Playing with Fire

‘‘That is not my point. If you were to retain the phylactery, Kostya would continue to attack you and your sept to get it.’’

‘‘It seems to me he’s pretty much doing that anyway,’’ I said.

‘‘If he knows I have the phylactery,’’ Drake said, ‘‘Kostya won’t be happy, but he won’t have cause to continue to fight you. It might even do much to keep him in line.’’

Gabriel frowned. ‘‘You had it once, and lost it to him. I am not comfortable knowing that it could again fall so easily into his hands.’’

Drake’s eyes glittered emerald, but they were no match for the brilliant quicksilver fire that burned in Gabriel’s.

‘‘Do you imply that I ca

‘‘Sweetie.’’ Aisling put her hand on Drake’s arm to get his attention. ‘‘Defluff those hackles. Gabriel wasn’t insulting you any more than you were insulting him. I know you want to have the phylactery to keep it safe, but I think that in this case, Gabriel should have it.’’

Drake glared at his mate. She kissed the tip of his nose. ‘‘It won’t hurt you to let something go,’’ she reassured him. ‘‘Gabriel will keep it safe. He won’t use it to destroy Kostya, will you, Gabriel?’’

Gabriel was silent for a moment.

I dug an elbow into his ribs.

‘‘No,’’ he said with a resigned sigh. ‘‘The phylactery was not meant to be used as a weapon of revenge. I will honor it for what it is, and simply keep it safe.’’

I rewarded him with a smile and a little pinch of his thigh. He covered my hand with his, stroking my fingers in a silent gesture of acknowledgment.

It took a few more minutes of persuading before Drake reluctantly agreed to put the phylactery in Gabriel’s keeping. Since there were still several hours to go until deep night, Drake ordered Aisling to rest.

I followed her out of the room, leaving the dragons and Savian to talk.

The hallway held the usual furniture-a couple of chairs, some small tables, a large mirror against one wall. As I passed a small bureau, a telephone sitting on top of it rang. I glanced around for someone to answer it, but Aisling was upstairs, and the hall was empty.

‘‘Hello? Er… Vireo residence.’’

‘‘I wish to speak to… wait. Is this the doppelganger?’’

I recognized the voice at the other end almost immediately. It held a slightly Slavic accent, and for some reason, made the hairs on the backs of my arms stand on end.

‘‘Yes, this is May. What do you want, Kostya?’’

He chuckled. The door to the room I had just left opened, and Gabriel came out, followed by Drake and Savian. ‘‘The question is more what I have than what I want.’’

My stomach turned to lead for a moment. Had he gotten the phylactery and called to gloat about it?

‘‘I have something of yours, shadow walker. And I am willing to return it to you for a price.’’

Aisling appeared at the top of the stairs accompanied by Jim. ‘‘Was that the phone? Is it May’s twin?’’

‘‘What exactly are you talking about?’’ My eyes went to Gabriel, who immediately took a position next to me, his arm sliding around my waist as he leaned in to listen. Drake went across to another room, picking up the receiver there.

‘‘Are you missing a twin, perhaps?’’

I sucked in my breath. ‘‘If you’ve hurt her-’’

‘‘I do not harm women.’’ Kostya snorted. ‘‘Not unless they harm me first. Your twin is safe. For now.’’

‘‘Who’s on the phone?’’ Savian asked Aisling.

She raised her eyebrows as she watched her husband emerge with a cordless phone. ‘‘Judging by the smoke wafting out of him, I’d say it’s his brother.’’

‘‘Ah. They don’t get along?’’ he asked.

‘‘Something like that.’’ She came downstairs, stopping next to Drake.

‘‘Why did you kidnap her?’’ I asked Kostya. ‘‘What do you hope to gain by this?’’

‘‘I had no need to kidnap her,’’ Kostya told me. ‘‘She came willingly. My motive should be clear. She is in my power, and if you wish her to return safely, you will bring me the phylactery which you so recently stole.’’

‘‘That is not acceptable,’’ Drake started to say, but Gabriel, with a flash of quicksilver eyes, snatched the phone from me and snarled into it.

‘‘I knew you would show no honor in dealing with me, but to use an i

Kostya spat out an invective, but Drake interrupted before either of them could get into a verbal pissing match.

‘‘Have you so little disregard for your place in the weyr that you would even consider such a dishonorable act?’’ he asked. ‘‘This is nothing short of a declaration of war, brother. To continue will destroy all chances you have of gaining recognition for your sept.’’

‘‘There is no honor in the black dragons,’’ Gabriel growled, ‘‘just as there is no sept.’’

‘‘We will rise again,’’ Kostya promised. ‘‘And we will regain all that was lost to us.’’

‘‘What is he saying?’’ Aisling asked, trying to get Drake to let her listen in. ‘‘Is he being an idiot again? What a silly question, of course he is.’’

‘‘Kostya is going off on a rant about the silver dragons again,’’ I told her. ‘‘Frankly, I’m getting a bit tired of it.’’

‘‘As am I,’’ Gabriel said, clicking off the phone before doing an about-face to march out the front door we had so recently entered.

‘‘Where are you going?’’ I asked, looking between him and Drake, who was arguing with his brother, Aisling and Savian sharing the phone Gabriel had tossed down.

‘‘Out,’’ he said without stopping.

I hurried after him. ‘‘Why?’’

‘‘I have had enough of this. That Kostya would attempt to harm me, I accept. That he would strike at you, I expect. But that he would take into his hands the life of someone not related to the sept in order to blackmail me-no. Tipene and Maata, I understand. They are part of the sept. But your twin is not. This must stop now.’’

‘‘I’m with you so far as that goes,’’ I said, taking his hand. His fingers tightened around mine in an almost painful grip as he strode down the street to a busy intersection. ‘‘But how exactly are we going to stop him?’’

He hailed a cab and waited until it was under way before answering me. ‘‘We go back to the portal’s exit, and you follow his trail. I will end it once and for all.’’

I didn’t like the look of unadulterated rage in his eyes, but there was little I could say that would persuade him not to take the present course of action. Besides which, I was more than a little a

‘‘There must be a way to end things without you indulging in the sort of violence I have a feeling you’re thinking of unleashing.’’

‘‘I will not give him the phylactery,’’ Gabriel swore, his fingers tightening on mine.

‘‘Good gods, no, I didn’t mean that!’’ I shuddered to think of what would happen if Magoth found out I used the phylactery to save Cyrene. He’d likely destroy both of us. ‘‘I just meant that there has to be a way other than the all-out war that Drake warned him about. You can’t want that.’’

His fingers tightened even more until I made a little wordless noise of protest. Immediately he relaxed his hold, stroking my fingers and bringing the tips to his mouth to kiss. ‘‘I’m sorry, little bird. I do not mean to take out my frustrations on you.’’

‘‘That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it?’’

The look he gave me contained no smile. ‘‘You are my mate. You are part of me now, part of the sept, but that does not mean I should unduly burden you.’’

He looked away, his jaw still tight. My belly ached at the unspoken rejection. I considered pushing it away, deep and dark into the depths of my own psyche, but something inside me rebelled, some newfound sense of… oh, I don’t know, togetherness, I guess. I had spent my life alone, bound to Cyrene, bound to Magoth, but never having anyone with whom I could share things. Gabriel charged into my life with a flash of his molten silver eyes, and made me a part of something bigger, something… us.