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Cyrene whapped me with the end of her blanket. ‘‘Don’t tell him how old I am! You know how sensitive I am about that.’’

‘‘What was the regrettable incident?’’ I asked again, my curiosity getting the better of me.

‘‘I betrayed Aisling and Drake. Stay here while I go talk to that taxi driver.’’

He dashed off into the crowd before I could do anything but gawk.

‘‘Did he say he betrayed them?’’ Cyrene asked me.

I nodded. ‘‘Yes. What a very interesting man he is.’’

‘‘Dragon.’’

‘‘He has such layers. Just when you think you have him pegged, you discover another layer.’’

‘‘Goodness,’’ Cyrene said with a thoughtful look.

‘‘He sounds so very exotic. And then there’s the shape-shifting. I imagine that would be incredibly erotic. Hmm. I wonder who I know who can do that . . .’’

Gabriel returned looking more worried, and swearing under his breath. Before I could ask what was going on, he escorted us to a taxi.

‘‘No luck?’’ I asked once we got in.

‘‘No. I’m going to have to ask Drake for help.’’

‘‘Is that wise if he’s working with his brother?’’

‘‘I never said he was working with Kostya—but it is entirely likely that he told his brother about you. He might have thought it would encourage Kostya to give up his attempt on us.’’ He shook his head. ‘‘Damnation. I didn’t want to involve Drake in this any more than I have, but I don’t see an alternative.’’

‘‘I’ll be more than happy to help,’’ I said, touching his hand.

The smile he turned on me could have melted steel. ‘‘I count upon your support, Mayling.’’

I couldn’t resist his dimples . . . or anything else for that matter. I leaned to the side, brushing my mouth against his. ‘‘Have I told you how beautiful your eyes are?’’

‘‘I’m going to look out the window now,’’ Cyrene announced, ‘‘because voyeurism is never a pretty thing, although it can be oddly exciting if you are in Rome with a dashing Italian, and he flings you into a fountain on New Year’s Eve, and subsequently licks the water off you.’’

‘‘No,’’ Gabriel answered, nibbling my bottom lip. ‘‘But they can’t be anywhere near as fascinating as the lovely pools of mystery that you bear, little bird.’’

‘‘They’re plain old blue eyes,’’ I said with a little laugh, doing a little nibbling of my own.

‘‘Hello! Those are my eyes you’re denigrating, and I’ve had odes written to them! Well, one ode, and a sonnet, and a couple of limericks, although now I think on it, those weren’t really about my eyes so much as other parts.’’

A half hour later we stood in front of the lovely rental villa, which was even lovelier by daylight.

‘‘It’s still pretty early,’’ I told Gabriel as he paid off the taxi and marched up to the double doors. ‘‘Do you think they’re up yet? We had kind of a late night.’’

‘‘They’re up,’’ he answered in a voice that was rough with grit.

‘‘How do you know?’’ I asked.

He pointed toward the garage, off to the side of the house. The nose of a sleek black car was just barely visible. ‘‘That isn’t the car Drake is using.’’

Cyrene and I stood a few feet back as Gabriel pounded on the door.

‘‘These dragons are awfully intense, don’t you think?’’ Cyrene said, watching him with a concerned eye.

‘‘I think there’s a lot going on that we’re not aware of,’’ I answered, wondering if that car belonged to Drake’s brother. ‘‘But on the whole, yes, they are intense. Which isn’t necessarily—’’

The doors were opened by István, who didn’t look the least bit surprised to see us on the doorstep. He didn’t look happy, either, although he said nothing, just bowed and stepped back to allow us to enter.

Cyrene touched her neck as she sent him a little frown, but managed on the whole to sail through the doorway with her usual grace and elegance.

I slammed up against a ward and felt my body distort in what I was sure was a gruesome manner as I attempted to force my way through it.

‘‘I’m sorry,’’ I said finally, backing away. ‘‘I can’t get through it.’’

‘‘It is for dark beings,’’ István said, giving me a suspicious look.

‘‘Aisling will simply have to remove