I went to the door and cast him a look fraught with dignity. ‘‘We are not having this conversation. And if you even think of following me, I will . . . I will . . . well, I’m not quite sure what I will do, but you can rest assured that it will not be pleasant. My bag is packed, by the way.’’

He didn’t say anything to that, but I felt his gaze on me as I headed down the hallway to knock on Aisling’s door.

I paused for a moment before Cyrene’s door, giving a quick tap before opening it. The room was empty. ‘‘Have you seen Cyrene?’’ I asked Pál as he hurried past me bearing two large suitcases.

‘‘A few minutes ago, yes. She said she had something to do, and left.’’

‘‘She left? What on earth . . . ?’’ I pulled out my cell phone and punched in her number.

Drake left his room bearing another suitcase. Through the open door I could see Aisling gathering up a few books to tuck into a book bag.

Jim wandered out. ‘‘Funny time to call someone.’’

‘‘I’m trying to get hold of Cy.’’ I waited a few seconds before hanging up, a cold, clammy hand gripping my stomach. ‘‘Voice mail. She’s not answering. I have a horrible feeling I know where she is.’’

‘‘Where who is?’’ Aisling asked as she emerged from the room.

‘‘Cyrene. I think she went to tail Kostya. Silly, stupid . . . He won’t hurt her if he sees her, will he?’’ I asked Drake as he came upstairs again.

He paused to consider the question. ‘‘He has no cause to. The only reason he held a knife to her before was because he thought she was you, and he will not make that mistake again.’’

I relaxed slightly. ‘‘I don’t know why I’m worrying— she’s never followed anyone before. I’m sure Kostya will realize immediately that she’s shadowing him, and won’t waste any time shaking her. I just hope she has enough sense to go home rather than to try to follow us to Paris.’’

‘‘I have a friend in town who I’ll call to check on her if it’ll ease your mind,’’ Aisling said, turning back to her room. ‘‘Thanks, sweetie, that’s everything, I think. I’ll be down in just a minute.’’

Drake nodded and went downstairs. I followed Aisling into her bedroom, standing uneasily as she called a number and left a message.

‘‘Nora’s out right now, but I’ll try her again in a bit, all right?’’

‘‘Thank you. It’ll make me feel better knowing someone is keeping an eye out for Cy. Er . . .’’ I bit my lower lip. ‘‘Do you have a minute? I wanted to talk to you really quickly, without being overheard.’’

She looked mildly surprised but sat down on the end of the bed and nodded toward a chair. ‘‘Of course.’’