“This is insane, you know that, right? I think the dark power has warped your sense of what’s smart and what’s incredibly stupid.”

“On the contrary, I’m being proactive and taking charge of things, dammit. You like it when I do that,” I told Jim.

“I don’t like it when you go stomping off to prove something, and we end up in seriously hot water.”

“I always get you out before you actually boil.”

“Not always,” it answered, looking pointedly at its feet.

“Will you stop with the toes? You have enough of them left.”

“I am just surprised that Drake let you go,” Nora said as we approached our goal. “He has certainly changed since I have seen him last if he’s allowing you to meet with other dragons without him.”

“Oh, he hasn’t changed. He’s worse if anything, because of the baby. But he knows I’m protected.”

Her eyes shone brightly behind her glasses.

I grinned at her. “And there’s the fact that he is making me check in every half hour, in case something goes wrong.”

“A half hour? I’m amazed he let you get away with that long,” she answered.

“It started out at five minutes. We negotiated down to half an hour, but I only got that concession because he knows I won’t be alone.”

“I just hope you know what you’re doing coming here,” Jim warned.

“I think we’ll be all right. Fiat isn’t stupid—he has to know Drake is keeping a close eye on me, and besides, I’ve got a Guardian extraordinaire with me,” I answered, patting it on its head before pointing down the block to where a sign hung announcing a pub named Wyvern’s Nest. “There it is.”

Nora smiled. “Technically I’m only supposed to be helping you with the proscription situation, but in this case, what the Guild doesn’t know won’t hurt it. Although…Aisling, I have to say, I’m not certain that your plan in regard to Abaddon will go as you hope.”

“There’s no other option as far as I can see—I’ve got to make Bael realize that I’m going to be far more trouble than I’m worth without him actually wiping me off the face of the earth. So. What do we think?” I asked, as we stopped outside the pub. I tried to peer into the windows to see what was inside, but the interior was too dark.

“The word ‘doomed’ comes to mind,” Jim said, pouting just a little. “Also ‘scary’ and ‘feed the demon before it ruins this magnificent form.’ And lastly, ‘what are you thinking walking into such an obvious setup?’ but I expect you’re going to ignore that last bit.”

“Wrong. I’m going to ignore all of it.”

Jim sighed heavily as it shuffled forward to the door. “I’m gonna lose more toes, I just know it.”

“Gah!” I yelled at it. “One more mention, just one more mention of your toes, and I’ll see to it you don’t have any left to complain about!”

“See?” it asked Nora. “She’s all evil and stuff. She never used to be that way. The dark power is warping her brain.”

Nora stifled a smile and asked me, “What exactly do you expect will happen here?”

“Despite what Jim thinks, I’m well aware that it’s likely to be a trap of some sort,” I said cheerfully as I entered the pub, taking a quick look around its interior.

“Ah. A trap. Sounds fun,” she said, looking brightly around the room.

Rene sidled up to me from where he’d been sitting at the counter, his furtive manner so pronounced it attracted the attention of everyone sitting nearby. “I have scooped out the pub. It is clean.”

I stifled the urge to giggle at his attempts both at subterfuge and idiom, instead nodding gravely and thanking him. “Where’s Uncle Damian, by the way?”

“I do not know,” Rene answered, a little frown pulling down his brow. “We split up before entering the pub. He asked me to check the rear of the building before we entered. I did that, but by the time I came into the pub, he was nowhere to be seen.”

“Hmm. He’s probably hiding somewhere, being all stealthy and stuff. He lives for that sort of thing.” I allowed my purse to fall, turning around quickly to fuss with it for a minute while covertly surveying the room. It was a typical pub in most respects, with the usual arrangements of small round tables scattered around the bulk of the floor, the walls lined with tables and wooden settles, a jukebox, low timbered ceiling, various glowing neon liquor signs…and there wasn’t a single visible human in it except for Nora and me. “At least we were right about this having something to do with the blue dragons.”

“Yes, but which dragon is it who summoned you? Fiat or Bastian?” Rene asked.

“We’re prepared for the worst, and we’ll hope for the best. Jim, I don’t suppose it’s much good asking you if you sense any danger?”

“Oh, yeah, serious danger,” it answered, watching a dragon walk past bearing a couple of glasses and a plate of appetizers. “As in, I’m in serious danger of starving to death unless you order something to eat.”

I stepped forward and everyone in the pub turned into statues. “Hello. I expect some of you know who I am.”

The publican was a dark-haired dragon with the most startling blue eyes I’d ever seen, framed with thick, lush black lashes. He set down a glass in front of a waiting dragon and inclined his head. “You are the pretender.”

