“Rene is a friend of Aisling,” Kostya answered.
“And that makes him okay?”
Kostya just gave me one of his “I dislike answering questions” faces and proceeded to pay off the bribe to the pilot for getting us into the country without having to go through customs.
“Hi,” I said to the taxi driver. “I’m Aoife, and this dog is—”
“Jim!” Rene said in a delighted tone, bending down to hug the dog and kiss him on both furry cheeks. “It has been too long, my old friend, much too long, yes?”
“Hiya,” Jim said, giving the man a friendly swipe of his tongue. “I take it you knew me before my memory got the eraso-matic, huh? I’m here with the Eefenator, not Kostya. She’s my boss now.”
Rene shot me a startled look. “She is? Aisling will be very upset by this news. She thinks the world of you. Eraso-matic? What is this?”
“It’s okay—you don’t have to be worried I’m trying to steal Jim from Aisling,” I said in a soothing voice. Honestly, the man looked worried to death over the idea that Jim wasn’t with his former boss. “It was an accident, and we’ve already met with Aisling, so it’ll be all straightened out in a bit.”
“Ah,” Rene said, absently patting Jim on the head. “It is not ideal, though, is it? Jim and Aisling made a strong team together. And then there is Jim’s beloved Cecile. What will become of her if he is not there to molest her ears?”
“Ew!” I looked at Jim. “You molested some poor woman’s ears?”
“I did?” Jim looked as horrified as I felt.
“No, no, Cecile, she is the small dog from Wales. She has no tail and snaps most vigorously if one attempts to pet her, but for Jim, she is all that is amiable. It is true love between them, hein?”
“Jim the demon has a Welsh corgi girlfriend?”
“Cool!” Jim said. “Are there pictures of her?”
“Alas, I do not possess any, although Cecile’s owner might. She lives here in Paris.”
“Gotcha.” I thought about making a comment regarding the size difference between a corgi and Jim but decided there were some things best left unsaid. “Well, at least that makes the ear molesting a little less creepy, Jim.”
“A corgi, huh?” Jim said thoughtfully. “They have those cute little stubby legs, don’t they? Yeah, I can totally see why a hot corgi babe wants me.”
“And we just crossed over the line back into ew-ness. No more comments about hot corgis and yourself, please. Rene, do you happen to know if Aisling is back in Paris yet? I tried calling her en route, but her voice mail was on, and she hasn’t called back.”
“That I do not know, I’m afraid. Will you enter?” He held open the taxi door for me.
“Shotgun!” Jim said, and leaped in through the open driver’s door to take up a spot in the front seat.
“Thanks. What… er… what are you? I take it you’re not a dragon because you can talk to Kostya.”
He smiled. “What I am is not so important as the fact that I am the very great friend of Aisling and thus will be delighted to help you and Kostya while you are in Paris. One cannot have too many friends in a time of war, can one not?”
I bit back the urge to press him for more information, but Kostya had finished his business and got into the backseat alongside me.
“Greetings, Rene.”
“And to you, Kostya Fekete. You are well, I see.”
“No thanks to the red dragons. Have there been any sightings of them in Paris?”
“Not that I have heard.” Rene started up the car and swung in a big arc on the tarmac to exit the small airport on the outskirts of a Paris suburb. “The Venediger is most adamant that the war not spill over onto her domain. She already warned Drake and Aisling that she would not tolerate any dissonance from dragonkin.”
Kostya said nothing, but looked thoughtful for a few minutes.
“The Venediger again,” I said softly, not entirely sure that I wanted Rene to hear all of our business. Jim was chatting up a blue streak in the front seat, keeping Rene laughing and answering his questions about Cecile the corgi, so I felt it was a good time to ask my question. “She doesn’t like dragons?”
He made a face. “She fears us because she has no power to call us to heel. But she won’t stop from harming us if we are to bring the battle for the weyr onto her territory. She all but threw me out of Paris the last time I was here. Do not expect a welcome reception from her, Aoife.”
