Me and My Shadow (35 page)

“What's the difference?” I asked as we headed down the hall toward Aisling's room. I froze for a moment when I saw who was stretched out on the floor, Tipene hovering over him, before I bolted the last few steps. “István! I asked you to stop Drake from killing Gabriel. How badly is he hurt?”

“Not seriously,” the love of my life answered, his lip split, and his right eye swollen shut. “Drake was a little upset when Aisling had a particularly hard contraction. Savian tried to intervene.”

“I think I'm dead,” Savian moaned from where he lay on the floor of the bathroom next to Catalina's room.

“I'd hate to see what Drake would do when he's really upset,” I said, gently touching Gabriel's face. “You would insist on being in there.”

“My head is killing me.” Savian hauled himself up to a sitting position, his hand gingerly feeling his face. He touched a tender spot, wobbled for a moment, then fell backwards onto the bath mat. “Ow.”

Gabriel grimaced as Tipene applied a bit of salve to his lip and eye. “I have delivered more dragons than my mother. Her experience is mostly with mortals, but Drake did not feel that mattered. He preferred her to me.”

“Seriously, I think I'm dead. Could one of you nice healers come and heal my broken head?”

“I think, my love, that in this you should have heeded your mother,” I said, gently kissing his nose when Tipene had finished with him.

He gave me a lopsided smile. “I'm willing to concede that point. Is the midwife here?”

“I'm a ghost, aren't I? I died and now you all can't hear me, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life haunting this bathroom with a headache that would drop an elephant. Hello,” Savian said as Jim wandered over and peered down into the thief taker's face. “Are you an angel?”

“Ex-sprite, now a demon. Ash isn't going to like you bleeding all over her bathroom. You gonna clean all your brains and gunk up? Someone could slip on them and hurt himself.”

“My brains,” Savian whimpered, and I took pity on him.

“No midwife as yet, although she's expected momentarily. Tipene, would you?” I asked, nodding toward the prostrate Savian.

Savian greeted him with soft little coos of relief.

“I'm sure your mother will do just fine with Aisling,” I told Gabriel as I helped him to his feet. “Unfortunately, the person at the door was Dr. Kostich.”

Gabriel's smile slipped. “Don't tell me he's here to discuss the situation with Baltic?”

“Yes. Do you think Drake will be willing to leave Aisling?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could do so, a tremendous blast shook the house, the force of it so great I could feel the entire structure shake.

I shadowed out of sheer instinct, following Gabriel as he spun around and raced down the stairs. Behind me I could hear Drake's bellowed question, but I paid that little mind as I leaped down the last couple of steps into the entrance hall.

Another percussion blast shook the house, the shock wave of which caused painful pressure on my ears. “
Agathos daimon!
What is it?” I asked as I deshadowed.

The three people standing staring at the front door slowly turned to face us. Tipene and Maata skidded to a stop behind us.

“We're too late,” Dr. Kostich said, his face utterly blank. “He's here.”

A third blast hit the house. I covered my ears, biting back a cry of pain.

Drake and his bodyguards jumped over the balustrade from the floor above, landing as light on their feet as cats. “Damn him,” Drake snarled, punching a few buttons on the security-system panel. “He would pick now to do this. István, put out the call to the others that we will need them. Pál, ready the lair. I'll take Aisling down to it. He can bring the house down around our ears, but she'll be safe in there. Kostich, what are you doing here?”

“Trying to prevent disaster, but I fear I am too late.” He eyed us all for a moment, then spoke quickly. “We will do what we can to aid you. Jack, see to the seals on the ground floor. Tully, you take the upstairs rooms. Do not forget to set traps at any entrance point, no matter how insignificant it might seem.”

Jack hurried off to do as he was bidden. Tully hesitated a second. “I don't know that my traps and seals are strong enough to stop a dragon, master.”

“They don't have to stop them. They just have to alert us to any breach. Go now. I, myself, will see to strengthening the front door, since that appears to be where the focus of his attack is being made.”

