Bruiser One placed the chair next to the foot of Leif’s bed. Then he pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the restraints around Leif’s wrists before stepping quickly back. His meaty paws hovered near his weapons. Everyone in the room tensed, waiting for Leif’s reaction.

He sat up and rubbed his arms, working the feeling back into his hands. Weak from days without food or water, and with his ankles still secured, he had no option but to play nice—for now.

The man approached and held out his hand. “Bruns Jewelrose.”

The name sliced through Leif, igniting anger. This was the son of a bitch who had hired an assassin to kill Yelena. He drew in a breath to calm down, reminding himself to play nice and stay alive. He grasped Bruns’s hand. “Leif Liana Zaltana.”

They pumped once and released—just like a couple of businessmen meeting for the first time. Weird.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Bruns said, sitting in the chair. “Your résumé is quite impressive.” He snapped his fingers.

Bruiser Two brought the tray over and placed it on Leif’s lap. It contained a bowl of stew, a hunk of bread, cheese, a spoon, napkin and a large glass of water. No knife.

Bruns said, “Go ahead and eat. I’m sure you’re starved.”

Leif hesitated. “And in exchange?”

“All I ask is that you hear me out. That you don’t form an opinion until I’m finished.”

Glancing at his bound ankles, Leif said, “What if I’ve already formed an opinion?”

Bruns inclined his head. “That is an unfortunate necessity. I’ve learned that a demonstration of my abilities and resources is far more convincing than a discussion. You cannot deny that my network was able to neutralize a powerful magician such as yourself rather easily.”

A protest over the word easily pushed up his throat, but he swallowed it down. The ambush had been expertly set to appeal to his instincts and bypass Rusalka’s abilities. “Did you neutralize my sister?”

“No. My sources say Onora, the Commander’s new assassin, did.”

He scoffed, “Your sources are wrong.”

“Unlikely.”

“Why would the Commander do that?”

“That’s all part of my explanation.” Bruns waited.

Playing nice meant listening to his captor’s crazy theories and perhaps pretending to agree with him.

“All right, Bruns. I’ll listen to your...pitch.” Leif picked up the glass and gulped half the water. Ahhh. Welcome back, tongue.

“The Commander is preparing to invade Sitia. We know this because he has gone to great lengths to secure Curare, stockpile null shields, nullify the Liaison and is harboring Owen Moon, a known rogue magician.”

Stockpiling null shields? That was news to Leif. Filling the spoon with chunks of beef and potatoes, Leif shoveled it into his mouth. Not bad. Not the best he’d ever tasted, but up there in the top five.

“The Commander ordered the hit to block the Liaison’s magic so she would no longer be an asset to the Sitian Council. Without her magic, the Commander could invite her to be one of his advisers and, with the added appeal of being with her heart mate, it would be a tempting offer. Valek would also be happy. And it’s important to the Commander to keep him happy. He’s vital to their security. That’s also why Onora didn’t kill Yelena. That would have sent him on a quest for revenge.”

Bruns crossed his legs. “With me so far?”

“One question. Why did you hire The Mosquito to assassinate Yelena?”

“To cause strife in Ixia by sending Valek on that quest for revenge. We hoped he’d assume the second attempt was connected to the first and discover the Commander sent Onora. Plus Yelena has classified information about Sitia. The last thing we wanted was for her to give it to the Commander. We’re trying to protect Sitia.”

Protect Sitia by murdering Yelena? That was very twisted logic. “Who’s we?”

“I’m getting to that. Considering the Commander’s hatred of magicians, Owen Moon’s presence is harder to explain. He must have something rather significant that the Commander can use when he attacks Sitia.

“The Sitian Council has almost all this information, yet they still argue and discuss and get nothing done. Yes, I know they tasked your Councilman to increase production of Theobroma, but that will take years. We don’t have years. We have a year at most.”

Leif stopped chewing. A year? Even with the grafting technique, they’d never be ready in time.

“Frustrated with the Sitian Council’s refusal to accept the facts and act, I contacted a number of friends and colleagues. We formed our Cartel and brainstormed ideas on how to protect Sitia from being invaded. First we listed our assets. Our army doesn’t stand a chance—we lack discipline and numbers. But we have magicians and super messengers.

“Except the magicians don’t know how to fight or work with an army. Some of them can’t be counted on to help because they’re selfishly pursuing their own agendas, which is why the Commander can stockpile null shields. It’s incomprehensible to me why a magician would create something that can be used against him. It’s like giving your sword to your previously unarmed enemy, and then being surprised when he stabs you with it!”

Bruns stopped his tirade. He drew in a deep breath then continued in an even tone, “We decided to stop the randomness and the stupidity. The idea is to gather all the magicians into one unit, train them how to fight and use their magic to gain information. Organize them to maximize their efforts during a war and stop them from selling null shields to the enemy. It’s the only way we will prevent the Commander from conquering Sitia.”