now, the police are more worried about restoring order than chasing after stale leads. Until the government finishes implementing their new registration system, they don’t have the resources to chase after one dae.”
    “That’s bullshit.”
    “I know it, you know it, and just about everyone else who knows anything about his attack on the college knows it, but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s not a priority right now. So, if we want anything done, we’ll have to do it ourselves—without getting caught. The government wants him, and they’ll react positively if they find his body in a dark alley somewhere.”
    I sighed, wondering if I’d ever get the chance to get back at Arthur Hasling for what he had done. “Which leaves us with Kenneth and the dean to deal with.”
    “Exactly. We’ll figure something out. My top priority is to make sure Kenneth stays away from you. Then we ruin him, dispose of him, and move on. The dean will be a more challenging target, and if we can make Kenneth work for us while we’re working against him, even better.” The way Rob smiled chilled me to the bone, and my eyes widened as I stared at him, my mouth open although I couldn’t force out a single word.
    I often forgot how dangerous Rob was until he reminded me, and all I saw in the dae’s expression was a promise of death.
    “Why are you going so far?” I whispered, afraid of the answer but compelled to ask the question all the same.
    “Those women deserve justice, and so do you.”
    Before I could say another word, Rob rolled on top of me, pinning me beneath him while pressing his lips to mine. I recognized his ploy to avoid further discussion, but decided I didn’t care and met his desire with my own.
    His answer had been enough.

Chapter Three

    Fourteen hours after Kenneth and his dae drugged me, I crashed and burned. Pleasure twisted to pain, and while I could function, all I wanted was for the misery to end.
    Rob worked while I paced, hissing at the way my clothes scratched my skin and left me raw. Sitting still only worked for so long before a blend of relentless itching and restless energy drove me back to my feet.
    I needed something—anything—to do.
    Logically, I recognized what the drugs were doing to