His words touched my heart. I savored the sweetness of them for a moment, reveling in the warmth he brought to my life. For the first time, I felt utterly cherished.

‘‘Now,’’ he said, interrupting my thoughts.

‘‘Now what?’’ I asked, draped across him like a limp noodle. His heart beat wildly beneath my ear. I spread my fingers across his chest, marveling that such a man was mine.

‘‘Now we will have foreplay. I believe I’m suitably sated that I can last longer than five seconds before attacking you.’’

‘‘I rather like your method of attack, although I do admit I’d like to be able to indulge in a few fantasies of my own before you unleash your inner dragon on me.’’

He opened one eye. ‘‘What sort of fantasies?’’

‘‘I’ve heard so much about oral sex, and I’ve never had the opportunity to try it out before. So I’d really like to… well, I’m sure I don’t have to put it into so many words. Since you’re much more relaxed, why don’t I just indulge myself?’’

‘‘You want to…?’’ His other eye popped open as I started to slide down his body, intent on exploring that part of him which had given me so much pleasure.

He grabbed me before I was able to move four inches. I looked up, worried that I had done something wrong. A familiar strained, tense look was on his face, his eyes screwed up tight. I looked down at his penis. It was no longer in a resting state. ‘‘I thought you were sated?’’

‘‘I was. Until you went and mentioned doing that to me. No! Don’t touch me there, woman! For the love of-grk!’’

A half hour later, Gabriel, his arm wrapped around me because my legs were unusually weak, hustled me toward the house with a grim look on his face.

‘‘I will beat this,’’ he muttered. ‘‘I am a wyvern. I am strong. I will control my needs long enough to give you pleasure, and you will enjoy it, dammit!’’

I said nothing, but I smiled. A lot.

Chapter Twenty-four

Deep night-the hours between midnight and four a.m.-is when the shadows are darkest, and beings of such origins strongest. As I walked in the shadow world, carefully avoiding any electronic device that might register my passing, I sought and received strength from the shadows.

On the floor above me, I could feel Gabriel’s presence, a warm, comforting sort of glow that wrapped me in a cocoon of burgeoning love. I smiled to myself as I watched the basement patrol stroll down the hallway, alert for signs she might become aware of what was going on upstairs. The dragons and Aisling had little trouble dealing with the guards, for a few minutes later Jim appeared at the far end of the corridor.

‘‘Yo! Miss Guard! I don’t suppose you brought your lunch with you? You’re not going to need it, and my fabulous form is being positively starved to death.’’

The guard, who had her back turned to Jim, whipped around to stare in momentary surprise. I zipped around behind her, deshadowing the second she reached for her radio. She hit the floor without having time to speak a word.

‘‘Nicely done,’’ Gabriel said as he and the others stepped over her body. ‘‘Why does it not surprise me that you have martial arts training?’’

‘‘I’m mad, bad, and very dangerous to know,’’ I told him with a little smile.

‘‘We will have to compare badness at another time,’’ he answered with a flash of his dimples. ‘‘Is that the vault?’’

‘‘Yes.’’ I stood back as Drake and Aisling approached the heavy steel door. ‘‘It’s just the wards and prohibitions you’ll need to take care of-the arcane magic won’t affect me.’’

Aisling peered closely at the wards. ‘‘I can’t unmake them, but I don’t think it will be any problem to break them. Jim, get to work on the prohibitions.’’

‘‘You and Tipene patrol the perimeter,’’ Gabriel told his two bodyguards. ‘‘Drake and I will shut down any alarm systems wired to the vault.’’

They nodded and hurried off toward the stairs. Drake ordered his men to shut off power to all parts of the building but the basement, and to secure the entrances.

‘‘Stay with Aisling,’’ Drake ordered Jim as he and Gabriel were about to leave.

‘‘Ten four, dragon buddy.’’

Drake turned to his wife. ‘‘Do not do anything foolish, kincsem.’’

She gave him a fond but exasperated look. ‘‘Honest to Pete, dragons! Bossiest beings in the world.’’

Gabriel smiled at me but said nothing until he and Drake started to leave. ‘‘You’ll notice I don’t have to warn my mate to be careful. I have full confidence in May’s abilities,’’ he told Drake.

‘‘She’s a female American. No doubt you will soon understand the true depth of hell she can put you through.’’

Aisling laughed as she turned back to the door. I watched with interest as Jim broke down the prohibitions (a weak version of a curse, easily unmade by beings of a dark origin). Aisling muttered under her breath as she struggled with the wards, her face turning red as they fought her attempts to break them.

‘‘There,’’ she said after five minutes of intense work. She stepped back, rubbing her hands. ‘‘Got the little bastards. Jim?’’

‘‘I was done before you had the first ward down. You’re losing your touch, Ash.’’

She shot it a look. ‘‘Caribbean Battiste probably warded the vault doors. I’d like to see you take on the wards drawn by the head of the Guardians’ Guild himself.’’

‘‘Excuses, excuses.’’ It smiled at her.

‘‘The lock and arcane spells are all yours,’’ Aisling said to me.

‘‘Perfect, thanks.’’ I ignored the spells as I put both hands on the lock, closing my eyes as I mentally traveled the intricacies of its mechanisms. ‘‘It’s a time lock.’’

‘‘Is that going to be a problem?’’ Aisling asked.

‘‘No. I can persuade the inner clock to move forward. I’ve never seen a lock quite like this, though. There are locks within the locks, but I think I can convince them to open for us. Ah, yes. That’s it. Just one more tumbler… lovely.’’

The lock didn’t give me any trouble. I waited until Jim, sent to stand on the staircase, reported that the power had been cut to the upper floors before carefully opening the heavy vault door. There were no sirens or flashing lights warning that the door was being opened, but I didn’t expect them-any notice that the vault was being breeched would go out silently. I just hoped Drake and Gabriel had been successful in quelling any other alarm systems.

A light clicked on inside the vault as the door opened wide enough for me to slip in.

‘‘Here we go,’’ I told Aisling as I shadowed.

‘‘Good luck!’’ she whispered.

I entered the vault, pausing to listen for any sounds indicating security systems. There was a hum from fluorescent lights overhead, and the soft whoosh of an air system pumping air into the large vault. Ahead of me were long rows of metal cases. I touched the nearest one, but there was no lock on it. I slid the door out and rolled it back along a track. Boxes labeled ‘‘Grimoires, 1450 to 1800’’ filled the cabinet. The next one housed a collection of spell books. I closed both and moved down the line of cabinets. The vault was evidently created from the original storerooms of the cellar, separated by modern metal doors. Careful to avoid making any sound, I gently persuaded the door’s lock to bend to my will, slipping silently through the doorway and closing it with only the barest whisper of noise.

The spotlight hit me almost at the same time as the sound.

‘‘Aaaaaand… two, three, four!’’

A chorus of reedy voices began to sing to an accompaniment of tinny music. Startled by the lights and noise, I shadowed immediately, although I was sure I was visible under the bright light that filled the room. Momentarily blinded, I strained my eyes to see even as I sidled out of the way of the spotlight.

‘‘No, no, no!’’ The words were punctuated with a slapping noise. I blinked a couple of times, my vision slowly adapting to the light. What I saw left me speechless with amazement. The room held the same gray metal cabinets as the previous room, but these ones lined the walls rather than filled the floor space. That was taken up by a large wooden desk-or I assumed it normally would have been the case, the desk currently having been shoved to a far corner. Also dotted around the perimeter of the room were a couple of tall standing lights, the kind used by smaller theater companies. But it wasn’t any of that which made me gawk.