Close up gave me a nice view of Mychael, and as always, he was damned good to look at. His eyes were that mix of blue and pale green found only in warm, tropical seas. His hair was short and auburn. His handsome features were strong, and his face scruffy with stubble. Very nice. Sexy nice. I guess having demons on your island didn’t give you time to shave. Mychael was an elf, and the tips of his ears were elegantly pointed. I’d felt the urge to nibble those tips on more than one occasion, but I didn’t think now was the time or place.

“We need to talk,” he told me. It was his paladin’s voice. His words weren’t a direct order, but he wasn’t giving me a choice, either.

“Hello, Mychael. We’re all fine. No demon damage. Thank you for asking.”

He just looked at me. “We need to talk.” He glanced over my left shoulder. “Sedge, may we use your conference room?”

“Of course.” The chief’s basso rumble came from his office doorway. “I’ll see to it that you’re not disturbed.”

Mychael almost smiled. “I appreciate that, but I brought my own lookouts.” He glanced down at Piaras and Talon. “And men to escort the two of you out of here and back home right now.”

I tensed. “Now?”

“Now. They need to leave.”

Sedge Rinker stepped forward, his lips a grim, narrow line. “Anyone in particular I should be looking out for here?”

“You’ll know him when you see him.”

“You mean if I see him?”

“No, when.”

Sedge took a breath and let it out with a quiet “damn.”

Mychael nodded grimly. “Exactly.”

Chapter 4

Mychael and I were inside the conference room; four Guardians were outside the conference room. Piaras was being taken under Guardian protection back to the safety of the Fortune. Talon was being escorted back to Sirens, Tam’s nightclub. The conference room door was closed. So it was just me, Mychael, and enough tension and sizzling magical leftovers to fill the rest of the room. Cozy.