Me and My Shadow - Katie MacAlister [60]
Now I understood why Kaawa had warned me repeatedly of its power.
“Do not look so grim, child. Ysolde de Bouchier’s path is not yours,” Kaawa said quietly.
“I don’t know what’s going to stop me from ending up like her,” I said, giving in to a moment of despair.
She came back into the room and kissed the top of my head before returning to the door. “Ysolde did not have what you have.”
“You?” I asked, grateful for her wisdom and insight, even if it did give me moments of terror.
“My son.” Her eyes glittered with humor for a moment. “His father trained him to be a warrior, a strong wyvern and protector of all silver dragons, but he learned much from me, too. Gabriel will not allow anything to happen to his miracle.”
I smiled at the word, a warm, comfortable feeling washing over me at her words. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps Gabriel and I together could get the better of the dragon heart. Ysolde had been alone, torn between two warring wyverns, but I had Gabriel’s strength to see me through anything.
I was about to say just that when Kaawa suddenly held up her hand, her expression abstracted. “Listen. Do you hear it?”
I stilled for a moment, then sighed. “It’s my twin. But I have no idea why she’s yelling, unless . . . oh, merciful spirits, tell me he didn’t show up, too.”
Chapter Nine
Kaawa stepped aside with nimble awareness as I dashed past her and down the stairs. I stopped just short of plowing into Kostya as he stood, legs braced apart, arms crossed over his chest, his face tight with anger as Cyrene harangued him.
“. . . and I don’t care if he is your brother—I was here first, and that means you have to find somewhere else to stay.”
I stepped aside to admire her form for a moment. Her eyes were lit with fury, her hands waving wildly as she threw accusations at Kostya.
“You followed me here! Admit it—you followed me here so you could be with me without apologizing.”
Kostya’s voice came out a growl. “I didn’t follow you here. I came to my brother’s house—my brother’s house—because I had no choice, you insane naiad, not because I was following you!”
“Well, you can just think twice about that, Konstantin Fekete,” Cyrene said, clearly on a roll and not about to stop for anything like a breath or conversational give-and-take, “because I said I was through with you, and so I am! It’s over, got that? Over!”
“I’m not here because I want to see you again!” Kostya’s grip on his temper, never very strong, snapped. He leaned forward and bellowed into Cyrene’s face, “In fact, if I never saw you again, I’d die a happy dragon!”
“You can’t die, you odious, fire-breathing beast,” Cyrene yelled back. “More’s the pity! If I had my way, I’d drown you in a—”
“I think that’s about enough, Cy,” I interrupted, taking her arm and pulling her back a few feet. “Whatever your relationship issues are, Kostya is right in that this is Drake’s house.”
“But—but—” she sputtered.
“And Drake has very kindly allowed us all to stay here, a fact I’d appreciate you to remember.”
She sputtered a bit more, but contented herself with looking daggers at Kostya when I asked, “What did you mean you didn’t have a choice? I thought you had a house in London?”
“He does,” Cyrene said, looking down her nose at him. “It’s not very nice, though.”
“Cy,” I said, giving her a warning look.
She sniffed and feigned interest in a picture on the wall.
“My house, my perfectly nice house with an expensive security system that was installed after my lair was repeatedly burgled—” Kostya shot me a meaningful look, pausing with dramatic grace for a few seconds. “My charming and well-furnished house was destroyed sometime during the night. When I returned to it from the airport, I found nothing but the scorched remains of what was once a desirable residence, miles of crime-scene tape, and