Page 180 of Nobody Told Me Thrift Shops Sell Stolen Dragon Heirlooms

“There are no terms.”

I blinked. “I’m sorry?”

Dimitris looked at me, still smiling. “No apology necessary.”

“But you invited us here.”

“I did.”

“To discuss the burner.”

“Correct.”

“And now you’re saying you won’t discuss it?”

“I am discussing it. I am telling you no, you cannot have it.”

Rafe’s voice went low. “You wasted our time.”

“Of course.” Dimitris leaned back in his chair, pleased as a cat in sunlight. “You have been making such impressive progress. I wanted to see what would happen when hope arrived wearing a nice jacket.”

For a second, I couldn’t speak, but I got over that quickly. “That is deeply weird behavior.”

He laughed. “I am a phoenix, Ms. Bradley. What is time to me except a blink between rebirths?”

“A limited resource for everyone else in the room.”

“Precisely. That’s what makes spending it so satisfying.”

Rafe’s hand curled once against the arm of his chair, then relaxed. “You have no claim to the burner.”

“I have possession.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“To sentimental men, perhaps.”

The anger I felt then was hot and embarrassed and deeply personal. I had found the burner. I had emailed. I had let myself believe that maybe the world could give Rafe this cleanly, without forcing him to fight for every piece of his own family.

I should have known better.

Max rose and pressed his shoulder against my knee.

Dimitris looked down at him, and his smile lost its shine. “Ah,” he said. “He knows exactly when he’s needed, doesn’t he?”

“He’s selective,” I said. “You’re still under review.”

That made him laugh again.

When we finally stood to leave, Dimitris summoned one of his two staff members, a silent woman in black who appeared so quickly I suspected she had been waiting behind the wall.

“Parting gifts,” he said.

“Unnecessary,” Rafe replied.

“Oh, I insist. I would hate for you to leave with nothing but resentment.”

“That ship has sailed,” I snapped.