"Just two, actually," I said, blushing at the compliment, and thinking to myself of the many and varied ways I was going to thank him that night.
"What's the first?" he asked.
"It concerns them," I said, nodding toward where Bael was sitting still bound and gagged. Next to him, Osiris, Maat, and two of her men were listening while Ken pled for sanctuary. "What will happen to them?"
"That is up to Osiris, I believe," Rowan said.
Maat must have heard him, for she glanced over and said with a little smile, "Do not fear that this one will escape," she said, gesturing with the feather toward Bael. "Once bound to Duat, he cannot leave without extraordinary circumstances happening."
"And I shall make sure that such a circumstance does not occur," Osiris said.
Ken plucked at his sleeve and made murmuring noises.
"Ah, yes, a demon, are you?"
"Please, my lord, do not force me to leave. As an unbound demon, I will be preyed upon by any other demon lord who is of that mind, and I will be forced into another life of slavery and torment, and not be allowed to wear the pretty clothes that I did as Ken. If I were to stay here, I could make myself of great service to you. I am very good with decorations and have a keen eye for colors, and I can whip up the most astounding costumes out of nothing."
"He can," I agreed, feeling badly for the poor little guy. He truly did seem happier as Ken.
"Very well," Osiris said magnanimously after a moment's thought. "My wife did mention wishing to redecorate. You may stay in Duat."
"Thank you, oh, thank you," Ken said, on his knees in gratitude. "I bind myself to you most willingly."
"None of that, now, none of that," Osiris said, looking embarrassed. "Glad to have you."
"One last boon, my lord," Ken said, his lower lip wobbling. "Could you order me to take the form that lord Bael cast on me via the glamour? It was much comelier, and I feel it better suits me than this one."
"Certainly," Osiris said, waving a hand. "Be in whatever form you like."
Ken's body shimmered and morphed back into that of a plump middle-aged woman. He beamed at us all and ran after Osiris as he and Maat, with the captive Bael before them, left the ship.
"What a very odd demon," Bee said, watching them leave.
"I like her. She was a little chatty, but seemed nice enough," May said. "I'm glad she got away from Bael."
"I do so like a happy ending," I said, sniffling slightly at the sight of Ken happy again.
Bee leaned into Constantine, who had an odd expression on his face. "And what about you? Are you going to be happy knowing Bael is stuck here?"
"Yes." He was silent for a moment, at last giving her a smile. "He will hate every second of it to the utmost of his being. I call that penance for all the suffering he's brought the world."
"Indeed it is," Rowan said, then tipped his head a little and nudged me. "And what is your second question?"
I leaned close and said softly, "When you were in dragon form, what did it feel like?"
He took a long, deep breath, his eyes closing for a moment. I felt his fire stirring deep within him, and an answering burn inside of me coming to instant life. "Run," he said.
Chills ran down my spine despite the heat of his fire. "Really?" I asked, glancing at the other dragons. "Right now?"
"Run," he repeated, opening his eyes. They glittered brightly with passion and desire … and yes, love.
I felt as if I were drenched in fire. "Okay, but this time, let's have a game plan. Where exactly do you want me to-"
"RUN!" he yelled, and I didn't wait; I took off.
But as I skidded through the door, I heard Gabriel say, "A chase! What an excellent idea. We haven't had one of those in far too long, little bird. Rowan, what say you take the lowest level of the ship. I'll take the middle for our chase, and Constantine can have the upper … "
Twenty
Fall in St. Petersburg may have been Kostya's idea of lovely, but it certainly wasn't balmy by any stretch of the imagination. I shivered in the small anteroom that had been assigned as my dressing room. Aisling (heavily pregnant, but downright glowing with happiness), Ysolde, and May bustled between the three rooms given over to us brides, each updating the other.
"All the grooms are present and accounted for," Aisling announced, her demon dog padding after her.
"As are their assorted hangovers," Jim said with a snicker.
