I blinked. "So it’s true. You can invade my thoughts."
"I wouldn’t really call it invading," he said, amusement teasing the lips I’d kissed so often this morning. "Nor is it truly telepathy. There are only a few relatively minor areas of your thoughts open to me. Unlike most, you seem to have more than your fair share of secret compartments."
"Well, good," I said, a little tartly. "A girl does like to keep her secrets, you know."
"Then have no fear. I can only read what is foremost in your mind, and the Dušan book appears to be your biggest concern."
I sipped my champagne and studied him over the rim. Was he telling the truth? For some odd reason, I suspected not—even though I wasn’t seeing any of the usual signs of deception. But maybe he wasn’t. Maybe I was just being overly suspicious thanks to everything that had happened to me over the last few months.
But if he knew about the Dušan book, then he undoubtedly knew we’d appropriated it from the Raziq. And why.
"It’s supposed to tell us what form the keys take," I said eventually.
"Supposed?" he said. "You haven’t tried to read it yet?"
I shook my head. "Azriel suspects the book may have a locator on it."
"Azriel being your guardian reaper?"
"Stalker," I corrected, even though he’d saved my life that very morning. "Azriel wants what everyone else wants—my father."
Lucian grinned and dipped a hand into the water, running his fingers lightly up my leg. "I don’t want your father. I’d much rather have the luscious, wanton female lying naked in my bath."
My skin tingled where he touched and my hormones shifted from languid satisfaction to eager anticipation. I ignored them and said teasingly, "I vaguely recall you stating that you’ve indulged in more than your fair share of threesomes and orgies over the centuries. Are you saying that not one of those involved a male?"
"No, I am not," he murmured, his fingers caressing higher up my thigh, making my breath grow ragged. "And I’m always more than happy to share some loving with several females and males. Now, however, the idea of a regular, one-on-one coupling has taken my fancy. Did you get this wound when you were retrieving the book?"
I nodded. The bullet wound was still raised and nasty looking, but at least the ache had eased. In a day or so, it probably wouldn’t even be noticeable. Which didn’t stop me wishing yet again that I’d gotten a higher percentage of a werewolf’s natural healing ability, because I had a bad feeling I was going to need it over the coming weeks.