‘‘It’s gone,’’ Cyrene said placidly, setting down a magazine as I immediately began to search the bed upon which I was lying. ‘‘Evidently it just—poof !—blew up. Along with the entire top floor of the hotel, I might add. Honestly, Mayling, I don’t think you had to go to quite such dramatic lengths to clear out those bastard dragons who were attacking us.’’

I pulled myself up to lean against the headboard of the bed. I was back in Aisling and Drake’s Parisian house, but how I got there was a blank. ‘‘I blew up the hotel? I don’t think so, Cy. I never do anything that would draw attention to me.’’

‘‘Well, you blew up the phylactery, which was the same thing. It blew out a couple of walls with a huge fireball, blasted a huge hole in the center of the floor, and set fire to pretty much the top floor of the hotel. You’re just lucky that it contained only the conference center, and that everyone there was immortal, or you’d be talking to the watch about killing innocent people.’’

Fear twisted my gut. As someone born of the shadows, I always avoided any action that might force me into the limelight, but more importantly, I made it a policy to never kill another being.

‘‘As it is, most of the dragons escaped harm, except for those bastards with the guns, and they fell through the hole in the floor, so that’s no problem. I had a burn on my arm, but Gabriel fixed it for me,’’ she said, holding out one unmarked arm.

‘‘That was nice of him,’’ I murmured, my thoughts black with unhappiness.

‘‘I had to wait until he was done fixing you first, but I suppose that was to be expected. You were pretty hurt.’’

‘‘Me?’’ I moved my legs, then arms, not even a slight twinge answering the movements. ‘‘I’m not hurt.’’

‘‘You’re not now, not after Gabriel spent the last twenty hours working on you, but I saw you when they hauled you in here, and you were in pretty bad shape.’’ Remorse filled her eyes as she placed her hand on mine and gave it a little squeeze. ‘‘I was worried.’’

‘‘Silly twin,’’ I answered, returning the gesture. ‘‘You know I can’t be killed.’’

‘‘No, but you can be damaged in ways that would leave you a mental vegetable, and you had lost so much blood, I wasn’t sure if you were going to come back to us. But Gabriel never lost hope.’’

‘‘Where is he?’’ I said, surprised he wasn’t there.

‘‘Oh, he went downstairs when Kostya challenged for you. I said I’d watch you while he did that.’’ Her face and voice were as serene as ever.

Swinging my legs out of bed and getting to my feet, I shook my head at that fact that she could still surprise me. I felt a moment of lightheadedness, but my legs seemed as solid as ever. ‘‘I swear if I live a thousand mortal lifetimes, I’ll never understand you, Cy. You don’t mind that Kostya is challenging Gabriel for me?’’

‘‘Don’t be silly,’’ she said, her airy laugh brightening the residual wispy dark cobwebs in my mind. ‘‘He doesn’t really want you, you know. He wants what you are. And besides, I don’t think he’s going to get you. Gabriel can be awful obstinate when he wants.’’

‘‘What I am?’’ I shook my head again, moving over to the wardrobe to gather some clothing. Why would Kostya suddenly care that I was a wyvern’s mate? He wasn’t even recognized as a wyvern. Perhaps this was just one more way he had struck upon to cause Gabriel grief. ‘‘You know, I think I’m just going to talk to Gabriel and find out what’s been going on.’’ I stopped at the door to the bathroom and looked back at her. ‘‘Did you say I’d been out of it for a day?’’

‘‘Yes. Gabriel worked all night on you.’’ She hesitated for a moment, a faint shadow passing over her face. ‘‘I think he loves you, Mayling.’’

I didn’t say anything, just nodded and went into the bathroom.

‘‘Did you hear what I said?’’ she asked a few minutes later when I emerged, clothed and freshened up as best as I could manage in a short time.

‘‘Yes.’’ I grabbed my dagger from where it sat on the nightstand and strapped it to my ankle, hurrying out of the room and down the hall to the stairs.

‘‘Well?’’ Cyrene demanded, following me. ‘‘Don’t you have anything to say to that? Like how you feel about him?’’

‘‘My feelings aren’t important at this point. What is important is what bull Kostya is trying to pull now. Where are they?’’

I paused at the foot of the stairs. Cyrene pointed to the door to the right, which I remembered from past visits had led to a large sitting room.

‘‘Mayling,’’ she said slowly as I was about to open the door.

I cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at her.

‘‘You do love him, too, don’t you?’’ She took a couple of steps forward, her gaze searching mine. ‘‘I mean, you wouldn’t want to trade him in for another dragon, would you?’’

A little smile curled up the edges of my mouth. ‘‘I can assure you that I have no designs on, desires for, or even patience with Kostya.’’

‘‘Good,’’ she said, her chin lifting. ‘‘Because he’s mine, and although I understand him challenging Gabriel and all, I wouldn’t want to have to do something serious if you were willing to switch allegiances.’’

‘‘Serious? Serious like what?’’ I asked against my better judgment. ‘‘Cy, are you saying you’d take me down if I messed with your boyfriend? You’ve never been like that.’’

‘‘This is different,’’ she said firmly. ‘‘And no, I wouldn’t take you down, as you put it. I’d just . . . well, I’d make things miserable for you.’’

I bit back both a comment and a smile, contenting myself with a brisk nod before I opened the door.

‘‘I refuse to discuss this any further,’’ Gabriel was saying as we entered the room.

‘‘I refuse to let you refuse my challenge! I, Konstantin Fekete—’’