Right. So…this guy was more than a little creepy. He and his desire for human flesh was downright terrifying. And I had to sit here and pretend that I didn’t care what he said.

He jerked his thumb toward me. “Why’d you end up telling this one about us? I thought it was against your rules.”

Az folded his arms and gave me an appraising glance, like I was some kind of puppet on display. “She accidentally found out the other night at a party.”

“Ah.” Lars nodded. “I heard about your little fight.”

“We’ve made up.” Az flashed me a wicked grin. “She’s all mine now.”

“Oh, I bet,” Lars said, licking his lips. “You’ve made a deal, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“She just looks so delicious.”

My hands drifted down to the edge of the seat. I wrapped my fingers around the leather and clung on tight. If this fucking vampire said one more creepy thing about me, I didn’t think I’d have the willpower to hold back.

I’ll show you delicious, asshole. When my knuckles connect with your teeth. I hope you like the taste of your bones.

“Mia,” Az murmured.

I snapped my attention back onto his eyes. The ice shards had grown darker. Flames flickered deep within, calming me down. Only a little.

“Just because I’m okay with you being a demon doesn’t mean I want to hear you talk about me like I’m a little trophy you won.”

Az’s eyes darkened even more in a warning.

But Lars just laughed. “You’ve got a feisty one here, old friend. Good luck.”

The vampire gave me one last look and then drifted back to his table. Az waited until he was out of earshot before leaning forward with a growl.

“You couldn’t wait until he walked away before you snapped at me?”

I folded my arms. “No.”

Rolling his eyes, he turned back to his meal. “It’s a good thing he didn’t take offense. I think we may have bagged ourselves an invite. So, just play nice for the rest of our dinner.”

“Great,” I replied as I stabbed my halibut with my fork. “I’m really looking forward to the ball.”

“Mia.”

“What? You want me to play nice? I just said something positive.”

“With sarcasm.”

I gave him a sweet smile and dug into my food. The sooner I ate this halibut, the sooner we could get back to Infernal.

The sooner we could save Serena.

* * *

“Here’s the plan,” Bael said as he paced from one end of the map to the other. He held a little pointer stick and kept stabbing it at the shredded page to accentuate his words. “The Legion, minus Az, are going to head to the warehouse now. We’ll find some good places to stay out of sight.”

“And wait for the fun to start.” Phenex grinned.