“You think not?” Drake’s eyebrows rose a little, but he didn’t explain. He just gestured at me to continue.

“No, there’s no reason for anyone to want me gone unless it’s to try to get to you. To be honest... oh, man, I don’t know what to think. Gabriel was there, right next to me, so he could have been the person to push me. But he’s my friend!”

“Gabriel?” Drake frowned to himself as he thought that over. “Describe to me exactly what happened.”

It took a good ten minutes to go over everything. Drake asked several questions about who was standing next to me on the platform and how Gabriel had suddenly appeared.

“I have always thought of him as an ally, it is true,” Drake said at last. “But he is the wyvern of another sept.”

“You really think he pushed me?” I set down the piece of bread I’d been toying with. “But why? He’s always been so nice to me. I like him.”

“I am merely exploring the possibilities, not stating it as a fact,” Drake answered, his voice the teensiest bit censuring. “I have had no indication that Gabriel means to do anyone harm.”

“Well, then, who did it? I didn’t fall, Drake. I know the difference between a fall and a push. Someone slammed into my back, knocking me down in front of the train. If it wasn’t Gabriel, then it had to be Fiat. But if that’s the case, why did he save me right after I fell? And why didn’t Gabriel say anything to me afterwards? He must have seen Fiat push me. You’d think he would have something to say about that.”

“It has been many decades since I have understood the way Fiat’s mind works,” Drake said slowly. “The blame does not necessarily fall on him, however. The red dragons take the status of war very seriously, and I have no doubt whatsoever that they will make several attempts to harm you in an attempt to make me yield. I suspect they are the ones behind the hit-and-run accident, as well.”

“Great, that’s all I need—the red dragons on my back.”

“You need not fear on that score, kincsem” His eyes glittered at me with restrained heat. “I will allow no one to harm you. What else did you have to discuss with me?”

I shifted my mental gears from murder attempts to more intimate matters. “Something a bit more personal. I want to talk about what happened in Budapest and what it means to us now.”

“Ah.” He sat back, giving me a long look. “I take it you’re about to lambaste me again for your lack of foresight.”

I took a deep breath. No other man—no, no other person—in the entire world left me simultaneously frustrated, enraged, and so much in love it made me giddy with joy just to look at him. “No, I’m not going to lambaste you again for anything. I realize now that I went into this arrangement blind, and although it would have been nice to have someone tell me what exactly was going to be expected of me as a wyvern’s mate, I am willing to take my share of the blame for not asking enough questions.”

A light flared for a moment in Drake’s eyes, dying almost immediately. “If only you had been this reasonable in Budapest.”

I carefully set down the table knife I’d been gripping. “You’re not going to bait me into an argument, Drake. I want to talk to you about what’s going on, but if you have no desire to participate seriously in a discussion about the possible future of our relationship, then this is a waste of time.”

He was silent for a moment, his fingers drawing lazy circles on the tablecloth. I shivered a little, knowing the sort of fire those fingers could stir within me. “You wish to negotiate?”

“Yes.” I nodded. Negotiate was as good a term as any, and one to which Drake responded well. “Things got out of hand in Budapest. I’m the first one to admit that and to admit that I was as much to blame for it as you were.”

I waited to see whether he’d object to that, but he didn’t say anything, just inclined his head for me to continue.

“But I’ve had some time to think, and sort things out, and really work through what it is I want from life.”

“You wish to be a Guardian,” Drake said, his face impassive. I was instantly suspicious.

“I am a Guardian. There’s nothing anyone can do about that now. I may not be formally trained, and I may not ever be recognized officially as one, but I’ve made my peace with the fact that I was put on this earth to wrangle demons and watch over portals to Hell.”

“Is that so?” Drake asked in a deceptively soft voice. He was silent again for a moment, but there was a banked fire in his eyes.

I opened myself up to it for a moment, embracing that dragon fire that seemed so natural to me, watching with amazement as my fingernails burst into flame. One by one I doused the dragon fire by dipping my fingers in my water glass.

“I take it you believe there is another reason for my existence?” I smiled to myself as I sipped my iced tea. I knew exactly what he was going to say.

“Do you know how wyverns are born?” he asked, causing me to choke on a piece of chipped ice. That’ll teach me to be smug wherever Drake was concerned.

“You said that dragons are born in human form, not. . . er.. . hatched or anything, so I assume it’s the normal human way.”

He shook his head, sipping from his glass of dragon’s blood. “I did not mean literally. A wyvern is born, not created. He has one dragon parent and one human. Wyverns ascend to their positions by right of tanistry, so they are not necessarily the direct descendant of a wyvern.”

“You have a human parent?” I asked, stunned by that revelation. “You’re only half-dragon?”

“No, I am completely a dragon,” he answered, looking slightly annoyed. “Dragon blood is dominant, always.”

“No surprise there. So ... a wyvern is the most important person in the sept. Why don’t the sept members want a full-blooded dragon at the helm?”

“Human blood is required for a wyvern because long ago it was proven that the mixture of dragon and human brought about the best attributes in both species, but most importantly, it heightened the dragon qualities so they stood out above others.”

“So...” I sat back and allowed the waiter to place before me a plate of sesame chicken salad, waiting until he’d placed Drake’s and Jim’s lunches down and left the room before finishing up my thought. “Basically, you’re saying that diversity strengthens the gene pool?”