Chapter Eight
I puzzled over Cyrene’s bizarre suggestion for some time, until the sky started to flush with rosy light. Cyrene didn’t reassure me that Gabriel would love me as much when the shard was gone as he did now, but I realized I valued her honest reply more than any platitudes. I rubbed the small scar on my chest where the shard had entered my body, and stared out at the streaks of red and gold as they lit the horizon, wondering what Gabriel was doing, content, at least, to know he missed me as much as I missed him.
I went downstairs a few hours later, tired from lack of sleep and too much introspection. I thought I was seeing things when Jim ambled toward me from the dining room.
“Heya, Mayling. You look like you were pulled through Abaddon backwards on a porcupine.”
“Jim . . . didn’t you lose part of your fur?” I touched the side of its head that had been singed, then slid my fingers lower, to its chest, rubbing a large white spot. “And where did this come from? Is it paint? Dye?”
“Naw, I had Ash send me to Abaddon for a couple of minutes so I could get a new form, one with all the fur on it. You like?” The demon twisted around to examine itself. “The tail’s not quite as fluffy, but this form has the white spot, which everyone knows is a babe magnet. Oh, and look! Three white toes! Kinda racy, huh?”
“Very handsome,” I agreed. “I’m . . . er . . . sorry. I didn’t realize the lack of fur was bothering you so much. I hope you didn’t pester Aisling.”
“Jealous?” it asked with a waggle of its eyebrows.
“Certainly not.”
“Uh-huh. I can tell you’re peeved I didn’t have you send me to Abaddon, but you can rest easy, sweet cheeks—I had Aisling do it because she was up and trying to avoid the crazy lady, and besides, I wasn’t sure you knew how to do it.”
“Crazy lady? Oh, Drake’s mother?”
Jim gave a shudder and looked over its shoulder. “She’s in there now with Aisling. Drake is refereeing. I’m off for walkies with Suzanne. You wanna come? I’m prairie doggin’ a bit, but I promise not to pinch a loaf right in front of you, if you do want to come.”
“How very considerate. I think I’ll pass just now, if you don’t mind.”
Suzanne, István’s girlfriend, who acted as cook to Aisling and Drake’s household, emerged from a back room with a leash and a handful of plastic bags.
“Walkings time,” she said in a heavily accented voice. “You will come with us, May?”
“Not this morning, thanks. Jim, I’m sure Aisling already told you this, but in case she didn’t—behave.”
Jim rolled its eyes as it marched to the front door, Suzanne in tow. “Why does everyone think they have to tell me that? It’s not like I ever misbehave. . . .”
Thankfully the door shut on the demon’s complaining, although it opened again about two seconds later.
I took one look at the woman walking in, and felt a strange sense of relief. “Kaawa!”
“Wintiki!” Gabriel’s mother, a tall, elegant figure in silver and black linen tunic and pants, rushed forward to hug me. She had skin the color of rich milk chocolate, shoulder-length hair that was pulled back into a bun, and a smile that warmed me to my toes. I felt enveloped in comfort, wrapped in a cocoon that whispered to me of the wind and the sky and the creatures that danced in and out of the Dreaming. Kaawa was a shaman, of the earth, but transcending mere mortality to become something more, something wholly unique.
“I’m so happy to see you,” I said, hugging her for all I was worth, grateful that Gabriel had such a wonderful mother.
“You are well, little night bird?” she asked, holding me at arm’s length, her gaze stripping away layers of my being to peer straight into my soul. “My Gabriel is making you happy?”
“Deliriously so,” I said, pushing down the worry that seemed to be ever present.
She said nothing for a moment, simply cupping the side of my face with one hand while she continued to pierce through to my very core. “You are happy, yes, but there is a shadow on your heart. All is not well?”
“All is fine,” I reassured her. “I’m just a bit stressed about the dragon shard.”
She nodded, letting her hand drop. “It distresses you. Gabriel said you were worried it was taking over. We will see that it does not.”
“Thank you. Have you met Aisling?”
Her eyes lit with interest as we turned toward the sitting room, her arm around my waist. “No, but I have heard much about her from Gabriel. At one time I thought . . . but that is unimportant.”
I gritted my teeth for a moment at her train of thought, then laughed out loud. She paused to cast me a questioning look.
“Jealousy is never pretty, but it can be funny sometimes,” I said, then continued when she raised her eyebrows. “I know that at one time Gabriel thought seriously about challenging Drake for Aisling. I’m OK with that. Well, not OK, but I understand it.”
