“Hey!” I said, irritated on Gabriel’s behalf. Rage was swift to fire within me, forcing me to fist my hands to keep the dragon claws from popping out. “Gabriel is not drooling over Aisling, and he does not lie.”

She gave me a scathing once-over. “I do not know you. What sept do you belong to?”

“May is my mate,” Gabriel said in a smooth voice, his face impassive. I gave him full points for maintaining such control in the face of the irritating Chuan Ren. I badly wanted to adopt my usual sense of calm, but it kept eluding me.

“A mate? This is not possible. You lie.” She turned to Bael, who was leaning against the desk watching us with mild interest. “This is some new form of torment you have devised? I will not forget it. You will be repaid in kind.”

“Tch. Such is the gratitude for my magnanimity in allowing you to see your friends,” Bael said.

“They are not my friends. Either kill me now, or leave me alone. I will not be abused in this manner! You shall be the first to feel the full weight of my revenge!” she shouted, her hair whipping around as she marched to the door.

Bael looked at us. “Are you sure it is this one you wish to have released? It was not, perhaps, a wrath demon or behemoth you were thinking of? Someone with a bit more charm and less lethality?”

Chuan Ren spun around at the door, and I think she would have made a rush for Bael, but his words sank in first. “You are here to see to my release?” she asked Gabriel in a slightly less hostile tone.

“Your son has petitioned us to that purpose,” he said, glancing at Bael. “But it seems negotiations are at a standstill.”

“You ask much gold for me?” she asked, marching back into the center of the room, eyeing Bael much as a cat would a comatose mouse. “You seek treasure of an unimaginable amount? Very well. He will pay it.”

She pointed to Gabriel with the last of her words.

“Like hell he will,” I muttered, stamping out the fire that broke out around me.

Bael said nothing but watched with raised eyebrows.

“Your mate is unlearned,” she told Gabriel, a sneer on her lips. “Just like that fool Drake and his equally stupid mate.”

“I’m not so unlearned as you think,” I said, focusing long enough to light the ends of her hair on fire.

Gabriel nudged me. Sighing, I extinguished the flames, pain pricking my palms as the dragon claws tried to emerge.

“The price Bael has demanded is not payable in treasure and is not acceptable. I have hopes that we will be able to negotiate another one, however.”

“Not treasure?” Chuan Ren looked scornfully at Bael. “What price have you put as my value, if not that of treasure?”