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I pulled the Browning and put my back to the door. A man stepped around the corner from the dining room area. He was tall, thin, with black hair cut short in front, long in back, the latest style. He just stood there, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, smiling at me.

A second man came up from behind the couch, shorter, more muscular, blond, smiling. He sat on the couch, hands where I could see them. Nobody had any weapons, or none that I could see.

“Who the hell are you?”

A tall black man came out of the bedroom. He had a neat mustache, and dark sunglasses hid his eyes.

The lamia stepped out beside him. She was in human form, in the same red dress as yesterday. She wore scarlet high heels today, but nothing else had changed.

“We’ve been waiting for you, Ms. Blake.”

“Who are the men?”

“My harem.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They belong to me.” She trailed red nails down the black man’s hand hard enough to leave a thin line of blood. He just smiled.

“What do you want?”

“Mr. Oliver wants to see you. He sent us to fetch you.”

“I know where the house is. I can get there on my own.”

“Oh, no, we’ve had to move,” she said, swaying into the room. “Some nasty bounty hunter tried to kill Oliver yesterday.”

“What bounty hunter?” Had it been Edward?

She waved a hand. “We were never formally introduced. Oliver wouldn’t let me kill him, so he escaped, and we had to move.”

It sounded reasonable, but . . . “Where is he now?”

“We’ll take you to him. We’ve got a car waiting outside.”

“Why didn’t Inger come for me?”

She shrugged. “Oliver gives orders and I follow them.” A look passed over her lovely face—hatred.

“How long has he been your master?”

“Too long,” she said.

I stared at them all, gun still out but not pointed at anyone. They hadn’t offered to hurt me. So why didn’t I want to put the gun up? Because I’d seen what the lamia changed into, and it had scared me.

“Why does Oliver need to see me so soon?”

“He wants your answer.”

“I haven’t decided yet whether to give him the Master of the City.”

“All I know is that I was told to bring you. If I don’t, he’ll be angry. I don’t want to be punished, Ms. Blake; please come with us.”

How do you punish a lamia? Only one way to find out. “How does he punish you?”

The lamia stared at me. “That is a very personal question.”

“I didn’t mean it to be.”

“Forget it.” She swayed towards me. “Shall we go?” She had stopped just in front of me, close enough to touch.

I was beginning to feel silly with the gun out, so I put it up. Nobody was threatening me. A novel approach.

Normally, I still would have offered to follow them in my car, but my car was dead. So . . . if I wanted to meet Oliver, I had to go with them.

I wanted to meet Oliver. I wasn’t willing to give him Jean-Claude, but I was willing to give him Alejandro. Or at least enlist his aid against Alejandro. I also wanted to know if it was Edward who had tried to kill him. There weren’t that many of us in the business. Who else could it be?

“Alright, let’s go,” I said. I got my leather jacket from the couch and opened the door. I motioned them all out the door. The men went without a word, the lamia last.

I locked the door behind us. They waited politely out in the hall for me. The lamia took the tall black man’s arm. She smiled. “Boys, one of you offer the lady your arm.”

Blondie and black-hair turned to look at me. Black-hair smiled. I hadn’t been with this many smiling people since I bought my last used car.

They both offered me their arms, like in some late movie. “Sorry, guys, I don’t need an escort.”

“I’ve trained them to be gentlemen, Ms. Blake; take advantage of it. There are precious few gentlemen around these days.”

I couldn’t argue with that, but I also didn’t need help down the stairs. “I appreciate it, but I’m fine.”

“As you like, Ms. Blake.” She turned to the two men. “You two are to take special care of Ms. Blake.” She turned back to me. “A woman should always have more than one man.”

I fought the urge to shrug.