Playing With Fire - Katie MacAlister [36]
I ran down the street, through yards, around gardens, moving in a direction opposite the mage’s house until I could no longer hear signs of pursuit. I doubled back, slowly picking my way, cautious of every looming shape, but no one leaped out to grab me.
Gabriel, it seemed, didn’t bother to try to find me. I was oddly disgruntled by that fact, but decided it was foolish and immature, and there were much more important matters to concern myself with than the puzzle my heart wanted to solve.
Steeling myself, my chin high, my shoulders set, I made my way back around to the mage’s house.
Chapter Eight
The voices drifted out on the night air, just loud enough to be audible as I crouched on the window ledge outside of the archimage Kostich’s living room.
‘‘. . . could guarantee that you were compensated for the loss, would that make a difference?’’
It was a man’s voice . . . a familiar man’s voice, one that slid along my body like satin. I froze, frowning at the beige stone wall to which I clung. What on earth was Gabriel doing talking to Dr. Kostich? Why wasn’t he seeing Cyrene home, as I had expected?
‘‘The item that was stolen from me is irreplaceable,’’ the mage answered. ‘‘No amount of money could compensate me for it.’’
‘‘Is it safe to assume that you know the whereabouts of the thief Mei Ling?’’ a third voice asked, one that was unknown to me.
I risked peeking around the edge of the window. Gabriel sat with his back to me, calmly watching as Dr. Kostich paced back and forth across the room. I didn’t see a third person at first, but suddenly, a silhouette moved in front of the window. I ducked to the side, flattening myself against the stone of the building. Although technically no one should be able to see me when I shadow walked at night, some beings were more perceptive than others, and until I knew whom I was dealing with, I felt it wiser not to take chances.
‘‘No, I don’t know where she is,’’ Gabriel answered. ‘‘I know how to contact her, however. And I believe I can convince her to see the error of her ways.’’
I snorted to myself at that. Gabriel had a sad comeuppance due if he truly believed that he could control me simply because it turned out I was his mate.
‘‘I find it rather peculiar that a dragon of your stature, a wyvern, should interest himself in the doings of a common thief,’’ the nameless man said slowly. He had an English accent, but I was at a loss as to who he was, or how he was involved with Dr. Kostich.
‘‘I interest myself in a great many things, thief taker,’’ Gabriel said with calm assurance.
I froze at the words. Kostich had made good his threat and called in a thief taker, the Otherworld’s version of bounty hunters. Thief takers were notorious for ignoring or disregarding laws in order to achieve their end goal. They were reputed to be intelligent, persistent, and very, very dangerous.
‘‘Do you have some connection with Mei Ling?’’ the thief taker asked.
I wanted badly to lean forward so I could peer into the window and see who this man was—in order to stay far, far away from him—but every time I thought it was safe to do so, movement next to the window warned me off.
Gabriel’s voice was smoothly noncommittal. ‘‘What connection could I possibly have?’’
‘‘That is the question, isn’t it?’’
‘‘A question that has no pertinence, hence I do not feel obliged to answer it,’’ Gabriel said.
‘‘Methinks the dragon protests too much,’’ the thief taker answered quickly.
Gabriel rose slowly from the chair. ‘‘If you are insinuating—’’
‘‘Enough!’’ Kostich interrupted, marching over to stand in front of Gabriel. He said, slowly, ‘‘I am torn with the need to have returned that which was stolen from me, and a hesitancy to involve someone else with an individual who clearly poses a danger. Although your kind are not under the umbrella of the