“You cannot be serious!” Kostya stormed, striding past where I had curled up on a tiny loveseat. “You just got through saying you would not put yourself in danger, and now you expect to come with us? Ridiculous!”

“It won’t be dangerous,” I answered, my eyes on Drake. He wasn’t looking very happy, and had, in fact, offered his opinion that I should stay home lest I come to any harm in Fiat’s house.

“There could well be trouble,” he said slowly, his brow somewhat furrowed.

“I don’t see how. Fiat’s in London trying to deal with Bastian. It’s not likely that he’s suddenly going to jet back to Italy while Bastian is rallying as many blue dragons to his cause as he can. The members of the sept are too busy wondering which of the two wyverns is going to come out on top to be worrying about us.”

“There are guards at the house. It will still be dangerous even if Fiat is not present. I do not wish to hurt your feelings, kincsem, but it is intolerable to put you at risk.”

“Now you are speaking as a man,” Kostya said with a sharp nod.

“Oh, pipe down,” I snapped at him. “And put out that fire before it reaches the curtain!”

Kostya stomped on a little outbreak of fire next to the curtain, shooting me a seething glance as he did so.

I ignored it, turning to Drake. “There’s no risk at all, no more than I run by being at home and possibly being attacked by one of Chuan Ren’s hired hit men. I won’t get in the way. I’ll stay back and let you and Pál and István take down the couple of guys who will be guarding the house. Besides, you can’t deny it would be handy having a Guardian and her demon there to help out.”

“Especially the demon,” Jim said.

“Bah!” Kostya snorted.

Drake hesitated a moment, and I knew I had him. I trailed my finger down his leg and tried to look humble. “Sweetie, I don’t want to put myself in danger any more than you do. But even if Fiat’s guys did catch us, they aren’t going to hurt their boss’s mate. I promise I’ll do whatever you say. I won’t go off and beat up people on my own, OK?”

His lips tightened. “I don’t like it.”

“I know you don’t. You never like it when I want to do things, and you get bonus points for discussing it with me rather than just giving me an order and marching away like some people would do.”

Kostya muttered something under his breath.

“I would do just that if I thought I could get away with it,” Drake answered, his mouth twisting wryly.

Jim made a whipcrack noise. I glared it into silence before giving Drake’s knee a pat. “You’re learning, sweetie. I’ll make a husband out of you yet. When do we leave?”

He sighed, eyeing me unhappily. “I will allow this on one condition—you do not do anything without my express consent.”

“Deal,” I said, batting my eyelashes at him.

István cleared his throat. Pál grinned. Kostya threw glances heavenward and continued muttering.

“And they said Aisling couldn’t be subtle,” Jim said, shaking its furry head.

“Now that we have that business taken care of, we can turn to the other topic at hand,” I said, returning to my loveseat.

“What subject is that?” Drake asked.

“Him.” I pointed at Kostya. “No one has yet explained to me why everyone says the black dragons are gone, and yet there’s one standing right there. Not to mention why Gabriel was so upset to see him. I know the silver dragons originally came from the black dragons, but they’re a sept in their own right now, so what’s the big deal? Why has Kostya been hiding for the last couple hundred years? Who was holding you guys prisoner? And why did Gabriel say he didn’t like Kostya’s hospitality?”

The man in question zipped over to me in super-dragon speed, causing me to jerk backwards in my chair. He leaned over me in a menacing fashion. “You might have my brother twisted around your fingers, but I will not be so facile. My business is none of your concern.”

“Except when it concerns my sept or my friends,” I answered.

“Kostya, I have told you once that I will not have you threatening Aisling,” Drake said, pulling his brother back. “She has a curiosity that is often greater than her common sense, but she has a legitimate interest in the situation.”

Kostya’s dark eyes glinted dangerously at Drake. “You forget yourself, brother.”

“I forget nothing,” Drake answered, his muscles tense as if he expected a fight. “You would do well to remember that.”

“Would someone open a window? The testosterone in here is stifling,” I said lightly, pushing myself between the two men, giving Drake a little kiss on the chin.

He shot me an outraged look at the gesture.

“We’re all family here,” I answered the look, and gently pushed him back into his chair, seating myself on his lap to keep him down. “Now let’s see if we can do this without all the posturing. How many questions do I get?”

“None,” Kostya growled, turning his back on us as he stared out the window.

Drake’s fire was still running high, but it cooled a little as I stroked his chest. “Three,” he finally said.

“You said three the last time. I want six.”

“Four,” he offered. “But that will be all for the next twenty-four hours.”

“You drive a hard bargain. Four it is.” I leaned back against the arm of the chair, secretly pleased at getting a bonus question. “OK, first off—why was Kostya hiding from the other dragons?”

“The black sept was destroyed by its wyvern,” Drake answered slowly, his fingers making lazy designs on my leg. “Most of the members were killed in the attempt to bring the silver dragons back into the fold. The silver wyvern—this was several centuries before Gabriel was born—swore he would not rest until every last black dragon was destroyed. The few black dragons who survived went into hiding at the death of Baltic. As Kostya was to be the next wyvern, it was decided that he would go into hiding until such time as the black dragons had gathered enough strength to return to the weyr.”

“So the black and silver dragons are warring just like we are with Chuan Ren? Wait! Don’t answer that! It’s not an official question.”