Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

past him toward a car that had just pulled up. “You can’t refuse. We’re talking about Violet. Even now, Maura is on her way to the aerie where Violet’s being held, so she can release her and bring her back home.”
    “What I can’t do is stop my granddaughter from consorting with dragons any more than I could stop her from involvement with the ouroboros tribe she insisted on joining, more’s the pity. I can, however, draw a line at what I will and will not countenance, and turning a blind eye to the true purpose of that insane necromancer is simply not acceptable. I will take care of the matter myself, without the assistance of you or any other dragons.”
    “You have really got a chip on your shoulder about us, don’t you?” I couldn’t stop from saying. “Does Violet really matter so little to you? Is your pride so overbearing that you really believe you can take Thala on by yourself and beat her?”
    “I have called up the local members of the watch,” he told me as he opened the car door. “We will deal with this dragon just as we’ve dealt with everything else-the right way.”
    “You are the most obnoxious mage I’ve ever met,” I said, wanting to set him alight with my dragon fire. “Even considering the stress you’re under.”
    “And you are the most objectionable dragon I’ve met. Next to your husky mate, that is.”
    “Objectionable!” Aisling said at the same time that I asked of Baltic, “If we all worked together, do you think we could bring Dr. Kostich to his knees?”
    “Dominatrix,” Magoth said, nodding. “I approve.”
    Dr. Kostich’s fingers twitched as he glared at me, but when Baltic moved protectively in front of me, he simply raised an eyebrow at us.
    “I know I could,” Aisling said softly.
    Dr. Kostich’s gaze flickered her way, making her take a step backward, and causing Drake to move in front of her in the same gesture of warning as Baltic had just made.
    “Your threats do nothing but waste my time,” Dr. Kostich said with a grim note of finality. He climbed into the car without another look back at us.
    “Now what?” Aisling asked as the car pulled away and disappeared into the night.
    “Now we find the sepulcher,” Savian said, grinning as he cracked his knuckles.
    “I thought you knew where it was,” Aisling said.
    “Er ... not really. Savian’s been trying to find it but hasn’t had much luck. He says it could be one of four places, and he just didn’t have time to investigate the possibilities before this business with Violet happened. That’s about to change, though, right, Savian?”
    “Yes. I’ll take the first car,” he said, heading for that vehicle.
    “Call when you know where he’s going,” I yelled after him.
    He waggled his hand as he got into the car.
    “But how-” Aisling started to say. Drake murmured something in her ear. “He can? Really? I thought May was the one who could track people.”
    “I can,” May said, and with a secretive smile, disappeared from sight, her voice distant and muffled as she said, “I’ll follow Dr. Kostich’s traces in the shadow world while Savian follows him here. One way or another, we’ll find him. Gabriel?”
    “Would someone mind if my body accompanied them in their car?” Gabriel asked. “I can walk in the shadow world with May, but only in incorporeal form.”
    “Been there, done that-hate it when it happens during a challenge,” Constantine’s voice said, his body having faded from view several minutes before. “I shall ride with Ysolde.”
    “Like hell, you will,” Baltic grumbled as he pushed me toward the first car. “You can ride with Gabriel.”
    “I still don’t understand how we expect to save Maura’s mom and take the sword if Dr. Kostich gets to the sepulcher first,” Aisling said as Drake opened a door to his car so Gabriel could get in and, assumedly, take his consciousness off to the beyond, that alternate version of reality mages and the fey inhabited.
    “We won’t be able to take the sword from him without a fight,” I agreed as Baltic held a swift consultation with Pavel. “That’s why we’re going to try to get there first. Once Savian knows which of the four locations Dr. Kostich is headed, we’ll head straight there.”
    “But Dr. Kostich,” Aisling said as Drake tried to push her into their car.
    I smiled. “Savian will see to it that he’s delayed. He’s a very good tracker, Aisling. And he’s dating Dr. Kostich’s