‘‘You’ll have to see him in person,’’ she said brightly, happiness brimming from her voice. ‘‘He doesn’t believe in cell phones. And you’re lucky—he’s in Portugal for a big surfing competition, so you won’t have far to go to see him.’’

‘‘We won’t have far to go,’’ I corrected, a note of steel entering my voice as I spotted Gabriel waiting for me at the entrance of the shop.

‘‘We?’’ Cyrene asked, her voice almost inaudible.

‘‘Oh, yes. If I have to go see Neptune, you’re coming with me.’’

‘‘But—’’

‘‘Where exactly is he?’’ I interrupted with ruthless determination. I might have to help Cyrene out of yet another sticky situation, but by the twelve gods, I wasn’t going to lose any more time with Gabriel than I already had. I’d make a very fast visit to Portugal, convince Cyrene’s boss that she was as innocent as she possibly could be, and return to Gabriel’s arms.

‘‘The surfing competition is in Faro,’’ Cy answered slowly. ‘‘But really, May, I think it would be better—’’

‘‘I’ll meet you there . . . Let me think . . . I have a dragon meeting today, and although I don’t think there’s anything pressing on the calendar immediately following it, I would like a little time alone to reacquaint myself with Gabriel. How about we do this in four days?’’

‘‘I suppose that would be all right,’’ Cyrene said in a voice tinged with disappointment. ‘‘It’s so very kind of you to take time out of your busy life for me.’’

I gave the phone a wry smile. ‘‘You don’t do catty well, Cy; you never have.’’

‘‘I know,’’ she said, sighing. ‘‘Four days is all right. I have a few things to do, myself.’’

‘‘What sort of things?’’ I asked, suddenly suspicious.

‘‘Oh . . . you’ll see.’’

‘‘Cyrene Northcott, if you are up to anything—’’

‘‘I would hate to have a mind as suspicious as yours; I really would,’’ she answered with annoying and completely unreasonable self-righteousness. ‘‘I’m not up to anything, as you insist on putting it. But I do have work of my own to do, you know.’’

‘‘Uh-huh. If you’d been attending to that a little more closely, and fawning over Kostya a little less, I wouldn’t have to make time for a trip out to see your surfer dude.’’

‘‘Yes, Mother.’’

‘‘Much as I would love to bandy wits, I’ve got to run. Gabriel is standing all by himself looking utterly delicious, and I have six weeks’ worth of kissing to catch up on.’’

‘‘Mayling—’’

‘‘I’ll see you on Wednesday. And, Cy, please try to stay out of trouble until then.’’

‘‘You never used to be this mean to me,’’ she answered sullenly as I got up and headed for Gabriel. ‘‘I don’t think the time you spent in Abaddon did your character much good. I just hope you don’t think you can talk to me like that all the time and get away with it! I am your twin, you know! You wouldn’t be anywhere without me! You should really be thanking me for your existence rather than bullying me.’’

I gently closed the phone as I stopped in front of Gabriel, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, the molten silver gaze so hot it all but singed. ‘‘Finished?’’ he asked.

‘‘Cyrene isn’t, but I am. Take me home?’’

He didn’t touch me, but he didn’t need to. The look in his eyes was all it took to start a fire at my feet. ‘‘I’ll take you, little bird, but it won’t be home.’’

I smiled. I could get used to being a wyvern’s mate.

Chapter Seven

‘‘So this is a sárkány. Would it offend you if I said it looks like any other business meeting?’’ I whispered to Gabriel as we entered a large ballroom of one of the most prestigious hotels in Paris. The room was filled with people, the vast expanse of chairs that stretched across most of the golden ballroom already occupied. At the far end stood a large conference table, at which were placed only four chairs.

‘‘That’s what a sárkány is: a gathering of the wyverns to discuss weyr business.’’ Gabriel’s hand was reassuring on my back as we stepped off the elevator and entered the large room. ‘‘One moment, Mayling. I have something for you.’’

He tugged me aside into a corner, Maata and Tipene using their bodies to block the view.

‘‘What’s all this about?’’ I asked, confused.

Gabriel pulled a chain over his head. On the end of it was a large silverish oval locket, very thick, but finely worked. He put the chain over my head, tucking the locket into my shirt, nudging it down until it was nestled between my breasts.

‘‘Keep it safe,’’ he said, adjusting my shirt slightly to show a little less cleavage.

‘‘What is it?’’ I asked, touching the silver chain.

‘‘It is the phylactery. I dared not leave it behind, and I hesitate to keep it on my person when Kostya may well show up. He has a tendency to attack first and ask questions later, and I would hate for him to see the phylactery while we were struggling.’’

‘‘But that’s priceless. I don’t want to be responsible for something priceless,’’ I said softly, not wanting to attract any attention. I tugged at his sleeve as he scanned the room. ‘‘Besides, it’s made of gold. Drake smelled it on me before, when I had it in my bodice—he’ll smell it on me again.’’

‘‘Not this time. He didn’t smell it this morning, and I wore it all through breakfast. The phylactery is contained in a very special housing made of platinum. He will not notice it.’’

‘‘But,’’ I protested, following when he started forward. ‘‘But platinum is more valuable than gold. He’ll just smell that and then everyone will know I’ve got something priceless on me.’’