Enzi took me down the hall to an elevator this time. When I looked at him questioningly, he explained.

"He's a few floors up. You can take the stairs if you want to, but this is more efficient."

"This is fine."

The gold doors were shiny enough to show us our reflections as we waited.

In silence.

"So...do you get a lot of trespassers?" I asked. I was so amazing at small talk. I watched his reflection look over to me and then turn back to look straight ahead again.

"No."

Good to know. Guess I was in the minority. At least I was special.

We stepped into the elevator and Enzi pressed the button for the forty-fourth floor. My eyebrows rose at that. I guess his definition of a few and mine weren't exactly the same.

We stood in silence again as the elevator rose. Enzi broke it this time.

"You shouldn't push him too much," he said quietly.

"Push who?" I asked, though I had a pretty good idea of who he was talking about.

"Ashur," he confirmed. "He doesn't take kindly to trespassers. You're only alive because you have a child with you."

That was good to know, too. And so comforting.

The doors finally opened into another hall, though this one was short. And the floor wasn't covered in carpet but rather in gleaming faux wood. I looked up from my contemplation of the floor as we walked to the end of the hallway.

What were those sounds?

The hall abruptly opened up into a cavernous space, the ceiling maybe three stories high. Recessed lights illuminated the room, along with sconces around the walls. There were open archways in the middle of every wall in the room, ostensibly leading to other connecting rooms.

On one side of the space, practice mats were laid out on the floor. On the other side, the wall was covered in various weapons. Swords, knives, spears, maces, whips. I didn't know in what scenario a whip would be efficient but there you go.

This was clearly a room set up to train, which was exactly what it was currently being used for. Men and women were focused on exerting themselves, improving their skills. They were dressed in an array of differing outfits. Loose flowing pants, leggings or shorts and sports bras. There didn't seem to be a strict uniform of any kind.

Some were practicing throws and what looked like some form of martial arts on the mats, while others were sparring with weapons or practicing combinations on the heavy bags in the back.

Even among all that activity and all the toned and muscled bodies on display, my eye immediately went to one.

Ashur.

This was the first time I'd seen him in good lighting. His bronze skin gleamed under that illumination, his chest bared but his legs covered in loose, black pants. His focus was on his opponent, a tall but whiplash thin man who had the grace of flowing water.

I watched them attack each other, Ashur's blows fast and powerful, the other man's flowing and almost delicate. The thin man was pretty to look at but Ashur quickly got the upper hand.

His fighting style wasn't elegant or for show. It was brutal and efficient. And it didn't take long before the other man was on the ground with Ashur pinning him. He tapped out and Ashur got back to his feet, lending a helping hand up.

I didn't think he'd noticed our entrance, but as soon as he turned away from his opponent, his eyes zeroed in on me.

I could finally see that they were a pale, crystal-clear blue. At the moment, they were icy cold. His hair was dark with paler gold streaks that looked sun bleached, the length just long enough to fall over his forehead but not long enough to obscure his eyesight. It was cut shorter at the sides and the back.

His eyes took me in and then immediately turned to Enzi. The question was clear.

"She wanted to see you and I would've had to use force to stop her," he explained.

Ashur shook his head as someone threw a towel at him and he used it to wipe down his face and chest on the way over to us.

My eyes fell down to his bare feet. Somehow, even they were sexy. I really needed to get ahold of myself.

He stopped a few feet away from me, tossing the towel into a bin near the door.

"Enzi, you can wait over there."

His eyes didn't move from my face as Enzi shifted away. Now that I was up close, the sheer physicality of him hit me again. He towered over me. And he wasn't just taller. His frame itself was large and he'd packed a good amount of muscle onto it. This was a body honed to fight.

He stared at me for a moment longer and then turned to one of the doorways. "Come with me."

I followed behind him silently, everyone's eyes on me even as they continued to do what they had been doing. I kept my eyes focused on the broad back in front of me, trying not to look down at that butt. I was largely unsuccessful.