“Because you know he would never have been happy with her?” she asked, her head tipped to the side as she watched me.
My smile grew. “More because I know Drake would never have let Gabriel have Aisling. And she would have made his life a living hell if Drake slipped up and let her go.”
She laughed, squeezing my waist as I opened the door. “You are a wise wintiki.”
If I had worried what the volatile Catalina would make of Gabriel’s much more down-to-earth mother, I didn’t after seeing the two women together. Catalina might treat Aisling with rudeness, more or less ignoring her, but she settled down comfortably enough with Kaawa to discuss common dragon acquaintances.
“Nora had a little issue she had to deal with—something about a kobold outbreak in Islington. But as soon as she’s done cleaning that up, we’ll put our heads together about your problem,” Aisling said.
“I don’t want to put you to any trouble,” I said, glancing at her large stomach. “You probably don’t feel like moving around much. Is there any word on when the baby might come?”
She sighed and patted her belly. “Bean—my midwife—said she could try inducing labor, but she didn’t recommend it. Evidently, it’s not unheard of for a baby of mixed parents to take a bit longer than normal. So I’m going to tough it out a few days more before we decide if it’s time to force the latest green dragon to hatch.”
“Hatch?” I looked at her in horror. “You don’t mean—”
“No, no, no eggs!” she said, laughing. “Dragons are born in human form. And stop worrying about asking for help; I don’t mind doing it at all. In fact—” She cast a swift glance across the room to where Kaawa and Catalina sat deep in conversation. “In fact, I’d be grateful for an excuse to do things other than listen to my mother-in-law tell me how inadequate I am, so your problem will be a welcome distraction.”
“What problem is that?” Drake asked as he strolled over to hand his wife a bottle of water.
I sat silent, feeling guilty about involving Aisling when she must be focused on the approaching birth.
Drake looked from me to Aisling, his emerald eyes narrowing. “What problem?” he repeated, a bit more forcefully this time.
“It’s nothing, sweetie, just a little . . . issue . . . May has run into. Nothing to get your knickers in a twist over.”
Drake’s gaze went wary. “You are not doing anything even remotely dangerous, kincsem.”
“I wouldn’t consider any such thing,” she replied, smiling up at him. “Not so close to baby time, anyway. May simply has a little point regarding demon lords she’d like cleared up, and I know if Nora and I put our heads together, we can give her an answer.”
The wary gaze slid to me, assessing me for potential hazards to his mate. I smiled at him, as well. “I just want a little information, and won’t require Aisling to do anything at all other than think.”
“See that you don’t.” He rejoined his mother and Kaawa after giving us both a warning look.
“Bossy,” Aisling muttered fondly as he left. “Oh, good, there’s Nora now. We have a little issue for you to work on,” she told the woman who entered the sitting room, Jim following her. Nora was, I knew, technically Aisling’s mentor, but I suspected their relationship was more on par with partners than a teacher and student. Nora was in her early forties, black, with warm, dancing eyes behind red-rimmed glasses.
“What sort of an issue? Good morning, May. I understand you’ve come to visit Aisling for a bit.”
“Just a few days until we can find a new house. Ours was demolished by a very angry dragon.”
Jim snorted. “Understatement of the year, babe.”
“Don’t you have something to do?” I asked the demon.
“Did it, and I won’t go into specifics because Ash’ll tell me I’m disgusting,” Jim said with a little Muttley snicker.
“You’ve been watching cartoons again, haven’t you?” Aisling asked it.
It did the wheezing snicker again.
I gave Nora a brief recap of the events of the last few days, including my visit to Bael.
Her eyes grew wider and wider as I explained.
“He gave you Magoth’s powers?” she asked in disbelief.
I nodded. “I don’t want them, so the question is, what can I do to get him to take them back?”
She looked at Aisling. Aisling gave me a half smile. “You know Bael as well as I do, May. Probably better.
Can you imagine making him do anything, much less take back something he forced on you against your will?”
“No.” My shoulders slumped. “You’re right, of course, but I was hoping one of you might have some sort of trick up your sleeve that I could use. I can’t keep them. Not with the dragon shard—it’s just too dangerous.”
“Absolutely,” Nora agreed.
“The only thing I can think of is to pass them on to someone else, someone you trust not to use them,” Aisling said.
“The people I trust I wouldn’t burden with the powers, and the ones I don’t trust I’d never consider, so I’m kind of at a loss—”
The door slammed open, startling everyone in the room.
