“It’s mad that I won’t take it to Paris because Drake is there ... although he’s not there; he’s here. So I guess there’s no reason not to go visit Amelie, except now I have this dragon thing to go to.” I sighed and slumped even more, feeling far from the confident, self-assured person I so desperately wanted to be. “Nora, do I talk constantly about Drake? I don’t sound obsessed, do I? I just sound .. . weary, right?”

Paco pounced on the paper that had fallen from my hand. Nora got it away from him before he did any damage to it, smoothing the sheet over her knee as she sat next to me. “Well.. . since you asked, I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with Jim.”

“What?” I shrieked, sitting upright in order to glare. I didn’t, of course—for one thing, Nora was my friend, not just my mentor, and for another... well, there was a pesky little voice in the back of my head that was whispering its agreement with both Nora and Jim. The roots of denial, however, were strong and difficult to dig out. “You think I’m obsessed with him, too?”

“I think you’re in love with him, yes. And despite the differences you have, I believe you are meant to be together. Further, I believe that you know this but are too stubborn to admit it to yourself.”

There’s nothing like a bit of plain speaking to knock the wind from your sails.

“But... but. ..”

She shook her head, picking up the paper to glance at it. “I was going to address the issue with you in a few days, when we begin your training proper. A Guardian’s strength comes from within, Aisling. To deceive yourself is to weaken your power.”

“He betrayed me,” I said, wanting to scream the words. “He broke my heart!”

“He betrayed your trust, yes. But you betrayed an oath to him. You both have to learn how to make compromises in order to happil—what on earth?”

The fury in her voice yanked me from the dark musings about my life. “Oh! I’m so sorry! That’s what I was going to tell you, but then Drake came in and distracted me. A man named Mark Sullivan was waiting when Rene dropped us off at the door. He said he’s with the committee, and he’s slapping a restraining order or something on you that says you can’t teach me because there’s an investigation going on.”

Nora nodded, her lips moving slightly as she read the letter.

“Rene?” she asked, looking up, a finger marking a spot on the letter. “You saw Rene?”

“Story for another day. Does the letter say what this is all about?”

She went back to reading, her face impassive. I hadn’t known Nora long—it had been about a month since we’d met in Budapest—so I wasn’t too good at reading her body language. There was no way to mistake the anger in her ebony eyes, however. They positively flashed black sparks as she crumpled the letter up and threw it on the ground for Paco to bat around.

I waited impatiently for her to say something. When she did, my eyebrows rose in surprise.

“The fools. The bloody ignorant fools. I’ve half a mind to curse the lot of them.”

“I know how you feel. I was shocked when Mark said you were not going to be allowed to teach me. Why are they doing this?” I gave her arm a friendly pat as she looked blindly at her hands.

“It’s Marvabelle, of course,” she answered.

“Marvabelle? O’Hallahan?” I asked, even more surprised by the name she’d mentioned. “The Marvabelle who was in Budapest? The one with the wimpy oracle husband? The one who used to be your roomie when you were studying to be a Guardian? That Marvabelle?”

“One and the same.” Nora jumped from the couch, striding across the living room with her chin high. She turned and paced back. “She’s had it in for me ever since we were recognized for stopping the Guardian killings. She warned me then she would not stand around watching me have glory she felt she deserved.”

“She deserved! She did nothing to catch the murderer!” I got to my feet and stomped around in sympathetic indignation, keeping a tight rein on my anger lest it manifest itself again in dragon fire. “We did all the work! We figured it all out. All she did was get in the way.”

Nora stopped pacing in order to grab my sleeve as I stomped by her. “To be honest, you did all the work, and you figured it out. But I thank you for your outrage on my behalf.”

‘That doesn’t matter,” I said, waving away her thanks. “What does matter is that Marvabelle thinks she can mess with you. Us. I didn’t know she had this sort of clout with the committee.”

“Neither did I.” Nora picked up a stuffed toy and managed to exchange it for the letter Paco was gnawing on. She smoothed it out and read it again. I peeked over her shoulder, my eyes narrowing at the officious language mentioning a complaint against Nora and the investigation that would hitherto follow.

“In concordance with the precepts of the code of the Guardians’ Guild, you are hereby ordered to cease and desist with any form of Guardian training until otherwise notified, pending the outcome of this investigation? I read aloud. “Oh, that is such bull!”

Nora nodded, folding the crumply letter and setting it in a basket that held her correspondence. “I agree. But don’t let it upset you. I have nothing to hide, and I have committed no violations of the Guardian’s code. This is just a minor setback, and not worthy of our concern.”

“Not worthy? It’s utter crap, and I for one don’t intend to sit around while ...” I stopped at the determined look in her eyes. This was her profession, her life that we were discussing. Just because I wanted to punch the committee in the nose for believing Nora could do anything unethical didn’t mean I could act on those desires. “OK. Just a minor setback. Gotcha.”

“We will begin your training tomorrow, as planned,” Nora said firmly as she deposited Paco’s carrier in a closet. “Hopefully it will have the side benefit of helping you control Drake’s fire.”

“Er ... I don’t mean to question you, but didn’t that letter say—”

“I do not intend to allow one spiteful woman to waste any more of our time than she has,” Nora answered. She pulled a book out of the floor-to-ceiling bookcase that lined one wall and held it out for me. “Although it grieves me to do anything against the committee’s dictates, in this I know they are wrong. We will proceed as planned.” She paused in the doorway to the kitchen. “Unless you have had a change of heart?”