I cleared my throat. “The pretender? As in, pretending to be a blue dragon?”

He nodded.

“Ah. Well, that’s a bit of a long story, but the upshot is that as nice as you guys are, I’m not Fiat’s mate by choice. You are aware of that, aren’t you?” I asked, suddenly worried that the blue dragons might think I was slighting them without any due cause.

A woman emerged from a back room, her resemblance to the first dragon marking her as some sort of a relation. A look of dislike swept over her face as she recognized me.

“What are you doing here?” she growled, setting a wooden crate on the counter.

“Marta,” the man said, putting his hand on her arm as if to stop her from vaulting over the bar. “It is not wise. You do not wish to anger him.”

She spat out a word that I had no difficulty translating, although I thought it best to overlook it. “I do not fear Fiat. And I will not treat his whore with respect.”

“Whoa now,” I said, recoiling from the venom in her voice. “I had a feeling you guys weren’t happy about me being in the position of mate to your wyvern, but as you must all know, I am only here because he tricked Drake and me. I dislike Fiat more than I can politely express, and I certainly am not having any sort of illicit relations with him—”

“Cara! What a pleasant surprise. You did not tell me you were coming to visit.” Fiat’s voice cut across mine, the man himself oiling his way out of an all-but-invisible door set into the far wall of the pub.

He tried to take my hands, no doubt to kiss them. I put them on my hips instead, and leveled a glare at him. “I thought it might be you. The next time you want to see me, I’d appreciate it if you could leave your name and the nature of the event, so I know whether to bring Drake, or my über–protection team.”

Fiat’s gaze moved from me to Rene and Nora before returning accompanied with a brittle smile. “Cara, you abuse me for no purpose. I did not request your presence here today, if that is what you are implying.”

“You didn’t?” I looked around the room, as if the answer would be found in one of the closed, hostile faces that watched me so closely. “Well, there’s obviously been some sort of a mix-up. I’m sorry to bother you.”

“As if I could find your so-charming presence a bother,” he said, snagging one of my hands and pressing a wet kiss to my wrist.

The woman behind the bar exploded in a fury of Italian. I leaned toward Rene and murmured, “I get the feeling she doesn’t like me.”

His eyes were round as he watched her evidently chastise Fiat. “This woman, she is most brave. I cannot imagine someone speaking to a wyvern the way she does. It is most hot.”

Fiat evidently thought so, too, because he listened to her for about ten seconds, then slapped her so hard, her head snapped back.

“Hey!” I yelled, leaping forward.

Rene grabbed my arm as I raised it to draw a ward on Fiat. “Aisling, that is not wise, either,” he said in a low tone.

Fiat’s eyes spat blue anger at me as he spun around to face me. “You dare raise your hand to me, mate?”

“I do not tolerate abuse of women, in any form,” I snapped, shaking off Rene to stalk forward. “I don’t happen to be horribly fond of this woman, but I will not allow you to smack her around in front of me.”

“You challenge me in front of my people?” he asked, stepping closer so that we stood toe-to-toe, the threat very evident in his voice and body language.

“No, I do not challenge you,” I said, trying to keep a hold on my temper. That was a lie, of course—I wanted nothing more than to smite him where he stood.

Oh, a smiting. I haven’t done that in a long, long time. You know, it really is your duty to protect those weaker than you. You owe it to this poor, innocent woman to teach Fiat a lesson.

“I don’t want to belittle you in front of your dragons, but I will not stand by while you beat up someone who can’t strike back,” I said as evenly as possible.

“Do not mistake my tolerance of your past insolence as a given,” he answered, leaning forward, his voice low and so mean it raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

I took a step closer. “As long as we’re into the warnings, let me remind you who I am and what I control. I may look like a squishy little Guardian, but I assure you I am as badass as they come.”

“Oui,” Rene said, taking up a position on my left. “As am I.”

“I’m not bad…er…ass, but like Aisling, I will not stand by and watch someone being abused by you,” Nora said, moving into a flanking position on my right.

My heart warmed with the show of support.

Oh, give me a break!

“It’s a weak man who has to prey on those weaker than himself,” Uncle Damian said as he emerged from the shadowed hallway that led to the bathrooms. He took up a position behind me. I flashed him a grateful smile.

“You mess with Team Aisling, you’re going to be kissing the pavement,” Jim snarled, showing its teeth as it marched over to stand in front of me.

