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“Blue,” she said softly “Blue sparks”

He nodded “The woman he was bred from was a blond-haired, blue-eyed Swede reputed to be fros”

Ria rose to her feet, rubbing her hand over the back of her neck as she closed the file she orking on and moved around Jonas to the file table

“I have a favor to ask you, Ria,” he said then, his voice quiet as she stopped at the table and stared down at the files “I want you to come to the labs with me I want you to have the blood, hormone and saliva samples taken”

She stared at the wall, re Callan’s order to do just that, as well as the promise Mercury had extracted He didn’t trust the doctor now for some reason

“Did Ely find the h she knew the answer

“No She didn’t”

It was no more than she had expected

“Then there’s no need for me to submit to a woman ould so unfairly accuse and betray soly to have those tests done” She turned back to Jonas slowly “She tricked hiet what she wanted”

He stared back at her, his silver eyes solemn and, for the first time since she had met him, without the cynical mockery they usually contained

“You’re very perceptive,” he acknowledged “Yes, she deliberately antagonized him to prove what she suspected”

“Why?”

With that question, he shook his head “I’m not certain why,” he finally said “There were traces of the displacement found when the tests were mixed with the results from the blood, saliva and hormone samples of yours that Vanderale sent us before your arrival We knew you would be in close-quarter contact with Mercury, Lawe and Rule We run thetests as a precaution The hormone showed up in those tests where they didn’t show up in the tests done on his samples alone or with other women”

“And you’re telling me this why?” she asked him “Is it somehow my fault?”

“It’s not your fault, Ria, merely an anomaly” He shook his head “One that concerns me”