The sun was out, shining brightly on the front of the house. Although there weren’t a lot of people out, I didn’t particularly want one of the noontime passersby to see me disappear into nothing. Gabriel and Maata moved immediately to block my view of the street, allowing me to slip into the shadow world unnoticed.

The street where we lived looked more or less the same in the shadow world, although angles were slightly off, giving the buildings a somewhat skewed appearance. Other than that obvious difference, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary . . . until I glanced down. “Oh, we are in so much trouble.”

“What is it?” Gabriel asked when I bent to touch a spot on the sidewalk, his shadowy image standing next to me.

I smiled as I stood up and showed him my hand. “I’m so glad your mother taught you how to access the shadow world, even if you’re incorporeal here. It’s arcane residue.”

“Arcane? From a mage?”

“Possibly. Dragons shed dragon scales, elemental beings leave traces of their primary element, demons leave little splotches of demon smoke, and theurgists leave arcane residue.” I glanced around a wider area, my eyes searching for any other signs.

“Which means it could be anyone who uses arcane power. A mage?”

“It could be a mage, yes. Other theurgists use arcane power, too—oracles and diviners, for instance. Goetists like necromancers and summoners can tap into arcane power, as well. It could be any of them.”

“And dragon scales?” Gabriel asked as I followed the arcane residue down the street.

“Lots of them, but they’re a few hours old, so I assume they’re from the silver dragons. I don’t see any fresh ones, if that’s what you’re asking. Damn.” I stood up from the crouch I’d adopted to follow the fading residue trail. “It’s gone already. Elementals and theurgists are the hardest beings to track because their traces fade so quickly. I’m sorry, Gabriel. I can’t tell you anything other than—”

“May, come back to me.”

I glanced over to where Gabriel stood next to me. His voice, although somewhat muffled by the projection of himself into the shadow world, held a distinct note of command, a circumstance that was unusual enough for me to take notice. “What?”

“Come back to me.” His eyes glittered like mercury against black velvet. “Come back to where my body is.”

“We’re just a couple of blocks from home, and I’d like to look around some more.” I waved toward the sidewalk. “There’s a slight chance that not all of the residue has disappeared.”

His image faded before my eyes, his voice an echo on the air. “There is another dragon in the Dreaming.”

I spun around, instantly reaching for the dagger I wore strapped to my ankle, even though I knew the weapon would do nothing against the only dragon known to be able to enter and exit the shadow world at will. “Baltic?”

A distant voice, tinged with amusement, drifted over to me. Judging by the somewhat ethereal nature of the sound, I gathered the very dangerous former wyvern, once thought dead, but evidently very much alive, was at some distance from me. “Ah, it is the silver mate who speaks. A doppelganger, my assistant tells me, which explains how your wyvern got around the curse. How very clever of Gabriel to think of mating himself to a woman who was not technically born.”

“Annoyed that you hadn’t thought of that eventuality when you cursed the silver dragons never to have a mate born to them?”

I felt a familiar presence next to me, but separated by realities. Gabriel’s voice was distant, however, when he demanded I return to the real world.

“You have a quick tongue, I see,” Baltic answered, his voice somewhat nearer now. I knew it was folly to keep bandying wits with him, but I didn’t want to lose this opportunity to find out what I could about the mysterious dragon who seemed to be responsible for so many problems plaguing us. “Perhaps Gabriel tolerates such, but I will not.”

A mist passed in front of me, resolving itself into the form of an angry man. He paused just long enough to shoot me a look that promised retribution later before he took up a protective stance before me. “Threatening my mate again, Baltic? You didn’t succeed in taking her from me last time; I don’t know why you believe you will fare any better now.”

There was a moment of startled silence before the mysterious dragon answered, “Your shaman mother must be indebting herself greatly to manage repeatedly buying you an entrance into the beyond, Gabriel.” Neither one of us corrected Baltic’s false impression that Gabriel was present in a physical form. “Nonetheless, the time will come when you cannot cling to her for help.”

Beside me, Gabriel stiffened at the insult, but said only, “Your bait is insufficient. Did you have something more, or was that your sole offering?”

Baltic’s laugh echoed down the shadow world’s empty street. I was more than a little interested to note that he sounded no closer. Obviously, he had thought twice about tangling with Gabriel and me together. “You have almost as sharp a tongue as your mate. It is regretful that both will be silenced when I retrieve my shard.”

Gabriel made a low, growling noise that warned he was about to lose his temper.

“Your shard?” I called out, hoping to distract him. “You gave it to Kostya. I think that relinquishes any claim you might have on it.”

“I would not give mud from my boots to that murderous whoreson,” the voice snarled. “That fool thief taker thought he could blackmail me.”

“Savian?” I asked, confused for a moment before I remembered the dead thief taker Gabriel and I had found a few months before. “Or Porter?”

“Do not think that because you found a way around the curse, you will succeed,” Baltic said in a now almost inaudible voice. “For you will not. The days are numbered, wyvern. I intend to have your mate and the shard she bears. Enjoy both while you still possess them.”

“Is he gone?” I asked in a whisper a moment later.

The shadowy form of Gabriel nodded. “It was not wise to engage him, little bird.”

“I knew you were only a couple of blocks away, and it was obvious he wasn’t close. Besides, I’m tired of guessing. It’s time we got a few answers to the hundred or so questions we have about him. I didn’t get to ask him outright if he was Baltic, though.”