he replied, his gaze hardening. “You wouldn’t do it by text, so now you’ll do it face to face.”
“I have questions, too,” Mencheres said coolly.
Take a number and get in line! I thought. Ian seemed to agree. “Mine take precedence, Mencheres, but neither of us is asking her anything here. Too many ears.”
I seized on that. “You’re right, we need to leave and I have places to be. Text me. This time, I swear I’ll reply—”
His laughter cut me off. “You have a better chance of convincing me to stake myself, and I’m not even joking.”
But I can’t be around you! I wanted to scream. It’s killing me, and if I don’t leave you soon, it will really kill you!
I forced those emotions back, wishing I could draw on my other nature to erase them entirely. But if I let that half take control, I’d be unfeeling, yes, to the point of being a mass-murdering sociopath. That would hardly do.
No, I’d have to see this through. “Fine. I’ll go with you, but first, I have to stop by my room to retrieve something.”
“I’ll have one of my men pick it up,” Ian said, nodding at the three vampires who silently followed us.
“No.” I was so emphatic, his brows went up. “Only I can get this, and that’s nonnegotiable.”
He shrugged. “As you wish, but then I’m coming, too.”
“As am I,” Mencheres said.
“Of course you are,” I muttered. “Helicopter mom.”
Ian laughed. Mencheres gave me a dark look that I ignored as I put some much-needed distance between me and Ian on our descent down the mount. Even still, I could feel Ian’s aura enveloping me like a hidden embrace while the weight from his gaze settled into my back as if it were a supernatural anchor.
It hurt so much being near Ian when he wasn’t fully Ian. He might look, sound, and act similar, but this Ian hadn’t shared his secrets with me while also getting me to share my deepest secrets with him. This Ian hadn’t faced Dagon with me, and this Ian hadn’t sacrificed himself for me in what should have been his final act because he’d—almost—fallen in love with me.
No, this Ian’s interest in me boiled down to bruised pride and a determination to obtain knowledge that would put him in more danger than he was already in. If Ian knew that the demon he’d only heard of in passing had killed him . . . he’d never rest until he settled that score. And Ian couldn’t beat Dagon. I wasn’t even sure I could unless I accessed power that might turn me into something worse than Dagon.
That’s why I had to get away from Ian as fast as I could, and I already had a way to do that. For now, I’d let Ian believe he’d won. Men were so much easier to manipulate when they thought they had the upper hand.
Besides, this night might have turned out spectacularly bad for me, but it was about to get a lot better for someone else.
Chapter 5
Silver mobbed me in his usual way when I came through the door of the villa I’d rented. When he saw Ian behind me, the Simargl’s feathers nearly burst off his body from joy.
“Don’t worry, he’s friendly,” I said when Silver dove at Ian, yipping uncontrollably.
Mencheres was nonplussed to see a winged, doglike creature flying around Ian. Ian didn’t appear surprised. He pet Silver during the Simargl’s wild aerial circles, then caught him and hugged him when Silver launched himself at Ian’s chest.
“Who’s a good little lad?” Ian asked, then chuckled when feathers flew as Silver’s wings beat frantically in response.
“You remember him?” I asked in a neutral tone.
He gave me a sardonic look. “I remember killing several vampires to rescue him. Didn’t know why until this moment. He’s the source of the Red Dragon from that night, isn’t he?”
“What else do you remember?” It flew out before I could stop myself. Just as quickly, I regretted it.
Ian’s gaze gleamed. “Wouldn’t you like to know? But it’s my turn to ask questions, and I don’t fancy asking them here. We’ve probably been followed by one of the council’s many pawns.”
“Probably,” I agreed, saying a few quick words over Silver. By the time I was finished, his downy feathers now looked like fur, his wings were nowhere to be seen, and he had a new tail where there had only been a smooth rump before. The dog collar he already wore completed his “normal pet”