The king thought for a moment, consulted with a couple of what were probably advisers, then gestured for the green being.

“What is that?” I asked Jim in a whisper.

“The translator? That’s a boggart. Sort of the poor relation to the imp world. Nasty little things. Don’t turn your back on it.”

I hadn’t planned on it. The boggart fixed its cold black eyes on me, gesturing toward the imp king. “His Benevolent Majesty, Mehigenous the Fifth, graciously accepts your offer of peace. You may proceed with the sacrifice.”

I knelt before the king, dragging Jim down onto its side at the foot of the throne.

“If this doesn’t work, you’d better find me a body just as good as this one, or I’m going to make your life a living Abaddon,” it warned me as it scrunched its eyes closed, its face in a grimace of imagined pain.

“What makes you think you haven’t already?” I pressed Jim’s paw quickly before lifting the dagger overhead with both hands, opening up the doorway in my mind.

“By this act, I avenge the death of Mehigenous the Fourth. By my hand, I sacrifice this demon to its origins in Abaddon. By my voice, I command thee to leave this existence and return to that where I send you!”

I plunged the dagger into Jim’s inert body just as the last words were spoken, throwing down at the same time a little ball of dragon fire. The flames hit the stone floor and burst upward, then back down in an impressive shower of sparks that had the imps within a thirty-foot radius screaming and slapping at themselves.

When the smoke cleared, I bowed again to the king, held up the dagger to show the blood on it, and made my way out of there as quickly as possible.

Rene was perched on a rock smoking a cigarette, staring up at a few clouds dotting the sky. Nora paced past the opening, Paco trotting obediently at her heels. She spun around when she saw me. “How did it go?”

I tipped my head toward the culvert. I wasn’t certain the imp patrol hadn’t followed me, but I didn’t want to take any chances. “I destroyed Jim before them all. Come on, I need a bandage. I forgot to get one before we left, and this dagger is sharper than I thought. My hand is stinging like a son of a gun.”

18

“Murderous imps down, murderous red dragons and equally homicidal demon lords to go,” I announced as we returned to the house.

Drake walked out of the library to where we stood in the hall, looking from me to Rene, Nora, and Jim. One of his delicious eyebrows rose in the way that never failed to make my legs go all melty. “I am delighted to hear of your success. How did you achieve it?”

“I sacrificed Jim. Is there any lunch left? I know it’s late, but I’m starving, and I know Nora and Rene must be just as hungry.”

Drake considered the very real form of Jim for a moment. “I’m sure we can appease your hunger in some manner. If I could have a word with you for a moment, first?”

“Of course,” I said, noting the fire visible in his eyes. Either he was annoyed with me about something or aroused. Either way, it was better to have no witnesses to whatever it was he wanted. I entered the library and leaned against the desk, watching as he moved toward me. Drake didn’t so much walk as prowl, almost stalking like a big cat. It was a fabulous interplay of muscles and sinew, and I had the worst desire to ask him to take off all his clothes so I could watch his body move as he walked, but I knew full well that if he took his clothes off, I’d pounce on him.

“Looks like Ash is going to get her hunger appeased, all right,” Jim said before the door closed behind Drake.

I tipped my head a little and did my best to bat my lashes as the light of my life approached. “You wanted to see me?”

“I have a challenge tonight.” He stopped in front of me, not touching me, but close enough that I could feel the heat of his body. I leaned toward him, intending on kissing the breath right out of his mouth, but the meaning of his words sank through the miasma of passion.

“The challenge from Dmitri? I thought you settled that. Isn’t that why he was here yesterday?”

The irises in his eyes narrowed a bit, making him look even dragonier. “He was here yesterday to settle the terms of the challenge, not to dismiss it.”

“Hmm.” I perched on the edge of the desk and considered the gorgeous hunk of dragon in front of me, a little glow of happiness that he was mine warming my insides. “You know, I like this whole I-ask-a-question-and-you-actually-answer-it thing. I could get used to it.”

He grimaced. “I assume this counts as sharing my thoughts. I expect extra credit for being so accommodating.” As he spoke, his hands slid up my knees, parting my legs so he stood between them.

“This isn’t a contest, you know. It’s not like you accrue a certain number of intimacy points, and then you can stop telling me things. It’s called sharing, and I’m going to expect you to do it for the rest of your life. Now, about this challenge . . .” My breath came shorter and shorter as his hands returned to my knees, this time his long fingers sliding under the silk material of my skirt, tracing an intricate and arousing pattern up my bare thighs.

“Yes?” He leaned forward, his mouth brushing the sweet spot behind my ear. Within me, passion, desire, and love all roared to life at his nearness, answering his silent call.

“I. . . you . .. Drake, everyone is waiting for us. They saw us go in here. If we stay to make love—which I admit sounds like heaven right about now—they’re going to know exactly what we’re doing. And while I don’t care that they know we’re mated, I really hate to flaunt illicit sex in their faces.”

He nibbled the edge of my ear, his hands sliding up to the apex of my thighs, stroking the satin of my underwear. I squirmed against his fingers, suddenly feeling that we both had far too many items of clothing on, clothing that constricted and bound and was just plain old in the way. “What we’re doing is not illicit, kincsem. It is recognized and sanctioned by the sept.”

My knees tightened around his hips as his fingers struck pay dirt, sliding beneath the now-damp satin to torment me further.

“Yes, by the sept, but not by the rest of the world,” I said on a half-sob, yanking his shirt out of his pants so I could stroke the delicious planes of his chest beneath it.

His fingers froze in their beautiful dance of pleasure, his mouth ceasing the delicious nuzzling. He frowned slightly. “You are speaking of human marriage. You wish for me to marry you?”