Fire Me Up (8 page)

I hoped.

"Ah. I see." We reached the edge of the hotel's property, the
side garden that was set aside for dogs' use. Beyond a low bank of
rhododendrons, Jim sat chatting to the Swedish Moa. I was grateful the demon
hadn't gone off on its own, since I had no idea how I was supposed to retrieve
it from the limbo it would find itself in if one of the GODTAM officials found
it alone. "I knew you were a Guardian, of course, but I had forgotten about the
conference. Yes, you are here for it."

"Yup." I stopped and gave Gabriel what I hoped was a
friendly—but not too friendly—smile. "That's why I'm here. Why are you here, if
you don't mind my asking? I kind of gathered from Drake that you wyverns don't
get along too well, so I'm a bit surprised to see you staying in the same hotel
he is at."

The faint smile that lingered on Gabriel's lips faded as he
gave me a quizzical look. "I am here for the summit."

"
The summit?" As far as I knew, dragons had nothing to do
with the GODTAM conference. I'd checked into that before I registered, wanting
to avoid the very situation in which I now found myself—in close proximity to
Drake. "What summit is that?"

He was silent for a moment before finally saying, "I am
surprised Drake has not mentioned it to you. The wyverns of all four septs are
meeting here for a peace summit. Drake arranged it. We are attempting to reach
an accord so that the conflicts between the septs will cease. Drake and I are
not the only two wyverns here—Fiat Blu and Lung Tik Chuan Ren are also here."

"I know Fiat," I said slowly, my glance sliding over to the
hotel. A vague suspicion was forming in the back of my beleaguered brain. "But I
don't know the fourth wyvern. He must be with the group of Asian people Drake
met earlier."

"He? No. Chuan Ren is a woman." Gabriel flicked an amused
glance my way. "A lovely woman—lovely but very deadly. She is the wyvern of the
red dragons. You have heard of them, of course."

I shook my head, pieces of the puzzle falling into place, a
spike of happiness overlaying the questions surrounding Drake's appearance. I
squelched the happy thought that the only reason he was escorting the Chinese
woman was because she was a fellow wyvern and reminded myself that it was
nothing to me what the dragons did.

"He has not spoken to you of her?" Gabriel made a half shrug.
"Then I will leave it to him to detail her history."

"I didn't know things were really dicey between you guys," I
said, one eye on Jim. A couple of people with small dogs were at the near end of
the garden, but no one was close enough to hear my conversation with Gabriel. "I
hope the accord goes well. Drake isn't really forthcoming with a lot of
information, but to be honest, I haven't asked him about much. And as for me
being his mate—well, he hasn't quite accepted the fact that I turned down the
position."

"Excellent," he said, clapping his hands together in a
gesture of pleasure. "Then it will be that much easier to challenge him."

I shook my head. "Not if you mean to challenge him for me. I
understand that you said there's some sort of Latin rule that says you can claim
another wyvern's mate, but this girl isn't into dragon-swapping. So thanks but
no thanks, if you were thinking along those lines, not that I'm saying you were,
because we just met, but if you were, I'm not. So don't. OK?"

He laughed again, and I smiled in response. I had met only
one other wyvern, but Gabriel felt different to me. He didn't feel powerful like
Drake and Fiat did. His presence was warm, but not overwhelming like Drake's or
coolly menacing like Fiat's. "You are charming. I look forward to seeing you at
the summit."

He bowed again and was off down the lawn before I could
protest that he wouldn't be seeing me again, at least not at any dragon
function. Moa stood as I strolled up to fern, greeting her politely. The last
thing I needed was to book like a raving idiot to a potential mentor.

"Your demon was telling me that you are a wyvern's mate as
well as a Guardian," she answered in response to my comment about the lovely
evening. She looked me over again, a slight frown between her brows. "Guardian
apprenticeship is long and detailed. It is not something to be done in the spare
time. A dragon's mate might have the ability to focus on her training, but a
wyvern's mate has many more demands on her time."

