Me and My Shadow
Page 41
Jim shrugged, an amused glint in its eyes. “I’m sixth-class, remember?”
“Fallen angel, I know. You weren’t born to Abaddon, and thus, you are the weakest of all the demonic beings.”
“We prefer ‘benign’ rather than ‘weak,’ ” it said with a sniff.
“Sorry, benign. All right, then, since you want to stick to the rules that say a demon can’t offer information unless directly asked, let’s play a game of twenty questions.”
It waggled its eyebrows. “How about the strip version? If you ask the wrong question, you have to take off a piece of clothing.”
My knife slid out of the ankle holster with the faintest of honed-steel whispers.
“Regular version is fine with me,” it said quickly, backing away.
I smiled and tucked the knife away. “Let’s start with, what dragons live in Paris?”
“You’re kidding, right? ’Cause there has to be at least a hundred of them.”
“All right, let’s narrow it down.” I thought a moment. “What dragons do you know who live in Paris?”
“Who do I know personally?” it asked, scrunching up its face.
“Who you know who have a home in Paris.”
“Well, there’s Drake.”
“Other than Drake.”
Jim looked thoughtful. “Green dragons or other septs?”
“Any dragons.”
“Full-blooded dragons, or halvesies, too?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, gripping my patience. “Any dragon.”
“That’s a lot of dragons,” it pointed out.
“All right. Let’s go with dragons who Kostya would know.”
“Hmm.” Jim looked thoughtful. “Living or dead?”
“Jim!” I growled, the dragon shard begging to take control.
“I’m just trying to pinpoint what it is you want to know,” it said with an injured sniff.
I took several deep breaths. “I want to know what dragons live in Paris who Kostya might know. Living dragons, of any sept, any heritage, who are not Drake.”
“You know, you’re turning kinda red. Maybe you should have your blood pressure checked—”
Its words were choked off when I let loose the shard, shifted into dragon form, and wrapped my tail around the demon’s middle, hoisting it high.
“Fiat lives there!” The words tumbled out of the demon’s mouth. “He has a house there.”
“Where?”
“How am I supposed—”
I hung it upside down.
“Left Bank, Left Bank! Ack! All the blood is rushing to my head! I’m gonna black out!”
“Where exactly on the Left Bank?”
“Rue Delambre, near the Rosebud Bar, where Orson Welles used to hang out. Can you let me down now? I’m seeing spots.”
“Which arrondissement?”
“Fourteen! Everything is going black. . . .”
I shifted out of dragon form, which meant I had no tail to hold Jim. The demon fell a few feet to the marble floor with a loud whump.
It lifted its head up and glared at me. “You could have put me down first!”
I smiled and dusted it off as it got to its feet. “And you could have answered my question five minutes ago. So Kostya was visiting Fiat, hmm?”
“Not necessarily.” Jim sat and licked a few spots of fur that had been rumpled. “I just said Fiat had a house there.”
“You think Bastian has taken it over?”
It shrugged. “Dunno. I think I bit my tongue when you dropped me. Is it bleeding?” It stuck its tongue out at me.
“No,” I said, still trying to figure out why Kostya would want to keep a visit to Fiat secret. “I wonder if it has anything to do with the sárkány tomorrow?”
“You got me, sister,” Jim said.
“Stop calling me that. I am not your sister.” I glanced at the clock.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were miffed about something,” Jim said, its head tipped to the side as it watched me. “You’ve got that pissy look that Aisling gets sometimes, and fabulous as I am, I know it can’t have anything to do with me. What’s up?”
“Gabriel,” I said absently. The demon started to leer, but I quelled it with a slight twitch of my fingers toward my knife. “And you can just refrain from making the obscene comment I know you were about to make. I was referring to the fact that Gabriel is uppermost on my mind at the moment. He should have called by now.”