“I wasn’t expecting much of anything, to be honest. Although that statement kind of indicates that you view me as being on par with a dragon, such as, oh, I don’t know, a wyvern’s mate?”
“You are a mate?” Rene asked, jerking the steering wheel when he was about to plow into oncoming traffic. He eyed Kostya with speculation in the rearview mirror until I squawked and pointed out the front window. “Pfft. I was not even close to that lorry. There was at least three inches of distance between us. So, Kostya has found his mate? Again?”
Kostya looked irritated. “There is no again. Cyrene was never my mate.”
“And yet you declared her such, or so Aisling told me,” Rene commented, deftly avoiding mowing down a family that was crossing at an intersection.
Kostya glared into the mirror. “Trust Aisling to tell everyone about that unfortunate episode.”
“Ah, my friend,” Rene laughed, “it is the way of women to keep us humble, is it not?”
Kostya said nothing but studiously avoided meeting my eye. I couldn’t help but smile to myself, but by then, we were reaching Paris proper, and my attention was drawn by the magnificence of the city itself. “I haven’t been here since I was a little kid, when my parents moved to Sweden. Oooh, Jim, look: Eiffel Tower!”
“Huh,” Jim said, sticking his head out the window. “Can we go up to the top and spit off it?”
“Whereabouts is your place?” I asked Kostya, ignoring Jim as he speculated how much impact his drool would have falling from the topmost platform on the Eiffel Tower. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that you didn’t deny I was your mate, because I did. But obviously, now is not the time to continue that discussion. You may thank me later.”
Kostya started out by looking annoyed, but to my amusement, chagrin immediately followed and changed into resignation. “I have an apartment in the Latin Quarter, but I seldom spend time there since it is not very well protected. That is not where we are going, however.”
“Oh?”
“No. Despite the Venediger’s dictates, I do not doubt that the red dragons would attempt an attack upon us, and my residence is known to dragonkin. We will stay with Drake and Aisling.”
I clicked my tongue in irritation. “Aisling said something about that, but I didn’t think you’d agree. Kostya, you can’t be in the same house as Drake! Hell—”
“Abaddon,” Jim said, then looked surprised at himself for making the correction.
“You could barely stand to be in the same airport as him. How on earth do you expect to keep from killing each other if you’re in the same house?”
“Drake’s house is equipped to handle attacks; mine is not. The curse notwithstanding, it is there that you will be safe, and that is where we will go.”
“Me?” I looked at him, but when he refused to stop staring moodily out the window, I put my hand on his thigh. That startled him enough into glancing at me. “Are you saying that if I wasn’t around, you’d go to your apartment by yourself even though it wasn’t safe?”
“I am not afraid of the red dragons,” he said stiffly, although he put his hand on mine and caressed the back of my fingers.
“So you’re doing this just to protect me?” I shook my head, turned my hand over, and twined my fingers around his. It was an oddly intimate gesture, but I marked that down to the fascination I had with men’s hands. Kostya’s were almost perfect, with long, sensitive fingers that reminded me of my harpist mother’s hands. Like hers, Kostya’s were those of an artist. “That is so incredibly touching?
?? and annoying at the same time. Oh, don’t get that look on your face—I meant it as a compliment. I do appreciate that you are sacrificing your peace of mind, and possibly a tooth or two if your brother gets to you, because you have this idea that you have to protect me, but I assure you that I’m no slouch when it comes to self-defense. I’ve had training, you know. My dad insisted that both Bee and I know how to take down a boyfriend who goes over the line. And then there’s this.” I nodded toward the ring on my left hand.
“It is for that object we are going to Drake’s home. He has many security measures in place because of his children, and it is that which I count on to keep you safe when the red dragons attack.”
“When?”
“Yes.” His jaw tightened and he looked away, but his fingers gripped mine with a strength that was almost painful. “They will not be content to allow the ring to exist so close to dragons. Asmodeus covets it above all else.”