I glared at Jim for a moment before turning my attention to
Moa. "My demon is a bit confused. Drake is confused. In fact, a lot of people
are confused, including, I regret to say, me at times. But I can assure you that
I will throw myself wholeheartedly into my Guardian training, and the dragons
will not be an issue."

"Really?" She tipped her head to the side, the long blond
hair sliding like a curtain of silver. "But the dragons are having their summit
here."

"That's just a coincidence—"

She interrupted me before I could finish. "It is being said
by all that the summit was moved to this hotel from one in Paris because you,
the mate of the green dragon wyvrn, wished to attend the conference. Everyone
knows the importance of the role of a wyvern's mate in negotiation, so for you
to deny such gives me grave concern about your fitness as an apprentice." She
shook her head, saying before she drifted off toward the hotel, "I must give
long thought to your candidacy."

"But—but—" I called out after her, sputtering to a stop when
it was evident my protests would serve no purpose. My fingers curled into fists
as I glared at the innocent hotel. So Drake, who lived in Paris part of the
year, had the summit moved to the very hotel that was hosting the GODTAM
convention, did he? And he never once bothered to contact me or tell me that he
was going to show up here, obviously expecting that I'd fall victim to his sexy
self and do whatever he wanted without saying so much as boo in return? Ha! I
marched forward, my jaw set as indignation roiled righteously within me. "Jim? I
want you to go out and find me a big, long lance. I'm in the slaying mood, and I
know just who I'm going to Saint George."

"You know, that term has a sexual connotation"— I gave the
demon a look—"Right. Not important. Shutting up now."

I
hoisted my purse over my shoulder as I shoved open the door
to the hotel. I was armed and ready for battle. Now all I needed was for my foe
to show his head and allow me to lop it off with a few well-chosen words.

One hundred and thirteen.

"There's just nothing so amusing as a really ticked-off
Guardian wannabe in dragon-slaying mode when there're no dragons around to
oblige her."

I snarled something obscene to Jim as I turned and paced past
the demon for the one hundred and fourteenth time.

"You're going to wear a trench in the carpet. Why don't you
take a load off for a few minutes, and I'll pace for you?"

One hundred and fifteen.

"Man, I didn't know you could make that face. Do you know
that one of Amayon's higher demons looks just like that? Only without the flames
shooting out the ears."

"Ack!" I stopped pacing long enough to feel my ears, realized
Jim was exaggerating, shot it another glare that should have stripped every last
hair off its furry body, and resumed pacing. One hundred and sixteen.

"Just thought a little levity would help the long, long hours
pass until Drake comes back from his date with that Chinese babe."

A growl welled up within me, but I squelched it along with
the spurt of jealousy. I was not jealous of the red wyvern. I was vaguely,
mildly interested, that's all. "It wasn't a date. It was a dinner, a business
dinner. With a bunch of other people—Drake's men and the red dragons. You can't
date when everyone has bodyguards up to their armpits. One seventeen."

"You know, you should consider switching to decaf. All this
nervous energy can't be good for your—oh, boy."

I spun around, my heart leaping at the hope that Drake had
returned, but it was a blond vision of godliness rather than a brunette one that
swanked his way across the lobby of the Thermal Hotel Danu toward the small,
out-of-the-way corner where Jim sat and I paced.

Fiat Bin, so gorgeous he'd make a GQ cover model look as if
he'd been covered in hideous boils in comparison., paused on his way to the
elevator.

"What is it about the dragon septs that they all take their
colors so seriously?" I asked Jim, crossing my arms over my chest as Fiat waved
his two blue-suited bullyboys toward the elevator before making a beeline for
me. The man himself was dressed in a midnight blue shirt embroidered with an
opulent pattern of gold, open almost to his navel, and black linen pants that
probably cost more than my entire travel wardrobe. "Would it destroy the whole
social structure of the septs if Fiat wore something red and Drake stopped
wearing those beautiful Italian green raw-silk shirts?"

