I hesitated a moment, unwilling to tell them about the blackmailer and amulet, but knowing the connection to Kostya might have some importance. As succinctly as possible, I told them about Cyrene’s blackmailer, and how he’d sent me to retrieve an amulet.

‘‘From Kostya?’’ Drake’s expression was thoughtful.

‘‘What amulet was it, did the blackmailer say?’’ Gabriel asked.

‘‘No. He didn’t tell me anything at all about it, not what it was, why he wanted it, or even how Kostya came to have it.’’ At the thought of the amulet, a question arose. ‘‘What will happen to my things the committee took when I was arrested?’’

He considered the question. ‘‘They’ll remain locked up with them, I suppose. It would be rather awkward to request them to be returned now.’’

‘‘Yes, but . . .’’ I bit my lip.

‘‘Did you have something of value?’’ Drake asked, his eyes glittering as he sniffed the air a couple of times.

‘‘Not really, although I will be in a world of hurt if I don’t get my passports back,’’ I said slowly. ‘‘I use them when I don’t wish to be recognized.’’

‘‘We will have another made for you,’’ Gabriel said.

Drake sniffed the air again, then suddenly lunged forward, his face pressed into my breasts. I squawked and threw myself backward at the same time Gabriel snarled something.

‘‘I meant no disrespect,’’ Drake said as Gabriel shoved him back into his seat. ‘‘Your mate has been wearing gold. Recently.’’

Both dragons turned thoughtful gazes upon me. ‘‘Gold?’’ Gabriel asked, the pupils of his eyes narrowing. ‘‘You have gold?’’

‘‘No, I don’t have gold,’’ I said, amused at both of their reactions. ‘‘I touched a few of Kostya’s things when I was going through his chest—he has gold.’’

‘‘What sort of gold?’’ Drake asked, an avid light in his eyes.

‘‘Was the amulet made of gold?’’ Gabriel asked at the same time.

‘‘I think so. I don’t know anything about the quality of gold, so I’m afraid I can’t give you an estimate of its purity. It looked like Kostya had a lot of things, and almost certainly the phylactery was in one of the locked chests. There were three chests in all, two bound and locked. I didn’t have time to look at them. I found the amulet at the bottom of the unlocked chest.’’

‘‘Unlocked,’’ Drake said, sitting back with a dismissive gesture. ‘‘He wouldn’t keep anything valuable in an unlocked chest. This amulet must not be worth much.’’

‘‘But it was gold,’’ Gabriel said. ‘‘What else did you find in the lair?’’

I couldn’t help but smile at him. ‘‘I knew dragons liked gold—I didn’t know it was a borderline obsession with you.’’

‘‘It’s not an obsession . . . well, a little one . . . but we do find gold incredibly . . .’’ He lifted my hand to his lips, his tongue painting my fingertips with fire.