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Scowling, he met her gaze and set the instrument aside. "Where the hell have you been?" he snapped.
    She fired back a childish response. "Last time I checked, you aren't the boss of me."
    Something carnal and dangerous moved through his eyes, and even though she was still angry with him it excited her. "Are you sure about that, darlin'?"
    Her belly somersaulted at the implied sensual threat. "I work for Winter," she pointed out breathlessly.
    His smile was slow and sexy. Sinful. "I wasn't talking about work."
    That smile undid her and he used it to his advantage, bestowing it like a bribe whenever he wanted to control her yet always keeping her at arm's length. She fell for it every freaking time. It pissed her off. She walked into the room and sat in the chair next to him.
    "There's a rumor the Grand Master is going to force Winter to lift Ben's edict," Kara said.
    When Ben had become commander of the southern region he'd raised the minimum merging age from twenty-one to twenty-five. She'd heard about it possibly being changed from a friend in another region that didn't have the same age minimum. She told Dupree just to get a rise out of him. He swung his legs over the side of the couch, sat up and glared at her. Mission accomplished!
    "Winter won't do it and you aren't merging."
    Kara snorted. "Save the he-man routine for someone it works on, Dupree."
    They'd been having this argument for years. He didn't want her to merge, was adamant that she not, but in the end it wasn't his choice. The only reason she wasn't already a hybrid was the age requirement, but she was only weeks away from her twenty-fifth birthday. It looked like she wouldn't have to wait that long after all.
    The only roadblock to her plans was sitting right in front of her. Petitions to join the Order went through Dupree and there was no telling what he would attempt to stop her. She just hoped Winter wouldn't let him. They'd lost so many people over the last few weeks they couldn't afford to turn down applicants. Well, that was the argument she planned to use with Winter anyway, and it was why Gray, the Order's Grand Master, might insist on lowering the merging age. It was simply a matter of time. Not even Winter could ignore an order from the boss.
    Dupree leaned forward and spoke softly, earnestly, "You don't want to do that, darlin'."
    "Trying a new tactic?" she asked, arching her eyebrows. Before he'd always ordered. A couple days ago he'd yelled. Now he almost begged.
    "Think about what you're asking for Kara. They're evil. They contaminate us. We have a few good decades, yes, but eventually everyone gives in to the demon. They lose control. Turn on the people they care about. You really want to risk that?"
    Oh, that hurt. There was a way to avoid that fate. It was hardly a secret. When a hybrid felt his control over the demon beginning to falter they could create a blood bond with a mate. But Dupree talked about Kara's merging and eventually going rogue as if she wouldn't create that blood bond with a man. Did that mean their being together was dependent on her not merging? Or he just wasn't interested in bonding with her after it was done? Because merging had to come before the bond. Two hybrids could bond successfully. There were several such couples in the region. Hell, there were families with centuries of history in the Order. But no one had ever successfully merged with a demon after a mate bond had been established. The new demon wouldn't accept the partner's demon and both hybrids inevitably went rogue.
    "Is this an ultimatum, Dupree?" she asked softly.
    "Of course not," he said, but his expression was unsure.
    She didn't know whether to be hurt, angry or confused. Probably a combination of the three. He wanted her, but only on his terms, so he didn't really want her did he? He didn't want a strong woman, a woman who could be his equal in every way. She had to get out of here. She stood up, but he grabbed her hand before she could