“You dare? No one threatens me!” Fiat yelled, causing me to stumble backwards into my uncle. He righted me, keeping a warning hand on my arm.

He didn’t need to hold me back—Fiat’s face was suffused with anger, his eyes blazing as he suddenly leaped to the top of the bar. “You will not speak to me in such a manner! I am wyvern here, and you will show respect to me at all times! Kneel before me, Aisling Grey.”

“Oh, that is so not happening,” I told him, my arms crossed as I tried to decide if I needed to call in Drake or not. On the whole, I thought not. Uncle Damian and Rene were pretty intimidating.

“Still bullying women, eh, Fiat? I see you haven’t changed, not that I had any hope you would,” a voice said from the door. Fiat’s head snapped around, his shock at seeing the man standing there apparent for a fraction of a second before he turned to me and yelled something extremely unflattering.

“Cazzo! You did this!” he screamed. “You will pay for such treachery!”

A fireball hot enough to melt steel blasted me. Rene yelped and leaped to the side. Nora screamed as the fire engulfed her where she stood next to me. I hurled myself on her, throwing her to the ground and covering her with my body in order to protect her from Fiat’s fury.

“Stop it!” Bastian bellowed, marching into the room with three dragons in close formation behind him, pulling Fiat’s attention to himself. “This will stop now! Aisling is not to blame—it was inevitable that I face you again.”

The conflagration eased up on me, but judging by the sound of breaking glass, I suspected Bastian’s ploy at invoking Fiat’s wrath had worked.

“I am the wyvern here. You do not give me orders!” Fiat shrieked before erupting into violent Italian. The dragons in the bar were apparently frozen at the scene being enacted before them, all of them watching with shocked faces.

Clearly, there wasn’t going to be any help from them. “Uncle Damian, call an aid unit,” I yelled as I slid off Nora, hurriedly checking her over for injuries.

“I’m all right, I’m not hurt,” she said quickly, crawling backwards as the flames burning the floor crept toward us. “Just a little singed around the edges.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, helping her up. Uncle Damian, thankfully protected by being behind me, had escaped any injury. He checked Nora over quickly before giving a curt nod.

“No injuries, although that coat won’t be the same. Don’t these places have fire sprinklers?”

Fiat leaped off the bar and stormed over to Bastian, still blasting him with fire and Italian. He stopped long enough to call for his henchmen, pulling a gun from his jacket, which he leveled at Bastian.

“Most dragon establishments are heavily fireproofed,” I told my uncle. “They don’t need sprinklers.”

“Renaldo and Stephano won’t answer your call,” Bastian told his nephew. “They have been…detained.”

Fiat screamed even louder.

“Man, I haven’t heard language like that since Amaymon kicked me out of his legion. Fiat’s got quite the mouth on him,” Jim said, watching the dragons from behind the safety of my legs. “Go, Bastian! I never did like those two.”

“Do you think I am afraid of you?” Bastian laughed outright in Fiat’s face, causing the latter to turn an interesting shade of crimson.

“Bastian gets points for style, but boy howdy, I don’t think I could stand in front of a raving lunatic armed with a deadly weapon and mock him,” I said quietly as I helped Nora take off her still-smoking coat.

“And yet that’s pretty much just what you’re planning on doing,” Jim said. “Ash, I know you’re immortal and all, but I’m thinking you may want to get out of the line of fire until we see what shakes down.”

“I’m in complete agreement,” Uncle Damian said, taking me by the arm and pulling me over to a spot behind the bar. “Stay here.”

I would have protested being hustled out of the area, but given my present circumstances, I stood half-hidden by the wall and watched as Bastian and Fiat duked it out. The dragons in the bar had finally come to life at the appearance of Fiat waving the gun at Bastian. They formed a loose circle around the men, Bastian and his three buddies facing Fiat alone.

“The sept is mine, old man. Mine!” Fiat snarled. “And I do not allow disrespect in the sept, much less mutiny! You and Aisling may have thought you could get rid of me, but I assure you, I am in full control. And now you both will die for your treachery.”

“We are leaving,” Uncle Damian said, moving quickly to grab me and haul me toward the back rooms.

“No,” I said, grabbing onto the doorjamb and holding tight. “I can’t leave, uncle. Not until I see if Bastian is going to take down Fiat.”

“It’s too dangerous. That idiot dragon just threatened to kill you.”

Jim’s laughter was more a bark than a laugh. “Death threats are old hat to Ash.”

