‘‘Three nights ago I was in Greece,’’ I said thoughtfully.

‘‘You stole the phylactery then!’’ he insisted. ‘‘Then you returned to steal more of my treasures. I found the chest you’d broken into days earlier nearly empty after you leaped out of the window,’’ he snapped, making short, jerky little motions with his hands as he paced back and forth in front of the window. ‘‘You stole many things from me that night, but it’s the phylactery that matters the most. I want it returned!’’

‘‘If May is speaking the truth—and I do not doubt for a moment she is—then I begin to see the point of her question,’’ Drake said. ‘‘Kostya claims the phylactery was stolen three days ago. You are certain of that, brother?’’

Kostya snapped a ‘‘yes’’ at Drake.

Aisling breathed a little ‘‘ahhh’’ of enlightenment. ‘‘So, if the phylactery was stolen when we were all in Greece, then someone else must have taken it.’’

‘‘And if May didn’t disengage the alarm and unlock the chest, and likewise Kostya didn’t . . .’’ Cyrene said, frowning in puzzlement.

‘‘Then who did?’’ I asked, looking around the room. ‘‘And is the person who burgled Kostya the night I paid his lair a visit the same one who took the phylactery? Was it Porter? If it was him, why did he blackmail me? How did the phylactery get back into an unlocked chest? Why was it returned? And most importantly, is the person who did all that also responsible for the disappearance of Gabriel’s guards?’’

‘‘I don’t believe these lies,’’ Kostya said, shooting me an evil look. ‘‘She is the thief Mei Ling. She admits to taking my phylactery. She has concocted this smoke-screen to hide her actions.’’

‘‘If May had given me the phylactery, do you think I’d be sitting here now tolerating your abuse of her?’’ Gabriel asked, his muscles tensing up again.

Kostya was about to answer, but stopped, clearly baffled.

‘‘Despite my better judgment, I am willing to concede that I was wrong about Kostya,’’ Gabriel continued. ‘‘At least so far as him having the phylactery was concerned, although I reserve judgment about Maata and Tipene. It would seem that there is another player to this drama, one who has not yet unveiled himself. Someone who first removed the phylactery from Kostya’s lair, then returned it for some unknown reason. Someone who has employed the thief taker Porter, although whether he ordered Porter to retrieve the phylactery is not known. It could be Porter was acting on his own. Whoever is behind it, he had no difficulty in disabling either Kostya’s alarms or the protections he bound into the chest containing the phylactery. In other words, someone who appears to be manipulating us all without our knowing it.’’

‘‘Who?’’ Cyrene asked.

The dragons all exchanged glances.

‘‘No,’’ Drake said, shaking his head. ‘‘What you suggest is impossible.’’