“So not the thing to say to the woman who is the breath in your lungs and the sun in your sky,” I said, pinching his arm.

To my delight, he shot me a fast grin that was full of humor. I settled down beside him, feeling happier than I had in… well, ever. “I was thinking about the ring now that I’ve told Drake he can’t have it. What if I’m wrong? What if, despite the curse, the ring did like Drake?”

“It is doubtful. It does not simply hop from individual to individual. It has chosen you for a reason, and until you have fulfilled that purpose, it is unlikely to allow itself to be given to another.” He closed the laptop and stood up. “We must hope the Charmer is that person, or we will all be in trouble. Now we must go to the G&T.”

“You know about that place, huh? How fancy is it? I mean, I know it’s a nightclub and we’re in the middle of a day, so it shouldn’t be open, but is it a really nice place? Should I try on that dress that Suzanne said I could wear if I needed to? I hate to, because I already had to confiscate this nice linen tunic and pants after you shredded my clothes, but I also don’t want to stand out.”

“Your clothing is sufficient. Come. We will see if the Venediger is present.” He rose and took my hand, which made my inner girl give happy little squeals.

“Can’t we just call her and ask her about Charmers?”

“The Venediger handles requests in person only.” He made a wry face. “It is easier for her to exact payment that way. Also, she has forbidden dragonkin from entering G&T. Naturally, we will disregard that, but until—” He froze in the doorway and snarled. I dropped his hand and hustled around in front of him, blocking him from lunging into the hall where Drake was still standing with Aisling, Rene, and Jim.

“We’re off to G&T,” I called over my shoulder to them, trying to shove Kostya back but doing no more than keeping him from moving forward. “Can we get through, please?”

“Of course. Aisling apologizes and says that they will accompany you.”

Drake tried to shoo Aisling into a room.

Rene, thoughtful of our situation, continued to narrate. “Ah, I am mistaken. Drake says she will stay at home, and he will go to G&T to make sure that you are not attacked.”

Aisling gave Drake’s shoulder a shove and sauntered past him.

“And now Aisling has told him that he is insane if he thinks that she will allow him to treat her as if she is made of glass simply because she is enceinte again.”

“Oh, I didn’t know she was expecting. Please pass along my congratulations.”

Rene did so, watching with interest as Drake intercepted Aisling on the way to the door, pointing to the stairs.

“Drake now informs Aisling that she will remain home if he has to lock her in a room.”

Aisling gasped and began speaking extremely quickly. Drake’s face had the same scowl that Kostya so often wore. I leaned against the latter. “This feels vaguely voyeuristic, and yet, it’s as fascinating as a soap opera.”

“Aisling has now threatened to set Drake on fire while he is next sleeping. He is now attempting to use reason on her, but she is having none of it.”

“Heh,” Jim said, grinning when Drake tried to pick up Aisling. “You left out the part where she threatened to nip his noogies if he ever spoke to her again like that. Now he’s trying to tell her that he just wants to protect the baby and that he has full confidence in her abilities, yadda yadda yadda. Oh man, this isn’t going to end well.”

Aisling, obviously furious, snarled something at her husband, made a symbol over his chest, and escaped his hold in order to stride up the stairs to the floor above.

Drake tried to go after her, couldn’t move, and began yelling at Aisling’s back.

“What on earth?” I asked.

“Binding ward,” Jim said, snickering as he got up to follow Aisling. “He went too far. Heh heh. I’m going to like being bound to her.”

“Right,” I said, slapping my hands over Kostya’s eyes. “It’s time for us to give them a little privacy to work out their issues. You’re going to walk forward and not try to remove my hands, okay?”

“I don’t need to be blinkered!” Kostya protested, pulling down my wrists. The second his eyes settled on Drake, he snarled and spat fire.

I raised one eyebrow at him.

“Fine,” he said through his teeth. “But only until I am past Drake.”

Between us, Rene and I managed to get Kostya by Drake (who lunged and tried to grab his brother) and out the door. Luckily, Rene’s cab wasn’t parked far, so in no time we were zipping through Paris, on the way to Goety and Theurgy, infamous Otherworld nightspot.

Sixteen

“This is ridiculous.” I tried to get through the open doorway that led into the G&T club. “There’s nothing here, and yet it feels like there’s an invisible sheet of rubber stretched across the opening that just will… not… let… me in. Gah! Kostya, what is this?”

Kostya, ever vigilant, was busily scanning up and down the street. There wasn’t much to look at—the club was located on a short avenue lined with small, dark shops that looked like they had been there forever. There weren’t a great many people out and about, just one or two ladies with string shopping bags who hurried past, their minds obviously on the tasks of the day.

I waited until the nearest one passed us before prodding Kostya on the arm. “Earth to Kostya. Do you read me?”

“Read what?” he asked, still watching the ladies with bags.

“I was being funny. Or rather, trying to.”

He gave me the one-eyebrow-up look. I made a face at him. “All right, it wasn’t a big success, but at least I tried, and you can’t complain because you weren’t even listening to me when I was telling you about the invisible rubber thing across the door.”

He frowned at the door. “You cannot enter?”

“No. It’s like something’s there stopping me, but I don’t see anything.” I waved a hand through the doorway. “See? There’s nothing there when it’s just my hand, but when I try to step through…”

I smooshed up against an invisible barrier that distorted my body when I tried to enter the building.