Kostich suited action to word, his hands flying in intricate patterns as he wove a net made of arcane magic across the front door.

Drake watched him for a moment before deciding it was adequate. He turned to us. “Gabriel?”

“This is my fight as much as yours,” Gabriel answered, pulling out the shadow sword. “More so, since it concerns my mate. We will form the frontline defense.”

“Oh man, it's Baltic?” Jim had managed to make it down the stairs without being heard, something not common for the hefty dog. “He's got a hell of a sense of timing.”

I left them planning their defense to hurry over to Jim.

“What are you doing here? Go back and protect Aisling,” I ordered it.

“She wanted to know what was going on. And she threatened to castrate me because I'm male, and that somehow makes me to blame for the pain.”

“Well, go back and help Kaawa get her ready to move,” I said, shooing it.

“I'm a dog,” it said in an exasperated voice. “No opposable thumbs, remember?”

“You're right.” I narrowed my eyes at it for a moment, pushed past my limit on patience. “Effrijim, by the power granted to me by your demon lord, I command you to take human form.
Clothed
human form.”

“Oh, man . . . ,” it said, its voice a whine that trailed off as its body shifted form into that of a black-haired, black-eyed man of bulky build in jeans and a T-shirt. It looked down at itself. “How'm I ever going to tell Cecile about
this
?”

“You can go back to your normal form just as soon as we take care of this situation,” I said quickly, shoving it toward the stairs. “Go help Kaawa and Aisling. And don't scare her.”

“Like she's not gonna freak when she sees me come marching in without my fabulous form?” Jim trudged up the stairs, loosening the belt of its pants as it climbed. “I just bet you—aw, damn! I was right! This form totally sucks in the package department!”

“GO!” I yelled, pointing at the top of the stairs.

A fourth blast rocked the house, this time accompanied by the sound of glass tinkling in one of the back rooms.

Nora appeared at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide as she stared behind her. “I'm not quite sure. . . . Was that Jim?”

“Yes. Is Aisling all right?” I asked as Drake came over to us.

“She's fine, just concerned about what's going on.”

“I'm taking her to the lair,” Drake said, moving past us at a speed that was most definitely not human. “Nora, you and René will stay with her?”

“Of course. René is with her now, trying to distract her. Let me get some things to make her more comfortable. . . .”

Nora ran after Drake, the two of them heading upstairs, as Tipene and Maata scattered, assumably to check the windows.

Kostya suddenly emerged from the basement, tucking his shirt into his pants, his hair slicked back and wet. Cyrene was on his heels, her hair likewise wet, her clothing just as disarranged.

“What's going on?” Kostya asked. “We heard an explosion.”

“We thought at first it was just really fabulous sex, but then we noticed the towels were coming off the shelf next to the sauna, and we realized something else was going on,” Cyrene said, hurriedly buttoning her blouse. “It's Fiat, isn't it? He's come to steal me now that he knows I'm really and truly Kostya's mate! I just knew he would.”

Kostya froze for a moment. “It's not Fiat. It's Baltic,” he said, his voice filled with anger.

“Oh, him,” Cyrene said, frowning. “He doesn't seem to want to steal me. What does he want now?”

Everyone looked at me.

I sighed. “Me, I'm afraid. Or, rather, the shard.”

“Not just one shard,” Gabriel corrected. “All of them. He waited until all the shards were brought together before attacking.”

“He wants the dragon heart,” Kostya said softly, and there was so much blackness in his voice, I shivered and moved closer to Gabriel.

Instantly, his arm was warm around me, offering both comfort and protection. “I will not let him harm you, little bird.”

“I know,” I said, smiling up at him. “I have every confidence that we'll be able to repel him as we've done before, but, Gabriel, this has to stop.”

“It will stop. It will stop
now
,” Kostya said, striding out of the hall to Drake's study. He returned a moment later with a couple of long swords in his hands, sending Cyrene a querying glance. “I assume you don't know how to use this?”

