As before, they left her alone in the bathroom. It was heronly chance for privacy.
Turning on the shower to cover any sounds, she took agamble.
Asmodeus had said his brothers listened for him. If shecould speak to Asmodeus mind to mind, could she speak to those others? Shewouldn’t have much time to try. But if they were looking for Asmodeus,listening for him? He had said Templeton was prepared for them. But that waswith Asmodeus himself present and within the circle. There was no reason forTempleton to think they would answer her. And it was very likely they wouldn’tsince she wasn’t a demon. Daemonae.
She had to try. Either it would work, or it wouldn’t.Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Concentrating, she ran the name of every demon she couldthink of through her mind, grateful now for all that research she had donewhile investigating Templeton. She called to them in the same way she thoughtwith Asmodeus, particularly Ashtoreth, and poured into it the sense of him she’dgained from Asmodeus, with admonitions for quiet. Hoping and praying they wouldhear her.
Just the thought of Asmodeus made her ache in so many ways.
And then, astonishingly, she wasn’t alone.
To her stunned amazement, she suddenly shared the bathroom withseveral very tall, very large, very muscular…
Demons.
Unmistakably. Demons. Daemonae. Horns, tails, beautifullysculpted faces, gleaming, magnificently muscled bodies—red, black, gold…all ofit. Everything. And tall. Massive. All of them.
One of them most especially.
His strong, almost Asian features stark, grim, sharp-bonedand stern, his brilliant eyes golden and flecked with sparks of fire. A goodmany people would have found him more than a little intimidating. Some wouldhave found him terrifying.
“Aren’t any of you small?” she complained as she looked atthe demons grouped around her.
To her surprise the grim one chuckled and shook his head inboth amazement and amusement. That smile transformed his face completely fromfierce and implacable to almost friendly.
“No.” His voice was a deep rumble.
Like Asmodeus, he was beautiful but the lines of his facewere far more angular and the slant to his eyes spoke more of the East than theWest. His long, ebony hair gleamed against skin the same shade as Asmodeus’skin but with shades of gold running beneath it that shimmered as if he wereliving flame. His eyes were molten gold in a stern, almost cruel and seeminglyunforgiving face, save for that chuckle. And the sparkle of amusement in hiseyes.
That seemingly grim face didn’t even make Gabriel flinch,especially after seeing that brief flash of humor.
In her career she had hunted stone-cold killers with facesas innocent and pretty as a choirboy’s and predatory souls with eyes as coldand empty as a shark’s. She had seen a boy as young as thirteen kill withoutthought and a man with harsh, rough features throw himself selflessly in theline of fire for another.
There was an air of strength and command about this onethough that reminded her strongly of Asmodeus.
He bore scars on him too, as did Asmodeus, but his wereolder. Far older. She remembered what Asmodeus had said about what the priestshad done to some of the Daemonae. To one in particular. And she shudderedinwardly.
Ashtoreth.
Seeing the scars on him, she understood and her heart bledfor him.
That Daemonae studied her in turn.
“I am Ashtoreth,” he said. “You have news of Asmodeus?”
So she’d been right.
Ashtoreth. She remembered the shadows in Asmodeus’ eyes whenhe’d talked of the past. Ashtoreth been one of those the priests had summonedwith the Book and tortured. The marks they had left on him wereunmistakable.
There was a cold and terrible fury in his eyes when hementioned Asmodeus.
“Sssh,” she said and gestured for him to keep his voice down.“Yes.”
Another of them looked at her slightly askance, his skinlike polished ebony, with shimmers of silver that slid beneath it likemoonlight on a primordial lake. In the cold light his eyes were a lambentsilver touched with aqua.
“I’m Ba’al. Hearing your warning, we put silence around thisroom.”
There was no doubt in Gabriel’s mind that Asmodeus had beencorrect in his description of his people.
Every single one of them were tall, gorgeous, sexier thanhell, beautifully built and generously endowed beneath the light, open vestsand loose, drawstring pants they wore.
Asmodeus had been right in more than one way.
Gabriel’s body responded nearly automatically to them, tothe Daemonae, to so much testosterone, to so many whirling, glowing eyes,twitching tails and flared wings in the same room.
Intense sexual heat flashed through her.
But she belonged to Asmodeus. She was his.
Already her heart ached for him, yearned for him.
Was it possible she truly loved him? In so short a time?
There was an undeniable connection between them. She knewhis mind now as she knew no other, intimately. You couldn’t lie, mind to mind.She knew his honor, his courage, his determination.
A kind of breathless wonder filled her, a sudden stillness,a certainty, as both heart and soul lightened.
She took a deep breath.
Her career had always been important to her, she was good atwhat she did and she knew it. She was also a woman in a field dominated by men.And a small woman at that. Where a man could be merely good, she had to beoutstanding. She dared not make the kinds of mistakes in relationships a mancould make, could not stand the slightest stain on her record or have herjudgment called into question. So work had taken up all her time and there hadbeen no room for anything but the most casual relationships, all kept firmlyseparate from work.
The few men who had come close had, in the end, not matchedthe qualifications Gabriel required—a sense of honor, intelligence and a sexdrive that could match her own.
Until now.
She couldn’t deny the truth. She had fallen in love withAsmodeus.
But that was for later.
Gabriel looked at those who had come.
“Well, you won’t believe this,” she said, with a wry grin,“but my name is Gabriel.”
Every one of them straightened a little to stare at her inbemusement, and a few with outright amusement, including Ashtoreth for all hisapparent sternness. His features lightened. It was just so startling, thatchange.
“Truth,” she said, holding up her hand
