Playing with Fire

with it. He did not survive.’’

I put my hand on Gabriel’s chest, where his heart was. ‘‘Did you help sack Baltic’s castle?’’

‘‘Me?’’ Gabriel looked surprised for a moment before his dimples made a brief showing. ‘‘How old do you think I am?’’

‘‘Well… I don’t know. Five hundred years?’’ His dimples deepened.

‘‘Six?’’

‘‘I was born in 1702,’’ he answered. ‘‘My father was with Constantine when he made the final blow against Baltic, though. It was a victory, but one which was met with saddened and grieving hearts. The dragons who died were our family once.’’

‘‘Which brings us back to the point of who it is who’s doing all this,’’ Aisling said quickly, interrupting Kostya’s obvious rebuttal. ‘‘If it’s not Baltic, then who is it?’’

‘‘I don’t see why it matters who’s doing it so long as the phylactery has been returned,’’ Cyrene interjected.

We all looked at her.

‘‘Well, honestly, does it matter if it was this Baltic person, or another dragon, or a benevolent fairy who’s pulling the strings? All that matters is getting back Gabriel’s guards, not who took them.’’

‘‘The question of Baltic’s possible survival is of the greatest importance to the silver dragons, I assure you,’’ Gabriel told her.

‘‘Why?’’ she asked, her nose scrunched in confusion.

‘‘Why?’’ Gabriel asked, aghast.

‘‘I think I know what she means,’’ I said. ‘‘Assuming Baltic is alive, he is no longer the wyvern of the black dragons. You said the sept was destroyed, yes?’’ I asked Drake.

He nodded, his gaze flickering to his brother. ‘‘It was, although Kostya intends to gather what members remain and apply for recognition of the weyr.’’

‘‘Even if he did get that, though, it wouldn’t mean Baltic would immediately step into wyvernhood, would it?’’

‘‘Baltic will never again lead the black dragons,’’ Kostya said, his voice pitched low with warning. ‘‘The sept will be reborn, but I will lead it.’’

I bit back a retort about the wisdom of that little plan. ‘‘I begin to see Cyrene’s point. Assuming Baltic is alive, he’s been neutered by the loss of his sept, so why does it matter if he was the one who returned the phylactery?’’

‘‘It matters because of what Baltic is,’’ Gabriel answered.

‘‘A lunatic, you mean?’’ I asked.

Kostya shot me a nasty look and would have said something, but Aisling cleared her throat in a meaningful way.

‘‘Not just that-Baltic wielded great power,’’ Gabriel said with hesitation. ‘‘More power than was natural even for a wyvern. It was said he had learned the arcane arts.’’

‘‘Arcane? He was a mage?’’ Cyrene asked.

Kostya said nothing, which pretty much confirmed that guess.

‘‘I didn’t think dragons could be mages,’’ I said.

Gabriel and Drake exchanged glances. ‘‘None have ever been able to master the arcane skills a mage must control.’’

‘‘Except Baltic?’’ I asked.

‘‘That is what we believe.’’

‘‘Which means if he really is alive, he’s going to be one badass dragon,’’ Jim said.

‘‘All of this is moot. I killed Baltic three hundred years ago. What matters is the phylactery-and I want it returned immediately,’’ Kostya said.

‘‘How do you explain the theft of the phylactery in the first place if Baltic really was dead?’’ I asked.

He glowered. ‘‘You stole it from me.’’

‘‘How do you explain it assuming I didn’t steal it?’’

‘‘I would make no such assumption. You admitted you took it the night I caught you in my lair.’’

‘‘Oh, this is useless,’’ I said, getting off of Gabriel’s lap. ‘‘We’re just going round and round. Whether or not Baltic is alive, the important thing is to retrieve the phylactery, and find Maata and Tipene.’’

‘‘I thought you said you had the phylactery,’’ Aisling said.

‘‘I did have it-and then I was arrested, and my possessions taken from me, the phylactery included. So far as I know, it’s with my other things in the L’au-dela vault in Paris.’’

I was moving toward the door when Kostya shouldered me aside.

‘‘Where are you going, brother?’’ Drake asked him.

‘‘To reclaim what is mine,’’ he said with a dark look at Gabriel.

‘‘Like hell you are,’’ I said, dashing after him. ‘‘That phylactery belongs to Gabriel!’’

The room emptied out after us. For a moment, everyone stood looking at one another in the large entryway, then Kostya muttered something that had Gabriel lunging at him, Drake’s two men grabbed Gabriel, and Aisling started ordering her demon to stop her brother-in-law. But Kostya was gone before Jim could whip into action.

‘‘Agathos daimon,’’ I swore under my breath.

‘‘Should I follow him?’’ Pal asked Drake.

The latter hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. ‘‘No. He would just shake you.’’

‘‘May can follow him,’’ Cyrene said. ‘‘She’s very good at following people. I had a boyfriend once who I thought was two-timing me-he had the tiniest eyes, which I’ve always felt was a sign of a shifty nature- and May followed him around for a week without him ever knowing she was there.’’

‘‘Mayling will stay with me,’’ Gabriel said, grabbing my wrist and hauling me up the stairs after him.

‘‘Well… I suppose I could do it,’’ Cyrene said with a slight frown. ‘‘It can’t be that hard to follow someone. And I’ve been watching May do it for years.’’

‘‘Don’t even think about it,’’ I called from the top of the stairs. ‘‘He’s much too dangerous, Cy. We’ll keep an eye out for him, never fear.’’

The last I saw before Gabriel pulled me to our bedroom, Cyrene was still standing in the entryway, her lips pursed as Aisling smiled at her dragon.

‘‘To Paris?’’ Aisling asked.

‘‘To Paris,’’ Drake replied in a grim voice.

‘‘This is just like that wacky movie with the Black-adder guy, where they were all racing to find a treasure,’’ Jim said, its voice following us as we hurried down the hall. ‘‘Only with dragons, an ex-virgin doppelganger, and a really attractive Newfie. Bet people would pay big bucks to see this!’’

Chapter Twenty

‘‘I’m going to talk to Aisling for a few minutes,’’ I told Gabriel as we headed to our room to pack our things for the trip to Paris. ‘‘It’s just girl talk, nothing important.’’

He frowned as I went straight for the bag Istvan had so recently brought me. I had taken only one or two things out of it, so it was easily repacked. ‘‘Girl talk? Are you injured in some intimate manner?’’ He put his hand on my belly as if to feel some sort of internal problem. ‘‘Has our mating been too rough?’’

‘‘No, it’s nothing at all like that.’’

‘‘May, I am a healer in addition to being your wyvern,’’ he said with a serious expression. ‘‘You must tell me if you are having any sort of physical problem, no matter how embarrassing you find it.’’

‘‘Honestly, it’s nothing-’’

‘‘Take off your clothes,’’ he said, nodding toward the bed. ‘‘I will examine you to make sure all is well.’’

‘‘Agathos daimon! I just want to have a little girl talk with Aisling, Gabriel! I don’t need a gynecological exam! Besides, if I take off my clothes and get on that bed, you’ll end up with yours off, too, and we’ll never get to Paris.’’