“They really are, you know,” I told my uncle, giving his arm a little squeeze. “People have been trying to kill me from day one, and I’ve survived, so really, a few wild threats from Fiat aren’t going to scare—”

The sound of gunfire exploded in the close confines of the pub. Uncle Damian knocked me against a wall, shielding me the way I’d shielded Nora.

“I’m all right, save her,” I yelled into his chest, pushing him back in order to make sure my friends weren’t being slaughtered.

Nora was crouched down behind the bar, peering over it with Rene.

I squeezed out to see what was happening. Two of Bastian’s company were on the floor, one male, rolling in obvious pain as blood stained the floor around him, the other a woman who was sobbing as she tried to rip off the man’s shirt to see how badly he’d been injured.

Fiat slammed Bastian up against the wall, holding him off the floor in an impressive display of one-handed strength. Another dragon stooped and picked up the gun from where Bastian had evidently knocked it from Fiat’s grasp. He looked unsure of what to do with it, holding it as if it were a toad about to spit warts.

Uncle Damian jetted past me, snatching the gun from the dragon before the latter knew what was happening.

“Uncle, don’t—” I started to say as Uncle Damian pointed the gun at Fiat.

“I believe I’ve seen enough,” he said, but before I could stop him, several of the surrounding dragons jumped him. He went down in a flurry of fists.

“Stop this right now!” I bellowed, leaping forward, drawing wards as fast as I could. Nora saw what I was doing and jumped into the fray, her hands flying as she bound the dragons to the floor, leaving them unable to move.

Rene jumped on top of the dragons who had piled onto my uncle, flinging them off until he was down to the Uncle Damian–flavored center.

“I have had enough!” I continued, turning a glare that warned of serious consequences on the couple of remaining unbound dragons. They backed off, with the exception of the woman named Marta. She snarled something and leaped at me with hands curved into claws. Jim broadsided her and knocked her backwards into a table. She went down with a clatter of chairs. I quickly bound her to the floor, then slapped an additional silencing ward on her to stop her stream of abuse.

I turned back to where Fiat was spitting Italian at his uncle, his fingers digging deep into the flesh of Bastian’s neck.

“You wanted me as a mate, well, fine, I’m your friggin’ mate, and I’m telling you to stop right now!” I yelled at Fiat, marching over to him.

“Aisling, stay away!” my uncle shouted.

Nora hastily drew a protection ward on me, hitting all four sides, the wards shimmering golden in the air for a moment.

I didn’t want to pull Fiat’s fire at all, didn’t want to feel it, didn’t want to use it, didn’t want to gain strength from it, since it was tantamount to betrayal of Drake’s fire, but I didn’t have time for the finer points of my feelings. I pulled hard on it and slammed the fire back into Fiat, not causing him any harm, but distracting him enough to release Bastian.

“Maiala,” he snarled at me, spinning around to face me.

“Yeah, whatever. Bastian, do it.”

Bastian got to his feet with the help of his remaining friend, his face mottled red, his eyes blazing a fury to match Fiat’s. It was almost like seeing some sort of a twin act when they were face-to-face—they really were remarkably similar in appearance, but there, thank god, the similarities ended.

“By the laws governing the illustrious sept of the blue dragons, I, Bastiano de Girardin Blu, wyvern by right of tanistry, do hereby issue a formal challenge of transcendence to Sfiatatoio del Fuoco Blu.”

Fiat laughed, a scary sort of near-hysterical laugh, the kind that screams straitjacket and lifetime supply of happy drugs. “You have tried to take the sept from me three times, old man, and failed. What makes you think you can do it this time?”

Bastian had challenged Fiat before?

“Oh, man, that doesn’t sound good,” Jim muttered.

“Yeah. He didn’t tell me he’d challenged Fiat before and lost.” Doubt entered my mind for the first time since meeting Bastian. I’d been so certain that all he needed was a helping hand to get out of his imprisonment, I’d never considered that perhaps Fiat was just too strong to be overthrown. If the overthrow failed…I shuddered at that unthinkable conclusion. “I do not want to think about what evil sort of punishment Fiat will have his sept work up for me if he beats Bastian.”

“It ain’t gonna be pretty, that’s for sure,” Jim said in a repulsively cheerful voice.

“I will succeed because I must,” Bastian said with much dignity in reply to Fiat’s comment, tugging down his shirt and dusting himself off. “It is true that you have managed to manipulate the circumstances of my challenges in the past, but this time, I am prepared for you.”

To my intense relief, Fiat’s anger had morphed into a wicked sort of amusement, still dangerous, but not explosive…at least for the moment. “You put too much faith in the power of my mate. She cannot help you. Do you not know? She is proscribed, banned by her own people, and far too stupid to understand the power she could wield.”

