Playing with Fire

‘‘Gabriel, don’t push me out. I’ve spent my lifetime alone,’’ I said.

He turned a surprised look on me. ‘‘I have not pushed you out, little bird.’’

‘‘You want to. I can tell you want to protect me by keeping me away from this, but you said I was your mate, and I accepted the job. That means your burdens are mine to share, and by the twelve gods, I’m going to share them.’’

He looked taken aback for a moment before he suddenly gri

‘‘You’d better believe-wait… was that a compliment or an insult? If it was the latter, we’re going to need to have a long talk. If it was the former, I’ll kiss you until you can’t think straight.’’

‘‘Former. It was definitely the former,’’ he said quickly.

‘‘I’m never going to be a proper wyvern’s mate at this rate,’’ I said as I flung myself across the seat to kiss him.

‘‘I’m begi

‘‘I’m still thinking straight,’’ he murmured a few minutes later. His fire roared through me, seemingly setting my blood on fire, but reluctantly, I kept a tight rein on it and returned it to him lest we inadvertently set the cab alight.

‘‘Are you, now,’’ I purred, sliding my hands down his chest. His eyes widened as I shifted so that I was sitting astride his thighs, my body blocking the cab driver’s view of him. ‘‘Let’s see if you’re still thinking after I do this…’’

His nostrils flared as my hands slid lower, fingers deftly undoing both his belt and his fly. I leaned in to kiss him again, my hands busily touching and stroking and teasing, even as my tongue did the same.

‘‘I don’t know about him, but I’m definitely losing concentration,’’ the cab driver said.

I released Gabriel’s lip and peered over my shoulder at the man. I’d deliberately arranged myself so that he couldn’t see exactly what we were doing, although I suspected he had a good idea. He winked at me in the rearview mirror, and added, ‘‘That’s your address ahead of us. Would you like me to go around the block a few times?’’

I glanced down at Gabriel. His eyes were hot enough to leave scorch marks. ‘‘No, I think I’ve proven my point,’’ I said with a little smile as I restored order to Gabriel’s clothing.

‘‘You will pay for this torment, little bird,’’ he promised with a deliciously wicked smile.

‘‘Deal.’’ Reluctantly, I slid off his thighs and pulled my mind from where it was dwelling with loving detail on the image of Gabriel wearing nothing but whipped cream, and tried to focus on the matter at hand.

‘‘You’ll pay for that, too,’’ he murmured a minute later as he turned back to the cab to pay off the driver.

Fortunately for us both, Cyrene’s trail was still visible just outside the portal’s exit point, so I didn’t have to go back into the horrendous slaughterhouse. There wasn’t much traffic in the area, thankfully, which allowed me to slip into the shadows immediately.

‘‘It’s here,’’ I told Gabriel as I returned to the mundane world. ‘‘Faint, but visible-both Cyrene and a dragon.’’

‘‘Check in every fifteen minutes to tell me where you are. I’ll follow you that way,’’ he said, checking his cell phone to make sure it was on.

I nodded and prepared to move into the shadow world.

‘‘Mayling.’’

‘‘Hmm?’’

His eyes glittered brightly. ‘‘Remember that you are my mate. I know you wish to rescue your twin, but you are important to me. I would not like it if you were harmed in any way.’’

I smiled and leaned forward to give him a quick kiss. ‘‘You would be a very easy man to love, Gabriel.’’

His eyes searched mine for a moment, but he said nothing. I slipped away from him into the beyond, my attention locked onto the dim trail that was growing dimmer with each passing moment, but my heart… my heart was busy with other matters.

Chapter Twenty-three

‘‘Show me,’’ Gabriel said about an hour later.

‘‘It’s two blocks away. I had to come here to hide because I think someone from the committee saw me when I was checking out a dead end in Montmarte. At least I assume it’s someone from the committee- few mortals unco

‘‘I am with you now,’’ he said matter-of-factly, as if that made everything right, and damned if it didn’t.

‘‘I’m not sure why, but Cyrene’s trail has gone, yet the signs of the dragon remain,’’ I said as we moved cautiously down a relatively quiet street in Ménilmontant, a working-class area in the Parisian suburb of Belleville. ‘‘I guess it just has something to do with dragon scales lasting longer because they’re tangible, as opposed to signs that an elemental being passed by.’’

‘‘Just so you’re sure it’s Kostya you were following.’’

‘‘Well, it’s the dragon who was with Cyrene at the portal shop. Unless he had someone else meeting them there, it’s got to be him.’’

We stopped in front of a small bakery. Above it, curtained windows bedecked with tiny window boxes indicated modest apartments for the residents of the area.

‘‘That’s it. I didn’t go in, but I did search for signs at the exits. I didn’t see anything that said the dragon who went in has left.’’

‘‘Good work, little bird. You will please remember that Kostya is mine to deal with,’’ he said as he angled his body to block the view of any passersby. I persuaded the lock to open, allowing us both to slip into a narrow, dim hallway that ended in a flight of stairs leading upward.

‘‘Agathos daimon,’’ I muttered to myself as I shadowed.

‘‘What is it?’’

‘‘It’s what’s not-the trail. It’s gone cold.’’

‘‘It does not matter. If Kostya is here, I will find him,’’ Gabriel said grimly.

I climbed the stairs slowly, examining them carefully for signs of dragon scales. Here and there I found a faint glimmer of a scale, but for the most part, the trail was gone. ‘‘Before you go bursting into all the apartments, let me look at their doors.’’

He didn’t want to wait; I could see that. His muscles were tense and tight, the pupils in his eyes narrowed until they were thin little ebony strips. I hurried to the nearest door before he decided he would risk disturbing i

We hit pay dirt at the fourth and last apartment, at the far end of the building.

‘‘Here,’’ I whispered to Gabriel as I came out of the shadow world. The door handle had a couple of spots on it that glittered even in the dim light of the naked bulb overhead. ‘‘This has to be it.’’

‘‘Get behind me and stay shadowed,’’ he said, pulling a gun out of his jacket pocket.

I blinked in surprise at the weapon. Most people in the Otherworld scorned the use of modern weaponry as too crass for a society that valued personal abilities over brute strength. But such things weren’t unknown, although I had no idea that dragons subscribed to the use of firearms.

‘‘I don’t under normal conditions. I prefer a sword for close contact, but I do not trust Kostya to hold to such things as honor.’’

I didn’t have time to answer that before Gabriel screwed a silencer on the gun and shot the lock three times, kicking the door open immediately thereafter.

Dagger in hand, I remained shadowed as I followed him into the apartment. It was small but neat, a tiny kitchen immediately off the entrance. That opened into a main living area, which held the usual couch, TV, and a couple of bookcases. It was empty of dragons, however… and anyone else.