“Holy jalapeños,” I said softly, rubbing my thumb over the back of his hand. “But, Kostya, even if we get Drake to agree to us staying with them, and although I don’t know him at all, he doesn’t seem to be any too happy to see you. Yeah, I know it’s the curse, but still—even if he agreed to that, we can’t endanger children.”
“What children? Drake’s?”
I nodded. “You seem to be pretty confident that the red dragons are going to track us down and try to attack. If we’re in Drake’s house with his kids, then we’d be putting them in grave danger. I can’t imagine any parent would want that, and I certainly wouldn’t risk the chance that they’d be harmed.”
“The children aren’t in Paris.”
“They aren’t?” I nudged him when he didn’t answer the obvious question. “Where are they?”
“Safe. Drake would not risk the lives of his children any more than he would risk Aisling.” A funny little twist came to his mouth, not quite a smile, but still indicating amusement. “He does not like for others to know that she is far more powerful than she appears, but he has always been proud of her abilities.”
I thought of making a comment about it running in the family but decided that there was no need to goad him, not when he was opening up to me. Instead I snuggled into his side, my body sending up a cheer of happiness when, without thinking, he put his arm around me and pulled me closer.
“We will be safe at Drake’s house. I admit the curse will make things… difficult… but it is the only answer for the situation. We must have an interpreter, though.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we will not be able to speak to them.”
“We could use Jim,” I said, indicating the dog.
“No. Demons are unreliable at best, especially one who has forgotten loyalties and relationships. Rene, are you available?”
“Eh?” Rene, who had been having a conversation with Jim about restaurants and the best way to prepare a steak, turned to look back at us, sending the taxi hurtling straight into an intersection despite a red light. Horns blared, tires screeched, and the sound of crumpling metal and breaking glass followed as Rene, with a casual flip of his wrist, straightened our path and sailed through the intersection. “Am I available for what?”
“Interpreting.”
“Ah, that.” His gaze in the reflection of the mirror considered me for a moment or two before answering. “Yes, that is possible. You understand that I am a bachelor for the next week—my wife, she has taken the little ones to Spain so that they may paddle in the water. I told her that we have water in France, but pfft. She insists. So I will be available for one week only, and after that, my family will return, and my time shall not be my own.”
“I don’t understand why you think I won’t be able to talk to Aisling. I did just fine in Sweden. She said the only people who couldn’t talk to each other were dragons and their mates—Oh!” I slid him a glance. He was back to looking stoically martyred. I reviewed our conversations of the past five hours, decided he’d had about as much soul-searching as was going to benefit him, and said nothing.
But I was confident that if Kostya would just get with the program and stop trying to reject me, all would be well… which just goes to show you how misplaced confidence can bring down even the best intentions.
Twelve
My confidence was short-lived, but it was Kostya’s plan to stay at his brother’s house that gave me pause. The taxi stopped in front of one of those expensive houses that sits in fashionable areas of Paris, taking up at least half a block and costing the earth. Just stopping in front of it made me feel very aware that my clothes were wrinkled and less than fresh, that my hair hadn’t been combed in several hours, and that I was nowhere near comfortable with the sort of affluence required to maintain that home.
“Are you sure this is going to be safe?” I asked Kostya when we emerged from the taxi. Rene had gone to the door and was chatting with a woman who answered it before being invited in. She didn’t even glance our way.
I examined the front of the house. It didn’t look any different from the other houses on the street—surely the little black wrought-iron railing in the front wasn’t going to keep murderous demonic dragons out? Not if they could burn down my family home so easily.
“Yes. It would take a concerted effort to bring down Drake’s house again,” Kostya answered, his eyes narrowed.
“Lovely. And this is supposed to be a good spot to stay?”
“There is nowhere safer.” His words were more abrupt than normal, and I realized with surprise that he was tense and ready to spring, his fire riding high inside him. His gaze was constantly moving, flicking up and down the street. I was reminded of a film I’d seen of a knight protecting some damsel in distress.
