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located him in the midst of a .. . 'beer brawl'?"
    "The retrieval is going as planned, gentlemen," Thea told them sharply, although she couldn't help but wonder if it wouldn't have been wiser to send a squadron to reclaim Scott Dillon's future self. She knew what a stubborn fool the man could be.
    "With this new intelligence, I believe reinforcements are in order." Jared turned to face Marco. "I'd like you to intercept them in Texas. Get them back to base straight away."
    Thea lifted an eyebrow. "For a moment, I thought you had a full battalion in mind, sir." She laughed softly despite herself. Dillon—in any form—was always quite the handful.
    Jared glanced sideways at Marco, a glimmer of pride in his eyes as he studied his Madjin protector. "Marco will do. And perfectly well," he said, then tapped the classified folder open before him. "Yes, this latest report raises the ante. Makes it all the more critical that we retrieve Jake from Texas." Jared pushed back from the table. "With the threat in the White House … it is time."
    "Time for what?" Thea stood, facing her cousin and king.
    Jared reached for the briefing folder and clasped it to his chest. "Time to solidly join forces with the human realm. We have to let the task force know about this latest development, even though it means greater risk. Marco, go. Go and make sure that Jake returns. Thea, you stay here, and remain in close contact with your source. Report to me if anything— anything —changes in terms of the current status quo."
    M arco sank back into his chair at the table, trying to block the assault of emotions and anxiety that the meeting had caused. Some days were harder than others as an empath, and highly charged situations were never much fun. Back home on Refaria, his kind went insane or worse from their gift in young adulthood. Including his own mother, although she'd been a bit older before her empathy had splintered her mind. But long ago he'd mastered his ability, learned how to battle it into the background, to use it whenever safely possible—and necessary. Still, in just that brief meeting with Jared and his advisers, a slight migraine had begun squarely behind his eyes.
    Being with Thea was a different matter altogether: He was so deeply attuned to his wife and mate that none of her unsettled emotions had the capacity to weaken him. But Jared had a wholly unique impact on Marco's psyche. Between his role as the man's Madjin, and—as he'd recently learned—his brother, the powerful emotions the monarch tended to exude had the capacity to drain him for days if he wasn't careful.
    Reading his thoughts, Thea whispered, "You've got to tell him," and slid into the chair next to his.
    "When the time is right." Marco reached for her hand, rubbing his brow with the other.
    "Blocking him … being so connected to him without his knowing the truth about who you are … it's killing you! I sense it. How many more meetings can you go through and come out like you are now?"
    Marco gritted his teeth. They'd been over this ground repeatedly, and somehow Thea could never get why he didn't want Jared to know. The migraine swelled harder and faster behind his eyes.
    "You're the only brother Jared has."
    "Half-brother," he corrected with a growl. "Not something he'll be particularly proud of, not if he learns the details about our father's affair."
    "How can you be so thickheaded? If I didn't know you were brothers, I'd surely guess at it because the two of you are so much alike. Stubborn, proud. Sometimes to the point of stupidity."
    Marco gave her a grudging grin. "I love it when you talk dirty to me."
    Thea tilted her head sideways, and he could practically hear her counting to ten in his own head.
    "Think about what family means to that man." She squeezed his hand tightly within her own. "He'd be furious with you for not telling him."
    He jerked backward in his chair. "Tell him what? That he has a bastard for a brother?