“Broken trust is hard to overcome,” Rene answered, his dark eyes sparkling with some inner amusement.

I opened my mouth to refute that statement, recognized my own words (although how on earth did Rene know I had spoken them?), and was about to snap back when a familiar voice in the hallway had me spinning around.

“You are all here? Good,” Drake said, entering the room, Pál, István, and Kostya in close formation. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Nora.”

She smiled at him as he kissed her hand in that dramatic—but oh, so sexy—way he had. “It’s a pleasure I share. You are no doubt wondering what I am doing here—I have been authorized by the Guardians’ Guild to assist Aisling with the problem of her proscription.”

“Excellent. I am sure she will welcome your help.”

My stomach trembled pleasurably as Drake eyed me.

“Stop that,” I said softly as he let me feel his fire.

His eyes flashed with wicked intent for a moment before he banked the fire, striding over to stand next to me. “You have not met my brother, I think.”

Nora murmured politely as Drake introduced Kostya to her and my uncle.

“You look much better,” I told Kostya, looking closely at him. Although he’d evidently been badly malnourished as well as suffering from a couple of broken ribs, he looked hale and hearty now. I noticed other similarities to Drake—he moved with the same liquid grace, and bore a familiar sinister air of danger that I knew from experience acted like a magnet for women.

He bowed, and I thought again that dragons sure knew how to make simple acts look graceful without being the least bit effeminate or silly. “I am well. Drake has informed me of your situation; you will, I hope, accept my congratulations, and will not be offended if I remove from your house as soon as possible.”

“Remove? You’re leaving?”

“I must. To stay here would endanger you. It would be unrealistic to expect that word of my presence not spread, and I would not bring trouble to my brother’s home.”

“Too late for that,” Jim muttered.

Kostya glared at the demon.

“Well, it is!” Jim pointed out.

“I agree, it is too late, therefore it doesn’t make any sense for you to leave,” I said, taking Drake’s hand. “This was your mother’s home before she gave it to Drake, and you will always be welcome here. As for danger…bah. Like we don’t have an entire sept trying to bring us down? If we can handle that, we can handle any reaction to your reemergence. Right, sweetie?”

Drake’s fingers tightened around mine. I was a bit surprised that he wasn’t protesting his brother’s decision to leave, but figured he must have a reason. That didn’t mean I had to agree with it, though.

“Kostya was never one to allow others to endanger themselves on his behalf,” Drake said slowly.

“That’s a non-answer if I ever heard one. Look, this is silly—you’re Drake’s brother, which means you’re my brother now, and you need protection, so you’re going to stay here. End of story. Now, why don’t you guys sit down and tell us what’s going on, because I’m just about bursting with questions.”

Drake resisted my tug on his hand. “We were going to have a conference about the future, Aisling. I just looked in to make sure you were all right.”

“Overprotection is not a virtue, you know,” I told him with a little pinch. “But that sounds like as good a topic as any. So, what are going to be the ramifications of Kostya’s reemergence?”

Drake was silent, his thumb stroking the back of my hand. Kostya frowned at the window. Pál and István shared a glance, then both turned to Drake.

“Oh,” I said, realizing I’d put my foot into it. “I’m sorry. This is probably sept stuff, huh? Nora, could we get together a little later today? I want to brainstorm proscription stuff with you, but this situation is a bit more important.”

“Of course,” she said, gathering up her things, beaming a smile to everyone in the room. “You have my number? Call me when you are free and we will discuss what the Guild can do to help you.”

“Will do.”

Rene and Uncle Damian stood up as well, obviously taking the hint. I had started to escort Nora to the door when Drake’s voice made me pause.

“Aisling…” He looked uncomfortable for a moment.

“What?”

The silence was almost overwhelming. Jim blew a low whistle, walking over to nudge me with its head. “Oh, man. This isn’t going to be pretty.”

“What isn’t going to be pretty? What’s wrong, Drake?”

“I’ll see you later,” Nora said quietly.

“Aisling has time to speak with you now,” Drake said, stopping her.

“What on earth has gotten into you?” I asked, giving him a curious glance that was tinged by a bit of anger at his high-handed manner. “You know better than to start ordering me around. The dragon business is more important than the proscription…”

A horrible thought struck me. A horrible, appalling, unbearable thought, one that made my stomach twist as I looked from one dragon to the other.

“Oh, my god—you don’t want to talk in front of me,” I finally said, unable to believe the words even as I spoke them.

I looked at Drake, willing him to deny it.

“It is sept business, kincsem.”

“Sept business your brother can hear, but I can’t?”

“This concerns how the sept will help Kostya.”

The words cut into me like little daggers, the unspoken sentiment quite clear. “And I’m no longer a member of the sept.”

He moved so fast he was just a blur until he was directly in front of me, my hands in his. “You are my life, Aisling. You are my mate, regardless of the legalities. Nothing will ever change that.”

I searched his face, but the truth was written there—reluctantly, true, but still plain to see. “But I’m not a green dragon anymore.”

He said nothing. He didn’t need to. The pain in his eyes said it all…but it was nothing to the pain I felt.

I’ll just whistle a little tune to myself, shall I?

Drake didn’t want me.

The sept didn’t want me.

The dragons to whom I had sworn my fealty no longer considered me to be a part of them.