Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

mine?”
    “Second on the left. Bathroom is at the end of the hall.”
    “Thank you.” She sniffed and looked at Kostya. “Since you are being silly about this whole thing, and not letting me stay with you, as a mate should, then I will remain here with Ysolde. When you get over your little snit, you can find me here.”
    Kostya, who had been in the process of saying several snarky things to Baltic in Zilant, paused berating him to give Cyrene a dirty look. “That day will never come.”
    “We’ll see.” She sniffed again and moved toward the stairs.
    Kostya ignored her, saying to Baltic, “You overestimate your prowess, Baltic. As for your accusations, I have never failed a challenge. About Dauva-”
    “I do not care about Dauva-I care about the challenge,” Constantine interrupted.
    “Dauva will be rebuilt. I never overestimate anything, and you are tiring Ysolde. Leave, and take that with you.” Baltic gestured toward Constantine.
    “Your boorish manners do not offend me; I have long been used to them. And I cannot leave just yet. First, we must have the challenge. Following the reclamation of my sept, I have business with Ysolde,” Constantine answered, turning his charming smile upon me. “You will want privacy for what I have to tell you, my lovely one.”
    By dint of extreme control, I managed to keep from glancing at Kostya. “Oh. Um ... yes. I’m sure we needn’t bore everyone else with such a trivial matter. There’s a small sitting room to the left. Why don’t we have our chat there now, and you can deal with the challenge later.”
    “Ysolde-” Baltic said warningly.
    I kissed his chin. “It’s all right; it’s just that little project I discussed with you earlier. There’s no need for your feathers to be ruffled.”
    “I am a dragon, not a bird. I have scales.” His phone buzzed at that moment. He glanced at it, frowned even more, then heaved a sigh. “I am wanted at Dauva. The builders need guidance. I will trust that you will not allow that murderous whoreson spirit to impose upon your gentle nature, mate, but I will also remind you that I do not like having him in our lives, and just as soon as you have used him, he must leave and not return.”
    “You can’t leave yet. We haven’t conducted the challenge, and I’m sure my godson will need you, given how ineffectual he appears,” Constantine said, swearing when he started to fade. “God’s toes, now you’ve made me use up almost all of my energy. Ysolde, most beloved of all dragons, let us go sequester ourselves away from this rabble, and we will conduct the challenge later, as you suggest.”
    “Wait a minute,” Kostya said, looking as if he wanted to throw a tantrum as Baltic started for the front door, Cyrene thumped her way up the stairs with a suitcase, and Constantine and I headed for the small, damp room off the main hall. “You can’t all just leave. I’m here to protest Baltic’s rebuilding on my land.”
    I paused at the door to the sitting room. “You just asked him to be your second. I hardly think it’s nice to ask a favor from him, and then make a fuss about his building on land that you don’t even own.”
    “The black dragons-” he started to say.
    “Have nothing to do with us,” Baltic said with finality. “Dauva was my home before I was wyvern, and it will be so again. If you wish to lead that pathetic group of stragglers you call a sept, then do so, but your choice of location does not impact us in any way.”
    Kostya clearly wanted to argue the point, but his grudging admittance of the truth-and the fact that Baltic walked out of the house-stymied that desire.
    “I still say Dauva should be left in the past, where it belongs,” he grumbled before turning on his heel and walking swiftly to the door.
    “Well, it’s not. And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk again about Dragonwood,” I yelled after him. His shoulder twitched as he left, but he didn’t respond. The rat.
    My hand was on the doorknob to the sitting room when my phone bellowed out my name. I glanced at the caller, answering it with a cheery, “Hello, Aisling.”
    “Hi, Ysolde. Has Kostya left yet?”
    “Er ... yes, he just left. How did you know he was here?”
    “We’re keeping tabs on him. She says he’s gone, sweetie, so we can keep driving.”
    Curiosity got the better of me. “Where are you driving to?”
    “To see you, of course. But we didn’t want Kostya to know we’re in the area,