My mate, the dragon shard snarled, and for a moment, I seriously contemplated flying out to Gabriel in order to set fire to every woman who was near him.

“May? You OK? Your eyes just went all funny, like Drake’s when he gets what Aisling calls dragonny.”

At the sound of Jim’s voice, sanity managed to bully its way through the intense jealousy. I blinked a couple of times and realized the pain in my palms was due to scarlet claws digging into the tender flesh. I de-dragoned my hands, and rubbed the red marks. “I’m fine. Just . . . thinking. You haven’t actually seen any women throw themselves at Gabriel, have you?”

“Oh, no, you’re not jealous at all,” it answered, grinning.

“You have?” Fury roared through me. “Who?”

“Who what?” Cyrene asked as she came up the stairs.

“Nothing.” I glared at the demon for a moment before turning to her. “I thought you were going swimming.”

“I was, but Aisling wanted to use the pool. The midwife is here, and thought that if she were to float around in the water a bit, it might help things along.” She sighed. “And that beast is down there with her and Drake. Who were you talking about?”

“No one,” I said quickly, but not quickly enough.

“She’s got her panties in a bunch because Gabe is out on his own.”

“I am not in the least bit bunched,” I told it grimly. “I just got done telling you that I trust Gabriel.”

“Yes, but it’s not him you have to worry about,” Cyrene said, to my gut-wrenching dismay.

“I am not jealous,” I repeated.

“I’m not saying you are, or even that you should be. Gabriel is devoted to you. Anyone can see that.”

“I’m glad you agree,” I said, glad the matter was closed. I told the dragon shard to go back to sleep, intent on regaining control over my errant emotions. I had a list of things I wanted to do before Gabriel returned, and now was as good a time as any to get started on them.

“Mind you, I’m not saying that other women are going to respect that,” she continued thoughtfully. “He’s a handsome man, a very handsome man. With those eyes and those dimples and that lovely, lovely chest—”

“I will thank you to stop ogling my mate’s chest,” I said, grinding my teeth just a smidgen.

“Well, you can stop me from doing that, but you can’t stop the rest of the world, Mayling. And trust me, other women have noticed his chest, too.”

My mouth dropped open a tiny bit. “Do you guys have some sort of an arrangement to suddenly try to drive me into an insane fit of jealousy over Gabriel?”

“Of course not. Don’t be silly.” Cyrene made a dismissive gesture. “I’m just trying to point out that although you may trust him not to willingly betray you, the mortal women of the world may not give him that option.” She thought for a moment. “And some of the immortal women, too.”

“On the contrary, I will be most faithful to my sweet May once she gives herself to me,” Magoth said, strolling out of the sitting room. He paused for a few seconds before admitting, “Perhaps ‘faithful’ isn’t the best word. Shall we say ‘devoted,’ instead, given all the mortal and immortal world that the delectable Cyrene so wisely realizes finds me completely irresistible?”

“We weren’t talking about you,” Cy said with a bit of a frown that Magoth completely missed because he was too busy glaring at Jim.

“Why do you always have that demon with you?” he asked me. “You are a demon lord’s consort, not a lord itself. It is unfitting that you should be attended by a sixth-class demon. If you wish to have a companion, you may have one of my wrath demons.”

“Oh, yeah, like Drake’s going to allow a wrathy in his house,” Jim drawled.

“I’m taking care of Jim while its master is busy, which you very well know, since I explained it to you earlier. Really, Magoth, is it too much trouble for you to pay attention to me when I talk to you?”

“Yes,” he said blithely, giving Jim one last glare before turning to me. “I prefer actions to words. Let us go have sex and I assure you I will hang on to your every gesture.”

“That’s it. I have no more patience left,” I said simply, and grabbed my purse. “I’m going home—what remains of it—per the request of the police and fire investigators. Hopefully, some of our things will have survived the blast.”

“I’ll come with you,” Cyrene said quickly, snatching up her coat.

“I think it would probably be better if I did this alone.”

“Yeah,” Jim told her. “You’ll just see the puddles left by the firemen and want to splash around in them.”

“You’re not coming, either,” I told the demon.

“Why not?” It opened its eyes really wide. “I’ll be good! Promise!”

“You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘good,’ ” I said acidly.

It stuck out its lower lip. “No, but I can pretend.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun. Just the three of us,” Cy said persuasively. She took my hesitation for another denial, and added a plaintive, “I really don’t want to have to be here by myself with that rat bastard.”

“Surely you can come up with some better insults for me than ‘rat bastard’?” Magoth asked, idly sorting through a stack of mail that sat on a small hall table. He held one up to the light. “You used to be quite inventive.”

“Not every conversation revolves around you,” Cyrene said, making indignant little noises. “I was referring to my boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend. One I really don’t want to be alone with.”

Magoth opened a letter and scanned the contents. I debated chastising him for that, but figured any truly important mail would have been given to Drake or Aisling already.

“The house is about ready to explode with people,” I told Cyrene, feeling guilty nonetheless. “You’re hardly alone.”

“You know what I mean. Please, Mayling.”

“Me love you long time. You take me. Please with dog hair on top,” Jim begged.

“Squalid little matters.” Magoth tossed the letter onto the table and looked over to where I stood, hesitating. “Where are we going?”