Baltic shifted as well, but his form, slightly smaller and less bulky, was ebony colored, with curving translucent white claws that flashed in the air as he lunged at Constantine.
Teodore, one of Constantine’s guards, tried to restrain me, but I shook him off and stalked forward to where the two dragons were rolling around on the ground, blood arcing in the air as one of them struck true.
“Stop it!” I yelled, my hands fisted in impotence. I wanted to strike both of them back into their senses. “I will not have th—” Constantine’s tail lashed out as he threw himself forward onto Baltic, who just barely rolled out of the way in time. I screamed as I was knocked backwards several yards. Instantly Constantine was there, in human form, leaning over me and cradling my head. “Ysolde! My dove, my cherished one — have I harmed you?” Baltic shifted back into human form as well, jerking Constantine off me and onto his back, the glittering silver point of a sword digging into his neck.
“You have lost your mate, your sept,” Baltic said, panting, “and now your life.” “No!” I yelled, leaping up as he raised his sword overhead, clearly about to cleave Constantine’s head from his body. I threw myself forward over him, looking up at Baltic. “Do not kill him.” Baltic’s eyes narrowed on me. “You have a change of heart?” “No. I will be your mate. My life is bound to yours from this moment forward. But only if you spare Constantine.” His jaw worked, and for a moment, I thought he would refuse. But slowly he lowered his sword, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet. “By the grace of my mate, I will let you live,” he told Constantine. “But only because she desires it.” The sight of Constantine’s face haunted me as Baltic led me away.
Chapter Eight
“After it’s dehydrated, I take out the natron that is in the inside, and put cloth soaked in resin and more natron inside the body. Then I get to paint the whole thing with resin. That takes, like, three weeks to dry, so I want to get started right away. I think I have enough resin to do the whole fox.” “Whether or not you do is moot. I think you’ve spent enough time with your unnatural hobby. I’d like you to make yourself sociable today so May and Gabriel don’t think you’re a ghoulish little boy who is obsessed with dead things.” “Dead things are interesting,” he protested.
“Regardless, I think you can leave your experiments alone for one day and socialize instead. How much?” I paid off the taxi driver when he stopped in front of Gabriel’s house. A strange man was at the front door, about to ring the buzzer as Brom and I got out.
“Hullo,” the man said.
“Hello.” I gathered up the bags of shopping from the floor of the taxi, eyeing the man as I did so. He had a long face that I thought of as typically English — not too long, but sort of ruggedly handsome — with dark blond hair and bluish grey eyes.
He examined me just as obviously. “You wouldn’t happen to be Ysolde de Bouchier, would you?” I took a deep breath. “My name is Tully Sullivan.” “That was going to be my other guess,” he said, laughing. It was a nice laugh. He looked like a nice man, with a bit of a roguish twinkle to his eye, but still, nice.
“Your husband sent me,” he said, taking me completely by surprise. “Name’s Savian Bartholomew.” Nice? He was the devil incarnate!
“Gareth sent you?” Brom asked. “How come?” “You must be Brom. It seems he wants you and your mother kept safe from some very bad dragons until he can come and get you,” Savian said.
“Eek! Go away!” I said, shoving him toward the taxi.
“Eh?” he asked, looking confused as he clutched the side of the taxi in order to keep from being pushed inside.
“The gent want to go somewhere?” the taxi driver asked.
“Yes! He wants to go far, far away,” I said.
“I do not! Stop shoving me, or I will be forced to subdue you!” Savian said, struggling when I tried to force his head down so I could push him into the cab.
“Sullivan, I don’t think that man wants to go anywhere,” Brom commented from his location on the sidewalk.
“Yes, yes, what the lad said!” Savian squawked as I grabbed his ear and managed to get his head inside. “Help! I’m being kidnapped!” “Just the opposite, actually,” I grumbled, grunting as I gave a mighty heave that forced his shoulders in. “Just go already!” “Never! Why are you doing this?” he yelled, somewhat muffled since I blocked most of the door with my body in an attempt to get rid of him.
“Can’t you take a hint, you annoying man? Shoo! I don’t want you!” “But your husband—”
“Is a complete idiot! Now go away before I lose my temper and turn your eyebrows into warts!” “The lady is crazy,” I heard him tell the cabdriver in response to his inquiry about what was going on. “I think she fancies me.” “I’m a great and… urgh… powerful mage… unph!… and I will… dammit, let go of the door!… I will smite you with all sorts of unpleasant spells.” “Help!” Savian said to the taxi driver.
The man watched him impassively. “I would, mate, but I don’t like the sound of that smiting.” “She’s not a mage!” Savian said, yelping when, desperate to release his hold on the car door, I bit his arm. “Where’s your male empathy? Go pull her off me! I’d do it for you!” “Stop inciting innocent people to help you, or I’ll turn your testicles into turnips!” I yelled, head butting Savian’s back. “Now get the hell into the cab!” “I will die before I submit to your brutal ways!” “Argh!” I bellowed, and was just mentally thumbing through the list of spells I knew that might possibly help me, when the front door opened.
“I thought I heard voices — Ysolde! Who is that you’re trying to bend in half… agathos daimon! Savian? What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’ve come to work for Gabriel again. I thought that, after the last time, you swore you’d never take another job from a dragon.” “Er…” I paused, suddenly wary as May rushed out onto the sidewalk.
“Save me, May! This madwoman is trying to bend me into all sorts of unnatural positions! I think she’s already broken my liver and quite possibly one or both intestines,” Savian called from the cab.
“You big baby,” I said, releasing him as I gave May a feeble smile. “I barely laid a finger on him, honest.” “She didn’t even turn his testicles to turnips, like she said she might,” Brom offered helpfully. “I would have liked to have seen that.” I narrowed my eyes at him. He grinned back.
“Turnips?” May asked, looking from me to Savian as he unfolded himself from the car, clutching his sides.
“It was all just a little bit of fun,” I said, putting my arm around Savian. “Wasn’t it, old friend?” He whimpered and clutched his sides. “My liver! Don’t hurt my liver again!” “You know Savian, too?” May asked.
“Ow! My neck!”
“Too? You… uh… know him?” I countered, releasing the pincer hold I had on the back of his neck.
“May and I are old friends. She’s never tried to hurt me,” he said, shooting me a belligerent glare as he shuffled away from me and over to her.
“Oh. Uh…” I coughed and tried to think of an excuse to get the man alone for a few minutes. “Isn’t that a coincidence. We’ve known each other for… oh, forever.” “I’ve never seen her before in my life,” Savian told May. “Don’t leave me alone with her. She’s vicious. I think she was trying the Vulcan neck pinch on me.” “Hmm,” May said. “Why don’t we all go into the house?” I trailed behind them as they entered the house, thinking furiously.
“So what are you doing here?” May asked Savian as I closed the door behind me.