“What you need is a big old sword, the kind those guys in the Middle Ages used,” I told him, giving him a smile in hopes of lightening the tension that he was exuding.
“I wish I had my old longsword,” he said, looking wistful. “I separated many silver dragons from their heads with it.”
“You’re kidding.” I stared at him for a moment, decided that he wasn’t joking at all, and shook my head. “You had a sword you used to fight with? A real sword?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t have survived long without it.” He didn’t stop his vigilance, keeping an eye on every bird that twittered in the trees, every car that passed, every person strolling by.
“Just how old are you?” I asked, wondering if people still used swords as far back as the First World War. I had a feeling they did.
“I was born in 1584.”
“Sweet scuppering salamanders!” I said on a gasp.
He looked surprised at the fact that I was clearly gobsmacked. “You thought I was older?”
“Younger! Much, much younger. I know you said that you guys were not mortal, but…” I did a quick calculation in my head. “Four hundred and thirty-one is a whole heck of a lot of immortality.”
He said nothing. I was about to ask him what it was like living through history when my thoughts were drawn elsewhere.
“We going to go in or stay out here where the sun is going to ruin my nice coat?” Jim asked, wandering up. I gave him a look when I noticed the wet marks on a pretty planter full of red flowers. He noticed the look and gave me one in return. “Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go, and no one asked me if I had to go walkies. You’re supposed to do that, you know. Matter of fact, I may have to indulge in a number two pretty quick. You got a bag or something to pick it up?”
I grimaced at the thought. “You can just hold it until we get our accommodations settled. And hopefully someone will have some sort of hygienic method of poop removal that I can use.”
Jim screwed up his furry black face. “Okay, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to last long. That popcorn you made me with the second DVD is acting like roughage. Hey, there’s that French dude again.”
I turned to see Rene back at the door. “Oh good. Apparently he’s explained the situation to Drake’
s people.”
Rene stood on the steps and called out, “You may come inside. Suzanne—she acts as a cook and housekeeper for Aisling and Drake—has cleared her things from her room.”
“Oh no, that sounds like a lot of trouble,” I said as Jim and I hurried over to him, Kostya bringing up the rear.
Rene held the door open for us, waving us into a small antechamber. He closed the door, and the sound of several electronic locks clicking into place was plainly obvious. “This will take one little moment,” Rene explained as a couple of lights flashed on the ceiling. Ahead of us, a substantial-looking door clicked open. “Ah, good, the scan is completed. And here is the hall.”
“I hope those weren’t X-rays,” Jim said as he looked around the hallway. “Those things are bad for your noogies. Leaves you sterile. Hey, something smells good.” He lifted his head and sniffed. “Cinnamon toast!”
“Suzanne was making it for Aisling, evidently,” Rene said, gesturing us toward the back of the hall. I got a few seconds to admire the paneled walls, antique furniture, and what looked like original old masters on the walls before we entered a short passage. “Suzanne’s room is off the kitchen and has its own entrance at the rear of the house, which will be most comfortable for you, yes? Come, I will show you. The others are upstairs until I tell them that you are settled.”
“I feel horrible that we ran someone out of their room,” I said, fretting about discommoding Aisling’s household. “I’m sure we could find some hotel or somewhere that the red dragons don’t know about—”
“No, no, Aisling and Drake agreed that you would be safest here,” Rene said quickly, escorting us through the kitchen. I had to stop and grab Jim by his collar in order to keep him from moving through that tantalizing room and into a small suite beyond. “Suzanne has moved her things up to Istvan’s room. They are companionable, you know? Not mated, but together, so it is no hardship. Aisling has commanded that I tell you that she will bring extra towels and blankets down later and that you are to make free use of the kitchen, although if Kostya is to be in the room, please close the door leading to the hallway so the other dragons will not stumble upon him.”