“They have not said they needed your help,” Drake pointed out while at the same time giving us both piercing looks.

“Is everything all right?” Ysolde asked, joining them. She, too, looked worried.

“No,” Constantine said in his usual frank manner. “Asmodeus is dead. Bael has his ring. I was unable to kill him on my own. He is too powerful, and we will need to seek the assistance of the First Dragon to rid ourselves of him. Bee is now my mate, but that is a good thing. We have decided to form our own sept and are thinking of indigo as a color. I also thought of naming ourselves the spirit dragons, but since Bee is not a spirit, it would not be appropriate. We will make Gary an honorary indigo dragon.”

“Wooties!” Gary shouted, driving a triumphant circle around Constantine’s feet. “I’ll be the best dragon you ever had!”

“A mate?” Aisling looked startled, then happy. “How exciting, a new mate. But…”

“We thought you decided you weren’t a mate,” Ysolde finished for her. “What changed your mind?”

“It was me,” Constantine said, not even trying to look humble. “She couldn’t resist me. And my ass—she particularly likes that.”

“You big bullfrog,” I said, elbowing him in the side. “Don’t make me regret agreeing to be your mate the very same day I accept the job.”

He grinned at me, and my innards all seemed to melt in a happy puddle.

“A new sept.” Kostya frowned, sliding a glance at his brother. “That will have to be voted upon by the others before it can be accepted, but I do not like the idea of a sept led by a spirit.”

“Pfft,” I said, irritated by his reaction. How dare Kostya try to rain on Constantine’s parade? “He’s as solid as you are. The only difference is that he’s not alive anymore. So what’s the problem with him heading up his own sept? You guys don’t have a law that says he has to be alive, do you?”

“Bee,” Constantine said sternly. “You do not have to champion me to the weyr. Not that I don’t appreciate the fact that you want to—I do, very much so. But it is not necessary. Besides, if there is any chastising to be done, I wish to have the fun of doing it.”

“Consider us chastised, then,” Drake said, taking Aisling’s arm and helping her to a chair. I thought it was a bit funny the way he treated her like she was made of glass, since she was, from everything I’d heard, one badass lady, but I gathered dragons were an overprotective bunch, and that was how they responded to pregnant women.

I slid a look sideways at Constantine.

He raised an eyebrow in response.

“You’re dead.”

“I am.”

“Can you… uh… is all of you dead?”

He raised the other eyebrow.

I sighed and said softly, “Can you make babies if you’re a spirit? Don’t look at me as if I’m crazy—I’ve never met a spirit before. I know there’s lots of things you can do, like eat, and other things you need to do, like shave and brush your teeth, but I didn’t know if you had… you know… sperm.”

His gaze turned into liquid gold. “With a mortal? No. But you are my mate. That fact may well transcend mortal realities. We shall have to find out together whether or not we can have children.”

I leaned in close to him and said softly, “Well, if it turns out I can get pregnant and you treat me like I can’t sit down by myself when I clearly can, I will punch you in the gooch.”

“I will remember that should the day arise.”

“You do that.”

“This is not a formal sarkany,” Drake said when he had Aisling seated to his satisfaction. He gestured toward the other couches and chairs. “But it is evident by what Constantine has said that we have much to discuss. Perhaps we can have a recap of what happened after we left?”

Constantine gave it to them, almost word-for-word. Kostya muttered something under his breath about just handing over the ring without a protest, but Aoife shot him a squinty-eyed look that left him silent.

“So your plan is to ask for intervention of the First Dragon?” Drake asked, glancing at Baltic. As usual, the latter wore an expression that gave nothing away. “I am not convinced that is the right path. If the dragonkin band together—”

“He will destroy us,” Constantine said tiredly. “You do not realize just how powerful he is now. He destroyed Asmodeus with one swing of the mage sword. That leaves him in control of Abaddon as well as much of the Otherworld.”

“Just because he says he’s the Venediger doesn’t mean he really is, right?” Aoife asked.

The others shook their heads. “Claiming the position by defeating the prior occupant and stating the intention to hold the position is valid. Unfortunately, until we can remove him from the position, he is in effect the Venediger,” Drake said.

“And that’s bad because…?” Aoife looked confused.

“It means Bael will be able to rule the Otherworld in Europe,” Kostya answered her.

“Well, that’s just Jim Dandy fine,” I said, sighing and leaning into Constantine. We were seated on a loveseat, and despite the grim situation, I felt a certain amount of happiness just having him so close to me. “Nothing like having a deranged serial-killer demon lord ruling over you. We are in so much trouble.”

“Looks like we’ll have to get your father in,” Aisling told Baltic. The latter made a face.

To my surprise, Ysolde made one as well. “He’s such a pain in the patootie.” She must have noticed everyone looking at her because she added with a little apologetic gesture, “Sorry, didn’t realize I said that in my out-loud voice.”

“How do you summon the First Dragon?” I asked Constantine, a bit nervous because I’d never been in the presence of a demigod. “Are you going to do it right now? Should I leave?”

“We will need the dragon heart,” he answered.

The other dragons instantly looked away.

“Is it an actual heart?” I asked, trying not to look appalled.

“No. The dragon heart is made of shards. Those are what the First Dragon used to create the original four septs. Each wyvern holds a shard. The one I held is now in the possession of the silver wyvern.” He frowned and glanced around the room. “Why is Gabriel not here?”