“Thought you could hide from me, eh?” Magoth shouted, hauling a green dragon in behind him.“Thought you could simply leave me to sizzle away in the basement while you . . . while you . . .” He came to a stop, and not because the dragon who answered the door to him finally managed to halt him. He stared at me. He squinted. He stood, hands on hips, his mouth hanging slightly open as he examined me as if he hadn’t seen me before.
“I’m sorry,” the green dragon apologized, casting a nervous glance at Drake. “He got past me before I could tell him that I’d ask the silver mate if she would see him.”
“You’ve got dark powers,” Magoth said finally, just a split second before realization struck him.
“Oh, god, no,” I murmured, wanting to slip into the shadow world. I contented myself with slumping over and dropping my forehead to my hands.
“Hoo, boy, now it’s gonna hit the fan,” Jim said, sauntering over to me. “Man, Ash, I said ‘it,’ not the other word. Stop looking at me like that!”
“You have my powers!” Magoth bellowed, his fingers flexing as he stalked stiff-legged toward me. The dragon shard, riled up already, tried to push me toward him. “You treacherous little bitch! You thieving, conniving, despicable little two-timing backstabber.” The words evidently struck him, for he paused for a moment before suddenly throwing himself at my feet, prying one of my hands off my head and clutching it in order to press chilled, wet kisses to it. “Fire and brimstone! You are the most perfect woman I’ve ever met!”
“Oh, god,” I said again, head still in my remaining hand, squelching down hard on the shard. I would not give in to it. I had fought it and won, and I would continue to fight it.
Jim smirked. “Oh yeah. Nothing turns on a demon lord more than a touch of maleficence. Nicely done, May.”
“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” I moaned into my hand.
“I knew one day you would admit that you wanted me,” Magoth said, still pressing slobbery kisses onto my knuckles. “You’ve made me the happiest demon lord on earth. Take me, my adorably evil one. Take me like a two-bit gigolo! Ride me like a rented mule! Bitch slap me as you’ve never bitch slapped before! Only with your tail, because you know how much I love that.”
“I believe that will be enough,” Drake said, taking charge of the situation.
Magoth glared over his shoulder at the wyvern. “Who are you?”
“Drake Vireo, wyvern of the green dragons, and the owner of this house. I am also a friend to Gabriel, and I can assure you he would not appreciate you wiping your lips all over his mate’s hands.”
Magoth got to his feet, still holding my hand, tossing his head and leveling Drake a look that had intimidated many a minion over the centuries. “She is my consort. I have the right to put my lips wherever I like on her, dragon.”
“No, you don’t,” I said, finally managing to get my hand free from his grip. I shoved him none too gently aside. “You divorced me several weeks ago.”
He donned a sultry pout. “I didn’t mean it. I was angry. Besides, it takes more to divorce a consort than simply saying you want to divorce her.”
“Such as?” I asked.
“Death,” Nora said.
Aisling nodded. “Banishment works, too, although that’s trickier to pull off, since technically the banishee is still alive.”
“There is also a repudiation ceremony,” Nora continued as she eyed Magoth. He gave her a quick leer, then snatched up my hand again, rubbing my knuckles in a way that made my teeth grind. “But as that requires the sacrifices of fifteen virgin souls, it’s not often done.”
“Aisling did it with chickens one time,” Jim piped up.
I stared at her in surprise.
“Bael didn’t specify who the souls had to belong to,” Aisling said with a nonchalant gesture. “I thought roast chickens were ideal because they were an answer to his demands, and dinner, all in one.”
“It’s a dessert topping! It’s a floor wax!” Jim said. “It’s the answer to all your demon lord problems!”
“No more Saturday Night Live reruns for you,” Aisling told it firmly.
“So what you’re saying is that I’m stuck with him?” I asked Nora.
“What is going on over here? Who is this dark and compelling man who wears the tight breeches?” Catalina demanded to know as she and Kaawa came over to join the fun. She eyed Magoth as if he were a piece of candy being offered to her.
He didn’t so much as throw a glance her way.
“This is Magoth, my . . . er . . . for lack of a better word, boss,” I said, introducing her. “Magoth, this lady is Drake’s mother, doña Catalina de Elférez.”
“I have no interest in other women now that you have shown your true colors to me, my dark and deadly one,” Magoth murmured as he sucked my knuckles.
I tried to wrench my hand free. He just dug his fingers in harder, sending me a smoldering look.
