mission magic 01 - the incubus job by Diana Pharaoh Francis

wrong?” I asked as we passed a coffee kiosk.
    “The Gwyll apartments are one floor below your incubus’s rooms,” he said.
    I made the connection as fast as he had. Shields didn’t keep the goats from wandering. They could easily have wandered into the incubus’s rooms. “But how would they get in? It’s not like they can go through walls.”
    Law grunted annoyance. “Yes, they can. Damned things are curious as hell too. They’re always getting into places where they don’t belong.”
    The dominos started to fall in my head. The timeline looked ominous. The goats had been missing for over an hour. The incubus had been dead that long. If the beasts had wandered into the incubus’s apartment while his killer was searching for the box—
    “Shit.”
    “Exactly,” Law said, guiding me around the central column of elevators and down a broad corridor into one of the four wings. It was less a corridor than a massive lobby area, complete with a terrarium, dozens of cozy seating areas, a juice bar, a regular bar, and several little bistro-style cafés and restaurants. The ceiling was open all the way up. The rooms ran around the outer wall, and chrome railings kept people from falling down into the middle. On the opposite side, a bank of glass elevators ran up and down like bubbles.
    I shivered. The air-conditioned air raised goose pimples all over me, and my nipples turned into rocks. I was all too aware that my feet were bare and I was wearing only a thong beneath my barely there dress. Law loosened his fingers from mine and put his arm around me, pulling me against him. His warmth enveloped me, and I sucked in the scent of him. I so didn’t want to leave him.
    We rode up the elevator with a pair of whispering couples. The elevator filled with cloying perfume and cologne. They ignored me and Law completely. I leaned against the brass rail and watched them. I was no longer touching Law, who stood a few inches away. I could feel him watching me. One of the girls looked familiar. She was the same height as me, with bobbed hair and a heart-shaped face. She flicked a glance at me. Blue eyes gleamed. She glanced from me to Law and back, and her coral lips pursed in appreciation as she winked.
    We got out on the sixth floor. Law went midway down on the left side, stopping at an ornate door made of wood and brass with a brass number plate that read 6119 in flowing script letters.
    “Wait outside,” he said as he reached for the keypad.
    “I don’t think so.”
    His head whipped around. “I can handle whatever this asshole has to throw at us.”
    “Two’s better than one.”
    “I don’t want to have to worry about you getting hurt,” he gritted out when I didn’t back down.
    I folded my arms across my chest. “Funny, you didn’t used to worry about that.” So here it was. My greatest fear come to life.
    “You know damned well what’s changed.”
    “Yeah. You think I can’t handle myself anymore.”
    His scowl cut deep lines around his mouth. “What I think is that I’m not going to risk losing you again.”
    “I’m not going to sit safe on my ass when I’ve got a job to do.”
    He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Fine.”
    He put his forefinger on the keypad. Power engulfed his digit, and the door popped open. I wondered if the incubus had set any personal wards, but Law stepped inside without any trouble. I followed.
    The air smelled faintly of nutmeg and the musky odor I’d come to associate with the incubus. It was masculine and tantalizing. I touched the emerald pendant around my neck, and the lingering effects of the sex demon’s presence slid away from me.
    The suite was much smaller than mine, with a bedroom, a bathroom, a sitting area, and a balcony looking west. It was plush with plenty of space and French furniture upholstered in sea blues and vanilla cream. In the bedroom, clothes had been flung haphazardly over the dresser and bed and onto the floor. Damp towels on the carpet