“It could be an illusion,” she warned. “They may have let you climb this high so that, when you fall, it will destroy you completely.”

“Or it could be that I’m stronger and more persistent than they imagined, and I cannot be stopped.” He grinned at her, and she sighed, throwing up her hands.

“I can’t seem to knock sense into your thick head, so I’ve stopped trying.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“Ha to that.” She stopped pacing, standing by the windows and gazing out, the bright spring sunlight gilding her lovingly. “Back to our most immediate problem: Alise. The other possibility we must consider is that Alise’s entire tale is a lie. She could be deceiving us, luring us in with her ‘rogue’ familiars.” She spun, using her fingers to bracket the word “rogue” with strong doubt. “It’s the perfect trap. The Convocation knows you’re sentimental about the rights of familiars. Alise is my sister, Iliana my friend. What better way to slide inside our defenses?”

“To accomplish what?”

“Destroy us from within,” Nic answered, doom in her voice that was only partially in humor. Very real fear haunted her eyes. “Knock you off that mountain and send you and House Phel back into the abyss.”

He went to her, lifting her to sit on the window ledge, wide and now cushioned with bright pillows that complemented the other upholstery in the library. Standing before her, he smoothed his hands over the narrow curve of her waist, the seductive flare of her hips. “And here I thought I’d plumbed the depths of your cynicism.”

She looped her hands loosely around his neck, caressing the nape so he shivered. Essaying a smile, she purred seductively, “You’re welcome to plumb my depths anytime.”

“Are you serious about this?” he asked. Then hastily added, lest she interpret his words the wrong way, “Do you truly believe Alise being here could be an elaborate trap?”

“It would be an exceedingly clever and effective one,” she pointed out. “Elals are known for their guile, after all.”

“Or you’re being excessively paranoid.”

“Or rightfully suspicious,” she retorted darkly. “And if you’d spent the time in the Convocation that I have, you’d know it was well-earned.”

“I have no doubt that’s true,” he allowed. He studied her brilliant green eyes, sifting through her magic and the core-deep sense of her. “But if you believe that, why did you agree to accept Alise into our household?”

Her lush mouth twisted ruefully. “I was hoping you’d tell me. Am I being an idealistic fool?”

“You’ve come to the right person to ask about that,” he murmured, easing closer to her. Welcoming him in, she parted her thighs to bring him near, looping her ankles around his hips, much as she’d done with her hands about his neck. He couldn’t help reaching down to trail his fingers along the smooth skin her raised skirts revealed. “I am an expert in idealistic foolishness.”

“I know,” she murmured, tipping her head back in lascivious invitation, her lips parting as invitingly as her thighs. “I love that about you, Gabriel.”