Aisling shook her head, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them, saying, “You know, I’m just going to go with the flow here, and not even ask.”

“I’m sorry we’re so late, Aisling,” Bee said. “We—I—we got a bit caught up in things, and I didn’t see it was so late. Do you know Constantine? I know you can’t talk to him, but I figured you must have met him since he’s Kostya’s godfather. Oh, hello, Aoife. I didn’t realize you and Kostya were here yet.”

Constantine watched with interest as Bee’s sister, who had been sitting and petting Jim, leaped up and flung herself in front of Kostya, her hands on his arms as if she were restraining him.

“What on earth are you doing?” Bee asked.

“Protecting Kostya from Constantine. We aren’t at G&T, so the curse will make them want to kill each other.”

Bee turned to consider Constantine. “Do you feel like killing your godson?”

“Not at the moment, no.” He made a bow to Aisling. “I will defend myself if he feels obligated to attack, but I bear him no particular hostility. Greetings. I am Constantine of Norka. I do not believe we have been formally introduced.”

Aisling’s eyes grew round as she took the hand that Constantine politely held out. “Criminy Dutch! I can hear you! That is, I can understand you.”

“I can understand him, too,” Aoife said, looking confused.

“As can I.” Kostya set aside his mate and came toward them, frowning. “Why can I understand you? You are a member of another sept. Two septs, if you count that which you formed in order to destroy the black dragons.”

“Again you bring up old history. Very well, this once I will correct you. Baltic was the one who destroyed the black dragons.” Constantine snorted. “I tried to save them, but he—”

“Time out,” Aisling said, rising from the brocade loveseat. “Constantine, I don’t know if you’re prone to lengthy speeches about the glory of the black dragons and how they will rise again, but long familiarity with Kostya leads me to believe that he’s about to go on one of his rampages, and quite frankly, I don’t want to hear it. Well, I can’t hear it, not while the curse is on us, but you know what I mean.”

“What is she saying?” Aoife asked him, obviously unable to understand what Aisling said due to the curse.

He was tempted to tell her that she should be asking her sister that question, but decided, in a rare moment of insight, to forestall such a suggestion. Instead, he gave a summary of Aisling’s comments, ignoring Aoife when she bristled at the slur against her wyvern.

“I don’t know why the curse isn’t affecting me,” he told them all, one hand absently rubbing a spot on his chest. Bee made a distressed noise and moved closer. “It could be that in trying to break it, Bee had some effect on it. Regardless of the reason, I wish to locate Bael. What did your demon find?”

“I think we should discuss the issue of why the curse isn’t affecting you,” Aisling said with a little pull between her eyebrows. “It might be important.”

“It isn’t,” Constantine stated, and made an impatient gesture. “Answer my question.”

“Please,” Bee said softly.

“I do not have time for social niceties. If I am abrupt, it is because I’m trying to save as many lives as possible.”

“From the red dragons, you mean?” Kostya took a seat in an armchair, while Aoife perched herself on the arm of it. “They have not been seen in Paris, and all dragonkin are watching for them. We would have had word if they were going to strike.”

“Golly!” Gary said, turning his eyes to Constantine. “Red dragons are after us, too?”

Constantine felt as if the weight of the world had settled on his shoulders and was slowly but inevitably crushing him into the ground. “It is not the red dragons I fear, but their master. What did the demon find out?”

“I have a name, you know. It’s Jim. Well, Effrijim really, but that’s awfully girly, so I’ve always gone with Jim. At least I think I have,” the demon dog said, pursing its lips thoughtfully. “I lost my memory for a bit, so I don’t remember anything before Eefers here ran me down.”

“Eefers?” Bee asked before shaking her head. “Aoife is pronounced EE-fuh, Jim, not eefers.”

“Ignore Jim, please,” Aisling said, giving her demon a stern look. “It’s in one of those moods because the trip to Abaddon was pretty hairy.”

“Hairy with big fat warts on it,” Jim said, nodding.

“I hear you on the full name versus nickname thing,” Gary told Jim. “I’m actually a Gareth, but no one seems to be able to remember it.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot ignore the demon. Not so long as it has information to give, which I request for a third time,” Constantine said, fast losing his patience. Now that he was committed to stopping Bael, it seemed to him that everyone was unconcerned. Did no one else realize just how much time they were losing with the inane conversations? Were they all unaware of the danger that Bael posed? Was no one but Bee interested in stopping the massacre that was sure to happen should Bael continue unchecked?

Bee must have sensed his rising fire, for she moved closer and brushed his hand with hers until he gave in and took it, the touch giving him an odd sense of contentment. For the first time in longer than his memory spanned, he felt as if he was not alone.

“I don’t understand why you are involved with the Charmer,” Kostya said, his gaze on Constantine. “You can no longer go into spirit form, so you have no special abilities used in finding the talisman. I don’t see why you should be here—”

“Cease this mindless babbling!” Constantine roared, releasing Bee’s hand to stomp into the center of the room.

The silence that followed was pronounced.

“Do none of you care that the most dangerous being who ever lived is now free again?” he demanded to know.

“Of course we care,” Aisling said, glancing toward Kostya. “But really, our focus is on breaking the curse.”

“We want the curse broken, too,” Bee said. “It’s just that Constantine has issues with Bael being out and about, and we’d like to locate him in order to make sure no one is hurt.”