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visit the Guardian.” Garran glanced at the doorway. “You may retire here while I am gone.”
    She wasn’t about to argue. At this moment she needed time alone, time to compose herself.
    â€œRest well,” he said before he turned and strode out of the room.
    Hannah stared after him. He was delicious—the way he moved, the flex of muscles in his back and shoulders, his snug leather pants molding to what looked like a very tight ass …
    All too soon he had vanished from sight.
    She shook her head to rattle the thoughts out.
    Drow magic .
    But he had given his word, and she believed him. She actually believed that this man, someone she’d always thought to be a traitor due to past events, was truthful.
    At least in this .
    The strength of Garran’s character—from her usually right-on intuition—told her he was a good man, even if she didn’t agree with what he’d done before she’d met him. He did what was in the best interests of his people.
    She rubbed her temple with one hand as she shut the arched wooden door with her other then walked to the bed and perched on the edge of it. She couldn’t get the man out of her mind. She could imagine the feel of his lips … what he would taste like … how it would feel with his mouth on her breasts … the silk of his hair in her hands … his thick hardness pressed against her belly …
    Hannah squeezed her eyes tight and took a deep breath.
    Tomorrow. Tomorrow things would be different. She
would act the diplomat, maintaining the five Cs. Calm. Cool. Composed. Collected. Controlled.
    She opened her eyes again and stared at a tapestry of a Drow couple, and the collar around the woman’s neck.
    Or not .

CHAPTER FOUR
    IN HER HUMAN FORM, Ceithlenn struggled to catch her breath as she stayed in the shadows, away from the lights illuminating the sidewalks and street. Fuck, but she was weak. Her legs trembled, as rubbery as Underworld grubs, and her normally keen sight wavered.
    Fury at her drained and vulnerable state boiled in a heated pool in her belly.
    The D’Anu witches, the D’Danann warriors, the human cops. This was their fault. She would make them all pay for what they had done.
    And Darkwolf. His betrayal will cost him dearly .
    But first, she had to regain the full strength of her powers. Then she would deal with them.
    Ceithlenn’s neck seemed to barely support her head as she turned her attention to the top of the rolling San Francisco street. Soon a pair of guardsmen would patrol the silent area and when Ceithlenn dealt with them, she would replenish her power and her magic for another night.
    For now I must rest. Conserve my strength for what is most important .
    She sucked in a deep breath as she leaned back against the brick wall next to the window of the small neighborhood grocery store. What her body wanted to do was slide down to the sidewalk, curl up into a ball, and sleep. She clenched her teeth and braced her palms flat on the brick
wall, the roughness of it biting her flesh as she forced herself to relax.
    â€œBalor,” she whispered to the night. “I will find you soon, my love.”
    Ceithlenn put her fingertips to her temples and bowed her head. She brought forth an image of her beloved husband. His muscular form, the strong lines of his jaw and his cheekbones, and the empty eye socket in the middle of his forehead.
    â€œWhere are you?” Her words drifted away with the ocean-scented breeze.
    With her eyes still shut tight, she focused. Sent waves of energy, as much as she could release without sacrificing all of her strength. Her mind skimmed city streets, homes, buildings.
    Nowhere! She couldn’t sense him at all.
    An ache twisted inside her as if a Fomorii demon had wrapped its claws around her heart. Balor . He had been forced to transport somewhere in this city moments after he arrived.
    I must find him. I must!
    A shriek almost ripped from within