He was silent for a moment. “I have always considered Drake a friend—insomuch as another wyvern can be a friend. I thought the same of you. I regret that my actions seem to you to be a betrayal of that friendship, but you may wish to consider what Fiat would have done if I had refused participation.”

A chill knot formed in my stomach and spread slowly outward. After the day’s experiences with Fiat, I was in no doubt that his actions would have been just as devastating, if not more, acting on his own. It could well be that Gabriel thought he was tempering Fiat, acting as a buffer and safety net combined in case Fiat went too far in his plan to…I shook my head. I still had no idea of what Fiat was up to.

Gabriel sighed. “I’m sorry you do not believe me, Aisling.”

“No, it’s not that—” I put my hand on his arm to stop him from leaving. “I was shaking my head at myself, not you. Whatever else, I am grateful you were present at that horrible day. I’d be dead or worse if you hadn’t saved me, and Drake…well, I don’t like to think about what would have happened to him. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m willing to give our friendship another chance.”

He smiled, warmth shining from his eyes as he kissed my hand again. “You have given me much joy, Aisling. I cherish that.”

“Fwah. You’re not actually buying that big ham’s Mary Sunshine act, are you?” Jim asked a minute later after the door closed behind Gabriel.

“You’re always pointing out how much there is I don’t know,” I answered, giving it a pointed look. “Well, maybe Gabriel is right. Maybe he was acting as best he knew how. Maybe he knew it was inevitable that Fiat was going to try to destroy us, and he joined forces with him to keep him from going totally bonkers.”

“Yeah, and maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt, but I’m not going to buy any bananas on the chance they will.”

“Rene, you’re a fate; you must know whether or not Gabriel is telling the truth. I’m sure there’s some sort of a rule saying you’re not supposed to interfere, but can you at least tell me if he’s being honest with me or not?”

Rene donned an inscrutable look. “A daimon is not a mind reader or a seer, mon ami. I know no more than you whether or not Gabriel is to be trusted. For that, you must trust your own instincts. Me, I think you’re right. I think that perhaps there is more here than we first assumed.”

“That’s reassuring to hear,” I said, marching back into the living room. “Jim, is there any way for me to transport myself and others to another location without using the dark power?”

Jim shook its head. “Not unless you’ve got Captain Kirk in your pocket.”

“Very funny. Right. I guess we’re going to have to do this the hard way. Traci, I summon thee.”

Traci appeared before us, stark naked, wet, and covered in bubbles.

“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to interrupt your bubble bath. Here, take this blanket…”

The look the demon gave me as it snatched a small cashmere lap blanket from my hands was one that could have curdled an entire dairy full of milk. “Is it too much to ask that you warn me before summoning?” it snapped.

“Sorry. I didn’t know that…er…demons bathed.”

Its eyes opened wide in indignation. “Of course we bathe! I’m a demon, not a barbarian.” Traci took a deep breath and visibly calmed itself. “I apologize for the tone of my voice, my lord. I assume you summoned me to discuss the situation in Paris.”

“What situation in Paris?”

I thought Jim had a long-suffering look down pat, but Traci’s expression put Jim to shame. “The situation about which I have been trying to talk to you for some time. The one concerning the role of Venediger, which you so…graciously…inflicted upon me.”

“What about it? I haven’t heard anyone complain about the job you’re doing, so you’re obviously doing something right.”

“I am referring to the challenger to the position,” Traci all but snapped, clearly at the end of its rope. “I have sent you faxes and e-mails about it, not to mention copious voice mails, but you have not responded!”

“Someone wants to take the position over? Is it someone evil?” I asked with a little stab of guilt at the fact that I’d been avoiding dealing with anything but the most pressing of items.

“Not that I am aware. The challenger is a mage by the name of Jovana.”

“Human? Not a demon lord or demonic in any sense of the word?”

“No. Evidently she is well-known in the community as a scholar.”

“Oh, well then,” I said with a relieved sigh, waving away the worry that someone like Bael was trying to take control of the French Otherworld. “She sounds perfect for the job. Let her win the challenge. I’m glad that’s taken care of, because I need you to book me three tickets to—what was the name of that little town in Italy that Gabriel mentioned?”

“But, my lord—”

“Santa Cristina?” Rene answered.

“That’s the one. It’s in the Tyrol, he said. I want you to book us three tickets on as direct a flight as you can get us, and arrange for a car while you’re at it.”

Traci fretted as I started out of the room. “My lord, the challenge—”

I paused long enough to give it a firm smile. “I know it’s kind of galling to purposely throw a challenge, but believe me, you’ll get over it fast enough.”

“But what sort of challenge—”

“It doesn’t matter. Pick whatever sort of event you like for the challenge,” I said, ruthlessly interrupting its bleats. Traci had a tendency to go on and on about trivial matters if you didn’t keep a firm hand with it. “Now please get onto finding us those tickets. I want to be out there as soon as we can. I assume you’ll want to come, Rene?”

“I wouldn’t miss it…er…what is it exactly we will be doing in Italy?”

“We’re going to enact a revolution,” I said succinctly, and closed the door softly on the stunned expressions of their faces.

10

“I’m cold.”

“Shush. Is that it, Rene?”

A tiny penlight pierced the blackness of the car and shone down on a map. “I think so.”