situation with Magoth and me had nothing to do with the reason you neglected your spring.â
âOf course it does! I was so worried about you!â she protested, and I sighed as I heard the sincerity in her voice. I knew that in her mind, she had fully justified her actions by using me as a scapegoat. I thought about arguing the point with her, but long experience with Cyrene had taught me one thing: she was going to win. Somehow, no matter how firm my intentions, I always ended up caving in and helping her. âAll right, Iâll give him a call. Whatâs his number?â
âYouâll have to see him in person,â she said brightly, happiness brimming from her voice. âHe doesnât believe in cell phones. And youâre luckyâheâs in Portugal for a big surfing competition, so you wonât have far to go to see him.â
â We wonât have far to go,â I corrected, a note of steel entering my voice as I spotted Gabriel waiting for me at the entrance of the shop.
âWe?â Cyrene asked, her voice almost inaudible.
âOh, yes. If I have to go see Neptune, youâre coming with me.â
âButââ
âWhere exactly is he?â I interrupted with ruthless determination. I might have to help Cyrene out of yet another sticky situation, but by the twelve gods, I wasnât going to lose any more time with Gabriel than I already had. Iâd make a very fast visit to Portugal, convince Cyreneâs boss that she was as innocent as she possibly could be, and return to Gabrielâs arms.
âThe surfing competition is in Faro,â Cy answered slowly. âBut really, May, I think it would be betterââ
âIâll meet you there . . . Let me think . . . I have a dragon meeting today, and although I donât think thereâs anything pressing on the calendar immediately following it, I would like a little time alone to reacquaint myself with Gabriel. How about we do this in four days?â
âI suppose that would be all right,â Cyrene said in a voice tinged with disappointment. âItâs so very kind of you to take time out of your busy life for me.â
I gave the phone a wry smile. âYou donât do catty well, Cy; you never have.â
âI know,â she said, sighing. âFour days is all right. I have a few things to do, myself.â
âWhat sort of things?â I asked, suddenly suspicious.
âOh . . . youâll see.â
âCyrene Northcott, if you are up to anythingââ
âI would hate to have a mind as suspicious as yours; I really would,â she answered with annoying and completely unreasonable self-righteousness. âIâm not up to anything, as you insist on putting it. But I do have work of my own to do, you know.â
âUh-huh. If youâd been attending to that a little more closely, and fawning over Kostya a little less, I wouldnât have to make time for a trip out to see your surfer dude.â
âYes, Mother.â
âMuch as I would love to bandy wits, Iâve got to run. Gabriel is standing all by himself looking utterly delicious, and I have six weeksâ worth of kissing to catch up on.â
âMaylingââ
âIâll see you on Wednesday. And, Cy, please try to stay out of trouble until then.â
âYou never used to be this mean to me,â she answered sullenly as I got up and headed for Gabriel. âI donât think the time you spent in Abaddon did your character much good. I just hope you donât think you can talk to me like that all the time and get away with it! I am your twin, you know! You wouldnât be anywhere without me! You should really be thanking me for your existence rather than bullying me.â
I gently closed the phone as I stopped in front of Gabriel, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, the molten silver gaze so hot it all but
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