Gabriel looked up from my arm, a tiny bead of my blood in the corner of his mouth. His tongue flicked out to suck it into his mouth, his eyes smiling at me as he leaped to his feet and quickly scented the air. Then he was off with the grace of a very male, very sexy gazelle.
"Holy cow," I said, my breath made uneven by the experience of his type of healing.
"I'm going to tell Drake that you have a new boyfriend/' Jim said, watching me with unreadable dark eyes. "One who likes to suck owies. I'm a demon and even / think that's just gross."
I looked down at my arm. The long cut was still red, but it had closed and stopped bleeding, as if there was something in Gabriel's saliva that promoted healing. "You say anything to Drake at all, and I swear we'll go to the neutering clinic, Have you ever heard of a dragon who can heal?"
"Sure, dragon spit is well known for its healing properties." I glanced up at Jim, puzzled by the sarcastic tone in its voice. "Not! Dragons aren't healers, Aisling. They take, they don't give. You know that."
"Well, this dragon has something going for him, because not only is the pain gone but the cut is closed. Come on. Maybe you can track the guy who cut me. Or Gabriel. I need that amulet back, and as much as I appreciate Gabriel's first-aid skills, I don't trust him where treasure is concerned."
We ran through the copse of trees, emerging on the other side to find ourselves in a rock garden filled with exotic plants and a little waterfall that splashed prettily down a mossy cliff.
"Oh, man, now I gotta pee," Jim complained as we ran by the waterfall to the stretch of lawn beyond it.
"You do not. It's just a psychological thing. Do you smell either Gabriel or the guy who did the slash and dash?"
"What do I look like, a bloodhound? I'm a Newfoundland! We're water dogs. We don't do the tracking thing!"
We ran up to the outer edges of a church ruin. Beyond it was an open-air theater. I stopped next to a marble plaque marking the site of an ancient convent, clutching it for a moment as I caught my breath. Jim panted beside me, its tongue hanging a good six inches out of its mouth.
"This is ridiculous. This island is something like a mile and a half long and who knows how wide. We'll never be able to find them if you can't track them."
"I'm not the only one around here who can do something. You're the one who wants to be a Guardian. So do your thing. Look around you."
I opened my mouth to snap out a nasty comment but closed it without saying anything. Jim was right (dammit!). One of the abilities I had discovered the month before was that I could see things not apparent to the visible eye by opening myself up to my environment, allowing what a very wise woman in Paris had called "the possibilities" to become clear to me. "Why does everyone in the Otherworld seem to have a quantum physics degree?" I grumbled as I straightened up, closing my eyes and trying to calm my distraught mind so I could really see the world around me.
"What do you see?" Jim asked as I opened the door in my mind that allowed my mental sight to see reality.
Jim backed away from me as I stood next to the wall bearing the plaque. Beyond Jim the ruins of the convent shimmered in the night, the walls stretching and yawning as if they were alive. Before my bewildered sight, the convent came to life, the broken walls slowly rebuilding themselves, dark figures moving gracefully down paved pathways, a bell tolling somberly in the distance.
"Aisling? Do you see Gabriel or that mugger?"
"Uh ..." Two of the dark figures glided toward me, their heads covered by white coifs. "No. Not Gabriel. I think I'm seeing a memory or something of the convent."
"Ghosts? Cool. Where? Oh, yeah, the two over by the well, do you mean?"
I turned my mental vision on Jim. "What do you mean, 'the two over by the weir? You can see ghosts? Why didn't you tell me that?"
Jim shrugged. "You never asked."
I sighed and turned to look beyond the convent ruins, my mind's eye scanning the gardens and tiny forest that curved around the south end of the convent.
"Ash? The grass is on fire."
"Really badly?" I asked without looking down. One of the side effects of using my mental sight was that I pulled some of Drake's dragon fire as a form of power. Unfortunately I didn't have the control he had, and it tended to get away from me.
"Not bad. Just a ring around you. But it's a good thing those two nuns next to you are already dead or they'd be barbecue."
