Not stones, I realized as a wave of power hit me like an invisible slap. Magic-infused gems. In the right hands, they’d be more deadly than the knives, swords, hatchets, mallets, and various guns Ian had in the other drawers.

“If you see anything you like, take it,” he said as he began tossing his selections into one of the black bags.

I went right to the set of knives that appeared to be made of ivory, if you didn’t know what demon bone looked like. The knives had steel glinting up their pale backs and handles made for gripping, not throwing. That was fine. When I killed Ereshki, I didn’t want to do it from a distance. I wanted to be up close. Ian sheathed one of the larger pairs of demon bone knives, then tossed those into his bag, too.

“Where did you get so much demon bone?”

He gave me a sardonic look. “You left a lot to choose from at that former amusement park.”

True. Cat had told me she’d get rid of the bones. Guess she’d given some to Ian first, which had been smart of her.

Ian finished his bag off with six pairs of handguns, two pairs of automatic weapons and lots of ammunition rounds. Then, he put two sets of tactical apparel and a closed briefcase into the second bag. Finally, he swiped a yellow and blue vase off the mantel and smashed it against the fireplace.

That was one way to decide you were sick of an eighteenth-century Peking vase. Then I saw a large, glittering gem amidst the glass shards. The stone was deepest blue at its center, but brightness flashed from its every finely cut facets.

Ian shook the glass from the gem. Then, mouth curling with an emotion I couldn’t name, he held it out to me. “Doesn’t look as if it’s worth being chased by a demon for decades, does it?”

Now I knew what stone this was. It was the catalyst that had started Dagon’s hatred toward Ian after Ian had led the demon on so he could get close enough to the gem to steal it. Considering the size of the diamond, I knew more people than Ian who’d chance a demon’s wrath to possess it.

“It looks like starlight formed around its favorite part of the ocean to keep it forever,” I murmured, taking the diamond.

As soon as it touched my hand, I gasped. My arm felt numb from the instant surge of power that kept climbing through me until my very teeth ached from the force of it.

“That’s why you stole this from Dagon back when he was trying to seduce you!”

It hadn’t been mere greed because the diamond would fetch millions on the human market. The gem’s real value went beyond its vast number of carats. It was so soaked in magic, I could barely stand to keep holding it, and the most impressive part was that I hadn’t felt anything at all until I touched it. I could wave this gem under the vampire council’s nose, and none of them would realize it was a magic object unless they held it.

“Yes.” Ian’s voice was a lethal caress. “Fitting to use it to help kill Dagon now, don’t you think?”

I didn’t know how he intended to do that, but considering the number of spells something with this kind of magical energy could power, he had a lot of options to choose from. And we’d need all the help we could get, now that I’d royally fucked things up by letting Ereshki live.

“Yes,” was all I said, handing the diamond back to him.

His brow rose at my abrupt tone, but he said nothing as he tossed the blue diamond into the second bag, then zipped it up.

A knock sounded at the door even though it was open. I turned. Mencheres was in the doorway, his expression strained.

“Let me come with you on this journey, Ian. I want to help you destroy the creature who took so much from you.”

Ian turned around with a sigh. “Thank you, but Dagon knows what you mean to me. He’ll come at you with everything he has because of it. You might be able to best any vampire alive, but you can’t win against a time-freezing demon.”

“I can if he’s headless,” Mencheres said darkly.

Ian grunted. “Think I haven’t tried that already? Dagon’s either immune to telekinetic spells, or he’s got something that deflects them. No. If you come, you will only endanger me because Dagon will kill you, then use my reaction to his advantage.”

“What about me?” Bones appeared behind Mencheres, his half smile belying the deadly look on his face. “I’ve faced a demon before and come out on top. Let me come.”

Ian let out an amused snort. “You needed my help to defeat that demon, or did you forget that part?”

“Did you forget I was an undead hit man for decades?” Bones countered. “Murdering rotten blokes is what I excel at.”

Ian zipped the bags shut. “Don’t want to be insulting, Crispin, but Veritas is an unkillable demigod and I’m juiced up with both magic and demon power. If we can’t do this without your help, then we won’t be able to do it with you, either.”

Ian still thought I could resurrect after I died? I opened my mouth to correct that, then shut it. Why burden him with information that would only cause him to lose focus? Worrying over my new mortality would distract him, so it was better for him to remain ignorant of it.

“Besides,” Ian went on. “If you die, Cat will go on a grief-driven revenge rampage, get killed in the process, and then your daughter will end up being raised by Justina and Tate.” Ian shuddered as if in horror. “You can’t do that to an innocent girl. It’s inhumane.”

“If you won’t accept my help because of my love for you, then accept it because I owe you.” Bones’s tone became flat. “For much more than your latest warning about my daughter. Without you turning me into a vampire over two centuries ago, I wouldn’t be here now, and I also owe you the greatest of debts for betraying you.”

“Eh, that.” Ian waved. “I’m over that now since karma, as my wife likes to say, is a vindictive bitch.”

Bones’s brows rose. “Come again?”

Ian hefted the two bags with one hand. “I mean, I understand why you did it. You went barmy when Cat left you, so when you finally found her and believed I was a danger to her, you did whatever it took to protect her. Brassed me off something awful at the time, but now”—Ian saluted him with the suitcases—“I say, well done! Can’t take any chances with those we love, can we?”

Bones stared at Ian, then very slowly looked at me. “Lucifer’s bouncing balls,” he breathed. “You’ve done the impossible with Ian. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never have believed it.”

Would his friends never give Ian credit for who he was? “I’ve done nothing. Ian is this honorable all on his own.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Bones began, but Ian’s sharp whistle for Silver cut him off.

Silver flew over and landed on Ian’s arm. Then, Ian pulled me to him and said, “I appreciate your offers to help, my friends. Truly, I do. But I can’t accept, and we don’t have time to keep arguing. All of us have to leave before demons crash this party, so until again, mates!”

With that, everything slid into white noise and a blur as Ian teleported us away.

Chapter 36

When the blur from Ian’s teleporting stopped, we were in a new home. The white-framed windows revealed a wooden boardwalk, a beach and night-darkened waves outside. This room had a stone fireplace, exposed beams in the high ceiling, hardwood floors and comfy-looking suede couches.