Horror crept up my spine as I realized he was right—I couldn’t move from the seat. I slumped back defeated, wondering what the L’au-delà committee was going to do when Savian the sexy thief taker handed me over.

‘‘At least I know now why you are so familiar,’’ I grumbled to myself as the plane took off.

He looked curious. ‘‘Did you catch me tailing you this evening?’’

‘‘No, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know there was anyone watching me,’’ I said with much regret. ‘‘I heard you at Dr. Kostich’s house last night.’’

‘‘Ahh,’’ he said, enlightenment dawning in his eyes. ‘‘You were there? I wondered at the time what the dragon was doing there, and why he was so interested in you. I thought perhaps he was trying to smuggle the quintessence back into the case. But obviously you did that.’’

‘‘Yes.’’ My poor abused head throbbed, but I sternly ordered it to sort through the facts and come up with a plan of action. ‘‘What I’d really like to know is how you found me to begin with. If you didn’t see me at Dr. Kostich’s, how did you know where to find me?’’

‘‘Well, you see, it’s like this,’’ he said, getting comfortable after signaling the flight attendant. He waited until she served him a glass of wine before continuing. ‘‘Kostich hired me to find you and his quintessence. I thought it was a bit odd that the silver wyvern should be interested in apparently the same thing, so I followed him. He went to earth in a hotel, and didn’t appear until this morning.’’

A sudden flash of memory had me sitting up straight. ‘‘You were the man outside the hotel. The one who stared so rudely at Cyrene and me.’’

‘‘If I was staring, it was in astonishment, and meant no offense,’’ he said with a warm smile. ‘‘Picture the scene: a dashing, roguish hero—that’s yours truly— has been hunkered down all night, waiting for his prey to emerge from what was evidently quite the love nest.’’

I refused to blush. I kept my face unmoving, my expression placid.

He just grinned. ‘‘And then all of a sudden, whoosh! The hotel starts to burn, people pour out, including a dragon and his luscious bit o’ fun.’’

‘‘If you think that’s going to get a rise out of me, you’re going to be very disappointed,’’ I said tonelessly.

His grin deepened. ‘‘I had a feeling you’d be good at this.’’

‘‘That explains how you found me, but not how you know about my connection with the thefts,’’ I said, lowering my voice.