Yves shut the book with a snap and glanced back and forth between his two listeners.

Gabriel sobbed, arms wrapped around herself, swaying back and forth. She burned with a pale weak fire, her fingers clawing redder flames from her arms. She seemed revelatory, or perhaps mad. She was wordless in her pain, simply crying and rocking.

Dominic was, in contrast, firm and calm. Red eyes glittered out from under his hood; Yves could see the whiteness of his scales in that dark, but it would be hard to say who else could. "With all due respect, Yves," Dominic said softly, "I fail to see how you believe that work of fiction could bring the two of us closer together.

With a sigh, Yves let his eyes close. "No. I suppose you can't." After a moment he opened them again and smiled at them both. "Well, thank you for your time."

Dominic nodded to him respectfully and drifted off. Gabriel unwound as soon as he wasn't near any longer and reached for Yves. "Please," she sobbed, "Please, may I have that book? May I read it again? May I touch it, may I?"

Yves held the book out to her, smiling gently. "Of course, Gabriel. Of course."

She took Fiona Patton's The Painter Knight and carried it out with her as she went. Yves was pleased to see that it didn't burn.