The doorway led out to a large balcony that took up the whole side of the building. The night air was cool and fresh, and up this high, it was in motion all around us.

Ashur went up to the ornately carved railing and leaned against it, facing out, even though there were various groupings of places to sit along the length of the balcony. I took my cue and leaned against the railing a few feet down from him. I turned my head to watch his clean profile as he looked out at the city below. I had a sudden image of his dragon form crouched at the top of the building, surveying his domain.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

Straight to the point. I could work with that.

"I need to know if you're going to let us go. Not that I don't appreciate your hospitality." That last bit probably wasn't smart to add, but did he expect me to be a happy prisoner?

He nodded, still not looking at me. "Do you know anything about the Phoenix King?" he asked.

I frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

He finally turned to face me. "Since that child has phoenix blood, and you're saying you're taking him to meet his family, the only logical conclusion here is that you're going to phoenix territory. So, the question is very relevant."

I tilted my head to the side as I regarded him. My impulse was to tell him that my knowledge or lack thereof was none of his business. But I wasn't exactly on stable ground here. We were in the middle of his territory, in his stronghold, and what happened to us now was completely up to him. It wouldn't be smart to antagonize him, no matter how much my impetuously smart mouth wanted to.

"I don't know much about him," I admitted.

He shook his head. "Then why did you take this job?" he asked, his tone disbelieving and more than a little judgmental.

Okay, that was taking it a little too far. I didn't need his opinion on my choices. He didn't know me. "Now, that really isn't any of your business," I countered, my voice calm. Though I doubted my expression was.

One corner of his mouth tilted up in a smirk. "See, that's where I have to disagree with you. Again. You decided to trespass on my territory. That was a mistake. You are now my business." He closed the distance between us in one long stride, until he was merely inches away. Until the heat from his body washed over my own and the scent of him filled my nose, hot and pure male.

I swallowed, my heartbeat picking up. "I apologize. I won't make the same mistake again."

His smile widened. "I don't think you understand the ramifications of what you did." I froze as his hand reached up and took a lock of my dark hair, sliding it through his fingers. His eyes never left mine. "Trespassers forfeit all rights. I could do anything I wanted and I would be within our laws."

His voice was low, intimate.

I should have been angry. I should have been insulted. But while those emotions were present, they were confused, mixed oddly with others. Doubt. Curiosity.

The whole mess overlaid with an undeniable heat, an attraction I couldn't explain.

The same feeling was mirrored in his eyes. He let me see the heat in them. I didn't know if it was supposed to be a threat, or a way to manipulate me. No matter what the intention, it certainly had an effect. After a few moments of invading my personal space, he took a step back.

I let out a silent breath tinged with relief. And maybe some regret. Because obviously my judgment was completely off in this case.

"I think it's best if you go back to your room now," he said, his eyes going back to the doorway we'd come through. "You should stay there tonight. For your own safety." Then he turned away from me to look back over the city.

I was dismissed. Enzi was already waiting for me. With one last look at Ashur, I walked over to Enzi. I was leaving with only more questions. And no real answers.

Enzi led me back through the practice room. Had they been listening? I met a woman's eyes, and she quickly looked away.

Of course they had.

Enzi led me back to the bank of elevators and we stepped inside. He waited for the doors to close.

"I hope you got the answer you were looking for. Ashur isn't exactly happy with me."

I shook my head. "I don't know if I got the answer I was looking for. But I got something," I murmured.

He glanced over at me. I could sense his hesitation.

"You should be careful," he finally said as elevator doors opened and we walked down the carpeted hall to my room. "You're already playing with fire by just being here."

I opened the door and looked back at him. "Maybe," I acknowledged. "But it seems to me I'm already in the fire." I stepped into the dark room and closed the door behind me.

I didn't know what to focus on as I found a pair of pajamas in the closet and took a shower. I slid into bed next to Omari, the future no clearer than when I'd left. But the events of the last couple of days had caught up with me. I closed my eyes.

And despite everything, I slept.

I'd deal with tomorrow when it came.