His gaze turned shrewd. “You want to see the baby dragon.”

“Of course.”

He glanced from me to the egg, his expression calculating. “Fine. As long as Syclla agrees, I will bring you back here on another date. And then you will have dinner with me.”

Hold up, what?

I opened my mouth, but Syclla was already returning. She cast a suspicious look my way and I spread my hands wide. “I didn’t go near your baby, I promise.”

She snorted and turned away, the picture of disdain. Even the dragon thought I was inadequate.

15

Danica

Samael landed next to my car, and I stepped back from him, turning to unlock it.

He let out a rough laugh, caught my wrist, and pulled me against him. My mind went blank as his mouth crashed down on mine, and I let out a sigh that he caught with his mouth, echoing it back to me.

“Come to my bed, witchling.”

He was temptation incarnate. Unfortunately for him, I was wise to his ways.

“Can’t. I need to go to Merrill’s.”

His expression darkened but he stepped back, watching as I got in the car and drove away. I checked my rearview mirror and my stomach twisted as he gazed after me.

By the time I got to Merrill’s, the sun had already gone down. Since I was going to be snooping through a crime scene, that suited my purposes perfectly.

Merrill’s store was several blocks west of Gary’s, closer to what had once been the campus of a human university.

Like Gary’s, Merrill’s store had been ravaged. His shelves and tables were lying on the ground, spells, potions, and weapons mixing freely. My gaze lingered on the blood decorating most of his store and I swallowed.

Whoever had killed him had been enraged. Goblins didn’t have a ton of magic, but he would’ve had more than enough if he’d been attacked by a human.

He hadn’t had a chance. I poked around until I found his calendar in a drawer in his back room. I pulled it out, flipping through the last month. There were no mysterious meetings noted, just various auctions, which was likely where Merrill got his hands on some of the more illegal weapons I’d spotted in his back room.

Compared to Gary’s store, Merrill had a much larger back room, with a door which opened to the alley outside. I poked my head out, but sadly, there were no security cameras perfectly positioned and aimed at the alley.

I took the calendar with me, making a note to check out the auctions. Then I stopped by all of the stores surrounding Merrill’s.