‘‘Expensive?’’ I asked, wondering that men who obviously had so much wealth could pant after a few bits of gold. ‘‘Precious?’’

‘‘Desirable,’’ Drake said, his face aglow with avidity.

‘‘Arousing,’’ Gabriel corrected him, the sensual velvet tones of his voice affected not in the least by the fact that he was nibbling on my fingertips. I shivered as his tongue made little circles at the tip of one of my fingers.

‘‘Yes, arousing. Very, very arousing.’’ Drake frowned for a moment and whipped out his cell phone. ‘‘I must call Aisling.’’

I turned to Gabriel to give Drake a little privacy during his phone call.

‘‘And what about you?’’ I asked, another shiver sweeping over me as Gabriel bit the pad of my thumb. ‘‘Does gold have an erotic effect on you, too?’’

His quicksilver eyes scorched me. ‘‘Most definitely. I look forward to seeing you wear some of my gold pieces . . . and nothing else.’’

I was perilously close to flinging myself on him, so it was a feat of strength to drag my mind from the promise he so temptingly offered back to the present.

‘‘Um . . . what was it you asked me?’’

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts, as well, a fact that pleased me to no end. ‘‘Er . . . what you found in Kostya’s lair?’’

‘‘Oh, yes, that.’’ I thought for a few moments. ‘‘There wasn’t much else in the unlocked chest. Some necklaces, the amulet, a couple of old-looking pieces of tapestry, and that’s about it.’’

‘‘You had no difficulty getting into his lair, then?’’ Drake asked, putting away his phone. ‘‘Did the blackmailer let you in?’’

‘‘On the contrary, he said it was going to be difficult to get in. But . . . well, there’s a bit of a story about that. Someone was there ahead of me.’’ I explained about the dragon’s bane on the door, and how I’d gone around to the window to find it open.

‘‘Kostya came in as I was going through one of the chests, the unbound one. Judging by his surprise, he wasn’t expecting anyone there, which means someone else must have opened that window and disarmed the security system.’’

Drake glanced at Gabriel.

‘‘I was with you all day trying to find out what happened to Maata and Tipene,’’ the latter pointed out.

Guilt prodded me painfully. ‘‘I’m sorry, I’ve been so caught up in my own troubles, I didn’t ask you about them. Did you find out anything?’’

Gabriel shook his head. ‘‘No. They have just disappeared.’’

‘‘And someone has broken into Kostya’s lair,’’ Drake said thoughtfully.

Gabriel’s handsome face grew cold at the mention of the black dragon. ‘‘Fiat?’’

‘‘Possibly. Or one of the red dragons,’’ Drake answered. ‘‘It could be that Chuan Ren has been released from Abaddon. Although I believe she’d first come after Aisling and me.’’