the menu over and scanned the back of it. “They are eating in the other room. They wished to give us privacy.”
“Oh, good. That means you guys are either going to talk relationship or get naked. Either of which should dis tract me while my steak is being cooked.”
“You’re having a chicken sandwich, not a steak. And just remember what the phrase ‘Effrijim, I command thee’ can do.”
I swear Jim grinned at Drake. “She’s crazy about me.”
“I can see that,” he answered dryly, turning his atten tion to the menu when a waiter slipped into the room. I gave an order for Jim and myself, toying with my iced-tea glass while Drake grilled him about the freshness of the salmon. There were so many things I wanted to say to Drake, so many questions I had, so many wicked, wanton acts my tongue wanted to engage in with him ... but my brain, that ever-trusty organ, reminded me where those sorts of urges had led me in the past and warned me to make my way cautiously. Drake had broken my heart twice. I knew it couldn’t survive a third time.
“Jim, when I order you not to listen to me, what ex actly do you do? Hear the words but just don’t pay atten tion? Don’t remember anything?”
The demon sighed. “I knew you were going to do that. I can’t hear anything when you do that. It’s an order, and I can’t violate an order. So the words just aren’t there for me to hear.”
“Oh. Good.” I set down my glass. “Effrijim, until fur ther notice, you are not to hear anything Drake and I say.”
Jim groaned and laid its big furry black head on its paws, giving me a nasty look. I ignored it. “We have some things to talk about. I dearly want to know what’s up with that Dmitri guy, but first things first.”
Drake leaned back in his chair, an obstinate look on his handsome-as-sin face. “Yes, first things first—what did you mean when you told Pal that you’d been pushed in front of a train?”
I hate it when Drake pulls the rug out from under me, conversationally speaking. “Oh, that. He asked why I was favoring one side when I had said I wasn’t hurt in the car crash. There’s not much to it—someone tried to kill me. Or rather, you, since no one would benefit from my death.”
“You think not?” Drake’s eyebrows rose a little, but he didn’t explain. He just gestured at me to continue.
“No, there’s no reason for anyone to want me gone un less it’s to try to get to you. To be honest ... oh, man, I don’t know what to think. Gabriel was there, right next to me, so he could have been the person to push me. But he’s my friend!”
“Gabriel?” Drake frowned to himself as he thought that over. “Describe to me exactly what happened.”
It took a good ten minutes to go over everything. Drake asked several questions about who was standing next to me on the platform and how Gabriel had suddenly appeared.
“I have always thought of him as an ally, it is true,” Drake said at last. “But he is the wyvern of another sept.”
“You really think he pushed me?” I set down the piece of bread I’d been toying with. “But why? He’s always been so nice to me. I like him.”
“I am merely exploring the possibilities, not stating it as a fact,” Drake answered, his voice the teensiest bit censuring. “I have had no indication that Gabriel means to do anyone harm.”
“Well, then, who did it? I didn’t fall, Drake. I know the difference between a fall and a push. Someone slammed into my back, knocking me down in front of the train. If it wasn’t Gabriel, then it had to be Fiat. But if that’s the case, why did he save me right after I fell? And why didn’t Gabriel say anything to me afterwards? He must have seen Fiat push me. You’d think he would have some thing to say about that.”
“It has been many decades since I have understood the way Fiat’s mind works,” Drake said slowly. “The blame does not necessarily fall on him, however. The red drag ons take the status
“Oh, good. That means you guys are either going to talk relationship or get naked. Either of which should dis tract me while my steak is being cooked.”
“You’re having a chicken sandwich, not a steak. And just remember what the phrase ‘Effrijim, I command thee’ can do.”
I swear Jim grinned at Drake. “She’s crazy about me.”
“I can see that,” he answered dryly, turning his atten tion to the menu when a waiter slipped into the room. I gave an order for Jim and myself, toying with my iced-tea glass while Drake grilled him about the freshness of the salmon. There were so many things I wanted to say to Drake, so many questions I had, so many wicked, wanton acts my tongue wanted to engage in with him ... but my brain, that ever-trusty organ, reminded me where those sorts of urges had led me in the past and warned me to make my way cautiously. Drake had broken my heart twice. I knew it couldn’t survive a third time.
“Jim, when I order you not to listen to me, what ex actly do you do? Hear the words but just don’t pay atten tion? Don’t remember anything?”
The demon sighed. “I knew you were going to do that. I can’t hear anything when you do that. It’s an order, and I can’t violate an order. So the words just aren’t there for me to hear.”
“Oh. Good.” I set down my glass. “Effrijim, until fur ther notice, you are not to hear anything Drake and I say.”
Jim groaned and laid its big furry black head on its paws, giving me a nasty look. I ignored it. “We have some things to talk about. I dearly want to know what’s up with that Dmitri guy, but first things first.”
Drake leaned back in his chair, an obstinate look on his handsome-as-sin face. “Yes, first things first—what did you mean when you told Pal that you’d been pushed in front of a train?”
I hate it when Drake pulls the rug out from under me, conversationally speaking. “Oh, that. He asked why I was favoring one side when I had said I wasn’t hurt in the car crash. There’s not much to it—someone tried to kill me. Or rather, you, since no one would benefit from my death.”
“You think not?” Drake’s eyebrows rose a little, but he didn’t explain. He just gestured at me to continue.
“No, there’s no reason for anyone to want me gone un less it’s to try to get to you. To be honest ... oh, man, I don’t know what to think. Gabriel was there, right next to me, so he could have been the person to push me. But he’s my friend!”
“Gabriel?” Drake frowned to himself as he thought that over. “Describe to me exactly what happened.”
It took a good ten minutes to go over everything. Drake asked several questions about who was standing next to me on the platform and how Gabriel had suddenly appeared.
“I have always thought of him as an ally, it is true,” Drake said at last. “But he is the wyvern of another sept.”
“You really think he pushed me?” I set down the piece of bread I’d been toying with. “But why? He’s always been so nice to me. I like him.”
“I am merely exploring the possibilities, not stating it as a fact,” Drake answered, his voice the teensiest bit censuring. “I have had no indication that Gabriel means to do anyone harm.”
“Well, then, who did it? I didn’t fall, Drake. I know the difference between a fall and a push. Someone slammed into my back, knocking me down in front of the train. If it wasn’t Gabriel, then it had to be Fiat. But if that’s the case, why did he save me right after I fell? And why didn’t Gabriel say anything to me afterwards? He must have seen Fiat push me. You’d think he would have some thing to say about that.”
“It has been many decades since I have understood the way Fiat’s mind works,” Drake said slowly. “The blame does not necessarily fall on him, however. The red drag ons take the status
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