"You can't possibly believe I had anything to do with the deaths of those two women? I barely knew them!"

The man tidied an already tidy penholder. "You have, I believe, been detained not once but twice by officials regarding the deaths?"

"Yes, but that was just routine questioning—"

"Nonetheless, the staff are beginning to talk. They say you are the angel of death. They say that all those people whom you meet with end up dead. Such things are foolishness, naturally, but the fact remains that you are connected to the deaths. We wish to avoid any more, thus we politely but adamantly request that you remove yourself and your belongings from the hotel. We realize that you must be allowed access to the premises during the hours of the GODTAM conference, but beyond that, we ask-that you locate yourself elsewhere."

"Is there a problem?"

I straightened up as Drake's voice rolled around me. I debated handling the situation myself, explaining to the hotel man that despite a couple of odd coincidences, L had nothing to do with the Guardians' deaths, but decided that one of the perks of having a boyfriend who was arrogant, bossy, and rich was leaving such petty details to him.

"This guy is trying to throw me out of the hotel," I said, and gave Drake a questioning look.

"Is he?" Drake's eyes considered me carefully.

"Yes, he is." I waited for a moment, but Drake didn't do anything but look at me expectantly. I prodded him. "Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"That depends. What will you give me to help you?"

My jaw dropped. "What? I'm your mate—you can't ask me that anymore!"

"It seems to me I just did."

"Drake!"

Laughter lit his eyes. He was teasing me, the great big lizard. I almost pinched him, I was so irritated.

Drake turned to the hotel man, the amusement in his eyes quickly changing into something a whole lot less pleasant. I thought the guy was going to swallow his tongue. His whole body panicked, his hands suddenly trembling as they clutched the penholder while he stammered out an excuse.

"Mr. Vireo, I had no idea this lady was connected with you. She has been involved in two recent deaths—"

"The lady is my fiancee," Drake said smoothly, but beneath his velvet voice menace hung heavi ly in the air. The man's ringers spasmed, dropping the penholder. "She is therefore under my protection. You will accord her every respect you do me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir. Of course, sir. But the bodies ..."

"Do not concern me. I trust she will not be bothered further."

"Of course not, sir. My felicitations to you both. The hotel is delighted to have Miss Grey continue her stay with us."

Drake gave the man another dragon-eyed look, then gave me a gentle shove toward the bank of elevators.

"Fiancee?" I asked him through my teeth, trying to hold on to my tight smile in case anyone was looking at us. "I don't remember agreeing to marry you."

"It is the closest mortal equivalent to being a mate," he answered.

"Oh. I suppose so. And thanks for bailing me out there, although I could have done with a little less teasing. Why didn't you tell the man that I didn't have anything to do with the murders? He probably thinks you're covering up for me."

He stopped in front of the elevator that Pal and IstvSn were holding for him. "Are you coming with me to the room?"

I glanced at my watch. "Damn, the wildlife park will be closed in twenty minutes. I had hoped I could run back out there and give Gyorgy his amulet, but there's not enough time right now. I want to call the vet's office and then try to make it to at least one workshop. And then there's the evening dinner. I've had to miss so much of the conference, I'd like to try to socialize and meet a few more Guardians."

"Do not forget our appointment later," he said, stepping into the elevator.

"Right. Seven. How fancy is this shindig?" "Fancy?" His gaze burned green. "I would suggest that you wear something ... washable."

The elevator doors closed on my confused "Huh?" It was only when I had the lobby phone in my hand that I realized he had never answered my question about why he didn't tell the man at reception that I wasn't involved with the murders.

Drake, I found out later, didn't lie unless he felt it was absolutely necessary.

Chapter 16

Two hours after I hung up the phone to the vet's office, relieved to hear that Jim had regained consciousness and, although groggy, seemed to have suffered no permanent effects of its misadventures, I almost wept at the sight of a familiar—and more to the point, friendly—face.

"Nora, thank heavens for you. Um. That is, unless you don't want to sit with me?"

Nora looked at me sitting all by my lonesome at the big round table in a ballroom that was packed solid with GODTAM participants. "Why wouldn't I want to sit with you?"

I lipped my head to indicate the nearby tables. They were all full. "Word has gotten around. Evidently I have become some sort of a social pariah."

"Ah. Because of the Guardian deaths, you mean?" she asked as she pulled out a chair and sat. I was so pathetically grateful that I wasn't going to have to sit by myself for dinner. I didn't even flinch when she mentioned me and the deaths in the same breath.

"Yes. Nothing I had anything to do with them. You've heard what everyone is saying, I'm sure. No one's accused me of outright murder, but they're saying that I'm cursed, that Guardians who make an appointment with me stand a chance of dying in their sleep, just like Moa and Theodora."

Her eyes were dark, all-seeing behind the garish red glasses. "I have not died in my sleep, and I had an appointment with you."

"You're one of the lucky ones," I said grumpily, then immediately apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, but things just seemed to have gone to hell in a handbasket for me lately. Most of it. Some is good. But a lot has been difficult."

"You're new to this world," she said, nodding her understanding. "It can be overwhelming at first, but you're struggling against what is, rather than accepting it. You should meditate, be at one with who you are, and with your new vision of the world. It will help you cope."

"I think it's going to take a whole lot more than a little meditation to fix my life, but I'll try. Oh, no, not the gruesome twosome!" I ducked my head and pretended fascinated interest in a loose thread on the cuff of my sleeve.