The air cracked with energy as she sucked in a huge breath. I thought for a moment she was going to blast me with a fireball, the dragon heart insisting that I take immediate action against her, but she released her rage before I could do anything. ‘‘Tell me what he agreed to.’’

I explained the terms of the agreement with Jian along with our reason for wanting use of it, and after a moment’s thought, she nodded her head. ‘‘Red dragons always honor their word. When you have the other shards collected, I will provide you with the Song Phylactery so that you can re-create the dragon heart. But you will not have the shard until then.’’

‘‘That’s acceptable,’’ I agreed, wondering about her lack of demand for its immediate return afterwards. ‘‘I’ll need your formal acceptance of this peace treaty before I can tell Aisling to begin the recall.’’

She snatched the thick vellum and pen I pulled from my leather bodice, snarling under her breath as she signed her name to it, using the nib of the pen to nick her finger, and sealing the treaty with blood, as was customary in the Otherworld.

‘‘Excellent. I think you’ll find that this was the wisest choice.’’

Her look should have dropped me dead on the spot. I just smiled as I rolled up the treaty and tucked it away. ‘‘I have to go back to the shadow world to let Aisling know she should begin the proceedings. It shouldn’t take long, although I do feel that I should point out that Drake will make sure Aisling is well protected, so if you’re planning on getting the jump on her once you’re back in the world, you’d better think again.’’

She said nothing as I stepped back into the shadow world, but I sensed a great many emotions burbling around under the surface.

I closed my eyes for a moment, focusing my thoughts on Gabriel, reaching out to find the essence of him that I knew would be waiting for me in the shadow world. There was much in the space where it touched Abaddon that left me shaking with fear, but slowly I began to feel warmth, a comforting glow that filled me with light and love.

‘‘Gabriel,’’ I said, the word whisper soft.

‘‘I am here, little bird,’’ was his answer, his voice distant. I couldn’t see him any more than he could see me, but just hearing his voice gave me comfort in a comfortless place. ‘‘Is it done?’’

‘‘Yes. Tell Aisling that Chuan Ren signed the treaty.’’

‘‘Has she agreed to honor Jian’s promise?’’ his voice asked, echoes of it rolling around me.

‘‘She has.’’

There was silence for a moment. ‘‘I have told Drake. Aisling will begin the recall immediately. May . . .’’

His voice stopped, and I was aware of a sense of something troubling him.

‘‘What’s wrong?’’

‘‘Is Chuan Ren there with you?’’

I looked behind me. The cell was represented in the shadow world by sooty archways that led into inky darkness. The ground was covered with glittering dragon scales. In the middle a silhouette stood—Chuan Ren.

‘‘I see her, yes.’’

‘‘There in the shadow world?’’

‘‘No, in the cell.’’

Gabriel was silent for the count of twenty. ‘‘Then who is in there with you?’’

‘‘No one. It’s just you and me.’’

The sense of unease in his voice grew. ‘‘May, there is someone else here. I can feel the presence of another dragon. Come back to me now, little bird.’’

I looked around, but there was no sign of anyone else visible. ‘‘I can’t. I have to go back and get Jim first.’’

‘‘Come back now, May,’’ Gabriel insisted, louder and more strident.

The worry in his voice sent a little skitter of fear down my back. There was only one other dragon I knew of who could be in the shadow world. ‘‘I promised Jim I wouldn’t leave without it.’’

Gabriel swore softly to himself, frustrated at being limited to an insubstantial presence in this world. ‘‘Get out. Get out of the shadow world. It is not safe for you here.’’

I thought of the wrath demon standing outside, in the real world. ‘‘I don’t think it’s terribly safe for me out there, either.’’

‘‘Much as it distresses me to speak the words, you are Magoth’s consort. Bael cannot harm you without violating the laws he enforces. I can rescue you from him, May, but I cannot save you from whoever is stalking the shadow world.’’

He had a point, but I didn’t particularly like it.

Chapter Twenty-four

Gabriel was adamant about me leaving the (relative) safety of the shadow world. ‘‘I will remain here in an attempt to locate the dragon. If Bael finds you, demand that he contact me for a ransom.’’

‘‘Gabriel—’’

‘‘Please, little bird. Do as I ask.’’

When he put it like that, I couldn’t come up with a good reason for refusing his request, so with reluctance, I left the shadow world . . . but not until I’d slipped as far away from the wrath demon at the door as I could manage.

Luckily, Chuan Ren’s cries as she saw me distracted the guard, which allowed me to shadow and race out of her cell even as she was beating it on the head and demanding that it catch me.

‘‘Oh, man, you came back? I figured you’d ditch me. I gotta say, May, if I was in your shoes, I probably would have left me behind,’’ Jim said as I scooted into the linen closet where it was hidden.

Its words may have been flip, but relief filled its voice, and it butted its head against me in a gesture of affection.

‘‘I won’t say I didn’t consider it, but I do try to keep my promises,’’ I answered, patting it on the head and suffering a couple of happy swipes of its large tongue. ‘‘Before you start celebrating, though, we have to get out of here.’’

‘‘I thought you were just going to find a way out of Abaddon via the beyond, and let Aisling summon me,’’ it said.

‘‘That was the original plan. It’s been changed due to some unknown dragon finding his way into the shadow world.’’ I opened the door and peeked out. Although I hadn’t encountered anyone on the way back to the closet, signs of occupation around us were audible.