Damien closed another book. They’d been at it for five days and only three books remained in the unread stack. He now knew more about demons, warlocks, and cults than he ever wanted to and he remained no closer to finding Connor’s hiding place. The only things the books had in common were demons and the haunted lands, and he doubted even a warlock would try hiding in that undead-filled wasteland.

He ran a hand through his hair. They were almost done. He just had to buckle down and finish up.

The library seemed even quieter than usual; the soft rustle of pages being turned or the tapping of students’ shoes on the hard floor no longer filled the silence. They had the whole place to themselves, aside from Mistress Lenore. The library had the hollow, lifeless feeling of a tomb.

Damien shook his head. That was the books talking. Spending fourteen hours a day reading about the worst of humanity could put a man in a dark mood.

Ann slid closer to him on the bench, pressing her hip against his. Damien inched away and she slid over again until they were touching.

Damien smiled. She played this game every time he showed signs of flagging and he loved her for it. He slipped his hand under the table and squeezed her bare knee. She flinched and slid back to her side of the bench. He’d discovered that, despite her flirtatious nature, if he showed any interest she backed off at once. Apparently she only enjoyed the game if he didn’t want to play. Knowing that made it even more fun to tease her back.

“Find anything interesting?” he asked.

“Does the fact that some people are every bit as awful as the worst demon count?”

“No, I already knew that. I was thinking about something that might give us a hint where Connor is hiding.”

“I can’t help you with that. Is there any way to unread all this horror? I never dreamed such awful books existed much less waited for anyone interested to find in our library.”

Damien slid closer to her and put his arm around her. It seemed that, that despite her provocative dress and manner, Ann remained quite innocent about just how terrible the world could be. He felt a little bad about giving her a crash course.

“You’ve been a huge help, you know. What do you say we finish these last three books then head over to the Dancing Pony. I’ll buy you that chocolate cake you like and we can split a bottle of good red wine.”

She smiled, though her eyes still looked sad. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Then it’s a date.” He kissed her on the cheek.

Ann’s face turned red and he forced himself not to grin. Teasing was kind of fun. He understood why she enjoyed it so much.