“He smells like the demons,” Catalina said, strolling around behind him to get a look at the rear view. “He has magnificent buttocks, though.”
Magoth stopped sucking my knuckle to turn and look at her.
She ogled his pants for a moment. “Very tight breeches. I like tight breeches.”
“Mother,” Drake said, with a look on his face that spoke volumes.
“Do not mind him,” Catalina said, her eyes half-shut as she gave Magoth a come-hither look. “He does not like to think of his mama having lovers. But I am different. You remind me a bit of my husband. Drake, does he not look like your accursed father?”
“No,” Drake said adamantly at the same time Magoth pounced on a word I knew he would enjoy.
“Accursed?” he asked, giving Catalina a return ogle. “You have the unmistakable aura of one who truly understands the needs and desires that all demon lords feel. Tell me, my Spanish beauty, how do you feel about restraints with regards to lovemaking?”
“They are most necessary,” she said with a little shrug. “How would you be able to torment your partner if he could stop you?”
Magoth dropped my hand and all but shimmied over to her, pressing his lips to her palm. “I like how you think, my exotic little olive. And nipple clamps? Your opinion on them?”
“Again, necessary,” Catalina said. “Although I prefer piercings to clamps. Much more reliable when used for leashing purposes.”
A little shudder of ecstasy shook Magoth as his tongue swept out over her palm. “You are a woman who knows her pleasures.”
“Stop licking my mother!” Drake demanded, and looked like he was going to use bodily force to stop Magoth.
“Words I never thought I’d hear,” Jim snickered.
“On the other hand, whips are overrated,” Catalina volunteered. “A cat, however . . .”
Magoth trembled, his eyes closing for a moment. “One with hundreds of tiny little barbs?”
“Excellent for ensuring that you have your partner’s full attention,” she agreed.
“Dear heaven, what hath we wrought?”Aisling asked, gesturing to Drake, who assisted her to her feet. “Potty break. Be back in a minute. Or maybe longer if they’re going to go into any more specifics. Jim, heel.”
“What? Hey! I wanna watch and see if Magoth is gonna pork Drake’s mom—”
The door closed on the demon’s objections.
Kaawa, who had been standing watching the scene with a slight smile, met my gaze. “Perhaps now would be a good time for us to discuss what you will need to do to re-form the dragon heart.”
“Absolutely,” I said, with heartfelt appreciation at the suggestion. Anything that got me out of Magoth’s way was going to have my full approval. “Drake, I hate to disturb you when you’re busy scowling at Magoth, but is there a room we can use?”
“Mother!” Drake said a bit more forcefully, his green eyes glittering at Magoth, who, I’m sure it need not be said, totally ignored him. “You will remember your agreement—you may stay here so long as you do not upset Aisling.”
“She’s not even in the room,” Catalina cooed, biting Magoth’s ear.
“You know what I mean.”
I tugged on Drake’s sleeve until I had his attention, saying softly, “He can’t hurt your mother, can he? I mean that since she’s a wyvern’s mate, she’s immortal, correct?”
“Immortal, yes. Possessing good taste?” He turned back to glare at Magoth. “Clearly she’s failed in this regard.”
“Then if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you let them . . . er . . . for lack of a more circumspect phrase, go at it.”
Drake looked at me in surprise. Kaawa hid a little chirrup of laughter behind her hand as she pretended to cough.
“It will keep him off my back while I learn what I need to do with the shards,” I explained.
He didn’t like it, but in the end, Aisling helped me persuade him that they couldn’t do any harm to each other.
“Things are starting to get a bit tight around the seams, but I think we can squeeze you in,” Aisling said to Kaawa as we slowly made our way upstairs. “There’s one last room free, although it’s not normally one I’d put a guest in, especially such a distinguished guest as Gabriel’s mom.”
“Psht,” Kaawa said, waving away the apology. “I spend most of my days out in the bush, so a soft bed and a roof over my head will be a luxury.”
“There’s the problem of Magoth, though,” Aisling said, her forehead wrinkling.“I’m afraid we’re fresh out of rooms. I suppose he could sleep on the sofa or something.”
“He will not sleep here,” Drake said decisively from behind her, giving her a little boost to make it up the last few steps. “I will not have a demon lord in the same house as you while you are in such a delicate state.”
She spun around so quickly she whomped him with her belly. “I’m hardly delicate, Drake. I’m as big as a leviathan, and twice as ungainly.”