I spun around. Two ghostly nuns stood right behind me, their faces eerily semitransparent ovals in the dark of the evening. As ] stared in horror, one of them stretched a beseeching white hand toward me. "Criminy! Why didn't you tell me they were right—ow!"
"You're standing in the middle of the fire," Jim said helpfully.
I jumped out of the four-inch-thick barrier of fire and stomped my foot in the cool grass to put out the flames that licked the toes of my shoes. "Dammit, these are new! Why didn't you tell me they were there?"
"T thought you knew."
I eyed the two see-through nuns a bit nervously. I'd never seen a ghost before. What if they went all ghoulish and crawling with maggots on me? "Do you think they're here just to say hi? Or are they like sentinels or something, trying to keep me away from the ruins? Ghosts aren't evil, are they?"
"Who knows, maybe, and what planet are you living on? Ghosts are ghosts, nothing more."
"Oh, thank you. That's a fat lot of help. What do you think they want?"
Jim looked at the ghosts. Their images wavered in the heat of the fire. "Dunno. You could ask them."
"Ask them? You mean they'll talk to me? But I'm a Guardian. Almost. Can Guardians talk to ghosts, too?"
"You can talk to whoever you want to if you know how," Jim said with a disinterested sniff. "They probably want you to do something for them so they can find their rest. That's the usual modus operandi of ghosts. You going to take care of that fire?"
"I don't have time for ghosts," I said, wringing my hands, stopping myself when I realized what I was doing. Only Gothic romance heroines wrung their hands. I was a modern, proficient, professional woman, one whose life had no room for hand-wringing. "I have to get that stupid amulet back. Then I have to find the hermit and figure out what this horrible ritual is that I have to pass in order to find a mentor, not to mention finding said mentor, figuring out just what the devil Drake is doing here and who that woman is who slinks around like she has snake hips, as well as why she gets all touchy-feely with Drake."
Jim snickered.
"I'm sorry," I told the two ghosts. I pulled out the planner notebook from my purse and showed them the entries for the next few days. "I just don't have room for ghost problems in my schedule. But if you like, I can mention you to some of the other GODTAM people, and perhaps one of them would come out here and take care of whatever it is you need taken care of."
The ghosts shimmered sadly, regret and sorrow seeming to leak out of them and wrap around me.
"Look," I said, pointing to the notebook. "No time, see? Busy Aisling."
A woeful dirge drifted on the upper reaches of the evening breeze.
"Maybe they don't speak English?" I said to Jim before turning back to the ghosts, dredging through my memory for the appropriate phrase. "Kfiszonjuk, hogy nem dohdnyzik."
Jim began coughing. The nuns shimmered some more, a bit aggressively this time.
"Well, sheesh," I said, closing my notebook and tucking it away in my purse. "I'm sorry if my apology—"
"You said, and I quote, 'Thank you for not smoking.' "
"—if my request that they ... er ... not smoke didn't go down well, but I—I—ohT hell!"
"Abaddon."
"Abaddon! Right. I'll pencil you in for Saturday morning, right after breakfast. I was going to get an herbal massage, but I'll come here instead. Is that copasetic with you guys?"
The ghostsI figures wavered for a moment as if they were considering it, then they slowly dissolved into the night.
'Til take that as a yes," I grumbled as I turned t
o face the gardens and stretch of woodland that ran down the island, my mental vision seeing only shadows of the things not touched by the Otherworld. A flash of silver slipped through the trees, resolving itself into the figure of a man walking toward us. It had to be Gabriel. "There he is. Does he look like he has the amulet?"
"You're the one with super-vision, not me. You going to let the place bum down or what?"
"Oh." My vision returned to normal as I glanced back at the ring of fire that was burning merrily. As had happened before when I used my Guardian abilities to see, a pang of regret whispered through me, leaving me mourning the fact that the world looked so much drearier and mundane in reality, "Put it out for me, would you, Jim? I'm going to go see if Gabriel got my amulet back."
"Put it out?" Jim asked, its voice rising as I loped off toward the distant figure. "Just how do you expect me to do that without a fire extinguisher?"