“You assume wrong,” she said, obviously taking him by surprise, as she held out her hand for the sword. “All the sisters of Hydriades are versed in swordplay. We had a retreat seven or so hundred years ago, after some crusaders got a little frisky with our members, and we all learned how to use long swords, short swords, flails, and halberds. I did the optional course on throwing axes and culverins, but I much prefer a nice Glock to the latter.”

Kostya stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and taking up a stance at the front door, the barrage from outside having momentarily stopped. “Stay in the back, Cyrene, and protect yourself. You will not be battling mortal crusaders this time.”

“You will cease speaking of me as if I am a hindrance,” she said, straightening up to her full height, indignation causing her back to stiffen. “I have protected myself for centuries before you were born, dragon. Besides, I have demon lord powers now. I can use those, too.”

Kostya rolled his eyes and turned his attention back on the front door.

“You know, Drake would probably be happy for an extra hand to protect Aisling,” I said thoughtfully, wanting to get her out of the immediate battle area. Despite the truth in her statement, I worried over the thought of her trying out newfound powers without supervision. “She and Nora would be able to give you advice about Magoth's powers, too.”

Cyrene thought about that for a moment, obviously cherishing a mental vision of herself as a female Saint George ready to slay a dragon. “But then I wouldn't be able to help Kostie.”

“Kostie will have us to help him,” I said, fighting a smile. “This is not a moment for thoughts of glory, Cyrene. Aisling is in a very vulnerable state and Drake's dragons will be stretched rather thin.”

She nodded. “You're right. Poor Aisling. I will go and defend her and her baby. No one will get past me. Maybe Nora can tell me how to summon up all of Magoth's legions? I bet I could order them to help protect her, too.”

I had a horrible moment where I envisioned the house full of demons running amok under Cy's command, but realized that there was no way Nora would ever let Cyrene summon anything. “Thanks, Cy. We'll hold down the fort here.”

“
Viva la
black dragons,” she called out, blowing Kostya a kiss before heading for the kitchen and the stairs down into the underground lair.

Savian staggered down the stairs, listing to starboard and weaving somewhat, but relatively hale and hearty as he joined us.

“You don't think she'll really summon demons, do you?” Kostya asked me, looking momentarily unsure.

“Oh, she'll want to, but no one will tell her how, and Cy doesn't have a clue about how to do it on her own. I'm beginning to think she's the ideal person for Magoth's powers. She'll never use them.”

He nodded and turned back to the door.

“Where are your supermodels?” I asked, suddenly realizing what was missing.

“My what?”

“Your female guards.”

He looked nonplussed. “They . . . er . . . Cyrene thought they would be better suited to duty elsewhere.”

“Ah.” I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing. I had no doubt that one of the first things Cy would do was to get rid of his harem.

But before I could say anything, before Kostya could turn back to the door, before so much as a second passed, the entire front entryway of the house exploded, sending us flying backwards in a barrage of glass, wood, plaster, and metal.

Chapter Nineteen

I was stunned for a few seconds, shadowing without knowing it, hearing only the ringing in my ears from the explosion. When my head cleared, I realized the noise I heard was not an echo—the clang of metal on metal sounded loud and sharp.

“This day is never going to end, is it?” a familiar male voice said in deep resignation next to me. “The world is not going to be content until it bashes in my poor head once and for all. Ow. Oh, ow.”

I yanked a brocade chair off the once-again-prone form of Savian, yelling as I got to my feet, “Gabriel!”

“I like that. I'm right here, with my ribs crushed in, and my spleen ventilated, and bits of my brains hanging out, and she is worried about her immortal boyfriend. Did I say ‘ow'? Because seriously, ow.”

“If you can complain, you're fine,” I told Savian as I peered through the cloud of dust for a familiar form.

“Stay back, May,” Gabriel called, leaping upward several feet as a dragon swung low at his legs with a huge sword.