He tried to hand me the amaretto, but I shook my head and reached over his lap. No more sweet stuff. I grabbed the bottle of golden tequila, screwing off the top and draining it fast.

What if the bond was still visible? I was so nervous. What would Pharzuph do to us if Astaroth saw something? He wouldn’t kill me because they needed me for the summit. Kaidan was a different story.

Fear struck and I stuck out my hand for another bottle, just to be on the safe side. He passed me the vodka and I made a face. I hated vodka, but I tilted my head back, slapping the carpet as the vodka burned its way down my throat. I held out my hand for another.

I stared at his hands as he signed, Are you sure?

It took me a second to comprehend what he’d said, and I nodded. He passed me the rum and I downed it, hardly feeling the burn this time.

I moved to adjust the way I was sitting, and swayed. Out of nowhere a giggle escaped me, and Kaidan’s eyes widened. Whoa, that was weird. I looked to the row of bottles, already wondering which I could have next, and he made a slashing movement of his hand across his throat to say I was cut off. A moment of panic overtook me. I realized, too late, that I’d had more than I probably needed. The alcohol was strong inside me, awakening and taunting the beast I worked so hard to keep tame.

Kaidan’s head turned to the door five seconds before the knock came. He looked at me, pleading with his eyes, bringing a finger to his lips before he got up to let them in. I was feeling at ease, not nearly as nervous as I thought I’d be when they got here. I would sit like a good girl and be quiet until they were gone. That was my big, brilliant plan.

I sat there in front of the open fridge while they walked down into the living room area toward me. Pharzuph and Kaidan stood side by side, feet apart, arms crossed. I covered my mouth and looked up at Astaroth.

He was as rugged as ever with his romance-novel-cover long golden hair and face made of jutting angles. He looked between me and Kaidan, his eyes landing on me with a severe frown.

“This one’s piss-drunk. I can’t get a reading.”

“A reading on what?” Kaidan asked in a hard voice. Nobody answered him.

I realized then that I should probably stand in the presence of the Dukes, but when I lifted myself from the floor, the alcohol hit me full force. Holy Moses! My balance was completely gone, and I tumbled into the arm of the couch, which was absolutely hilarious, and I couldn’t hold back the laughter.

“You don’t waste any time,” Pharzuph said to me.

“There’s more, see?” I pointed to the open fridge. “I didn’t drink it all. Want some?” It couldn’t hurt to be nice. Patti would be so proud of me.

“I’ll pass,” Pharzuph said, “but I think you should have another.” He smiled.

I smiled back because, well, that was awfully kind of him, and I agreed that another sounded like a wonderful idea.

I dropped to the floor in front of the mini fridge. I picked out two bottles, looking them over and finding the letters all sort of jumbled, so it took me a second to read them. I turned to the three men who were watching me. I wondered why Kaidan, my beautiful Kai, looked so friggin’ mad. I smiled up at them.

“If you don’t need me for anything else, I’ll just be on my way,” Astaroth said.

“Nothing more,” Pharzuph told him. “Maybe later. Thank you, Brother.”

Astaroth left the room.

“They need more tequila in these minibar fridge thingamajigs,” I said, settling on the gin.

Pharzuph laughed and looked at Kaidan, who was now leaning against the entertainment center with his arms crossed.

“I told you,” Kaidan said to his father. “She’s a lush. An idiot. I can’t believe you’d think there’d be a bond between us.”

Pharzuph chuckled at his son’s anger, and his smile was handsome. “Eh, you can’t really blame me for wondering when you wouldn’t even bang the stewardess today. You’re usually all about the cougars.”

“Eww!” I squealed. I wanted to claw those words from my ear canals.

“See,” Kaidan said. “Completely immature.”

I felt suddenly upset, though I couldn’t place why. I unscrewed the bottle of gin.

“You’re trashed,” Kaidan said. “You don’t need any more.”

“Oh, shut up.”

He tried to swipe my drink, but I yanked it back and took a glug.

“No touchie the drinkie. That’s bad, bad, bad.” I waggled a finger at him. “Why’re you being so grumpy, anyways? We’re in Vegas, baby!”

I stood up, grabbing the top of the fridge when I almost fell. A laugh erupted from my throat and I felt hyper. I wanted to jump on the bed and run down the halls!

“You are being obnoxious,” Kaidan said through clenched teeth. “It’s bad enough I have to babysit. I’m not holding your bloody hair if you puke.”

He looked severely angry, which made me laugh again because I was pretty sure we were playing a game.

My words dragged out when I tried to talk. “It’s funny to annoy you.” I poked a finger into his chest, which was yummily hard. I leaned into him, even though I was trying to stand straight. “You’re, like, sooo hot when you get mad.”

“I’d watch it, if I were you,” Pharzuph purred into my ear from behind. I jumped because I’d forgotten that he was still here—the guy who made me feel gross. I felt his hands on my waist and his mouth at my ear. “He can get pretty rough when he’s upset.”

Something inside me screamed that I was supposed to be careful and scared, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember why. I pulled away from Pharzuph’s embrace. Both of the guys were giving me menacing stares. I tipped back the rest of the gin and threw the empty bottle on the floor. These guys were getting annoying. I wanted to have fun.

“Whur’s the music?” I spun, looking for a radio, and everything blurred.

Pharzuph stepped close, grabbing my arms and getting in my face. “Where’s the sword?”

For some reason an image of the sword in the stone came to mind.

“I ain’t got a swoooord, crazy ass.” I laughed.

“Don’t talk to him like that,” Kaidan warned, moving toward us.

Pharzuph chuckled, but he didn’t look happy. “We’ll see, little girl.”

“Yeah, we will!” I said, laughing gleefully and throwing myself onto the couch. I clutched my stomach as an onslaught of giggles overcame me. “What the heck are we even talkin’ ’bout? I thought we were gonna dance.” I rolled off the couch and crawled to the fridge. I needed another drink. And maybe I could make drinks for the guys since they weren’t happy.

“I make the bestest drinks, guys. I’ll make you sooo happy.”

“Not likely,” Kaidan mumbled.

Pharzuph slapped him on the shoulder and jutted his chin toward me. “Yeah, good luck with that. And be careful. I wouldn’t put it past her to use your lust inclination as a distraction to escape. Don’t let her get the upper hand, you know what I’m saying?” He winked, and Kaidan nodded. “Don’t leave the room, and don’t let her out of your sight.”

“Yes, sir.”

Pharzuph watched me again.

I cracked open a beer, throwing the bottle top with amazing accuracy at Kaidan’s face, but he snatched it from the air before it hit him. I fell back onto the couch and kicked my legs in the air. Kaidan pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“Aw, c’mon, Kaidan Rowe, hottie-boom-bottie. Let’s play.”

Dang, I was funny.

“I see what you mean now,” Pharzuph said to Kai, eyeing me with disgust. “It does seem ridiculous that we thought she was the one. Still. We need to find out what she knows.”

Kaidan nodded. My head turned in slow motion as I watched Pharzuph leave. Kaidan raised his arms and shot both middle fingers up at the closed door. He then leaned back against the wooden entertainment center and shoved his hands through his hair before crossing his arms. He looked angry. And sexy.

H-O-T-T.

I wet my lips, feeling bold and single-minded when I realized we were alone. He slowly shook his head back and forth at me. I set my beer on the coffee table, stood, and walked to him, wishing good riddance to the last shred of my inhibitions. I was invincible. I could do anything I wanted. But what I chose to do was the most dangerous thing of all.