She leaned into him, her eyes on Aoife and Kostya as they held a whispered conference. “You mean like a ben wah ball? I’m not going to be into that. It’s one thing to have action in your hoohaw while you’re engaged in lovemaking, but I don’t want to just stuff things in there to be carried around while I go about my daily business. I mean, it’s not a purse.”

Constantine’s lips twitched. “You can insert the metal ball into your ladyplant if you so desire, but there are many other things you can do with it, too. Equally enticing things. For both of us.”

“Oh, now that does sound promising.”

“Later,” Constantine promised, and squared his shoulders before facing his godson. “You asked why I feel responsible to make sure Bael does not harm others. It’s not just because he was once dragonkin, or is one of the children of the First Dragon. It is because he is my father.”

He had the satisfaction of seeing identical looks of surprise on all their faces.

“You’re the First Dragon’s grandson?” Aisling asked, her eyes big again. “But that would mean—Baltic is a son of the First Dragon, so you’d be—”

Constantine sighed. “He is my uncle, yes.”

“Holy cow,” she said, pulling out a mobile phone. “I have to tell Drake this. Or does he know already? I mean, you were close to his dad and all. Judging by the look on his face, I’d guess that Kostya didn’t know.”

“The only one alive who knows the truth about my relationship with Bael is Baltic, and he cares nothing about it. He is focused solely on Ysolde and his own doings.”

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a demon lord for a father. How did he become one?” Aoife asked.

Constantine waved away the question. “It is a long story, and not one I wish to tell now. I must act—Bee and I must act. We must stop Bael from claiming the mage sword, and get the talisman needed to break the curse. He can’t be allowed to destroy others as he will surely wish to do.”

“You’re not going to try to destroy him, are you?” Aoife asked nervously. “Obviously you don’t want to kill your father—”

“I have tried in the past, and failed. I would attempt it again if I thought I’d succeed,” Constantine said with studied nonchalance.

Aoife took a deep breath. “Okay. Moving past that, he’s dangerous. Very dangerous, and I should know because I was in the circle that summoned him for a few seconds before Aisling pulled me out. He was one seriously badass dude then, and if you think he’s gathering power now…” She shivered and rubbed her arms. “I don’t see how you or even you and Bee together are going to get rid of him. It’s got to take an army or something like that.”

“Perhaps,” was all that Constantine said in response, but privately, he wasn’t so confident. He had failed in the attempt to destroy his father centuries ago, when Bael was decimating dragons and mortals alike in response to Constantine refusing to follow his father into Abaddon, but when the assassination attempt failed… mentally, he shuddered at the memory of his mother’s death in retaliation. “Bael must be stopped. There is no way mortals or immortals can live in peace with him in power.”

“One thing at a time, I think,” Aisling said.

“That’s sound advice.” Bee nodded. “Let’s find a talisman and break the curse, and then we can gather support to tackle the problem of Bael head-on.”

Aisling’s phone burbled. She looked at it while Bee was speaking, suddenly leaping to her feet. “Oh man, I don’t—Kostya, Aoife, you have to leave.” She made shooing motions at them that caused them both to stare at her. “Jim, tell them they have to leave. Right now!”

Jim, who had been chatting with Gary about the latter’s experiences in Abaddon, turned a surprised face on her. “Huh? How come?”

“Just tell them!” Aisling ran out of the room, yelling for Jim to do as she ordered.

“K, but I’m telling them that you’re the one going crazy, not me. Slick, Aisling wants you and Eefums to get the hell out of dodge. Like, right now.”

“What? Why?” Aoife asked, looking a bit insulted.

“Dunno. Ash just went a bit nuts and started yelling for you to go.”

“Drake’s on his way home,” Aisling bellowed from the hall. “Tell them he just landed here in Paris, and Kostya has to get out of the house before he comes home.”

“What about Connie?” Jim asked, following Kostya and Aoife out into the main hall. It was a well-appointed room, with walls of hunter green, and a beautiful white marble floor that pleased Constantine. He wondered what Bee thought of it, and decided then and there that he’d have to raise enough money to buy a house with a marble hall floor. Bee would appreciate the floor when he laid her down upon it, and licked her naked body with flames…

“Should we go, too?” Bee asked, pulling him from the delightful fantasy that was building in his mind.

“How do you feel about blindfolds?” he asked her.

She pursed her lips, the corners of her mouth twitching a little. “I don’t think I’d like it.”

“But you haven’t tried it?”

“No.”

“Ah.” He smiled at her, and added a new pair of blindfolds to his mental shopping list. “Good.”

“There’s no good about it, buster,” she said, whapping him on the arm before striding forward. “I prefer to see what’s happening around me. Aisling, did you want us to leave as well?”

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary, since Constantine appears to be some special exception to the curse rules. Tell them good-bye for me, would you? And that Jim will be in contact when we have some news.”

Bee duly repeated the request to Aoife and Kostya, who paused at the door and said, “Do not do anything foolish, old man. I understand your desire to seek revenge, but the good of the dragonkin must come first. The curse must be broken. You have twenty-four hours to locate the talisman. If you do not do so by that time, then the black dragons will do the job for you.”

Constantine held onto his temper, despite the overwhelming urge to show Kostya a thing or two about how old he was. “Do not threaten me, whelp. I was battling demons before your father even met your mother, and I do not need to be told how to do my job. We will do what we must, but rest assured that Charming the curse is a top priority.”