I glanced at them in the mirror, which I sat in front of while a stylist fussed with my hair. "Oh, dear. Even Rowan? He's not really a drinker, although I know he would have had a few drinks last night during their joint stag party."
"He looks like he was dead, got run over with a heavy cart loaded with oxen, was resurrected, and then the oxen trampled him to death again," Jim said, sniffing at the table that held a plate of snacks, evidently provided by the caterers to keep the brides from fainting away with hunger. "You gonna eat that cheese and bread?"
"Oh, he does not look anything like that," Aisling scolded her demon, then gave me a brilliant smile. "Rowan looks dashing, absolutely dashing, and I know he'll be just fine as soon as the headache meds kick in. Jim, leave the food alone! You've already eaten both Bee's and Aoife's ‘don't faint while you walk down the aisle' snackies, and you don't need Sophea's as well. Honest to Pete, I can't take you anywhere … "
They drifted out the door just as May leaned her head in. "How are you holding up? Oh, your hair looks nice. I like the little leaves twined through it."
"They're not leaves, actually," I said, wincing when the stylist, with a mutter to herself, adjusted one of the metal decorations that curled through my hair. "They're tiny little dragons."
"Very nice," May said. "Almost makes me wish we'd done a proper wedding, not just the civil ceremony that Gabriel's mom demanded we have. Almost."
She grinned when I made a face at her. "This isn't my idea of bliss, but it's kind of nice having a group celebration with Rowan's sisters."
"Gotcha. Oh, you have a visitor." She pulled back a moment, then poked her head back in. "You up for it?"
"I don't know," I said, slightly startled. "Who's the visitor?"
"It's me!" Mrs. P pushed past May, rushing to me to give me a hug. "Or should I say, it's us. The other priestesses are in the hall, getting good seats. What a lovely idea you had to get married in a Russian palace. It's very grand."
"It is, but it wasn't my idea at all. For that we can thank the head wedding planner, and by head I mean just that-Gary might not have much to him, but I'll admit he whipped together a hell of a wedding. How are you? Where's your Bo?"
"I'm blissfully happy, and my Bo has just run to town to fetch a tuxedo."
I thanked the stylist when she murmured the hair was as good as it was going to get, and she toddled off to help the next bride. Carefully, so as not to wrinkle my flowered 1950s style dress with sleeveless bodice, bell-shaped skirt, and crinoline underpinnings, I turned to face Mrs. P. "I'm sure he doesn't need a tux for the wedding. We're not really being that formal. Aoife's dress is more of a short dinner dress than a wedding dress. Bee's the only one who went in for the full princess-style wedding dress and veil. From what Rowan said, not even the men are wearing tuxes. They have some sort of dragon outfit planned, although he wouldn't tell me just what."
"The tuxedo is for your man, actually, in case they can't get the stain out of his tunic," she said blithely, wandering over to fuss with the small bouquet of flowers I would be carrying.
"Stain?" I asked, aghast. "What sort of stain? Alcohol? Dirt?"
"It's nothing, really. I gather dragonweave, that material the men's tunics are made of, is just a bit hard to clean when it comes to blood, that's all. The tux is really just a worst-case scenario, so don't worry at all. I'm sure they'll get the tunic cleaned in time. And that handsome Gabriel had already fixed the broken noses."
I closed my eyes for a moment or two, wondering if I should throw tradition to the wind and go check on Rowan. I hadn't seen him since the night before, when he had kissed me and taken himself off to the stag party. "I knew they shouldn't have let those other wyverns plan it. Clearly it got out of hand."
"I gather," Mrs. P said, pulling one of the carnations out of my bouquet and tucking it into her chignon, "that there were some words about the past, and the relative merits of a larger sept versus one of the newer, smaller ones, and things got a bit heated. But I'm sure it's all better now, and you can hardly see Rowan's black eyes. And that Constantine fellow's sling is actually made of the same material as his tunic, so you barely notice it." She paused in thought. "Although Kostya's missing front tooth is a bit noticeable. Still, if you don't look right at his mouth, it's fine."