“Gee, thanks,” I told Sally.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sugar; did I overstep my bounds?” she asked, sincerity filling her face, but I wasn’t fooled one bit.

“You’ll make a grade-A demon lord, you know.”

She flashed a smile at me. “Why, thank you, May! That’s very sweet of you to say . . .”

Sally faded as I was yanked out of Magoth’s domain and back into the real world.

“Aw, her face isn’t green anymore. And I got the digital camera out and everything! I was going to send Cecile a piccy to show her what doppelgangers were looking like these days,” a voice complained as I shook away the dizziness that came with such transitions.

“Cecile?” I asked somewhat woozily as my vision returned.

Everyone stood in the same positions as the last time I had seen them, Aisling leaning on Drake, Jim sitting at her feet (with a digital camera), Nora the Guardian, and behind me . . .

“Magoth has given me five minutes, which I think should just about be enough time to kiss the living fire right out of you,” I told Gabriel.

His dimples flashed as he held his arms open. I didn’t hesitate, just threw myself on him, my soul singing as his warmth and scent and presence sank into me. “It’ll take a lifetime for that to happen, little bird. But before you have your wanton way with me, there is something I must first tell you.”

“Perhaps we should give them a little privacy,” Nora murmured behind me.

“We’ll be in the sitting room if you need us,” Aisling said.

“I want to stay. Look, Gabriel’s got his hands on her butt, and it looks like May is going to—ow! I’m calling the demon-abuse hotline!”

Jim’s voice faded as Aisling hauled the demon out with her.

Gabriel’s bright eyes flickered away from me for a moment. “This won’t take long,” he told Drake, who had paused after ushering Aisling and her demon out.

One of Drake’s eyebrows quirked upward, but he said nothing, just bowed to me and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

“Much as I would love to argue with you that it will, in fact, take a long, long time, I suspect you aren’t talking about lovemaking. Not to mention the fact that Magoth would end up summoning me back before we could do much of anything.” I slid my hands over the soft black linen shirt Gabriel wore. Although most dragons wore clothing that reflected the color of their septs, Gabriel dressed just as often in black as he did in silver and gray, something I took as a nod to the origins of the silver dragon sept.

A speculative glint lightened Gabriel’s eyes. He cast a quick glance to the side, where a long chaise held sway in the corner of the room, but sanity quickly returned to him. His chest rose beneath my hands as he gave a heavy sigh. “I’m quick, but not that quick. A mutual seduction will have to wait until we have more time, Mayling.”