“I am here, little bird,” was his answer, his voice distant. I couldn’t see him any more than he could see me, but just hearing his voice gave me comfort in a comfortless place. “Is it done?”

“Yes. Tell Aisling that Chuan Ren signed the treaty.”

“Has she agreed to honor Jian’s promise?” his voice asked, echoes of it rolling around me.

“She has.”

There was silence for a moment. “I have told Drake. Aisling will begin the recall immediately. May . . .”

His voice stopped, and I was aware of a sense of something troubling him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is Chuan Ren there with you?”

I looked behind me. The cell was represented in the shadow world by sooty archways that led into inky darkness. The ground was covered with glittering dragon scales. In the middle a silhouette stood—Chuan Ren.

“I see her, yes.”

“There in the shadow world?”

“No, in the cell.”

Gabriel was silent for the count of twenty. “Then who is in there with you?”

“No one. It’s just you and me.”

The sense of unease in his voice grew. “May, there is someone else here. I can feel the presence of another dragon. Come back to me now, little bird.”

I looked around, but there was no sign of anyone else visible. “I can’t. I have to go back and get Jim first.”

“Come back now, May,” Gabriel insisted, louder and more strident.

The worry in his voice sent a little skitter of fear down my back. There was only one other dragon I knew of who could be in the shadow world. “I promised Jim I wouldn’t leave without it.”

Gabriel swore softly to himself, frustrated at being limited to an insubstantial presence in this world. “Get out. Get out of the shadow world. It is not safe for you here.”

I thought of the wrath demon standing outside, in the real world. “I don’t think it’s terribly safe for me out there, either.”

“Much as it distresses me to speak the words, you are Magoth’s consort. Bael cannot harm you without violating the laws he enforces. I can rescue you from him, May, but I cannot save you from whoever is stalking the shadow world.”

He had a point, but I didn’t particularly like it.

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-four

Gabriel was adamant about me leaving the (relative) safety of the shadow world. “I will remain here in an attempt to locate the dragon. If Bael finds you, demand that he contact me for a ransom.”

“Gabriel—”

“Please, little bird. Do as I ask.”

When he put it like that, I couldn’t come up with a good reason for refusing his request, so with reluctance, I left the shadow world . . . but not until I’d slipped as far away from the wrath demon at the door as I could manage.