Roman shook his head. “No way to tell. It must’ve felt terrifying, because my mother was rattled after it.”

I had met Evdokia. Anything that managed to rattle her had to be treated as a serious threat.

“Are you free tomorrow night?” Roman asked. “I’d love your perspective on things.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Flirting or not flirting?

Roman leaned one arm against the bookcase. “Who, me? I don’t date. I only steal virgins to sacrifice.”

Flirting. Shamelessly flirting. “Hmm, then I’m not of any interest to you. I’m not a virgin.”

He grinned. “This would be a professional meeting.”

“Aha.”

“Kompletely profeshonal,” Roman said, turning the Russian accent back on.

He was charming and funny and a bit scary, which was always a draw in my book. But every nerve in me still hurt. If there was one thing I’d learned, it was that jumping from one relationship into another was a bad idea.

Still…my life didn’t have to be tied with Raphael’s. The world wasn’t limited to one bouda jerk. Here was a guy, a funny, handsome guy, who probably thought I was hot. It could be someone like him. It could be no one, for that matter. I could be perfectly fine by myself.

“I’m investigating four shapeshifter murders,” I told him. “Have you heard anything?”

“No. But I can ask.”

“Well, see, I’m no good to you, because I’m not a virgin and you are no good to me because you know nothing about the murders. Maybe some other time?”

He reached out to me. One second his hand was empty and the next a small black card with a white phone number appeared as if by magic. “Take a card?” he asked, winking. “Come on, take one.”

“Will it sprout fangs when the magic hits?”

“You won’t find out unless you take it. Or are you chicken?”

I swiped the card. “Just a warning, if it turns into something nasty, I’ll shoot it.”

Roman laughed quietly.

“You want one of mine?”

“Five-five-five, twenty-one thirteen.”

The number to the office. He must’ve gotten it from Kate.

“Well, I’ve got to go,” I said.

Roman glanced up and said in a conspiratorial voice. “If I disappear in a dramatic pillar of black smoke, do you think the sprinklers will go off?”

I leaned over to him and kept my voice low. “Probably. But I’m willing to close my eyes for a second and pretend you did anyway.”

I closed my eyes for a long moment and when I opened them, he was gone.

When I returned to the terminal, Ascanio handed me a notepad with notes. “I found some articles. Also the volhv likes you,” he said, his gaze fixed on the screen.

“Yes, he does.” I scanned his notes. He’d made a list of the art auctions Jamar had visited.