Up In Smoke
Page 58

‘‘Er . . . that is . . . never mind.’’ I said, mindful of that fact. ‘‘I take it you weren’t successful?’’
‘‘Do you see a small being with giant genitalia humping your leg?’’ he asked with an exaggerated arm movement.
‘‘No, but it concerns me that you were even trying.’’ I mulled over the idea of Magoth with a being wholly devoted to pleasures of the carnal sort.
‘‘Does it really matter what his reasons were for being arrested?’’ Gabriel asked, glancing at his watch. ‘‘We have things to do, little bird. I believe it would be best if we were to provide bail for Magoth and conduct our discussion in a more appropriate location.’’
Magoth pounced on one of Gabriel’s words. ‘‘Discussion? What discussion do you wish to have with me? I sincerely hope it is not that you regret spurning me for Manimal here, because much as I would like to see you grovel before me, I do not have time for the proper training that would be required to turn you into a suitable slave.’’
‘‘Yes, I believe it is important,’’ I said, answering Gabriel’s question while ignoring Magoth’s comment. I glanced toward the camera, picking my words carefully. ‘‘He shouldn’t have access to the sort of . . . abilities . . . that would allow him to call a Sybarite.’’
Magoth’s eyelids dropped until he was gazing at me through half-closed lids, a smug little smile playing with his lips.
‘‘He knows that very well, so for him to even try . . . well, it says something isn’t quite as we expected it to be.’’
Gabriel and I both considered Magoth, who had suddenly stopped pacing and had adopted an expression of almost angelic innocence.
‘‘He certainly looks guilty,’’ Gabriel observed.
‘‘He does, which is why I still think we should leave him here. Perhaps a time out in a mortal jail is just what he needs to let us find out what he’s been up to this last week.’’
Magoth snarled an oath that was not at all nice, lunging toward me.
Instantly, Gabriel was between us, blocking my view of Magoth as he growled in a threatening manner. ‘‘Do not even think about touching May.’’
Magoth, to my surprise, didn’t back down. Instead he took a step forward, until he and Gabriel were just a hairbreadth from each other, their gazes locked in a battle for dominance. ‘‘You think to threaten me, dragon?’’
‘‘You are in my world now,’’ Gabriel reminded him, the air of menace surrounding him leaving little shivers skittering up and down my back.
Magoth didn’t like being reminded he lacked power in the mortal realm. His eyes glittered like icy black onyx as he tried to stare Gabriel down. ‘‘There will come a day when you will be in my domain, and then we shall see who will reign supreme.’’
‘‘I am not so foolish as to allow that to happen,’’ Gabriel said, relaxing just a smidgen when I pulled his arm to move him back a few inches. ‘‘There is nothing in your domain that I would ever seek.’’
‘‘You think not?’’ Magoth’s eyes moved to me, his gaze striking me with such impact, I took an involuntary step backwards. ‘‘And yet, I can envision just such a scenario.’’
Gabriel growled again, a low, deep growl that was almost inaudible but caused me to shiver even more.
Magoth smiled and stepped back, lifting his hands in a show of surrender. ‘‘Such fun and games are enjoyable, but I really do have much I should be doing. If you could just see to my release, sweet May, we can all be on our respective ways.’’
‘‘You know, something just occurred to me,’’ I said pleasantly, tucking my hand in the crook of Gabriel’s arm.
‘‘You realize now that my body has much to offer you?’’ Magoth tipped his head on the side as he considered me. ‘‘This is true, but we must consider the effect that a dragon would have on our threesome. It might be interesting, though . . . the fire, the claws . . . yes, it could be very interesting.’’
Gabriel’s lips thinned. I gave Magoth a look that told him I expected better. ‘‘As a matter of fact, it strikes me rather odd that you’re here at all. Oh, I’m not talking about the fact that you were arrested making a lewd attack on a statue—that doesn’t surprise me in the least. No, I’m talking about the fact that you’re here now. As in, you haven’t left.’’
‘‘That is a very good point,’’ Gabriel said, obviously understanding what I was trying not to spell out in front of a potential audience.
Magoth’s face darkened. ‘‘There was a Wiccan here—’’ he started to answer, but I interrupted him with a pointed look toward the camera.
‘‘You try my patience, consort,’’ he said irritably, and waved one hand toward the camera. It dropped to the ground, the wires that had connected it to the wall still smoking.
‘‘Oh, great; now the mortals are going to come charging in here to ask how you did that without even going near the camera. You know what that means, don’t you? Either we’re going to have to spend hours trying to explain that, or we’ll have to fight our way out of here,’’ I said, annoyed in my own right. ‘‘Which means we’ll be fugitives from the mortal law.’’
‘‘You worry too much about what insignificant insects think,’’ he snapped. ‘‘If you cannot dodge the mortal police, you don’t deserve to be in their world. In answer to your question, there was a Wiccan on the staff of the préfecture. She recognized me and saw to it that I was taken to this room, which, you have probably failed to notice, is bound in silver.’’
I looked around the room, frowning.
‘‘I noticed,’’ Gabriel said. ‘‘I can smell it.’’
‘‘The famous dragon ability to smell precious metals . . . well, wyvern, in answer to your mate’s question, that is why I have not simply destroyed these mortals as they deserve.’’
‘‘Silver is poisonous to demons and demon lords,’’ I said slowly, pulling a morsel of demon lore from the depths of my knowledge. ‘‘It’s an important element in ritual acts of destruction, and can be used to confine them to locations if the boundaries are seeded with pure silver.’’