Another fire broke out at my feet. I stubbed it out with the toe of my sandals before Rowan could see it.
“It’s one of the reasons I was in Brazil—if the dragons had known where I was, they would have demanded much of me. The danegeld bound to me meant I couldn’t refuse a legitimate request if it was made of me, so I made sure they wouldn’t find me.”
“How much do you have to pay the dragon guy?” I asked, thinking of the two thousand dollars I’d received from Mrs. P’s nephew.
I hated to lose my seed money, but Rowan clearly had a greater need than me.
His eyes closed for a minute. “I took four lives from the dragonkin. Technically, the danegeld is to replace those lives, but how I’m supposed to do that, I have no idea.”
He looked so sad, my heart gave a little squeeze.
“I don’t think you’re to blame at all for the deaths,” I said in an attempt to make him feel better. “And since I’m kind of a dragon, I’d be happy to talk to this guy if you want. Would you like me to comfort you some more, or do you want to be left alone?”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “I’d have to be dead to say I didn’t want more of your particular brand of comforting, but that isn’t why I wanted to talk to you.”
“You wanted to tell me that those dragon people think you’re a murderer. But I’m not them, Rowan. I’m a pretty good judge of people, and I can tell you’re not the sort of man who would let people be hurt if you could prevent it.”
“We’re a pair, aren’t we?” he said with another quirk of his mouth. “Here’s me trying to save the world, and you trying to keep one old lady safe. Oh, what the hell. I’m due a little comforting.”
He slid an arm around my waist and pulled me close, his head tipping down toward mine. Instantly, my body demanded that I press every part of it against every part of him, but just as I was tipping back my head to accept the kiss that he was surely going to press upon me, his words sunk in.
I slid my hand up to stop him, and ended up with his mouth pressed against my palm. “What do you mean you’re trying to save the world? Save it from what? Surely not Mrs. P—she might be a bit odd, but she’s no threat to anyone except men who she fancies, and even then, she’s not violent.”
He gently bit the tip of one of my fingers. “Remember that ring I mentioned yesterday? It’s an important object. Very important. It belongs to a demon lord, who quite badly wants it back. The dragons want it as well, but only so they can destroy it—or rather, have me break its magic.”
“A ring?” I frowned in thought. “But Mrs. P doesn’t have one. At least, not one she wears.”
“No she isn’t wearing it, and I assume by her comments that she didn’t keep it in her luggage, which means she must have it on her person. Probably on a chain around her neck.”
“I don’t think so,” I said slowly, mentally going over the scene in the ship’s shop. Mrs. P had removed her clothing in front of me without batting a single eyelash. “I’ve seen her in her underwear, and she didn’t have on a necklace of any sort.”
“Well, she has to have it somewhere upon her person, because she intends to use it as some sort of offering to Osiris.”
I leaned back so I could get a better look at him. “She what?”
He nodded. “I take it she’s been waiting a long time to return to him. There’s more of a story there than she’s telling, but the important point is that she has the ring, and we need it.”
“We?” I asked pointedly. “I don’t see where the we comes into it.”
“If the demon lord gets the ring, he will use it to unleash boundless evils upon the world, both immortal and mortal. That’s one of the reasons why the dragonkin want the magic in the ring broken.”
I stood up, the fire inside of me dying down to nothing. “I think you’d better leave.”
He looked confused. “I thought we were going to indulge in nipple exploration, among other things?”
“I’m sorry about what you went through in the past,” I said after sorting through my emotions. “But I have a feeling you told this to me in order to get me on your side, so I’ll help you take Mrs. P’s ring. No.” I held up a hand when he protested. “I know you said you weren’t going to take it from her without permission, and I appreciate that. But now you’re trying to get me on your side so I’ll help you browbeat her into handing it over, and I’m not going to do that.”
“There’s no side to be taken,” Rowan said, slowly getting to his feet. His eyes were filled with sadness. “It’s a matter of simply weighing the need of one person against those of the rest of the world.”
I went to the door and opened it, waiting silently for him to leave. He did with a sigh, his shoulders slumped as if the weight of world was upon him. And it sounded like much of it was, if the dragons really had cornered him at last and forced him into this scenario.
That didn’t make my heart any less pained. It mourned the loss of Rowan with a sadness I didn’t think I could overcome.
Eleven