Me and My Shadow - Katie MacAlister [112]
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