Finding his fated mate though, had elevated Asmodeus fromprince to king.
Finding out that by making love to Asmodeus she’d suddenlybecome queen of the Daemonae had been a bit more of a shock.
Finding that she could read the minds of all of the Daemonaebecause of it?
That had been a revelation.
Not all the Daemonae could read minds, and of them all, onlytwo could read all their minds—Asmodeus as their king, and now Gabriel. Thatwas how she had been able to summon Ash. No other than Asmodeus’ mishea,his beloved, could call them as she could.
Wrapping her arms around Asmodeus’ waist as he set her backdown, Gabriel looked up into his beautiful long-lashed dark eyes and saw thehidden glints of red and gold that sparked whenever he looked at her.
She loved him more than life itself.
“You just do that to drive me crazy,” Asmodeus said fondly,smiling as he brushed her hair back from her face.
Mind to mind, he knew her heart and he had no fear. Still,she was kissing another man, if only Ash, his brother and friend. It was enoughto spark a little jealousy and to spur him to prove his claim to her.
With a laugh, she said, eyes sparkling, “No, Ash does it todrive you crazy. I just go along for the ride and the side benefits.”
Asmodeus chuckled. “Like the side benefits, do you?”
He projected his intentions for later.
Heat shot through her as Gabriel caught the images from hismind.
“Is that even anatomically possible?” she asked curiouslyand tilted her head to look at him with amusement.
Red sparks flared in his eyes as he ground his hips againsthers, his hardening erection pressed against her.
“It will be fun trying.”
“It will,” she said with a grin before she sobered andstepped back a little.
Asmodeus and Ash were here for a reason and time was tight.
“That’s something to keep in mind for later.”
It was something to look forward to once they had thislittle chore done.
She took a deep breath and reached for her weapon, clippedit to her belt, looking first to Asmodeus and then to Ash.
“All right, let’s do this.”
Indeed. Asmodeus watched her transform into theprofessional FBI agent that she was in her prim suit, with its proper whiteshirt and dark skirt. Unlike many of her compatriots among the women agents,she didn’t wear slacks, thankfully, unless she was doing a duty that requiredaction. He liked looking at her legs and it gave him much easier access.
For now though, what they were about to do had its dangers.It would be akin to stirring the hornet’s nest but it had to be done.
He didn’t like the idea that she would be alone andvulnerable for even a few seconds but that was how it had to be. She was humanand they were not. It was likely that the building would be warded againstdemons.
“Are you ready?” Gabriel asked, looking at him. She reachedup to touch his face. “I’ll be fine, Asmodeus.”
Asmodeus was concerned. It was a very real fear, as she’d bealone in Templeton’s office long enough to be at risk.
Reaching out, Asmodeus brushed her hair back from her face.“This I know. We’ll be close, my angel, only a thought away.”
“I know,” she said, softly, “I’ll meet you there.”
Asmodeus nodded and looked at Ash. “We will see you later.”
Following them out, Gabriel glanced at two of her fellowagents, who each gave her sharp nods as they picked up their suit jackets fromthe backs of their chairs.
This would be an official visit.
As the three of them strode out of the room, two more pickedup their jackets and followed them, as if on errands of their own. Backup. Theyknew Templeton had his people everywhere. Even in the Bureau.
None of them said anything. All four were agents Gabriel hadworked with in the past, people she knew and trusted.
Ahead of her, Asmodeus and Ash stepped into the stairwell tovanish in a quick flash, leaving a small drift of smoke and the smell ofbrimstone to dissipate behind the now-closed door.
* * * * *
The office building Gabriel entered sometime later was primereal estate in midtown Manhattan.
Leaving one of the agents with the car, they moved quickly.
Gabriel breezed past the doorman and the guard at the doorwith a wave of her unfolded ID. Inside, security was silenced too, with aglance and a wave of identification as her people spread out and secured them.
Nothing else was needed. There was no search warrant as thiswas to be a “friendly” visit only.
With a nod to one of the agents, Gabriel said, “No phonecalls. I don’t want there to be any warning.”
He nodded.
The other two agents fell in beside her as she strode to theelevators and flanked her when she stepped out on the penthouse floor.
Seeing them step out of the elevators and seeing where theywere heading—the massive and impressive stainless steel doors to the executivesuite—the secretary, or whatever she was, trotted out from behind her desk onridiculously high heels and tried to intercept them.
Gabriel gave her a single warning glance and stuck her badgein the woman’s face. “FBI. I need to talk to your boss. Alone. Sit down.”
The woman teetered to a halt, clearly uncertain.
Gabriel looked at her companions.
“Stay here,” she said without breaking stride, “if I’m notout in fifteen minutes, raise the alarm.”
The two men glanced at each other and nodded.
One said, “You got it, Gabriel.”
Both of them knew what the score was. Plausible deniability.Whatever went down inside, they could simply say they weren’t there.
Nervously Gabriel fingered the rubber-capped vials in herpockets, thumbed the tops off as she walked toward the doors. As she hit thedoors, she tipped the vials to spill their contents of blessed water, laced withcopper flakes and herbs, across the threshold. She thought she saw a smallflash and caught the sharp tang of ozone above the faint scent of the herbs butit might have been her imagination. Asmodeus and Ash had been concerned thatthe office would be warded against them. They hadn’t been certain the waterwould work at breaking those wards.
She still wasn’t. What she had seen might have
