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Bright neon lights glazed froaze darted left and right I&039; a B and E as the arresting officer would sayShe pursed her lips together and fought a shiver She&039;d never aded an intense adrenaline rush

She and Darius stood outside Jason&039;s swanky apart her heated skin She pressed her back to the brownstone, and cast another glance to her right Unfortunately Darius couldn&039;t ically teleport them inside He had to visualize a room first, and he&039;d never been inside Jason&039;s She wondered, though, how he planned to get them in undetected

"What if we set off the alar the streets suspect the truth? She earing all black, after all Criminal colors

"We will not," Darius answered confidently

"Security guards observe screens of every corridor, maybe every roouard us before we set a single foot inside" He leveled her with an intense stare "Are you ready?"

She gulped, nodded

"Put your arht hesitation, Grace intertwined her shaky fingers around his neck, pressing her breasts into the hardness of his chest Tingles raced through her nipples "We could get into serious trouble for this," she said "I don&039;t knohy I suggested it"

He grazed her lips with his own "Because you love your brother"

Ripping fabric drifted to her ears a split second before Darius&039;s shirt fell to the ground His long, glorious wings unfurled Her heartbeat galloped as her feet lost their solid anchor on the ground Whoosh WhooshA cool breeze stirred

"What&039;s happening?" she gasped, but she knew the answer "Darius, this is-"

"Do not panic," he said, his grip on her tightening "I have not forgotten how to fly All you need do is hang on to hed "I&039; on the Darius Express" They her with every second that passed

He uttered a chuckle of his own and shook his head "I expected fear from you Will you ever cease to a how the cars and people appeared like s in the air

A hunter&039;sin intensity until she could only gape at its lue vibration unfurled froht treh the entire apart stopped

"We are safe now," he said

She didn&039;t ask how exactly since they had reached Jason&039;s upper balcony As his wings glided theround The action drew a grunt frolanced up at his face His cheekbones stretched taut and lacked any color He kept his gaze froain," she said, concerned "Perhaps you should go home and-"

"I am fine" Irritation-with her or hiet him out of here as quickly as possible "Let&039;s hurry, then"

White gauzy drapes billowed around the French double doors Grace brushed them aside and tried the knob Locked "Do you kno to pick these?"

"No need" Darius ushered her aside, positioned himself in front of the doors and spewed rays of fire The wood around the glass panels quickly charred The tinkle of glass erupted as the panels fell and hit the ground

"Thank you" Stepping over the jagged pieces, Grace waved her hand in front of her nose to whisk away the smoke Unabashedly she entered Jason Graves&039;s home "It&039;s so dark," she whispered

"Your eyes will adjust" He didn&039;t use a breaking-and-entering voice He used a why-are-you-whispering-you-silly-woman voice

Even as he spoke, her vision opened and objects becalass coffee table "What about motion sensors and security cameras?" she asked "Are we one hundred percent protected fro herself to relax, she padded throughout the living roos and jewels-yes, jewels-hanging on the walls "So s to hih the mist and into Atlantis"

Darius remained at the threshold, his teeth bared in a red-hot snarl as he took in the stolen Atlantean artifacts

"I know you&039;re a child of the gods," she said, hoping to distract hiod Where does yourhis infuriated edge He entered, his steps clipped "He practiced the ancient arts"

The ie of his parents&039; lifeless bodies flashed in her ain, exactly as she&039;d seen the spell She ached for the little boy he&039;d been, the child who&039;d found his faine the pain he must have suffered-and still suffered

"I&039; her remorse and sorrow seep out with the words "Your loss of falanced over at her "How did you know they were gone?"

"I saw the spell"

His shoulders straightened, and surprise flashed through his eyes "They werefor him

"Perhaps one day I will tell you of theed hesitant, but there all the saht noe must search for any information this Jason has about Atlantis and your brother"

"I&039;ll check the library for the Book of Ra-Dracus " She looked around "I&039; to bet he&039;s the one who stole it from my brother"

"I will search the rest of the holance, they branched off The floors were polishedout of a azine Upstairs, Grace quickly found the study Piles of books littered every corner, and soh each one, finding references to dragons and liquid nitrogen, ic spells and vae walnut desk consulobe made completely of as that? Soed like crystal She studied it le body of land Around Atlantis And a pulsing sapphire

Though she wanted to study it more closely, she forced herself on the h the papers on top Finding nothing of i for several minutes, pried open the drawer locks Inside the bottom drawer, she discovered photos that shocked and repelled her She covered her es depicted dragon and hu from multiple bullet wounds So in a jewel-encrusted cell, dirty but alive Several held grotesque i off the dragon bodies The hu off to the side watched, their expressions a ust, and titillation

Why take photos of his crimes? As a momento? To prove the existence of Atlantis? Or did he hope to write a book, How I Like to Kill ? She scowled

She replayed the vision of her brother that Darius&039;s medallion had supplied This room wasn&039;t the one Alex first occupied This was a different room, one she knew resided in Atlantis Those jeweled walls were very similar to what she&039;d seen inside Darius&039;s hoht,with hi disquiet, because the next thing she knew, he stood over her

"What do you-" He paused, then very slowly, very precisely, reached over her shoulder and slipped the photos from her hands She tried to pry them from him because she didn&039;t want hihtly "This is Javar and his men And these are va proof of their actual existence settled like lead in her sto to face him His eyes narrowed, but even frolowed ice-blue Fragrief radiated from him and into her

"What else is in there?" He set the photos aside with one fluid e the subject, she said, "That&039;s it Did you find anything?"

"More artifacts fro cold determination, he clasped her hand "Jason Graves deserves so much more than death He deserves to suffer"

Another shudder worked through her, because she kneould do everything in his power to see that Jason got exactly what he deserved

And she planned to help hiainst the wall

She and Darius arrived hoid with tension He refused to speak She hated this, hated the re from him

He sat on the couch, his head back, his eyes closed Not knohat else to do, she quietly approached "I want to show you so"

His eyelids reluctantly opened When he offered no reply and made no move to rise, she added, "Pretty please with a cherry on top"

Not a single word left his lips, but he stood Grace wrapped her fingers around his and ushered him into the bathroom She didn&039;t explain her actions; she si, then her own He was in need of loving-and she was going to give it to hi the knobs and allowing the water to heat, she stepped inside the tub and tugged Darius in behind her Still he remained silent Hot water cascaded down their naked bodies, and as she stood in front of hiot a joke for you," she said, on jokes

He frowned-his first reaction It didn&039;t iven her a frown She&039;d take anything she could get

"What did the dragon say when he saw a knight in shining arhed

"Oh, no, not another canned meal"

Slowly, so slowly, his lips inched up in a se of pride I made him smileShe basked in the warrow So sweet, so endearing, it lit his entire face His eyes darkened, becoertip over her cheekbone

"Tell me another one," he said

She nearly sank to her knees in relief at the sound of his rich, husky voice Grinning happily, she slipped behind hi," she warned

"Even better," he said, tugging her in front He nibbled on her ear, dragging the sensitive lobe through his teeth