Page 45 of Death Bringer

Feehan walked her over to a seating area by the elevators and sat down beside her.

“I wanted to ask you something in private.” He looked around and then settled his gaze back on her. “I talked to a couple of the staff on this floor earlier, and they told me the strangest thing.”

“What?”

“That the last person they saw going into Ms. Phelps’s office was Vadim.”

“So?”

“Could it have been him?”

“Boss, you were with us most of the day. We only parted when we went down to the ER with Brad’s parents. I was there the whole time with Morosov. He certainly didn’t sneak away and do this to Ms. Phelps.”

“Are you quite certain?”

“Sure I am. Do you think he bespelled me? He needed to be one hundred percent present in the ER to do the magic required to convince the Dailey family that Brad’s face looked the same as it ever had.”

Feehan scratched his thinning hair. “It does sound a little farfetched, doesn’t it?”

“Look, whoever this Adam dude is, he wants Vadim to take the blame for his actions. This is the second time he’s pretended to be him.”

“But why? Liz thinks?—”

Ella sat up straighter. “What’s Liz got to do with it? Is all this coming from her?”

“She’s seeing a lot of connections between Vadim and Adam in her Fae-Web.Seriousconnections.”

“So? He said they shared some of the same bloodlines. Doesn’t that account for it?” Feehan studied her carefully and she felt herself blushing.“What?”

“She also insists that you and Vadim are, um, closer than you admit to being.” He held up his hand. “I have to say I found that part a bit difficult to swallow, until I noticed how vigorously you’ve been defending him over the past couple of days.”

“Do you think he’s controlling me with his magic?”

“God forbid, just that you might be—” Feehan was beet-red now and struggling to meet her gaze,“—physicallyintimate, and as you are close to your twenty-seventh birthday, you might not be reacting in an emotionally secure way.”

“You think I’m like a sex-crazed teen who will do anything to protect her man?”

“Um, yes.”

“Wow.” She stared at Feehan for a long moment. “Well, that was ballsy.”

“I know, I can’t believe I said it. But Ella, I’m your boss. I don’t want this team imploding during an important investigation.”

He’d impressed her. Who’d have thought it? Now she had to decide how to respond. There was only one answer.

“I suppose I should tell you something important.”

“What’s that?”

“Morosov is my Otherworld-approved mate.”

“What?”

“I have the paperwork somewhere, if you want to check it out. I’m not infatuated with him, I’m mated to him. That means my empath gifts are working just fine, and I’m in no danger of going nuts next week. It also means I can connect with Morosov’s mind, and he isn’t the killer.”

Feehan kept gawping at her.

She waved her hand in front of his face. “Boss? Are you okay? I’m telling you this in the strictest confidence, because I don’t want you imagining all this other stuff is a problem. You know me, I wouldn’t lie to you and compromise a case.”

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