"What we did last night did not involve love."

I tightened my lips. "What we did last night was not real, not in the sense that matters. As for love—so I don't sleep around, so I happen to believe that people should care about each other before they have sex. Lust and physical attraction are all well and fine as a fantasy, but there is more to be had than just wild, fiery, incredibly fabulous sex, you know."

His eyes grew dark. It was amazing how his irises grew brighter or darker with his emotions, but I didn't have the time to ask him how he did it before he spoke. "You are the only woman in all of time who was born to be my mate, the one woman to whom my life is irrevo-cably linked, the woman whose death will bring my own, and you believe I don't care about you?"

I raised my chin. "There's a big difference between self-preservation and true affection. Since right now part of me is so angry that I want to bean you with this aquamanile, I think it's probably better if I leave. With my friends. Unhurt." I added that last bit just as a reminder.

His gaze burned into mine for a few seconds, the flames of his anger licking along my skin. I opened the magic door in my mind and embraced the fire. He stepped back from me, and my entire body wailed a dirge at the loss. I tucked myself back into my bra and, still clutching the aquamanile, buttoned up my tunic.

Drake raised an eyebrow until he looked like he was the poster boy for irony. "And just how do you expect to keep me from taking the aquamanile from you?"

"I am a Guardian," I said with a great big bucketful of confidence that I didn't come even remotely close to feel-ing. "I have power of my own. You mess with me, you'll be sorry."

His lips quirked. "I believe someday that statement will be true, but today?" He glanced at Jim, who was lying by the door, its back to us. "Today I believe I will dare your wrath."

I'd like to point out that I had no choice. I really didn't. I'm not a violent person normally, but I knew without a doubt that if I didn't disable Drake, he'd simply take the aquamanile from me. If I had the aquamanile, he'd be pissed at me, but he'd agree to anything I asked in order to get it back. So I knocked him out.

Actually, I think I just stunned him. He wasn't expect-ing that I would take his move toward me as a

classical situation of attack from the front, but one of the things Uncle Damian had insisted that I do was take a course on self-defense. So I kneed Drake in the noogies, stabbed at his eyes with the fingers of my left hand, and brought my right hand—and the heavy aquamanile—down on his head. He hit the floor with an astonished look on his face.

"Jim, up, help me with Rene," I yelled, not waiting to see how badly Drake was hurt.

"Oh, now you want to recognize me again— Fires of Abaddon, what did you do to him?"

"I want you to carry Rene upstairs and out to his taxi."

"Pardon me, you evidently have me confused with a pack mule. I'm a demon,not a form of transportation."

"You're a huge dog who can probably bench-press me and Rene put together, but don't worry, I'll be helping you. Lord, he's heavy."

With Jim's dubious assistance, I managed to drag Rene so he was partially draped over Jim's back.

"Ow! My back!"

"Shush," I said, running over to Drake, sliding two fingers along his jaw to find his pulse. It seemed a bit sluggish, but nothing too serious. There was no blood, which gave me hope he was just stunned. I turned him so he was on his back, pulling a cushion off a chair in the corner and tucking it under his head before turning back to Rene. The aquamanile I stuffed in my purse, slinging the strap over my head so it crossed my chest. I picked up Rene's legs. "Come on, let's go."

Jim groaned, but it staggered forward. I halted us once we got out of the lair, spending a few precious seconds to snap the padlock onto the door. I had a feeling it wouldn't stop Drake, but the lock might slow him down long enough to let us escape.

In the end, I didn't have to worry about leaving the house. Drake, secure in his ability to control me by him-self, had evidently sent his minions elsewhere, because we didn't see a single person as we dragged Rene's body up the stairs, and we madea lot of noise.

"How do you know if you've broken your ribs?"

"You haven't broken any ribs," I panted halfway up the steep stairs. "Can't you go any faster?"

"I'm not a beast of burden," Jim snapped. "I think my spleen just imploded."

"Shut… up…"

"Fine, but you just remember this when I have to be on dialysis for the rest of my life."

"That's … man, he's heavy, how many steps are left? … Your kidneys, not your spleen."

We made it to the top and took a moment to catch our respective breaths before dragging Rene to the small util-ity room and the door I had forced. We had almost reached the door when Jim staggered into a collection of mops and brooms and other assorted cleaning tools that sat in a bucket, with the result that all three of us were immediately entangled. Jim fell, Rene slid off Jim's back, and I yelped when a broom

slammed against my head.

"Sorry," Jim said.

"I'm going to get… ow! … you for this." I had gone down on my knees, half falling on Rene when a couple of brooms tripped me. I grabbed my purse from where it had fallen and hoisted Rene's chest onto Jim, grabbing him by the waist to help drag him out the door.

"You're not related to the Three Stooges, are you? 'Cause I could swear this escape thing is one of their rou-tines."

"You … stay … here … with . .. him," I wheezed as we emerged into the dark alley, ignoring Jim's idea of witticism. I pushed Rene against the building and fished through his pockets until I found his car keys. "I'll get the taxi. Don't let anyone take him!"

"How am I supposed to stop anyone without any of my demonic powers?"

"You're in the form of a dog, so start acting like one! If anyone shows up, bite them!"

"Might be fun," Jim said thoughtfully as I staggered off down the alley toward where Rene had left his taxi.

By the time I returned, Rene was beginning to regain consciousness, but I wasn't about to hang around outside Drake's house until he was fully sober, so I stuffed the Frenchman into the back of the taxi with Jim and got the heck out of there, mindlessly following streets until I felt we had enough distance between us and the wyvern's mansion. With a sigh of relief, I pulled into a multistory parking building.