“You jealous?” Jim asked, still watching me closely. “You think he’s gettin’ it on with some other dragon? You think he and Tipene are out cruisin’ for babes while you’re stuck here learning how to make an attractive and nutritional meat loaf out of a bit of hamburger and a couple of dragon shards?”
“Of course I’m not jealous,” I said quickly, hoping the demon would take warning from my frown. “I trust Gabriel implicitly.”
The corner of Jim’s furry mouth twitched upward.
“There is nothing to be jealous of,” I insisted. “He trusts me just as I trust him. There’s no way he would go out cruising for anyone other than Fiat. And no, I don’t mean he’s bisexual.”
Jim, who had been about to comment, snapped its teeth shut with a grumble.
“Gabriel is an honorable man,” I pointed out. “He would never betray me in that fashion.”
“He probably can’t help it. Babe magnets like him usually have to beat the chicks off them with big sticks. I know—I’ve seen it with Drake. Aisling is always scorching the hair of some woman or other who goggles a bit too much at Drake.”
“Oh, stop it. Gabriel is handsome, but women don’t fling themselves at him. And I am not Aisling.”
It shrugged. “Denial is a river in Egypt.”
“And just what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, my fingers twitching slightly.
Jim whistled a tuneless little whistle for a few seconds. “Just that I’ve seen the way mortal women look at him—Gabe’s definitely a babe magnet. If he was my dragon, I’d sure as shooting never let him go off on his own where he could be swarmed by great big herds of lust-crazed women.”
“Great big herds of women,” I snorted, seeing through the demon’s feeble attempts to rile me. That is, I saw through them until the dragon shard reminded me of just how handsome Gabriel was. No, handsome wasn’t the word—his mercurial eyes set against the warm, latte-colored skin were enough to make my breath catch in my throat. Add in dimples that could melt knees at fifty paces, an infectious laugh, and a body that positively screamed controlled power and grace. But even that wasn’t what bound me to him—it was his essence, his sense of self, that indescribable dragon being that lit up his gorgeous body, and ensnared my heart. If it could do that to me, what chance did mortal women have against it?
“Fallen angel, I know. You weren’t born to Abaddon, and thus, you are the weakest of all the demonic beings.”
“We prefer ‘benign’ rather than ‘weak,’ ” it said with a sniff.
“Sorry, benign. All right, then, since you want to stick to the rules that say a demon can’t offer information unless directly asked, let’s play a game of twenty questions.”
It waggled its eyebrows. “How about the strip version? If you ask the wrong question, you have to take off a piece of clothing.”
My knife slid out of the ankle holster with the faintest of honed-steel whispers.
“Regular version is fine with me,” it said quickly, backing away.
I smiled and tucked the knife away. “Let’s start with, what dragons live in Paris?”
“You’re kidding, right? ’Cause there has to be at least a hundred of them.”
“All right, let’s narrow it down.” I thought a moment. “What dragons do you know who live in Paris?”
“Who do I know personally?” it asked, scrunching up its face.
“Who you know who have a home in Paris.”
“Well, there’s Drake.”
“Other than Drake.”
Jim looked thoughtful. “Green dragons or other septs?”
“Any dragons.”
“Full-blooded dragons, or halvesies, too?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, gripping my patience. “Any dragon.”
“That’s a lot of dragons,” it pointed out.
“All right. Let’s go with dragons who Kostya would know.”
“Hmm.” Jim looked thoughtful. “Living or dead?”
“Jim!” I growled, the dragon shard begging to take control.
“I’m just trying to pinpoint what it is you want to know,” it said with an injured sniff.
I took several deep breaths. “I want to know what dragons live in Paris who Kostya might know. Living dragons, of any sept, any heritage, who are not Drake.”
“You know, you’re turning kinda red. Maybe you should have your blood pressure checked—”
Its words were choked off when I let loose the shard, shifted into dragon form, and wrapped my tail around the demon’s middle, hoisting it high.
