Katie MacAlister - Playing with Fire

‘‘ Agathos daimon, ’’ I muttered to myself as I shadowed.

‘‘What is it?’’

‘‘It’s what’s not -the trail. It’s gone cold.’’

‘‘It does not matter. If Kostya is here, I will find him,’’ Gabriel said grimly.

I climbed the stairs slowly, examining them carefully for signs of dragon scales. Here and there I found a faint glimmer of a scale, but for the most part, the trail was gone. ‘‘Before you go bursting into all the apartments, let me look at their doors.’’

He didn’t want to wait; I could see that. His muscles were tense and tight, the pupils in his eyes narrowed until they were thin little ebony strips. I hurried to the nearest door before he decided he would risk disturbing innocent people in his quest to get ahold of Kostya.

We hit pay dirt at the fourth and last apartment, at the far end of the building.

‘‘Here,’’ I whispered to Gabriel as I came out of the shadow world. The door handle had a couple of spots on it that glittered even in the dim light of the naked bulb overhead. ‘‘This has to be it.’’

‘‘Get behind me and stay shadowed,’’ he said, pulling a gun out of his jacket pocket.

I blinked in surprise at the weapon. Most people in the Otherworld scorned the use of modern weaponry as too crass for a society that valued personal abilities over brute strength. But such things weren’t unknown, although I had no idea that dragons subscribed to the use of firearms.

‘‘I don’t under normal conditions. I prefer a sword for close contact, but I do not trust Kostya to hold to such things as honor.’’

I didn’t have time to answer that before Gabriel screwed a silencer on the gun and shot the lock three times, kicking the door open immediately thereafter.

Dagger in hand, I remained shadowed as I followed him into the apartment. It was small but neat, a tiny kitchen immediately off the entrance. That opened into a main living area, which held the usual couch, TV, and a couple of bookcases. It was empty of dragons, however… and anyone else.

‘‘There?’’ I asked, nodding toward a closed door. Gabriel moved so fast I couldn’t keep up with him, although the sound of the door being slammed back made me jump. I hurried after him, stopping in surprise at the doorway.

Gabriel knelt on the bed between two people.

‘‘Are they all right?’’ I asked, coming out of the shadows to offer him my dagger. He cut the bonds holding Maata and Tipene, both of whom had been securely bound and gagged.

Maata started talking the second Gabriel had her gag off. I didn’t understand what she was saying, it being in some language that had an oddly beautiful cadence. As soon as he got her arms free, she sat up and saw me, switching immediately to English.

‘‘I knew it was only a matter of time before you found us, although it took a little more time than I’d hoped. Excuse me.’’ She bolted to a room leading off the bedroom.

Gabriel cut the bonds holding his other bodyguard. Tipene looked furious as he leaped off the bed.

‘‘We have failed you, Gabriel. I will resign my post immediately.’’

Gabriel looked at him with somber appraisal for a moment before grinning and enveloping the larger man in a bear hug. ‘‘Now is not the time for foolish talk. We have much work to do in finding Kostya.’’

‘‘Kostya? Is he here?’’ Tipene asked with a puzzled frown.

‘‘It wasn’t Kostya who kidnapped you?’’ I asked.

Tipene shook his head. ‘‘No. It was two others, the two ouroboros who took us in Greece. They used drugs on us!’’

The outrage in his voice was clearly evident.

‘‘Several times,’’ Maata said as she emerged from the bathroom. Tipene shot Gabriel a glance.

He nodded, and the bodyguard hurried off to the bathroom.

‘‘How long have we been gone?’’ Maata asked Gabriel.

‘‘Four days.’’

She swore. ‘‘We were drugged the entire time.’’

‘‘You have no idea how long you’ve been here, in Paris?’’ I asked Maata.

‘‘I had no idea we were even in Paris until I could hear the radio from the street. We woke up about six hours ago. I was getting worried that no one would come to give us water and let us relieve ourselves, at least.’’

I exchanged a look with Gabriel. ‘‘Kostya said he didn’t kidnap them,’’ I reminded him.

His face worked for a moment. ‘‘It fit, though.’’

‘‘Possibly, but I think more and more that Porter’s boss, whoever that might be, is involved in all this. Ouroboros dragons indicate it might be a dragon, but we can’t know that for sure. It could be anyone, really-a demon lord, a dragon, one of the wyverns you mentioned, or even Baltic come back from the dead. Not to mention someone unknown to us.’’

Gabriel shook his head and questioned his bodyguards for a few minutes, but they had nothing to explain what happened other than that the original people who snatched them off the street in Greece were dragons, but dragons not known to them, and not members of any sept. We conducted a brief examination of the apartment, but there was nothing to identify the occupant.

‘‘Did you recognize the dragon who was here in the last couple of hours?’’ I asked when we gave up searching for information.

Maata blinked at me for a moment. ‘‘What dragon?’’

‘‘Whoever came here a little bit ago. Possibly with my twin, Cyrene.’’

‘‘I didn’t see anyone, although I dozed for a little bit. Tipene?’’

He shook his head. ‘‘I was awake since noon, and no one entered the apartment.’’

A strange chill ran down my back as I thought about the trail clearly leading to the apartment. A memory tickled my brain and sent me back to the tiny kitchenette off the entrance. A window overlooked an unkempt minute garden at the back of the building. The window was unlocked, and when I half crawled through it, I saw one little glimmer of dragon scale on the stone ledge outside.

‘‘He left through the window,’’ I said, climbing back into the apartment. ‘‘Probably came into the apartment and didn’t bother going into the bedroom-just left via the window without being seen. Agathos daimon. We’re being led, Gabriel.’’

‘‘So it would seem,’’ he said, looking thoughtful. ‘‘Do you think you’ll be able to pick up the trail outside?’’

‘‘No. Too much time has passed. But what happened to Cyrene? If that was Kostya I was following, Cyrene must have left him at some point. Probably that spot in Montmarte where I lost the trail for a bit. I’m sorry, Gabriel.’’

He nodded in acknowledgment of my regret. ‘‘It cannot be helped, little bird. We will return to Drake’s house and regroup. I’m sure Maata and Tipene are hungry.’’

Maata made a face. ‘‘You have no idea.’’

Our trip back to Drake’s elegant house was made in silence broken only by the rumbling of Maata and Tipene’s empty stomachs.

I left Gabriel, Drake, the bodyguards of both, Aisling, and Savian closeted together to discuss the assault on the committee’s vault. I had no stomach for planning-I positively itched with the need to be doing something, preferably finding Kostya and Cyrene. I wandered around a small garden at the side of the house, following the line of a tall hedge to a secluded little area containing a tiny fountain and two curved stone benches. The sun had set a short while ago, the night air close and heavy, as if it was about to rain.

‘‘Whatcha doing?’’ a voice asked from the other side of the fountain.

I jumped at the unexpected intrusion. ‘‘Jim! Oh, you scared me.’’

‘‘Sorry. Was taking a pee. What are you doing in Aisling’s outdoors sex spot?’’ Jim emerged from a shrubbery.