“No, she does not,” Bael said, standing up. He had squatted down to examine the floor more closely, an act I thought was strange until I realized that he was looking at Aisling’s circle. It really must be keeping him confined, a fact that made me relieved. Worry about just who and what Bael was had been growing to the point where I was now certain I had just done something seriously bad.

“Call whoever you must,” Jovana said, giving me a glare before spinning around and marching to the back rooms. “But I want Bael out of my club in no more than five minutes. Make it happen, or pay the price of your folly, and I assure you, it will not be a price you will recover from.”

I shivered at the threat that lay behind her words. The power snapped off of her, leaving the room filled with a charge.

“Wow. You pissed off the Venediger first time you met her. Smooth move, Ex-Lax.”

I made a face at Jim. “I thought you had your brain wiped? Why is it you know about the Venediger?”

“I’m not stupid,” he said, grinning. “I told you that I asked questions. Learned a lot in the last few days.”

“Can you do something about him?” I asked Aisling.

“Jim? I can order him to silence.”

“No, Bael.”

She pursed her lips for a few seconds. “I’m a pretty good Guardian, but even I would probably have trouble banishing him to the Akasha on my own. There’s Nora, I suppose.” We both watched Bael, who was stretching his arms out in first one direction, then another, once again obviously testing the bounds of Aisling’s circle. He seemed to have no trouble getting his arms past the boundaries, but I couldn’t help but notice that his feet never left the circle. “Nora’s my Guardian mentor, Aoife. She’s very smart and has been of much help to me, although I’m not sure that even she and I together would be strong enough to banish Bael.”

“You wouldn’t,” he said, still testing the limits of the circle.

“Confine him, yes. But send him back to the Akasha…” She looked at Drake, who shook his head.

“I would not want you to try without much assistance. It would be dangerous for you and the child.”

“Well, I don’t know this Nora person, but I do know that I’m right here, and I have a ring that evidently can do things that are pretty outstanding. Kind of.” I took a deep breath and summoned up a smile for everyone but Bael. “How about we join forces? If I managed to summon him all by myself, then I’m sure if we pool our powers, we can send him back from whence he came.” I left Kostya’s side and marched over to Aisling, my hand with the ring outstretched toward her.

“I don’t think so,” she said, but stopped before continuing, giving the ring a doubtful glance.

“It’s worth a try, isn’t it? I mean, if everyone is saying it’s going to be super difficult to send him back—”

“Impossible is, I believe, the word you seek,” Bael said, his voice bland, but a little wave of anticipation seemed to ripple out from him.

“I suppose so,” Aisling said.

“I do not like this,” Drake said, facing her.

“Nor do I,” Kostya agreed, giving me yet another frown. “It is too dangerous for Aoife. I will not have her risking damage to herself simply to oblige us.”

“I’m the one who summoned this guy,” I pointed out.

He turned to me, putting his back to the others. There was a look in his eyes that melted me into a puddle of love-struck goo. Oh, he was still frowning—I doubted if he’d lose that for a very long time. But his eyes were soft with emotion, deep emotion, one that made me feel like I was standing in a field on a hot summer’s day. “I will not have you in danger,” he said softly, so that only I could hear. “I would be upset should anything happen to you.”

I swallowed back a sudden lump in my throat, wanting to tell him what was in my heart. I hesitated for a few seconds, unsure of what his reaction would be, but I couldn’t stop myself.

I stepped forward, tilting my head to brush my lips against his, whispering, “I love you, Kostya the black dragon. I love you when you frown, and I love you when your eyes light up so it looks like stars against the velvety night sky, and I love you when you’re stubborn and annoying and I just want to whomp you. And I’m beginning to believe I couldn’t survive without you, too.”

His eyes widened, and he slid a glance over my shoulder toward his brother, who was arguing in an undertone with Aisling. “You choose now to tell me this?”

“You started it. Besides, I thought you’d like to know,” I said, smiling and rubbing my nose against his. “I just want you to know that you can scowl all you want; you can stomp around and be grumpy as hell—”

“Abaddon!”

“Stop listening, Jim. You can argue with me, and make me insane with lust, and cling to the wounds that I know still hurt deep inside you, but nothing is going to change the fact that I love you, wholly and utterly.”

His jaw worked for a moment; then he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me up tight against his body, saying just before he stole all my breath in a kiss that damned near set the whole building alight, “You have the worst sense of timing of any woman I’ve ever met, and you’re going to drive me mad, if I’m not already, but I’ll fight to the death anyone who thinks he can touch my mate.”

The heat from his kiss seemed to sear my blood, making my whole body tingle with desire and need and a whole lot of love, all dusted over lightly with the purest lust. Joy filled me, my heart singing a hallelujah at the knowledge that there really was a person in the world for whom I was meant, and who, despite his protests, was wholly mine, heart, soul, and body.

I told him how much that meant to me, how I would always cherish him, and protect him, and give him the love that he so badly needed. I promised to always be faithful and that I would move heaven and earth to make sure his life was a happy one. I swore that I would love him until the end of my days. I spoke not in words, but in the love that flowed from everything that I was, merging with his fire, which I directed back at him.

He was everything to me, and I knew at that moment that all the hell I’d been through had been worth it just to make sure I was there to bring Kostya back from the dark place he’d lived in for so long.