Gabriel touched my arm and nodded toward the corner. A video camera was perched jauntily on the wall, its red light blinking as it obviously filmed us.

“Er . . . that is . . . never mind.” I said, mindful of that fact. “I take it you weren’t successful?”

“Do you see a small being with giant genitalia humping your leg?” he asked with an exaggerated arm movement.

“No, but it concerns me that you were even trying.” I mulled over the idea of Magoth with a being wholly devoted to pleasures of the carnal sort.

“Does it really matter what his reasons were for being arrested?” Gabriel asked, glancing at his watch. “We have things to do, little bird. I believe it would be best if we were to provide bail for Magoth and conduct our discussion in a more appropriate location.”

Magoth pounced on one of Gabriel’s words. “Discussion? What discussion do you wish to have with me? I sincerely hope it is not that you regret spurning me for Manimal here, because much as I would like to see you grovel before me, I do not have time for the proper training that would be required to turn you into a suitable slave.”

“Yes, I believe it is important,” I said, answering Gabriel’s question while ignoring Magoth’s comment. I glanced toward the camera, picking my words carefully. “He shouldn’t have access to the sort of . . . abilities . . . that would allow him to call a Sybarite.”

Magoth’s eyelids dropped until he was gazing at me through half-closed lids, a smug little smile playing with his lips.

“He knows that very well, so for him to even try . . . well, it says something isn’t quite as we expected it to be.”

Gabriel and I both considered Magoth, who had suddenly stopped pacing and had adopted an expression of almost angelic innocence.

“He certainly looks guilty,” Gabriel observed.

“He does, which is why I still think we should leave him here. Perhaps a time out in a mortal jail is just what he needs to let us find out what he’s been up to this last week.”

Magoth snarled an oath that was not at all nice, lunging toward me.

Instantly, Gabriel was between us, blocking my view of Magoth as he growled in a threatening manner. “Do not even think about touching May.”

Magoth, to my surprise, didn’t back down. Instead he took a step forward, until he and Gabriel were just a hairbreadth from each other, their gazes locked in a battle for dominance. “You think to threaten me, dragon?”

“You are in my world now,” Gabriel reminded him, the air of menace surrounding him leaving little shivers skittering up and down my back.