in unspoken answer.
"Kostya insists that you have the phylactery," Drake said without preamble.
His brother, who was pacing along the far edge of the patio, whirled around and glared at Gabriel. "There is no one else who would steal it! He must have it. I demand it be returned to me."
Gabriel's fingers tightened on my shoulder. "Disregarding the fact that I do not, in fact, have the phylactery, your claim to it is asinine. Drake found it in Fiat's lair-if anyone has a claim on it, it would seem Drake does... or at worst, Fiat. But not you, Konstantin Nikolai Fekete."
The black dragon did not like hearing Gabriel use his full name, and I didn't blame him. Everyone knew that names have power, and I certainly wouldn't want a wyvern I was more or less warring against invoking mine.
Kostya snarled and would have lunged toward Gabriel, but Istvan and Pal had taken up positions on either side of him, grabbing him when he started toward us.
I leaped to my feet, ready to shadow and go after him if Drake's men couldn't control him.
"I begin to think you are more like a falcon than like a blackbird, Mayling," Gabriel murmured gently, pushing me back into the chair. "Do not trouble yourself over Kostya."
"Mei Ling?" Kostya asked, the anger in his face giving way to surprise. "Mei Ling the thief?"
"She is not a thief, not a real one," Gabriel said with a flash of his silver eyes. "She simply acquires objects for her employer, nothing more."
"And yet you claim you did not steal my phylactery?" Kostya turned to his brother with an angry gesture. "What more proof do you need? She is a thief, and his mate. Obviously, she stole it to please him!"
"She couldn't have," Aisling said, shaking her head.
"Gabriel and May met last night for the first time," Drake explained.
"Bah! That was what they wanted you to think, in order to excite sympathy for their cause. But I am not so easily fooled as you are, brother. They are working together, and I will not allow them to succeed with their infamous plans."
The sudden calculating look he shot me sent cold chills down my spine. "Gabriel," I whispered, leaning toward him, "I think we may have a problem."
"I will not allow him to harm you," he answered in a louder tone of voice than was strictly necessary. "Do not fear for your safety, mate. He will not touch you."
"That's not quite what I meant," I said, intending on pointing out that as Dr. Kostich hadn't lifted the price on my head, it was entirely possible Kostya might turn in information about me in order to gain the benefaction. I hated to think what he could do with a powerful archimage on his side.
Before I could mention all that, Kostya started ranting about the injustices done to him. "I swear to you that the black dragon sept will regain what we once held but was taken from us!"
"Oh, not that again," Aisling said, whispering to her husband, "Can we hit a fast-forward button, do you think?"
"We will face death to restore to the sept the pride, the glory, the true essence, of what it once was," Kostya declared with a dramatic sweep of his hand.
"Enough!" Gabriel suddenly roared, taking everyone aback. "I have had enough of your games, Kostya! I can only assume you are trying to turn Drake against me with these outrageous claims, but I will not waste my time any longer defending myself. There is a more important matter at hand that must be attended to."
"Drake-as a neutral party-got Kostya and Gabriel to agree to come here and talk about things," Jim said softly as it ambled over and sat next to me, leaning its bulk against my leg. "That was before you tried to bash Kostya's brains out all over the entryway, naturally. Things are probably a bit dicier now."
I shot the demon a look. It grinned back at me, pink tongue lolling.
"I suppose now is as good a time as any to begin the talks between you two," Aisling said, looking dubious.
"I will not talk peace with Kostya until he returns Maata and Tipene," Gabriel said, his fingers tightening again on my shoulder.
I could swear there was a momentary flash of surprise in Kostya's eyes before they returned to their familiar belligerent cast. "I do not know what you're talking about."
"Maata and Tipene are gone?" Aisling asked. "I wondered where they were. Kostya-"
"I do not know what