"Pee on it," I yelled over my shoulder.
The last sight I had of the demon was its lifting a back leg and hopping around the fire. Considering the amount of watering Jim did on bushes whenever I took it on waikies, I knew it would have no difficulty in putting out a small fire.
"I realized as soon as I saw you coming toward me that I don't know your name," Gabriel said as I ran up to him.
"It's Aisling. Did you find the guy who stabbed me? Did you get my amulet back?"
Gabriel made a courtly bow, white teeth flashing against the darkness of his skin as he smiled at me. We had met near a stone path that cut across the island, a streetlamp flooding the ground with a pool of yellow sodium light. Even with that dim illumination, I could see the flash of molten silver in his eyes as he held out his hand to me. "It is my extreme pleasure to meet you, Aisling the mate."
"You found it!" I yelled, relief filling me as I snatched the crystal amulet from his hand. Overjoyed, I threw my arms around him, pressing a kiss to his cheek in gratitude. 'Thank you so much! Did you have any trouble with the guy? Who is he? Did you beat him to a pulp? Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
He chuckled as I hugged him again. Then he stepped away. T had no trouble tracking the man, as he carried the scent of your blood. I'm afraid I had little time to question him about his actions, feeling you would prefer a return of your amulet to an interview with the attacker. He had two young companions waiting for him at a dock on the Pest side, so, alas, I was not able to beat him to a pulp"
'Three thieves? The one who stabbed me was the same guy who tried to steal the amulet at the train station."
"Due to the high number of tourists, this area is a target of thieves. No doubt they followed you to the hotel and have been waiting for another chance to rob you," Gabriel said, gesturing toward the amulet. "It might be safer if you wore it beneath your clothing, rather than carrying it."
"Yeah, but how did they know I was here?"
Gabriel shrugged "It wouldn't be difficult for them to follow you if they thought you were worth their effort."
That didn't seem very likely, but then again, how likely was it that someone would randomly pick me out to stab?
"Regardless of why they picked on me, I owe you more than I can say."
"Indeed," he said, with a sudden flash in his bright silver eyes. I wondered at il for a moment but let it go in favor of more important concerns.
"I hope they didn't give you any trouble.I' I ran my eyes over him quickly, worried that he might have been injured as a result of his chivalrous act. As a dragon, he was more or less immortal, but even a wyvern could be killed. It just wasn't easy.
"Nothing I am unused to," Gabriel said, laughter rich in his voice.
'LI can't tell you how much I appreciate this," I said, looking at the crystal amulet. "My uncle would kill me it I lost another one."
"You have lost an amulet before?"
He walked with me as I started toward the ruined convent where I had left Jim. "Not an amulet, no. Drake stole an aquamanile that I was transporting last month, A gold aquamanile."
"Gold," he said, an avaricious light glowing in his eyes. I swear he all but licked his lips at the word. He paused, putting his hand on my arm to stop me so I faced him, his chin tilting up as he scented the air. "Ah, I thought so. You are wearing gold."
'Just a tiny bit," I said, pulling away from him. I ilipped the amulet's chain over my head, tucking the crystal down beneath my peasant blouse so it rested next lo the tiny green jade pendant that hung between my breasts. "It's a jade talisman given to me as protection against dragons. It has tiny little itty-bitty gold touches on H. that's all. Drake himself said it wasn't valuable or worth his time."
"I do not necessarily share Drake's opinions," Gabriel >aid, his hand on my arm again as he halted me.
"Oh, for heaven's sake—here! See? Just a jade dragon. Minuscule amounts of gold. Happy now?"
The dimples that had been hinted at in the slight indentations in his cheeks flared to life as he grinned at me. "I would not take it even if it was made of solid gold, Aisling. It is yours. I am not a thief."
"You wouldn't?" I didn't want to come right out and say I didn't believe him, but I had some experience with dragons. Gold was irresistible to them.
"No. Did I not just return to you a most valuable piece of what looks to be fifteenth-century jewelry? I am not a thief like your current wyvern. I am a healer, first and foremost. I am interested only in benefiting mankind— and womankind."