“Three times, actually,” Jim said, eyeing her. “You know, it’s actually a wonder you can fit through a door with that thing. I wonder if you’ll just keep growing until one day you explode.”
“May I?” I asked Aisling as she stopped in front of a door.
“Please do.”
“Do what?” Jim asked, its eyes suspicious. “Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Someone call the demon-abuse hotline! I’m being abducted by a sadistic doppelganger!”
I grabbed Jim by one fuzzy black ear and hauled it upstairs with me to my room. There I lectured it again about inappropriate comments to Aisling.
“No one around here can take a joke anymore,” it grumbled when I was done. “I didn’t mean she was really going to explode.”
“Perhaps not, but she’s more worried than she lets on about the baby taking its time, so you just lighten up with the explosive comments,” I said, patting it on the head. Jim was fond of Aisling, I knew, and wouldn’t really want to hurt her, but obviously had not been as observant as it might have been. “Go watch some movies or something, but watch the cracks to Aisling about the baby.”
“Aw, do I have to? I want to hear how to re-form the dragon heart,” it said as I ushered Kaawa into a small upstairs sitting room that Drake had told us we could use. It was dark and slightly musty-smelling, as if it hadn’t been occupied much.
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” I asked, opening the curtains.
Jim shrugged. “You never know when something like that might come in handy.”
I glanced at Kaawa.
“I don’t mind if the demon stays,” she said, watching Jim closely. “It appears to be one of the rare sixth-class demons, and thus should not pose a hazard to you.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” I said, wondering what sorts of powers a demon in possession of the dragon heart would be able to wield. The thought left me a bit sick to my stomach, so I moved on.
The following two hours were spent learning the steps of the ceremony to decant the shard, most of which was rote memorization of a couple of incantations. The language the incantations were spoken in was Zilant, a Slavic language that all dragons learned early on, and that, until recent centuries, had been the common language between the septs. I’ve never been much of a linguist, and it took me several tries, aided by copious notes, before I felt comfortable conducting the invocation that would separate the shard from my body, and allow it to re-form the dragon heart.
“Where did you learn all this?” I asked as I closed the notebook in which I’d been making notes. “Gabriel said you were very learned in dragon lore, but I’m surprised you know so much about something so outside of your normal interests.”
She smiled, and continued to rub Jim’s belly as she had been doing for the last half hour. The demon was on its back, legs kicking gently in the air, soft little half moans, half snores of pleasure coming from its furry black lips as it slept. “You know of Ysolde de Bouchier.”
I nodded. “You’ve mentioned her before. She left some notebooks behind about her experiences with the shard after she became a phylactery, right?”
“That is correct.”
“That’s reassuring. If the invocation worked for Ysolde, it’s a sure thing to work for me. Despite the interesting experience of turning into a dragon, there’s nothing I want more than to get rid of the shard.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “I did not mean to imply that the invocation was foolproof, wintiki. There is still a very large element of the unknown to the process of re-forming the heart. Much of what I’ve told you is speculation.”
“But you had Ysolde’s notebooks,” I said, suddenly worried. I had assumed all along that I would be able to get rid of the shard. But what if I couldn’t? What if I was stuck with it? Forever?
My stomach dropped at the thought.
“Yes, but they did not provide a detailed step-by-step guide to ridding oneself of a dragon shard. They merely gave information about what Ysolde herself did, and what sorts of things could happen should one try to re-form the heart, or use the shards by themselves.”
My heart sank to join my stomach. “So you don’t have any idea if the ceremony is going to work?”
She shook her head, sympathy rich in her eyes and face. “I wish there was a foolproof method, but we are talking about the dragon heart. It is not controlled, never controlled. If it wishes you to, it will allow you to use it, but never against its wishes.”
“You speak of it as if it’s alive,” I said, gently touching the mark on my chest where the shard had entered my body.
She smiled. “It has powers, little night bird. It may not be alive in the sense that you are alive, but it is sentient. It will not allow you to use it if it does not approve of you, or the use to which you wish to put it.”
“Well, great. Here I am trying to get rid of this shard, and it’ll probably go tell the rest of them what a horrible person I am, and they’ll all refuse to re-form.”
She laughed and patted my hand as she stood up, much to Jim’s unhappiness. “It is not that you have to worry about.”
“Oh really?” I caught something in her tone that made me uneasy. “Is there something else I should be worrying about?”
She hesitated a second before saying no.
“Kaawa,” I said, rising as she reached for the door.
