‘‘I do not nag,’’ Drake interrupted, a thin trickle of smoke emerging from his nostril as he shot his wife a quelling look. ‘‘I am a dragon. We do not nag. We suggest.’’

‘‘As Drake has been suggesting quite heavily, in a repeated fashion that would be nagging in anyone else, that I share tasks with others, I am more than happy for May to take the lead here.’’

‘‘Me?’’ I asked, startled into sitting up straight. I’d been snuggled up against Gabriel, the two of us and Cyrene sharing a couch across from Aisling, who was curled up next to Drake. The two bodyguards leaned against the wall behind them, their faces wary as they alternated between watching Gabriel and Kostya.

The black dragon paced back and forth in front of the windows, reminding me of a caged panther I’d seen in a tired traveling circus many decades before.

‘‘Why me?’’ I asked.

‘‘Well . . . it really is your show. Gabriel’s and yours, that is, but since Gabriel looks like he could happily murder Kostya, you’re clearly the one to take the lead. Don’t worry, we’ll ride shotgun.’’

‘‘Yeah. Shotgun,’’ Jim said, narrowing its eyes at Kostya.

‘‘All right,’’ I said after a moment’s thought. ‘‘I think the first question that needs to be answered is, where are Maata and Tipene?’’

Kostya made a show of sighing. ‘‘I told you I do not know where they are. I have not taken them.’’

‘‘We only have your word that you didn’t,’’ I pointed out.

‘‘You have no proof otherwise,’’ he snapped back.

I thought about that a moment, then admitted, ‘‘He has a point.’’

‘‘He lies,’’ Gabriel said.

‘‘Unless we find some proof to the contrary, I don’t see that standing here arguing about it is going to get us any closer to finding your guards,’’ I said.

‘‘He must have taken them. No one else would,’’ Gabriel insisted.

‘‘I did nothing!’’ Kostya bellowed.

‘‘I think we will come back to that point,’’ I said after the echoes died down. ‘‘The next question is whether the man named Porter is in your employ.’’ I had a hard time figuring out why Kostya would hire me to steal something he already held, but I figured we needed to exclude as many possibilities as we could.

‘‘Who?’’ Kostya asked.

I looked at Gabriel. ‘‘Truth or lie, do you think?’’

Kostya made a wordless noise of displeasure that I would call his statement into question.

‘‘Truth, I’m afraid,’’ Gabriel said with reluctance.

‘‘I second that,’’ Aisling said. ‘‘I’m pretty good at telling when people are lying, and Kostya isn’t. Not that he usually does,’’ she added quickly at a sharp look from her brother-in-law.

‘‘I agree with the consensus,’’ I said. ‘‘The next question concerns the phylactery.’’

‘‘Why you deny taking it when I caught you in my lair, you mean?’’ Kostya growled.

‘‘No, that’s not the question,’’ I answered.