Jim lay down and put a big furry paw over its eyes. "Dragons
tend to be very literal, if you haven't noticed."

"I had," I said, then summoned up a polite smile for Fiat as
he stopped before me, making one of those bows all the dragon boys seemed to
know how to pull off without looking like a hammy actor. "Hi, Fiat. Fancy
meeting you here."

He took my hand in his, pressing a kiss to my knuckles, his
fingers oddly cool around mine. Jim had told me once that the blue dragons'
element was air, which left them feeling cooler to the touch than the other
dragons. "Aisling, it is my extreme pleasure to see you again. Might I hope you
have changed your mind about that rude Drake and have decided to join your
considerable talents with mine? You know I would welcome such a union."

Like the other wyverns, Fiat had a beautiful voice, his with
a mesmerizing Italian cadence. I remembered just in time that one of Fiat's
skills was in mind reading and quickly imagined myself in a thick-walled tower
with shutters clamped tightly shut. Fiat's smile turned a little brittle as I
closed him out of my mind. "Are you offering to fight Drake for me, Fiat? You
going to challenge him draco ex draco!"

He froze for a moment, then touched a cool finger to the mark
on my collarbone. "I do not seek a mate, Aisling. What I am offering requires
less commitment on your part, which, I believe, is something you find
attractive. Join with me, and I will see to it that all your desires are
fulfilled."

I gave him a wry smile. "You know, that would sound a whole
lot more impressive if your nose wasn't twitching like mad at the gold on my
dragon talisman. It's not me you want, Fiat—it's what I represent. So thanks,
but I'm going to pass on your generous offer."

His eyes, a dark blue, glittered at me as he tried to push
his way through my mental barriers. Menace, always an undertone of emotion
around Fiat, swept off him and over me like I was a marshmallow trying to stop a
steamroller. "You would be wise to think most strenuously about your decision to
ally yourself with Drake, cam. I have much power. In the days to come I will
grow stronger, and I would hate for you to find yourself on the wrong side of
that which cannot be avoided."

"Hyperbole and mystic aggrandizement, you mean?"

His eyes narrowed slightly as I smiled a perky smile at him.
"Your levity in moments of seriousness is known to me. I accept that you do not
believe that of which I have spoken. Yet. I can only hope that you accept the
truth in time, lest you, too, be destroyed in the coming battle."

"I thought you guys were here to discuss a peace accord," I
said, a little shiver running down my back at the darkness within his eyes.

"Peace is a foolish hope held by your mate. He is blind to
the truth, but he, too, will learn how dangerous it is to underestimate me. I
wish you a pleasant evening, Aisling .. . and hope it will not be the last of
its kind."

I rubbed my arms as Fiat moved off to rejoin his men, more
disturbed by his vague threats and innuendos than I wanted to admit. "I'm going
to have to tell Drake what he said about a battle."

"Drake?" Jim asked, sitting up to give my hand a reassuring
snuffle. I patted the demon's head. "The same Drake that only a few minutes ago
you were muttering about decapitating and disemboweling? That Drake?"

"Just because I want to kill him doesn't mean I want to see
him destroyed."

Jim just looked at me.

"Oh, right, yes, I know." I answered the look with a wave of
my hand "That doesn't make any sense. Stop picking on me. I'm tired, and I'm
going to bed. That last double-shot latte didn't do me any good"

The lobby was empty as we made OUT way up to the room on the
twelfth floor. In fact, we didn't see anyone but a couple of maids skittering
around bringing extra pillows and towels and such. I knew from speaking with the
people I'd met at dinner that the bar in the basement of the hotel was the place
to go to meet and greet, but the jet lag had caught up with me, and even though
it was early evening, I decided to hunt Guardian mentors tomorrow, when I wasn't
babbling like an idiot and clearly out of control of my emotions.

"If Drake thinks he's going to come to me in a dream tonight,
he's insane," I remarked to Jim as I crawled into the double bed. "I'm wearing
the dragon talisman. That ought to keep him at bay."