“You’re not wearing a hat,” I muttered.

“No, I’m not,” he said, punctuating his point by pulling up the fold of drapery between us. I closed my eyes when I felt his bare, luscious body against mine. Only minutes ago, I’d been more than sated, but now, hunger rose as if I’d been long denied.

Why wouldn’t I have known that sex with him would be addictive? He didn’t have an endless stream of women and men chasing after him for no reason. But I couldn’t afford to crave him this way. That was almost as dangerous as our perilous circumstances. He hadn’t only found an entry into my deepest secrets; I was afraid he’d also cracked a door into my heart.

“What’s your real name?” I asked, hoping his rejection of the bald question would put brakes on my emotions.

I felt him stiffen in all the wrong ways. I thought my deflection worked and he was about to leave. Then he said, “I’ll tell you on the condition that you never call me by it. I chose to keep the name Ian long ago and Ian I’ll remain.”

“Agreed,” I said, curiosity getting the better of me.

“Killian.” He said it with a touch of bemusement, as if he’d forgotten what it felt like for that name to cross his lips. “The name I was born with was Killian.”

I absolutely should not tell him this next part. Should not, should not . . . oh, screw it. “The name Tenoch gave me was Ariel. He picked it because that was the name of the town he rescued me from.” I let out a small laugh. “Now, everyone who hears ‘Ariel’ thinks of a fictional mermaid. Even if I hadn’t been forced to change my name for secrecy long ago, I still would have changed it because of that.”

“Tenoch gave it to you? You don’t remember the name you were born with?”

I closed my eyes and saw only fire; the earliest memory I had. “No. I was too young when Dagon’s people burned my village. When I rose from the ashes, they took me to their master, and Dagon only ever called me ‘girl.’”

I’d long wondered if the reason I burst into flames and turned into ashes every time I died was because that’s what had happened the first time. Or maybe, it’s what would happen to anyone with my lineage. I didn’t know. I was the only one of my kind, to the best of my knowledge.

Now the hands that settled on me were comforting instead of sensual. “That must be why you’re so determined to see Dagon dead.”

My laugh was bitter. “It’s not, actually. I wouldn’t risk the thousands of new years I could live by going on a probable suicide quest just to avenge myself.”

His pause sounded surprised. “If not yourself, then who are you trying to avenge?”

The thousands of people whose screams still echo in my ears. But if I told Ian that, I’d have to tell him the rest, and I couldn’t. The memories hurt too much.

“Why am I telling you any of this?” I wondered out loud. “I don’t know what it is about you that’s gotten me to tell you secrets only Tenoch has known. I didn’t even tell Xun Guan what I really was, and she’s been my closest friend and occasional lover for centuries.”

His snort rustled my hair. “You might have known Xun Guan longer than I’ve been alive, but she’s not a true friend. If she was, she wouldn’t have made you prove your claim about me. She would have let it go. People who value the law above all else might be admirable, but they make terrible confidants. If your other friends and former lovers are like her, it’s little wonder you shared your secrets with me. Circumstances might’ve forced you to reveal some of them, but you told me the rest because you know I need you, so you know I won’t betray you. And since I’m a scoundrel who’s done far worse, you also know I won’t judge you.”

“You’re far less scoundrel than you claim. In fact, I’m going to have to rewrite your entire dossier once this is over.”

He chuckled. “Don’t you dare. I’ve worked very hard to build my terrible, sleazy reputation.” Then his laughter faded and his tone turned serious. “There’s another reason, of course. The very real possibility that both of us will be dead soon. That’s why you’re sharing some of your most closely guarded secrets. Same reason I shared some of mine with you. When time is short, anything less than honesty feels like a waste of effort.”

How true that was, too.

“I still would like to know why you’re risking your life to kill Dagon,” he said, his tone softer now. “But if you don’t want to tell me, or if you simply can’t, I understand.”

Part of me did want to tell him, surprisingly. He must be right. After Tenoch died, I’d lost the only person who’d known everything about me and had accepted me anyway. I hadn’t realized how lonely I’d been until I’d found someone else I could share my secrets with. And yes, time might be short indeed, so clinging to my secrets might be the very definition of wasted effort.

But I also couldn’t bear to relive the most horrifying aspects of my past. Not now. I needed to keep them buried. Dangerous though Ian was to my heart, I knew he could wipe the past and everything else from my mind.

“I don’t want to talk anymore,” I said, turning around and pressing my mouth to his.

He responded at once, as if he knew how desperate I was to escape the memories that chased me. Soon, his mouth, hands, and body claimed my complete attention. This time, I didn’t need any prompting to release all my control. He’d already proved that he could take everything I had, and I gave it without restraint.

As for the club . . . well, that turned out to be more fragile. Still, that’s what insurance was for, right? In case it didn’t cover all the damage, I’d arrange for a check to be sent to the owners later. It would be the best money I’d ever spent.

Chapter 28

We left the club at dawn. As a vampire, that was my least favorite hour to travel, yet at the moment, it was also the safest. With the sun out, we didn’t have to worry about Dagon sneaking up on us if he decided to ignore my father’s warning so soon. And the bright rays of light now elicited a smile from me instead of how I’d recoiled from them yesterday. What a difference a lack of hangover made. And lots of sex.

I dressed in clothes I’d found in the club’s Lost and Found. They didn’t match, but it hardly mattered. Ian was wearing a police uniform. I doubted he’d found that in Lost and Found, so I surmised that one of the officers who’d showed up at the club last night must have left wearing a lot less than he’d arrived with. I could only imagine the story Ian would’ve implanted in his head to explain the lack of clothes, too.

Silver walked by our side, leashed as if he were any other pet. I’d glamoured him so his wings and feathers were invisible. Now, he only looked like a smaller version of a gray Samoyed.

I’d glamoured myself, too, using the appearance I normally wore. The waif, to hear Ian describe it. Yes, it was less beautiful and curvy than my true form, but Tenoch had given me this appearance, using his biological daughter for the template. I’d kept my skin color, but I still considered wearing his daughter’s face and form one of the highest honors of my life. Tenoch had loved her so much, he’d remembered every detail of her even thousands of years after her death. He’d shared his beloved memory with me to help conceal me from Dagon, my former captors, and the rest of Dagon’s followers. Even before he’d made me a vampire, Tenoch had treated me as if I were family.