‘‘Exactly. But it also means that we don’t have to go through Bael to get her.’’

‘‘Why do you want to get to her? I’m sorry,’’ Aisling said, smiling. ‘‘The pregnancy is draining all my brain cells obviously, but I still don’t see your point.’’

‘‘If I say the obvious, will you banish me to the Akasha?’’ Jim asked, its eyes hopeful.

‘‘Yes.’’

‘‘Damn.’’

I leaned back against Gabriel, seeking strength. ‘‘The point is—and don’t beat yourself up for not seeing it; I certainly didn’t and I know Abaddon better than you—the point is that Bael is holding Chuan Ren against her will. She’s his prisoner, not a minion. Which means the only way she can leave him is either for him to give her up or for her banishment to be reversed.’’

‘‘A recall,’’ Aisling said, enlightenment finally striking her. ‘‘Well, yes, that would work. I did banish her, so I have the power to recall her. But for one thing, of course.’’

My heart, which had begun to soar at the possibility of a solution to the problem of Chuan Ren, fell at her words. ‘‘What one thing?’’ I asked.

She shook her head. ‘‘I’d have to be insane to do it. I’m sorry, but I can’t recall Chuan Ren. I sent her to Abaddon for a reason. She’s just too dangerous to the green dragons. I really wish I could help you, May, but I can’t.’’

Chapter Twenty-three

It took longer than I expected to recall Chuan Ren from Abaddon. The problem ended up being Drake rather than Aisling, the latter of whom, like any intelligent woman, immediately grasped the finer points of the argument Gabriel and I put forward.

‘‘You know, that’s not a bad idea at all,’’ she said after Gabriel explained how we saw things. ‘‘It might work. If Chuan Ren wants out of Abaddon bad enough, she’ll have to agree to ending the war with us; otherwise, pfft. Right back she goes. And you said she’s not having fun there. Heh-heh-heh.’’

I watched Aisling chuckling to herself, not doubting for an instant that Chuan Ren deserved her time with Bael, but amused nonetheless. ‘‘We wouldn’t ask you to reinstate Chuan Ren to this world without due cause, I assure you. But we felt this would solve all of our problems—allow me access to the red dragons’ shard, end the war between your two septs, and take care of Fiat.’’

‘‘I knew I liked you,’’ Aisling said, giving me a nod of encouragement. ‘‘So all that remains is for me to recall Chuan Ren, and we’ll see what she has to say. If she refuses to go along with it, we’ll just dump her back on Bael’s lap and figure out something else.’’

I didn’t want to consider failure. There were no other options that I could see . . . other than allowing the shard to take me over completely.

‘‘Right. Let’s get started,’’ Aisling said, trying unsuccessfully to hoist herself to her feet. ‘‘Drake, let me up.’’

‘‘You are not going to recall Chuan Ren,’’ her husband said, holding her back so she couldn’t rise.

She shot him an annoyed look. ‘‘You’re not going to pull any of that crap about it being too dangerous for me, are you? Because I can assure you that a simple thing like a recall is not going to go awry.’’

‘‘Kobolds,’’ Jim said, raising its brows. ‘‘Caribbean as a statue. ’Nuff said.’’

‘‘Shush, you. Drake, stop giving me that obstinate look. This won’t go wrong, I promise.’’

‘‘You are not summoning Chuan Ren into our house, where she can attack and possibly harm you,’’ he said calmly.

‘‘But you’ll be here. And István and Pál, and Gabriel. Even May has a dagger! Chuan Ren isn’t going to have the chance to get near me.’’

‘‘It’s out of the question.’’ If I’d thought Drake had been stubborn before, I was to learn a new respect for the word. It took a solid hour of arguing before we finally came to a compromise.

‘‘I don’t see that this is any less dangerous than me just simply summoning Chuan Ren,’’ Aisling said grumpily as she prepared to send Jim and me to Abaddon. ‘‘What if they’re caught?’’

‘‘May has access to the shadow world, and Jim can be resummoned if it loses its form,’’ Drake answered, his arm around her as he helped her to her feet after she’d drawn an emergency summoning circle on the floor.

‘‘Oh, man! I just broke in this form, too! I’m gonna scream if I have to get another one!’’

Drake ignored Jim’s complaint. ‘‘If either of them is seen in Bael’s domicile, they can take steps to protect themselves.’’

‘‘You might just want to remind Gabriel of that fact, because he doesn’t look any too happy about having May going to Abaddon without him,’’ Aisling said.

She was right. Gabriel had put up a bit of a fuss when Drake first suggested the plan, saying it was too dangerous for me.

‘‘I know my way around demon lords,’’ I told him again, brushing my lips against his. His eyes were glittering, but it was the cold light of mercury rather than the usual white-hot heat. ‘‘And Jim’s been to Bael’s domain before, so it’ll help me get around without being seen. We’ll just pop in, get Chuan Ren to formally end the war and agree to the rest of our terms, and be back without Bael or anyone else in Abaddon being the wiser.’’

I thought for a moment that he wasn’t going to respond to me, but that passed the instant the fire in me heard its answer in him. He hauled me upward as his mouth all but devoured mine, his fingers digging deep into my hips. Mindless of our surroundings, I wrapped my legs around him, twining my tongue around his as it did a fire dance in my mouth. Claws emerged from my fingers as the inferno within me spun out of control, sweeping us up until we were a firestorm of love, passion, and desire. The dragon within me roared to life, causing me to arch back from him as it transformed me.

‘‘Holy Jehoshaphat!’’ Aisling said at the same time Jim demanded a video camera. ‘‘Is she turning into a dragon?’’