I gave him a theatrical sigh. “You must think that your smile is charming.”

“Is it not?”

“You know what I see when you smile? Teeth. Teeth that can grow into big, scary fangs. We both know it’s a threat.”

He pushed from the floor, and the chair rolled back with him in it. “Do you feel less threatened now?”

“Not really. Keep rolling. Out the door, down the hall, down the steps…”

He tilted his head to the side. He really was stunning, especially when he smiled like right now.

“Why don’t you like me?” he asked.

“You menaced me on the bridge, showed up uninvited to my house, made veiled threats, tried to bribe me, and now you are contaminating my crime scene.”

“The bridge was a misunderstanding. I came to your house to apologize and offer help, and as for the crime scene, I was on this case before you were.” He spread his arms, a picture of innocence. “I’m blameless.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help myself; it just came out.

Ascanio leaned forward, feigning concern. “You stopped scowling for a second there. Are you alright?”

“Pe…” I caught myself. I was about to say “peachy,” and the moment he heard it, the game would be up. It was my mom’s favorite phrase. “Perfectly fine.”

A warm sensation washed over me. My ears heard a phantom lamentation, offered in an eager voice. My nostrils caught the scent of burning herbs and human flesh. It should have been revolting, and intellectually it was, but there was a part of me that found it comforting. A very small, faint voice whispered in my mind, “This is right, you should be offered this, this is your due.”

The ma’avirim had arrived.

The lament echoed in my mind. My pulse sped up. I couldn’t even sense the ma’avir at the first murder scene until I had concentrated on the glyph. This one radiated magic. It pressed on me, like a heated wall, sucking out the air and making it hard to breathe.

This would be an entirely different fight. I had to get Ascanio out of here. I couldn’t let him get hurt.

“We are getting nowhere,” he said. “How about this? Each of us asks one question, and the other gives an honest answer?”

“And then you leave.”

“Deal. Ladies first.”

I leaned back in the chair. “What advantage would you personally and/or Clan Bouda gain if you tie this murder to Desandra Kral?”

The charming smile vanished. The man who rose smoothly out of the chair was lethal and dangerous. He stalked across the room, put both hands on the desk, and leaned forward. He glared at me, his eyes like two bloody rubies lit up by fire from within. It was a stare that said I was food.

A cold shiver dashed down my spine. Ascanio was right before. When he threatened someone, they didn’t have to ask. Suddenly the office was too small, and I was acutely aware that I would have to get past him to reach the door.

“You made a deal.” I kept my tone cold. “Pay up or leave.”

The red light in his eyes grew brighter. His stare was difficult to hold. That’s twice in one night. First Derek, now him. This time, I wouldn’t be running.

Seconds ticked past.

Ascanio opened his mouth. His diction was perfect, but his voice was knitted from a growl. “Be very careful. You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s free advice. You had trouble with one overgrown human. I won’t go down that easy.”

That was about enough. Any longer, and he would get dragged into the fight. I had to get him gone. “That’s not what I heard.”

He whipped around and leapt out of the window. The sudden emptiness was startling.

I raised my chin. Showtime. “We’re alone now. Show yourself, worm. I don’t have all night.”

The darkness pooling in the corner of the room moved.

It flowed from the ceiling, from the floor, to its center, as if a large piece of the thinnest black gauze had been spread over the far wall and the floor and now someone caught it with a hook and was pulling it to me. I forced myself to sit still, my hand on the shaft of my spear.

The darkness coalesced into a human shape, tall, lean, male, and woven of fire. Smoke swirled around him, transforming into a voluminous black robe and a long cloak. Human skin the color of alabaster sheathed him, obscuring the fire, but failing to hide it completely. It was still there, licking his skin from the inside and warming it with a soft peach glow here and there.

Not just a ma’avir. One of the high priests. Shit. At least I’d gotten Ascanio out of here.

The ma’avir folded his hands in front of him, left palm up, right resting on top of it. He was hairless. No stubble, no eyebrows, no eyelashes. Just smooth skin stretched tight over angular features. His eyes, a light bluish green, fixed me. There was no surprise in them, only recognition. He came here especially for me.

The amount of magic he required to maintain a human form had to be staggering. I wasn’t sure I would win this fight.

The high priest gave me a shallow bow, little more than a nod. “We finally meet, Dananu.”

“What reason would I have to meet with a child killer?”

Leviticus 18:21 prohibited the faithful from sacrificing their children. The specific line stated, “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech.” The ma’avirim received their name from that act. They were the ones who took living children and “passed them through the fire” to their god. One didn’t become a high priest until he had murdered hundreds.

“I’ve hidden well, yet you knew I was there. Tell me, Dananu, does my magic call to you? Does the sacrificial fire smell sweet? Does its power tempt you?”

“No. It sickens me.”

“Really?” He tilted his head like a puzzled dog. “I think it beckons you. It’s a craving, a gnawing need that only sacrifice can satisfy. Imagine tasting it. Imagine the rush of power flooding through your throbbing veins.”

“Veins don’t throb. Arteries do.”

“Why deny yourself the ecstasy?”

“I don’t know, the burning babies alive part probably has something to do with it.”

“Life is pain and suffering. A nasty and brutish journey of toil and regret.” His magic pressed on me like a heavy weight.