“Don’t fool yourself,” I started to say, but Jim stomped on my foot in warning. I shut up.

“This is not about your mate, although I understand the lady disputes your right to call her that,” Bastian said evenly. “This is between you and me. You will leave the others out of it.”

Fiat glanced at the three dragons who had accompanied Bastian. The one he’d shot—whether by mistake or intentionally, I wasn’t sure—had evidently recovered from the bulk of the trauma and was sitting in a chair while the woman wiped blood off his stomach. The third man stood warily next to Bastian. “I need no others to aid me. But I have a long memory, a very long memory indeed, and I remember equally those who serve me well, and those who do not.”

The man next to Bastian edged away a smidgen, licking his lips nervously.

“As do I,” Bastian said.

“Name the form the challenge will take.” Fiat crossed his arms and tipped his head to the side, as though he was finding the whole thing highly entertaining.

Bastian smiled.

I fell for that smile just as I was sure Fiat did, for even though his dragon senses were more heightened than mine, he didn’t react when Bastian suddenly lunged forward, a black metallic item in his hand. There was a faint sizzling sound, followed by a crash as Fiat toppled to the floor, his body jerking violently. Bastian lurched over him, holding the black thing to his neck for another few seconds before stepping back.

“Taser,” Uncle Damian said as he took up a position be hind me. His left eye was swollen almost completely closed, blood dribbling from both his nose and lip, a nasty-looking welt seeping more blood from a spot on his forehead. He stood somewhat crooked, as if he couldn’t straighten up. “Effective but not lethal. Good man.”

“This is the challenge,” Bastian growled, jumping back from the still-twitching body on the floor before him. “You lose.”

The silence in the bar was of the stunned quality. I was just as taken by surprise as everyone else, gawking in obvious confusion as Bastian took a long, slow look at everyone in the room. “Make it known to one and all members of the sept that upon this day, I have taken my rightful position as wyvern by defeating Fiat Blu in challenge.”

I opened my mouth to say that that wasn’t quite how I understood challenges to take place, but snapped it shut with out uttering a word. Who was I to complain if Bastian used the same sort of dirty tactics that Fiat had used?

“Congratulations,” I said.

The dragons in the room looked at one another, those of them who weren’t bound to silence clearly unwilling to say anything.

I took a deep breath and mustered a smile as I faced them. “As mate to the wyvern of the blue dragons, I formally recognize you as wyvern, welcome you to the position, offer my good wishes for a lifetime of peace and prosperity, and am confident the members of the sept will do the same.”

The members of the sept turned their disbelieving gazes on me. Fiat twitched one last time, then went still.

Bastian came forward, his face still blotchy from the near throttling. He put a hand on my head and pushed down. Obligingly, I knelt before him. “Aisling Grey, I refute you as mate. You are hereby stripped of all rights and powers as such, and as of this moment, are expulsed from the sept.”

“Woohoo!” Jim said, doing a little happy dance. I knew just how it felt, but didn’t want to offend any of the blue dragons by celebrating my expulsion from their ranks.

“Thank you,” I told Bastian softly.

He nodded as I got to my feet. “It was the least I could do. I will never be able to fully express to you the full depth of my gratitude, but know that I am in your debt.”

“What are you going to do about him?” Uncle Damian asked, prodding Fiat’s body with the toe of his boot.

Bastian smiled again, a smile at once so similar to Fiat’s, and yet so different. “He’s had a hard time of it lately, don’t you think? He needs a rest. I know just the place where he will have nothing but quiet and peace, and time to contemplate his sins.”

“I’m glad you’re not going to…er…destroy him,” I said, hesitating to put into words my fear. “I don’t have any fondness for Fiat, but I’ve never been a proponent of the death penalty.”

“Liberal,” Uncle Damian scoffed.

“Politics has nothing to do with it. I just don’t think that a challenge should end in death.”

“I have seen too much bloodshed during my lifetime,” Bastian said, nodding. “I will not add to it unduly. Besides, there is a certain amount of ironic justice to be had in Fiat’s incarceration in the prison he created for me. I am certain that with time, he will appreciate that irony.”

“You better just hope no one rescues his butt like we did yours,” Jim warned, sniffling Fiat’s inert form. It cocked an eyebrow at me.

“No,” I told it. “We will be gracious in our triumph. No peeing on the loser.”

“Man, you’re just no fun anymore. How about the chick with the potty mouth?”

Marta’s eyes widened as Jim sauntered over to her.

I smiled.