It had been far too long since she’d let go with her lover. When lust could kill, you always had to keep your control in bed.

Even when you wanted to let it shatter.

Sam’s dark head lifted. She saw the same lust she felt reflected in his eyes.

But then his gaze left her as his stare swept the street. “Where is he?”

Right. Business before pleasure. “Close.” She started walking, and Sam fell in right beside her. Rogziel had a containment center set up in the middle of the warehouse district. A low-profile place on the outside, but one that was well secured and perfect on the inside for the type of work Rogziel preferred.

Good thing she knew just how to get inside that warehouse.

They moved closer to the hulking shadows made by the buildings. They advanced in silence as the path twisted and turned. Ten minutes. Fifteen.

When Warehouse 609 appeared before them, Seline stopped. She put her hand on Sam’s chest. “This is as far as you go.” Her voice was a breath of sound.

“The hell it is.” He rocked forward, and his muscles tensed beneath her palm. “Is he in there, is he—”

Her hand fisted in his shirt-front and she jerked. The fabric tore. He blinked at her. “You don’t go in,” she said, this time making her words an order. Her gaze swept the front of the warehouse. It looked like two guards were stationed outside.

It wasn’t those two that they had to worry about. If Rogziel was inside . . . hello, hell.

“My boss could be in there—him and a dozen other guards that we don’t want to piss off right now.” Sometimes, you had to pick your moments. Going up against Rogziel when he had his little army at his beck and call wasn’t a good idea. “Let me go in and scout the scene. Your brother was here, but they could have moved him to a new site already.” Or they could have killed him, and just where would that leave me?

Sam glared down at her.

“We have a deal,” she snapped at him, running a not-quite-steady hand through her hair as she tried to smooth it back. “I don’t want to go in with guns blazing, okay?” Because she did have a few friends who should be in that warehouse. Well, semi-friends. Humans didn’t usually like to get too close to her. “Let’s try to keep the body count to a minimum.”

“Why do you care?” He seemed genuinely confused.

Well, crap. What? Did he think a succubus couldn’t feel? She felt too much. “Because I don’t want any more blood on my hands. I’ve already got enough.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I can get inside instantly, I can search the warehouse, and if your brother is still there”—okay, this was the dicey part—“I’ll serve him up to you on a silver platter.” As long as you remember that you owe me.

He stared at her. Time slipped away in silence.

She shifted her weight to her right foot. “Jeez, look, we don’t have all—”

“Go in.” His shoulders rolled. “But if you try to cross me, it’ll be the worst mistake you make. I promise you that.”

Sam crossed his arms and watched Seline slip away. He didn’t trust her, not for a moment, but . . .

I want her.

Even though he knew better than to want a succubus. Talk about a lethal package.

She approached the guards. They must have recognized her because they opened the double doors and led her right inside the building.

Is Az in there? His back teeth were clenched. To be so close to his vengeance now. So close.

Don’t betray me, Seline. If she did, if this was just a setup . . . She’d learn just how painful his touch could be.

“Seline? What the hell?”

She turned at the call and found Alex Graham striding toward her. He wore all black, and a holster circled his shoulders.

A human, one who made it his mission to hunt monsters.

And one who should have been her backup for the night.

She let her face harden with anger because she had a role to play. “Did you forget that you were supposed to be watching my ass?” she demanded.

His eyes swept over her, lingering just a bit on the cuts that still sliced across her wrist and forearm. He shrugged, the move far too careless for her taste. “I thought you were dead. I saw that guy grab you and pull you back inside the house.”

Oh, so he had been watching. Then when things got hot, he’d turned tail and run. Way to leave a woman behind. “You didn’t think about coming to my aid?” That’s what a team was supposed to be for.

“That wasn’t my job.”

She took the hit and kept her chin up.