Her eyes met mine in a long look filled with bleak despair. “Everyone.”

“Great. And I let him out.”

Drake ignored our whispered consultation. “Excellent. We will get word to Bastian and Gabriel so that they may also provide dragons to watch Bael.”

I elbowed Kostya. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “The wyverns of the blue and silver dragon septs, respectively.”

“There’s more than just the three septs?” I asked, a little surprised by that fact.

“There is a sixth sept as well, but they have only five members, two of whom are children, so they cannot provide extra dragons to monitor Bael.”

“Pardon me for interrupting,” I said, raising my hand. Everyone turned weary faces toward me. “Why is Bael so dangerous? From what you’ve all said, he’s a former demon lord. Yeah, he summoned a few demons, but you said they were destroyed and sent back to their holding bin. Or wherever demons live when they aren’t doing demon things. I don’t understand why you guys are so concerned about Bael being out and about.”

“He’s a master trickster,” Aisling said at the same time that Drake answered, “In his prime, he was infinitely more powerful than the current reigning prince.”

“But he’s no longer in charge,” I argued.

“It doesn’t work that way, Aoife,” Bee said, her face tight with worry. “Even though he doesn’t have his full powers, he’s still pretty awful.”

Aisling nodded. “The head of the Guardian’s Guild is going to have a lot of things to say when I tell him that Bael is back. We’re supposed to protect mortals from demons and demon lords, and if Bael, the most powerful of all of them, is now running around in our world…” She shivered and rubbed her arms.

I felt sick to my stomach. “And I let him loose.”

“You did not do so intentionally,” Kostya said in a comforting tone.

“No, but that doesn’t really matter now, does it.” I sank into a miserable silence while Drake continued on with the meeting.

“Now we turn to Bee Ndala, the Charmer who has kindly consented to help break the curse.” Drake made a little bow in Bee’s direction. “I understand that you have a connection to Aoife?”

“We are sisters,” Bee said, her voice and manner subdued.

I slid a quick glance at her but couldn’t look for long without almost choking on the sense of betrayal.

“How felicitous. It will make working with Aoife that much easier. What do you need from us in order to break the curse?”

“Normally, nothing external to what I can do by myself, since it’s usually just a matter of untracing the curse, but with this one… I’m sorry, but curses by demon lords are much more involved than lesser curses. The curse laid on all of you is going to require something more.”

“You can’t break the curse?” I asked, a bit exasperated. “Are you sure you’re a Charmer?”

“I’ve been a Charmer a lot longer than you’ve been a dragon’s mate,” my sister answered in a snippy tone.

“Do not speak to my mate in such a manner,” Kostya warned her. “She does not deserve it.”

“Mate?” Drake’s eyebrows rose.

“Yes.” Kostya looked more than a little pugnacious. “Do you have anything to say about that?”

“Not I.” Drake looked like he wanted to laugh but managed to control his lips.

“Well I certainly have something to say!” Aisling gave a little cheer and beamed at Kostya and me. “I’m so glad you finally saw the light, and I just know you both will be as happy as Drake and I are. A new mate! I can’t wait to tell May and Ysolde. They will be thrilled to welcome you to the union. Did I mention the mates have our own union? We used to meet once a month to discuss things, but of course that got put on hold with the curse. I can’t wait to get back to the meetings—we always have such fun at them. What?”

The last word was addressed to Drake, who was giving her an odd look.

“You are babbling,” he told her.

“I’m allowed to babble. This is a big occasion! But I will attempt to stem my enthusiasm until after the curse has lifted. Go ahead, Bee.”

Bee lifted her hand in a helpless gesture. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Kostya asked.

She made a regretful face. “It’s the nature of the beast. With a normal curse, I could unmake it without any outside help. But with the origination lying with a demon lord who is in the mortal world, I’m going to need a token, something personal belonging to the one who laid down the curse. And then there’s Aoife’s ring.” She slid a glance toward me. I lifted my chin. “I would like to tell you all that I’m capable of handling the curse by myself, but I’m afraid that such a thing is beyond any Charmer. The ring is going to be a necessity. It will need to be relinquished to me, and I’m sure Aoife won’t want to give it up. It will be up to you all to take it from her—”

“You bitch!” I spat out, leaping to my feet.

A shocked silence followed.

I was too furious to care. “How dare you imply that I won’t do everything in my power to save the dragons from this curse? What sort of person are you that you think I wouldn’t give everything I owned to let the dragons live in peace again? Wait, what am I saying—I know what sort of person you are. You’re someone who throws your sister, your own flesh and blood, into a lunatic’s asylum even though you knew full well I was telling the truth. You’re that sort of person, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that you think I’m made of the same traitorous, self-centered, egotistical material!”

Aisling’s eyes were round as she watched me.

Kostya stood up when I did, but he said nothing, just stood close enough behind me that I could feel his heat, feel his fire simmering below the surface.

“Whoa,” Jim said sotto voce. “I didn’t see that coming. Eefable’s sister is the one who had her committed? Bad form, Charmer Sister. Seriously bad form.”

“It wasn’t bad form at all,” Bee suddenly snapped, jumping up and stomping over to face me. “I was trying to protect you, you ninny!”

“Protect me?” I sneered. “By telling me I was crazy and having me locked up for years? What was it really, Bee? Were you jealous of me? You’re the one who was always gallivanting off helping third-world people, while I just stayed at home and took care of the house. What was it I had that you wanted? Huh? Go ahead and tell me. I’d dearly love to know what drove you into betraying me.”