Heater? Uh-huh. Charmer, that's what he was—full of charm and suave sexuality that I could feel even though I was not man-shopping. Or dragon-shopping, for that matter. Subtlety was obviously not his forte. Like I didn't notice that "current wyvern" he'd thrown in his reference to Drake? ''Valuable?" My voice was a bit squeaky. I cleared it, licking my lips nervously. "What makes you think the amulet is valuable?"
He gently pushed me forward, leaving his hand resting on the small of my back. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but I was very aware of his nearness. I couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to put a move on me, or if he was just one of those touchy-feely sorts of people who like to maintain physical contact. Or maybe he felt all manly and protective because there were amulet thieves lurking behind every tree?
Or better yet, maybe my feminine allure was just too much for him, and he was smitten with my many charms. I fluttered my eyelashes as I peeked up at him.
"You are employed to transport an object to a man in a different country. There is much expense involved in such an act. Thus, the object itself must be worth a great deal of money."
Then again, he could just be keeping me within arm's distance so he could snatch the amulet and run.
I felt a little fudging was necessary. I would not lose another antiquity to a dragon. "That would make sense if [he only reason I was here was to deliver the amulet, but I'm here to attend the GODTAM conference. I told my uncle I'd bring the amulet so he wouldn't have to go to the expense of shipping it." Not the truth, but not quite a flat-out lie, either, so it didn't really count.
I hoped.
"Ah. I see." We reached the edge of the hotel's property, the side garden that was set aside for dogs' use. Beyond a low bank of rhododendrons, Jim sat chatting to the Swedish Moa. I was grateful the demon hadn't gone off on its own, since I had no idea how I was supposed to retrieve it from the limbo it would find itself in if one of the GODTAM officials found it alone. "I knew you were a Guardian, of course, but I had forgotten about the conference. Yes, you are here for it."
"Yup." I stopped and gave Gabriel what I hoped was a friendly—but not too friendly—smile. "That's why I'm here. Why are you here, if you don't mind my asking? I kind of gathered from Drake that you wyverns don't get along too well, so I'm a bit surprised to see you staying in the same hotel he is at."
The faint smile that lingered on Gabriel's lips faded as he gave me a quizzical look. "I am here for the summit."
'The summit?" As far as I knew, dragons had nothing to do with the GODTAM conference. I'd checked into that before
I registered, wanting to avoid the very situation in which I now found myself—in close proximity to Drake. "What summit is that?"
He was silent for a moment before finally saying, "I am surprised Drake has not mentioned it to you. The wyverns of all four septs are meeting here for a peace summit. Drake arranged it. We are attempting to reach an accord so that the conflicts between the septs will cease. Drake and I are not the only two wyverns here—Fiat Blu and Lung Tik Chuan Ren are also here."
"I know Fiat," I said slowly, my glance sliding over to the hotel. A vague suspicion was forming in the back of my beleaguered brain. "But I don't know the fourth wyvern. He must be with the group of Asian people Drake met earlier."
"He? No. Chuan Ren is a woman." Gabriel flicked an amused glance my way. "A lovely woman—lovely but very deadly. She is the wyvern of the red dragons. You have heard of them, of course."
I shook my head, pieces of the puzzle falling into place, a spike of happiness overlaying the questions surrounding Drake's appearance. I squelched the happy thought that the only reason he was escorting the Chinese woman was because she was a fellow wyvern and reminded myself that it was nothing to me what the dragons did.
"He has not spoken to you of her?" Gabriel made a half shrug. "Then I will leave it to him to detail her history."
"I didn't know things were really dicey between you guys," I said, one eye on Jim. A couple of people with small dogs were at the near end of the garden, but no one was close enough to hear my conversation with Gabriel. "I hope the accord goes well. Drake isn't really forthcoming with a lot of information, but to be honest, I haven't asked him about much. And as for me being his mate—well, he hasn't quite accepted the fact that I turned down the position."
"Excellent," he said, clapping his hands together in a gesture of pleasure. 'Then it will be that much easier to challenge him."