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potions class?” Flare whispered back.
    Dee gave them an arch look. “I can hear you.”
    “I’ve given up caffeine anyway,” Flare said.
    This reminded Tobias that she wanted to have a baby, and of his role in the procedure.
    “I’m not making this for you,” Dee said. “It’s aspecial brew for a couple of recalcitrant Purist homeboys. No offense, Ben.”
    “None taken,” Lancer answered. “I haven’t been one of those loons since I was a teenager.”
    Tobias gave Flare a quick look to see how she took the references to Benjamin Lancer’s vampire-hunter past and saw that she wasn’t appalled or offended. But then, she seemed to already know the mortal fairly well. Tobias found this hard to fathom. Flare Reynard was the ultimate vampire female, right? Far too superior to associate with mere mortals, except possibly to hand store clerks credit cards while shopping on Rodeo Drive.
    Domini Reynard came into the kitchen. She smiled and ran forward. “Francesca!”
    Tobias fumed at all this domesticity while the sisters-in-law hugged. They then stood in front of the refrigerator conducting a whispered conversation full of such devastatingly boring homey information that eavesdropping would have put him to sleep.
    Two more of the Dark Angel Crew entered, a werejaguar named Joaquin and the newest Prime recruit, Yacov Piper, known as Jake. Dee also referred to him as “that pain-in-the-ass Tribe boy” and glared at him as he walked past her to take a seat at the kitchen table.
    Jake didn’t glance her way. After all, she was mortal, and a female at that. Jake had been a memberof Tribe Manticore but had come over from the dark side a few years back and been sponsored by Family Piper. He’d signed on with the Angels to fulfill the vow he’d had to make to protect others against the Tribes. But he hadn’t yet absorbed the notion that such protection extended to all people, mortal and immortal alike.
    Tobias trusted him. Dee didn’t. Jake seethed over the mortal female’s outranking him. As long as they both obeyed orders and didn’t cross any disciplinary lines, Tobias was leaving the pair to work their dynamic out on their own. No rule stated that members of the Crew had to like each other. Work together, yes. Die for each other if necessary, yes. Hugs and kisses not required.
    Tobias wanted to shoo the civilians out, but since he also planned to keep Flare with him at all times, he decided to get on with the meeting while her attention was on Domini. Besides, it
was
Ben Lancer’s house, and the old mortal had insights he could contribute.
    Dee turned off her concoction and took a seat as far from Jake as possible.
    Tobias sat at the head of the table. “Telepathic interrogation didn’t work on the prisoners?” he asked the witch.
    “My questioning of them was a partial success,” Jake answered. “But they have been worked over by a very talented Prime—and yes, there was a strongTribe feel to his technique. The Purists’ memories only go back several days. I got the impression that they’ve been wiped and reprogrammed several times.”
    “Nasty,” Joaquin said.
    “Clever,” Jake replied.
    Francesca glanced toward the table as the Prime spoke, in time to see the witch tense up. The Prime had the most world-weary eyes Francesca had ever seen and a totally ruthless attitude. A personality very much to Strahan’s tastes, she supposed, but without the civilized veneer the mortal felt comfortable with. The blond male had the feel of a shapeshifter, but Francesca wasn’t any good at detecting the nuances separating the different types of werefolk if they weren’t wearing their fur coats. She knew a few werefoxes, because they were affiliated with her Clan, but hadn’t spent time with any other type of shifter. Well, there was the sweet selkie at the clinic.
    “We can’t get a clean look into their heads until they have all of their memories back,” the witch said.
    “We know they were working