“Works for me. I always did have the hots for Mr. Spock—both original and remake.” She turned to the north and chanted something in what sounded like Latin, then repeated it for the other three compass points before sketching a symbol in the air while saying, “Live long and prosper. All right, Aoife, the circle is sealed. Stand in the center, and tell the ring to do its thing.”

A little zap of electricity ran down my body when I stepped into the area she indicated. The circle she had drawn wasn’t visible, since she hadn’t used chalk or something that would show up to the naked eye, but the air around it seemed to ripple, and I could certainly feel it when I got near it. Once inside, I felt bathed in warmth, as if the sun were beaming down on me. “I’m not sure I can get it to do that. It seems to like me being emotional before it works.”

“Then you’ll have to work up some emotions about something. What do you feel strongly about?”

“A lot of things. Animal abuse, women treated as second-class citizens, genocide—”

She made a face and began sketching symbols in the air around me. They glowed golden for a moment before dissolving into nothing. “That’s so negative. Negative power isn’t good to channel—I know that from experience. What about some positive things that you feel strongly about? You love Kostya, don’t you? That should give you good grounds for stirring up some emotions.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, not comfortable with talking about my feelings like that. Aisling might appear to be a reliable person, but she was basically a stranger.

She stopped, giving me a curious look. “I’m sorry. Did I touch a sore spot? Did I assume when I shouldn’t have? You did say you were planning on marrying Kostya, didn’t you?”

“I just…” I made a noncommittal gesture. “It’s kind of hard to talk about—”

“Ah. I see. No, don’t try to explain. I completely understand.” She made a wry face. “Drake is forever telling me that not everyone is as willing to talk about their emotions as I am, not that I listen to him when it comes to making him open up to me, because honestly, if there is anyone more reticent than a wyvern, I don’t know who it is. But still, you’re entitled to keep things of such a personal nature to yourself.”

“No,” I said, standing tall and proud in my little circle of rippling air. “I’m being silly. I do intend to marry Kostya, and I think I am in love with him, although obviously, I haven’t talked with him about that yet. I will use that emotion to generate whatever power the ring needs. Only—” I stopped to solidify in my head just what I wanted to say. “Only I’m not sure how to get the ring to work once I have built up an emotional head of steam.”

“How did you get through the ward on the door?” she asked, drawing another symbol.

“I just backed us through it once I started kissing him.”

“Did you visualize going through it? Imagine yourself taking him through the door? Picture the ward yielding to you?”

I shook my head. “I said to myself that I wanted to get through the ward and then backed through it.”

“Hmm. It must have a verbal trigger, then. All right, put into words what you want, and then let’s see what happens.”

“I’ll get charged up first,” I told her, and proceeded to close my eyes, envisioning me kissing Kostya. I thought about how he made me feel, how much pain he had in him that I could ease, thought about how I felt when I was near him. I remembered the joy in his eyes when he embraced his brother after two years of the curse, of how the little silver flecks lit up when we made love. I dwelt on the sensation of his flesh against mine, of his scent, of the moment when our bodies worked together to drive us both over the brink.

“Wow. You’re kind of glowing. Not bright light glowing, but it’s like little motes of light are gathering around you. I assume that means you’re nicely charged.”

I opened my eyes and smiled at her. “What should I say?”

“Whatever it is you want the ring to do. I think it’s probably more your intentions than the actual words, but I could be wrong about that.”

“Well… I want the curse to end, naturally,” I said slowly, trying to keep the warm, glowy feeling around me as I thought about what I wanted. The ring felt hot on my finger, and heavier than normal, as if it, too, was charging up.

“That’s a good start.”

But there was more, of course. “I don’t just want the curse to end… I want everyone to be free of threat from the red dragons.”

“Good, good.” She nodded and continued to draw symbols every few inches in a circle around me.

Even that wasn’t enough, I told myself, embracing the tingle of power that the ring was starting to send down my arm and throughout my body. What I really wanted was to get a hold of the root of the problem and stomp it into oblivion. “Only by disabling Asmodeus would the dragons ever really be free,” I said softly.

Aisling looked at me, startled. “Whoa, now. I don’t think—”

Yes, the voice in my head said, the thought of Kostya uppermost in my mind. Aisling was still speaking, trying to say something about demon lords and why it took a lot to destroy them, but I paid her little heed. I didn’t want to destroy anyone—I simply wanted the war to end. I want to live with Kostya in peace, I told the ring. I want to wake up with him every morning and be able to spend my days without worry that someone will try to kill him. I want the war ended and the source of all the grief exposed, brought forth in judgment against all those he has injured, and tried for his crimes. “I want him here right now,” I said aloud, my voice raw and trembling with emotion.

I hadn’t realized that I had closed my eyes, but at a tremendous clap of thunder, I staggered to the side, suddenly horrified to find myself face-to-face with a man.

A strange man.

He looked just as startled for a second; then a sly look settled in his eyes, and he smiled.

Aisling shrieked and grabbed the back of my shirt, yanking me out of the circle. I collapsed, shaking, my body feeling as if all its energy had been suddenly drained.

Kostya burst into the room, skidding to a stop at the sight of the man in the circle, Drake on his heels.

“Are you all right?” Aisling asked, bending over me as I sat trying to catch my breath. “Are you hurt? Does anything feel wrong with you? Did he touch you?”