Baba’s breath caught on a sigh. From under closed lids, she teased him by saying, “So, you don’t think you can find out who she is? Pity. I should have asked one of the Riders to find out.”
Koshei snorted, lifting his mouth from her tender skin just in time to keep the flames from singeing her. “Foolish girl. Of course I will find her. In the morning. For now, I have better things to do.” He smiled his devilish smile and caught her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss that made her want to dance naked under the moonlight on a distant shore, while drums beat and torches flared.
And then, for some inexplicable reason, Liam’s face rose up in her mind, like water thrown on a bonfire; cool and dousing, reminding her that she was supposed to be doing a job. She pulled back from the kiss abruptly, blinking as if drawn back from a dim cavern into bright daylight.
Koshei roared with laughter at the confusion on her face. “You’ve met someone,” he said, an unholy glee lighting up his already bright eyes. “Someone who has taken root in that impenetrable heart of yours. It’s about time.”
Baba shook her head, trying to settle her thoughts back into their comfortable patterns. “No. Well, maybe. He’s a Human.”
The dragon tilted her chin with one gentle hand. “You’re Human too, darling Baba, for all that you try to deny it. If you like him, have a fling. That’s what the Humans call it, right?” His lips curved in an almost-wistful smile. “Spend a little time with him. Enjoy him while you can. That’s what Babas do, when they find a man who attracts them. There is no need to make it so complicated. “
Baba sighed. “He’s not the type to have a fling, Koshei. And I’m everything he can’t stand; chaos to his lawfulness, lies instead of truth. I don’t stay in one place, and he never leaves this one. And I’m not sure his heart isn’t already given elsewhere.” She snuggled against Koshei’s reassuring warmth, enjoying the familiar feeling of his rock-hard chest beneath her cheek. “Besides, he knows I’m hiding something. He’s the sheriff investigating the children’s disappearances, and I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m involved.”
A puff of sulfur-scented breath moved her hair restlessly. “Well, that’s inconvenient, isn’t it?” She could feel his lips move in a sympathetic smile on the top of her head before he tipped her face back so she could see the affection in his deep, pale eyes.
“I do not know this man,” Koshei said, his voice a quiet rumble in her ears. “But if he cannot see your value, then he does not deserve to have you.” He pulled her into a hug and slid his lips gently across hers. “I, on the other hand, appreciate you very, very much. I shall miss our nights together.” He laughed as he released her and headed back toward the closet door.
Baba opened her mouth to protest and then closed it again with a snap. Damn that sheriff. Even when he wasn’t around, he was causing her trouble.
*
BABA LURKED IN the gnarled shadow of an old oak outside the stately blue-and-gray Victorian that housed the East Shoreham Oil and Gas Company’s regional office. She’d seen Peter Callahan leave half an hour ago, dapper and well pressed even at the end of a hot summer’s day. He’d gotten into a buttercup-yellow Jaguar and driven away, leaving behind him the lingering taint of exhaust fumes and dirty money.
The lights finally switched off behind the louvered windows of the only room that still showed any signs of occupation, and a few minutes later the tap, tap, tap of stiletto heels and the snick of a lock heralded the arrival of the woman Baba had been hoping to see. She waited for Maya to put one hand on the door of her sedate rental car before popping up out of the background like a spring-loaded trap.
“My goodness!” the blond woman said, clutching her chest in apparent alarm. “You startled me.” Piercing gray eyes hid behind fluttering mascara-laden lashes.
Baba snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. You probably knew I was here as soon as I hit the street.” Amber dueled with gray; the result—a draw. For now.
“Well, you’re not exactly subtle, are you?” the woman calling herself Maya said, pert button nose wrinkled in distaste. “I’ve met ogres who were less obvious. You really need to rein in your power a little bit more. Even these idiotic mortals will figure out there is something odd about you sooner or later. And then where will the rest of us be?”
“I don’t know about anyone else,” Baba said, “but you’re going to be gone from this place, so it won’t make a bit of difference to you what the locals figure out.”
She was five inches taller than the other woman, even with the stiltlike heels Maya had on, but the seemingly delicate form didn’t appear to be at all intimidated. Of course, behind her glamour, she could have been a ten-foot-tall, cyclops with fangs, for all Baba could tell.