Page 30 of Queen of Wrath

“She got it on her shoulder. It was to cover up some werewolf pack marking she had. Why?” Now Dai seemed intensely intrigued by my asking about her.

I knew it. It is her!

From the moment he’d tasted her potion at the party, he had thought it might be her. She could change her appearance all she wanted with potions, but she couldn’t hide her unique abilities from his keen sense of such things—not after he’d watched her work miracles in that prison cell over and over again.

Emory closed his eyes and released a breath as if he was ridding himself of all the pent-up tension along with it.

“Am I missing something? What does she have to do with our cause? I mean, she seemed different than the other monsters that live in Theskin, but she’s still working with them.” Dai shrugged, taking her arm out of his grip.

“Is she working with them, or is she infiltrating them?” Emory posed, relaxing back to his side of the bar, taking a swig from his drink as he watched her over the rim of his glass. “You see, when I was imprisoned in Ryklira, I met a woman there whose magic abilities were far beyond anything I'd ever seen. She was able to mix ingredients that seemingly made no sense together, and forced it to do what she wanted. She had an extraordinary intuition about her, too, and she used it to protect those around her… I believe that the woman I met in prison back then is Uremma.”

“Are you sure about that? Why didn't she seem to recognize you as the guy she met in prison then?” Dai was understandably skeptical. She wasn't a firm believer in fate the way that Emory was.

“I'm sure she thought I died back then. After all, I was dragged out of the cell right in front of her and never returned. She has no reason to think I'm still alive. Besides, many things have changed about me since then. My face, right down to my soul, is unrecognizable to the person I was. I endured being experimented on for years after that, after all.” His eyes danced away from hers, unwilling to face anyone when speaking about the part of his past he’d give anything to forget.

“If that's true, then why don't you just confront her? I'm sure she would be delighted to learn that you're still alive.”

“And blow her cover? Whatever she's doing, it must be important, but it would be worth it to keep an eye on her. I have a hunch we’re working toward the same goal.”

Dai nodded without hesitation.

Their cause didn't have the numbers they needed to have anything like an uprising, so anyone who might side with them was a blessing.

“By what name did she know you back then?” Dai asked, her gaze filled with solemn understanding. “I'm assuming she’s not the only one who thought it necessary to change her name after escaping that place.”

He looked over at his friend and comrade with a desolate look in his eyes. It still pained him to think about the person he’d once been.

So much has changed about me since then.

“Miller… She knew me as Miller.”

12

JAX

“So they were the same ones who were rough when they questioned her?” Jax could barely keep his temper in check at the thought. “Bring them to me,” he commanded his men, and they left his office without hesitation.

Moments later, his men came barging in with the security detail who’d found Emma and Kiyan down in his secret underground lab facility.

As the twenty men stood at attention before him, Jax looked them over, his mind churning.

They are Diesel’s lap dogs. Therefore, they cannot be trusted. There is only one way this will end.

Jax stood from his chair and folded his arms behind his back as he walked over to them, schooling his face to neutral severity. “This is all of them?”

“Yes, sir,” one of my men answered with a quick nod.

“Thank you. My men can go now.” Behind his back, Jax removed his gloves before setting them down on the desk.

They hesitated for a moment, unsure if they should leave him alone with Diesel’s men.

Jax glared at them as his eyes shifted, the lupine yellow showing them that he wouldn’t tolerate anything but absolute obedience. “Leave.”

They quickly filed out, closing the door behind them and locking it.

“I appreciate your service to my company, but I’m afraid you’re no longer needed here.” Jax stared all twenty of them down, then ran his tongue over the fangs that had already extended.

Jax’s claws ripped from his nail beds, and his pelt tore through his skin as he shifted into a half-crazed, heaving werewolf.

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