“Fiat lives there!” The words tumbled out of the demon’s mouth. “He has a house there.”
“Where?”
“How am I supposed—”
I hung it upside down.
“Left Bank, Left Bank! Ack! All the blood is rushing to my head! I’m gonna black out!”
“Where exactly on the Left Bank?”
“Rue Delambre, near the Rosebud Bar, where Orson Welles used to hang out. Can you let me down now? I’m seeing spots.”
“Which arrondissement?”
“Fourteen! Everything is going black. . . .”
I shifted out of dragon form, which meant I had no tail to hold Jim. The demon fell a few feet to the marble floor with a loud whump.
It lifted its head up and glared at me. “You could have put me down first!”
I smiled and dusted it off as it got to its feet. “And you could have answered my question five minutes ago. So Kostya was visiting Fiat, hmm?”
“Not necessarily.” Jim sat and licked a few spots of fur that had been rumpled. “I just said Fiat had a house there.”
“You think Bastian has taken it over?”
It shrugged. “Dunno. I think I bit my tongue when you dropped me. Is it bleeding?” It stuck its tongue out at me.
“No,” I said, still trying to figure out why Kostya would want to keep a visit to Fiat secret. “I wonder if it has anything to do with the sárkány tomorrow?”
“You got me, sister,” Jim said.
“Stop calling me that. I am not your sister.” I glanced at the clock.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were miffed about something,” Jim said, its head tipped to the side as it watched me. “You’ve got that pissy look that Aisling gets sometimes, and fabulous as I am, I know it can’t have anything to do with me. What’s up?”
“Gabriel,” I said absently. The demon started to leer, but I quelled it with a slight twitch of my fingers toward my knife. “And you can just refrain from making the obscene comment I know you were about to make. I was referring to the fact that Gabriel is uppermost on my mind at the moment. He should have called by now.”
“You jealous?” Jim asked, still watching me closely. “You think he’s gettin’ it on with some other dragon? You think he and Tipene are out cruisin’ for babes while you’re stuck here learning how to make an attractive and nutritional meat loaf out of a bit of hamburger and a couple of dragon shards?”
“Of course I’m not jealous,” I said quickly, hoping the demon would take warning from my frown. “I trust Gabriel implicitly.”
The corner of Jim’s furry mouth twitched upward.
“There is nothing to be jealous of,” I insisted. “He trusts me just as I trust him. There’s no way he would go out cruising for anyone other than Fiat. And no, I don’t mean he’s bisexual.”
Jim, who had been about to comment, snapped its teeth shut with a grumble.
“Gabriel is an honorable man,” I pointed out. “He would never betray me in that fashion.”
“He probably can’t help it. Babe magnets like him usually have to beat the chicks off them with big sticks. I know—I’ve seen it with Drake. Aisling is always scorching the hair of some woman or other who goggles a bit too much at Drake.”
“Oh, stop it. Gabriel is handsome, but women don’t fling themselves at him. And I am not Aisling.”
It shrugged. “Denial is a river in Egypt.”
“And just what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, my fingers twitching slightly.
Jim whistled a tuneless little whistle for a few seconds. “Just that I’ve seen the way mortal women look at him—Gabe’s definitely a babe magnet. If he was my dragon, I’d sure as shooting never let him go off on his own where he could be swarmed by great big herds of lust-crazed women.”
“Great big herds of women,” I snorted, seeing through the demon’s feeble attempts to rile me. That is, I saw through them until the dragon shard reminded me of just how handsome Gabriel was. No, handsome wasn’t the word—his mercurial eyes set against the warm, latte-colored skin were enough to make my breath catch in my throat. Add in dimples that could melt knees at fifty paces, an infectious laugh, and a body that positively screamed controlled power and grace. But even that wasn’t what bound me to him—it was his essence, his sense of self, that indescribable dragon being that lit up his gorgeous body, and ensnared my heart. If it could do that to me, what chance did mortal women have against it?
