“Answer my question, Drake. Is this all a plan of yours?”

An odd, irritated look flashed across his face. “You know me better than that. I do not give up that which I possess.”

“Then why did you do just that?” I tried to prop myself up but was still too shaky to do it on my own. Drake helped me into the nearest chair, giving me a glass of water to rinse out my mouth. Gabriel had Fiat cornered, arguing about something. I didn’t care what their problem was. The two of them could go to hell for all I cared.

That can be arranged, the dark power whispered to me.

I shuddered and pushed it away, still sick at heart at what I’d done.

“You didn’t have to do that. I wasn’t going to die, so you were perfectly safe.”

Drake sighed, capturing my attention again. “I do not like this rule of discussing my feelings that you have bound upon me, but I like less the assumption you have made. I yielded because it was the only thing I could do to save you. I was not in a position of power, nor could I count on Gabriel for assistance. I did what was necessary.”

No. It couldn’t be. I shook my head, still disbelieving. Maybe the poison had warped my brain and I was delusional after all. I pulled myself to my feet, swaying against Drake, allowing his warm, hard body to prop me up.

“You know what that means.”

“I do.” His jaw tightened, his eyes flashing with intermingled anger and passion.

My heart, leaden and sick, suddenly was enveloped in a gentle warmth that did much to dispel the ills that had possessed it. “Are you sure? Really sure? It’s not something else? Maybe you’re sick.”

His face grew harder. “Do you think I’m a fool that I could mistake it?”

“No, but you don’t look very happy about it.”

“I’m not,” he snapped, irritation rampant on his handsome features.

A smile curved my lips as I kissed the corners of his mouth, ignoring the presence of those around us. “Are you going to say it?”

“No.”

“Come on. I want to hear it.”

“No!”

I allowed all the love I had for him to show in my eyes as I rubbed my nose on his. “Please?”

His face took on the most martyred expression I’d ever seen. “If I say it once, do I have to say it again?”

“Yes. With increasing frequency. It gets easier with time, honest.”

He sighed again. “I knew this would not come to a good end. Very well, I’ll say it. But I reserve the right to refer you to this conversation on occasions when you wish me to say it again. Aisling, I love you.”

I fought hard to keep the smile off my face. Drake’s declaration of love was delivered in such a brusque tone, I knew it had to be costing him a lot to admit the truth. “I love you, too,” I answered, and welcomed his mouth when it came to claim mine, my heart singing a joyous song of happiness and fulfillment. His mouth was a hot brand, burning mine, searing my lips and tongue with an intensity that was almost painful. I waited for the rush of dragon fire that would follow his touch, wanting it to fill me with his passion and love.

It didn’t come.

“Release my mate,” a cool voice spoke behind us.

I pulled away from Drake, frowning up at him for a second before turning to level the glare of a lifetime at Dmitri. “You annoying little crapbean!”

The room echoed with the sound of the slap I delivered to Dmitri’s face. He looked surprised for a moment, then furious.

‘Do you seriously think I would consent to being your mate after you sided with this worm to steal the sept from Drake?”

Fiat said nothing as I gestured toward him, but his hands tightened. I didn’t care how much I insulted him— sept politics be damned.

“You have no choice,” Dmitri answered, giving me an offensively possessive look. My hand itched to slap him again. “You are a wyvern’s mate. I am the wyvern of the green dragons. By the rules that govern the weyr, you are now mine.”

“Just two days ago you refused to acknowledge me as Drake’s mate. You can’t have it both ways!”

“I am the wyvern of the green dragons,” he responded, giving me a slow smile. “I can have anything I want, including you.”

“Like hell! If you think I’m going to stand around and allow a smart-ass upstart to ruin Drake’s life, not to mention mine, you can just think again. I’m not a friggin’ demon lord for nothing!” I snapped, spinning around to find Jim, remembering in time that I’d sent him home to check on Istvan. I opened wide the door in my head and pulled on Drake’s fire. “Effrijim, I summon thee!”

Nothing happened. No fire filled me with power, no demon popped into view. My being was empty of Drake’s fire, completely empty. There wasn’t even a smidgen left of the slow-burning banked fire that had been present ever since I’d accepted him.

“Goddamn it, you stole my fire,” I snarled, wanting to lunge at Dmitri. I ran to Drake instead. Pal had been released by Fiat’s men and stood next to Drake as well, his face hard and blank. I put my hand on Drake’s chest. I could feel the fire in him, its warmth reassuring and comforting. “What happened? Why don’t I have your fire anymore? Is it because you yielded? I know there’s a stupid rule saying I’m not your mate anymore if you’re not wyvern, but that’s just a rule, right? It doesn’t really apply to us.”

His eyes were filled with pain. The sight of it sent my spirits plunging again. “No, kincsem. You are my mate. You will always be my mate. Nothing and no one can change that. The law may say you are mate to Dmitri, but you are mine, and I will not let you go.”

I leaned against him for a minute, drinking in his heat. “Then why can’t I share your fire anymore?” I asked in a whisper. “Is it because of Dmitri?”

His fingers swept over my face, wiping away more hot tears. “I do not think so. I think ...” He paused for a moment, his eyes so dark they looked black. “I think you have been proscribed.”

“Proscribed?” I searched my mental dictionary for a meaning and shuddered at the answer. “You mean I’m condemned? I’m damned?”

“Not damned,” he said quickly, raising his gaze to look at Pal. The two of them exchanged a look that left me shivering with cold. I rubbed my arms, aware, now that I’d lost it, just how much warmth and power Drake’s fire had given me.