Up in Smoke - Katie MacAlister [100]
“With your demon lord? Absolutely,” Aisling said at the same time Drake said, “No.”
The two glared at each other.
“You are not going to get involved with another demon lord,” Drake told her. “It is too dangerous.”
Aisling opened her mouth to protest but closed it again without saying anything for a moment. “All right,” she said finally, causing Drake to shoot her a look of surprise. “Maybe Nora was right and the baby is making my grip on my Guardian abilities a bit iffy. Magoth may not be much in this world, but he is still a demon lord, so I’m going to retract my agreement and instead offer Nora’s services. I’m sure she’ll be delighted to help you. What, exactly, do you need Magoth to do?”
“Nothing.” Gabriel pulled me up beside him.
“I don’t understand,” she said, looking from him to me. “What am I missing?”
Jim snorted.
“Before Magoth left with Sally in tow, she pulled me aside and pointed out that Chuan Ren was a dragon,” I told her.
“Chuan Ren? Well, yeah. But what does she have to do with Magoth?” Aisling asked, still puzzled.
“She doesn’t have anything to do with Magoth— it was Bael who found her after you banished her,” I said, exchanging a glance with Gabriel.
“Heh. They deserve each other,” Aisling said with satisfaction.
Gabriel gave my waist a little squeeze of confidence. I took a deep breath and continued. “We knew that Chuan Ren was a dragon, of course, but my experience with dragons has been limited until the last two months, and it just didn’t strike me that although everyone is treating Chuan Ren like Bael’s minion, she’s not. She can’t be; dragons can’t be servants of demon lords. It’s just impossible.”
Aisling nodded. “That’s why we can’t summon her, as we could a demon, not that I could think of a conceivable reason to even want to do that.”
“Exactly. But it also means that we don’t have to go through Bael to get her.”
“Why do you want to get to her? I’m sorry,” Aisling said, smiling. “The pregnancy is draining all my brain cells obviously, but I still don’t see your point.”
“If I say the obvious, will you banish me to the Akasha?” Jim asked, its eyes hopeful.
“Yes.”
“Damn.”
I leaned back against Gabriel, seeking strength. “The point is—and don’t beat yourself up for not seeing it; I certainly didn’t and I know Abaddon better than you—the point is that Bael is holding Chuan Ren against her will. She’s his prisoner, not a minion. Which means the only way she can leave him is either for him to give her up or for her banishment to be reversed.”
“A recall,” Aisling said, enlightenment finally striking her. “Well, yes, that would work. I did banish her, so I have the power to recall her. But for one thing, of course.”
My heart, which had begun to soar at the possibility of a solution to the problem of Chuan Ren, fell at her words. “What one thing?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’d have to be insane to do it. I’m sorry, but I can’t recall Chuan Ren. I sent her to Abaddon for a reason. She’s just too dangerous to the green dragons. I really wish I could help you, May, but I can’t.”
Chapter Twenty-three
It took longer than I expected to recall Chuan Ren from Abaddon. The problem ended up being Drake rather than Aisling, the latter of whom, like any intelligent woman, immediately grasped the finer points of the argument Gabriel and I put forward.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea at all,” she said after Gabriel explained how we saw things. “It might work. If Chuan Ren wants out of Abaddon bad enough, she’ll have to agree to ending the war with us; otherwise, pfft. Right back she goes. And you said she’s not having fun there. Heh-heh-heh.”
I watched Aisling chuckling to herself, not doubting for an instant that Chuan Ren deserved her time with Bael, but amused nonetheless. “We wouldn’t ask you to reinstate Chuan Ren to this world without due cause, I assure you. But we felt this would solve all of our problems—allow me access to the red dragons’ shard, end the war between your two septs, and take care of Fiat.