Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

where it lay smashed on the tile floor. “Konstantin Fekete!” I bellowed, marching over to him.
    “Uh-oh, someone’s in trouble with Mom,” Jim said. “Again, since the last time you did something to piss her off, she had exactly that same look on her face.”
    Kostya backed up a couple of steps before he obviously remembered he was a wyvern. “My apologies, Ysolde, but it is only a small vase.”
    “One that I particularly liked!”
    “I thought you said it looked like something a donkey pooped,” Brom said from the safety of the doorway to the small, damp sitting room.
    “That is beside the point.” I took a deep breath and couldn’t keep from adding, “I really don’t think a challenge is suitable for you to witness. If you’re through mucking about in your lab, you can go wash your hands and face. Dinner will be ready shortly.”
    “Boy, I didn’t think it was possible, but she out-bosses even you,” Jim told Aisling.
    “Quiet, demon, or I’ll dump you on her for a week and see if she can’t arrange for an attitude adjustment.”
    Jim’s eyes grew large as it backed up a few steps, but it kept silent.
    “Aww, Sullivan. I want to watch the challenge. Nico says it’s an important part of dragon stuff, and I should know about it even if I won’t ever be a wyvern.”
    I looked around the hall. Everyone was there, Brom (with Nico standing protectively behind him) next to Savian, who leaned against the wall with a grin on his face. Beyond them, Pavel and Holland were at the head of the hallway that led back toward the kitchen. Behind Constantine, Cyrene sat on the stairs, texting someone while chewing gum with blithe unconcern for anything that was happening. My gaze settled on Baltic as he stood to the rear of Kostya, his arms crossed, and a bored expression on his adorable face. Despite that, I could tell he was aching for a chance at Constantine. “I don’t think seeing two men beat each other up is particularly vital to your well-being, even if one of those men is incorporeal some of the time.”
    “Please, Sullivan?” Brom came perilously close to a whine, which he knew annoyed me. I tipped my head in question to Baltic. He looked consideringly at Constantine for a few seconds, then nodded.
    “All right, you can stay, but if you have nightmares about shades bleeding all over the place-not that I knew shades could do that in the first place-then I don’t want to hear any complaints.”
    “My corporeal form is exactly the same as yours,” Constantine pointed out haughtily.
    Jim snickered again.
    Constantine set it on fire.
    Kostya apparently just noticed that his brother and Aisling were present. “What are you doing in Latvia?” he asked them.
    “Housewarming,” Aisling said after a moment’s pregnant silence. She waved a hand at the hall. “Ysolde invited us to see the new place.”
    Kostya snorted his disgust.
    “Will you stop setting Aisling’s demon on fire,” I told Constantine. “It’s just rude, and besides, this house hasn’t been fireproofed yet. Jim, are you all right?”
    Aisling had beaten out the fire by the time I was done speaking. “It’s fine, no thanks to Casper the Not-so-friendly Ghost over there.”
    Brom covered his mouth to stifle a giggle.
    “You know, the more I think about it, the more I feel the whole idea of a challenge is stupid.”
    Around me, five dragons simultaneously sucked in outraged breaths. “Stupid?” Kostya asked with equal amounts of disbelief and indignation.
    “Yes, it’s archaic and sexist, to boot. What if I were wyvern, and you challenged me to a physical fight? I wouldn’t stand a chance against a strong male.”
    “Which is why females should not be wyverns,” Constantine said.
    “Oh, you do not want to go there,” Aisling said at the same time I snapped, “Get over yourself, Constantine.”
    Cyrene looked up from her phone and inquired, “Would you like me to fill the room with water, Ysolde? I’ve found nothing brings reason to pigheaded dragons like the act of nearly drowning.”
    Kostya wanted to argue the statement, but I intervened. “No, I think we’ll forgo that, but Constantine won’t find himself invited to dinner if he keeps up that sort of crap.” I thought for a moment. “Do shades eat?”
    “Yes, we eat! We’re just like non-shades, other than we sometimes lose power and fade into the beyond until we regain enough energy to join the mortal world again.”
    “That’s fascinating, but