d Ransom and Roland. “And on their collars. It has no effect on ordinary shifters and animals, or even extinct shifters and animals. But it negates the inherent magic of mythical beasts, preventing their escape. And when it touches the skin of humans who can become mythical beasts, it prevents them from shifting.”
Ethan kept his face carefully blank, but made a mental promise to buy Nick a beer once this was over. He’d goaded Lamorat into not only forgetting that he was wasting time, but telling them what the collars did—and that all they needed to do to let Roland and Ransom become… something… was to get their collars off.
He wondered what they turned into. Dragons, he supposed. Those were the only mythic shifters he’d heard of. It would definitely be good to have a pair of dragons on their side right now.
“And also, I have the power to control all shifters with my mind, mythic or otherwise.” Lamorat’s smug little sneer returned. “Anyone else feel the need to threaten me? Anyone?”
“Bueller?” Catalina called.
“Silence, feline,” the wizard snapped. Her snicker cut off like he’d turned off a TV. “Now—”
“What happened to the woman who was with me?” Roland asked.
“She was of no importance,” Lamorat said with a shrug. “You were the intended target. She was only taken because she refused to leave you.”
“So you didn’t do anything to her?”
“By no means. Since we already had her, we decided we might as well get some use out of her. She went through the Ultimate Predator process, just like the rest of you.”
“And?” Roland’s fists were clenched at his sides. “Where is she?”
“Dead.”
The wizard’s word fell on the room like a heavy stone, crushing everything in its path. Ethan’s horror was echoed in the clench of Destiny’s solid grip on his hand.
Roland’s face went as ashen as if he’d been shot. Very softly, he said, “What was her name?”
Lamorat shrugged again. “What does it matter? The process killed her. We’ve improved the casualty rate a great deal, but there are always risks. You were a failure too, in fact. You were all intended to have one power in your shift form and another in your human form. But your human form has no power.”
“I don’t need a power.” Roland didn’t raise his voice, but his even tones nevertheless conveyed a sense of fury held barely in check, a fury that could burn down the world. “I don’t need a weapon. I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”
“Silence.”
“It won’t work, you know,” Justin said conversationally. “Sure, it’s a nice trick to keep us silent and still just by telling us so. But you’re not doing anything different than a common thug who ties people up and gags them.”
Ethan was very interested to see that this, more than anything else, seemed to get to Lamorat. The wizard’s thin face flushed with anger. “Silence!”
Justin didn’t speak again, but his expression clearly conveyed that the order had only proved his point.
“Is that the best you can do?” Shane inquired. “You took him and me and Catalina. You hurt us. You changed us. But you couldn’t break us, and you couldn’t keep us. And you still can’t.”
“That wasn’t me!” Lamorat snapped. “I mean us. That was Apex. We’ve improved on their methods. You three renegade felines found your mates, and that gave you the strength to not only break free, but stay free. Until now, of course. But these four were made by us.” He waved his hand at Roland, Merlin, Pete, and Ransom.
“And you did something different to them?” Ethan inquired, keeping up his role as Mr. I’m Just Curious, No Need To Silence Me.
“We did indeed,” Lamorat replied with immense self-satisfaction. “We destroyed their ability to recognize and bond with their mates. And as for those of you who already have mates, it’s not too late to change that. We’ll put you through the updated process, and sever you from your mates forever.”
Despite himself, a chill went through Ethan’s heart at the wizard-scientist’s confident words. Was that really possible? Could anything short of death break the bond between him and Destiny?
“Love makes a mate,” Destiny said, squeezing Ethan’s hand. “Not the other way around. Nothing can ever stop us from loving each other. You can silence me if you like, but that just means I’ll stand here silently thinking you’re an idiot.”
Lamorat stared at her like he couldn’t believe his ears. “What did you just call me?”
“An idiot,” Merlin said cheerfully. “A nitwit. A fool. A numbskull. A nincompoop. A ninnyhammer. A turnip-brain. A—”
Lamorat had apparently been stunned into silence himself by Merlin’s stock of synonyms, but “turnip-brain” snapped him out of it. “Silence!”
For the first time, Pete spoke up. “Like Justin said. Any dumbass can make people stop talking. You’re not doing anything different from slapping duct tape over our mouths. I’m not impressed.”