Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

I’ll be in the blue room, if she’s looking for me.”
    “Constantine?” I said, my eyes narrowing as I searched in vain for any sign of him.
    His form shimmered into view, a surprised expression on his face that swiftly changed to joy. “Ysolde! My beloved!”
    “I thought that was you. Spectral whips, Constantine?”
    He looked abashed for a moment before grinning. “You have no idea how stimulating they can be. But what are you doing here? Trying to spice up a boring sex life, eh?”
    “My sex life is anything but boring, not that it’s the slightest concern of yours,” I said with dignity.
    “Is that so?” He poked at the items in my basket, pulling out an object made of plastic, shaped like the letter C, with knobs on either end. “The Ultimate Man Button Massager. Man Button?”
    “I think that’s ... You know ... .” I waved vaguely toward my behind.
    “Prostate?” Constantine asked, his face screwing up in thought. “Really? I had no idea Baltic liked it up the-”
    “That’s not for Baltic,” I said quickly, snatching it back and burying it under the oral stimulator. “It’s for Pavel.”
    His eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. “You mean that you-”
    “No!” I took a deep breath, wondering why I was always called upon to explain the obvious. “Pavel had a variety of toys that were destroyed when Thala sang the dirge and exploded our house. I felt bad that he should lose them, so I am trying to replace them with things I think he might like. ‘He’ being Pavel, not Baltic. Baltic doesn’t like toys. At least, I don’t think ... ” I glanced at the male G-spot stimulator that poked out from beneath the vibrating pleasure wand. “No, he wouldn’t like it.”
    “The things you learn,” Constantine murmured before taking me by the arm and moving me out of the way of a couple strolling down the aisle. “My darling, when are you going to let me rescue you from that monster?”
    “He is not a monster, and we’ve been over this before. I love him. I do not love you. End of story.”
    “You’ve been brainwashed, that’s what it is. You’ve been taught to believe that he’s what you want, and you don’t know any better. If you would just place yourself in my hands-”
    “Give it a rest, Constantine,” I said, suddenly tired from all the stress and strain that had been my constant companion for the last twelve days.
    Constantine looked about to argue, but stopped, squinting at me, instead. “You look exhausted. What has that monster done to make you look that way?”
    “He left me.” Constantine’s eyes lit. I hurriedly continued. “Baltic was gone for almost two weeks trying to track down his lieutenant. Former lieutenant.”
    “Former ... ah, the archimage’s daughter? The necromancer who raised him?” Constantine looked puzzled. “She was with you last month in Dauva. Why is he pursuing her now?”
    “It’s a long story,” I said, rubbing my neck.
    He watched the movement avidly. “Are you in pain?”
    “Not really. The muscles in my neck and shoulders are a bit tight, is all, and they’re giving me a headache.”
    “Ah. Here. Try this.”
    He extricated something from a package tucked into his basket.
    “It’s a hummingbird. How cute. Although that’s an awfully long proboscis, isn’t it?”
    “Allow me,” he said, switching it on so that the entire hummingbird vibrated with a dull throbbing hum.
    “Thanks.”
    “Continue. You were telling me about the necromancer.”
    I absently rubbed the hummingbird massager on a particularly tight tendon on the back of my neck. “There’s not a whole lot to tell. Thala betrayed Baltic, tried to kill us-that’s why we were in Gabriel’s house that day you stormed in and tried to take the sept from him-and is up to who knows what with her tribe of ouroboros dragons. And lucky me, I get to try to persuade a very unpersuadable Dr. Kostich to change his mind and help us with her.”
    “I do not know this Kostich,” he said, repeating the name a few times.
    “He’s the head of the Otherworld, and a very powerful archimage. He’s the only one who can handle such a dangerous necromancer.”
    “Pfft,” Constantine said with a dismissive gesture. “Necromancers are nothing. They draw their power from dark sources.”
    I moved the hummingbird to another tight spot on my neck, wondering if the headache that had been threatening for the last hour was going to blossom into a full-blown migraine or not.