She stopped, her shoulders slumping for a moment before she turned back to face me with a perfectly innocent expression. “Yes, wintiki?”
“I appreciate you trying to protect me, but I assure you I can take care of myself. Gabriel knows that. That’s why he’s not fussing around while I take care of this. So if there’s a danger involved—other than the obvious one of being vulnerable while the decanting and re-forming processes are going on—I’d really appreciate you telling me what it is, so I can be ready for it.”
Her hesitation and concern were almost palpable, making me worry anew.
“I would not for the world insult you, May, and I would never hide something that you could use to protect yourself.”
“But?” I asked, waiting for her to finish.
“But you possess many qualities of humans, and not so many of dragons.” She looked away, obviously not wanting to meet my gaze.
I went over everything she had told me about the shards, everything that Ysolde de Bouchier had done . . . and enlightenment dawned.
“Kaawa?”
She held on to the door as if she wanted to escape. “Yes, child?”
“Did Ysolde disappear immediately after she re-formed the dragon heart, or did she vanish when Baltic died?”
Her dark eyes, rich as mahogany, and filled now with sadness, studied mine. “We don’t know. It’s . . . it was a confusing time, you must understand. Three things apparently happened at the same time: the black dragon heir killed his wyvern, Ysolde re-formed the heart and sharded it into their phylacteries, and the silver dragon wyvern disappeared.”
A few seconds of digging around in my memory pulled up a name. “Constantine Norka? Wasn’t he also supposed to be mated to Ysolde?”
She was silent a few moments, her fingers absently rubbing on the edge of the door. “No one knows for certain what happened. Until now, it was thought all were dead, but with Baltic having returned, perhaps he could clear it up and tell us what exactly did transpire.”
I almost snorted at the thought of Baltic doing anything but spouting mysterious, ambiguous comments. “I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for him to explain. So basically, the theory is that she was either Baltic’s mate or Constantine’s, and when they died, she died, too? Or was it the dragon heart that did her in?”
“We don’t know,” she said, looking even sadder. “Her diaries don’t say.”
I swallowed back my fear. “You’re a shaman, Kaawa. You see things that most people can’t even imagine exist. You can look into the shadows, look past time and space. What do you think happened?”
Her fingers tightened on the door. “That is not a wise question to ask, wintiki.”
“Unwise because you don’t wish to answer it, or because I won’t like what you have to say?”
“Perhaps both.”
I looked at my hands for a moment, absorbing what she hadn’t said. “You think the dragon heart killed Ysolde.”
“No.”
I glanced up.
“I think it used her up,” she said. “I think—I have no proof, mind you; this is all simply speculation—but I think that Constantine Norka tried to save her, and was destroyed along with her.”
“Would the dragon heart do that to dragons?” I asked, sick at the thought of risking Gabriel. I knew without the slightest doubt in my soul that he would sacrifice himself to save me.
“It has the power to destroy the entire weyr,” she said wearily. “Perhaps even the mortal world.”
“Agathos daimon,” I swore under my breath. I had always assumed that the dragon heart was a benign thing, a relic of the first dragon that represented everything dragonkin were and would be, something that encompassed the best parts of all the dragons. But what if it was a harbinger of the power dragons tapped into rather than a celebration of their abilities? What if it was, in fact, a curse, not a boon?
Now I understood why Kaawa had warned me repeatedly of its power.
“Do not look so grim, child. Ysolde de Bouchier’s path is not yours,” Kaawa said quietly.
“I don’t know what’s going to stop me from ending up like her,” I said, giving in to a moment of despair.
She came back into the room and kissed the top of my head before returning to the door. “Ysolde did not have what you have.”
“You?” I asked, grateful for her wisdom and insight, even if it did give me moments of terror.
“My son.” Her eyes glittered with humor for a moment. “His father trained him to be a warrior, a strong wyvern and protector of all silver dragons, but he learned much from me, too. Gabriel will not allow anything to happen to his miracle.”
I smiled at the word, a warm, comfortable feeling washing over me at her words. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps Gabriel and I together could get the better of the dragon heart. Ysolde had been alone, torn between two warring wyverns, but I had Gabriel’s strength to see me through anything.
I was about to say just that when Kaawa suddenly held up her hand, her expression abstracted. “Listen. Do you hear it?”
I stilled for a moment, then sighed. “It’s my twin. But I have no idea why she’s yelling, unless . . . oh, merciful spirits, tell me he didn’t show up, too.”