‘‘All effects of prisoners are kept in the vault, naturally,’’ she answered, twitching the paper at me.

‘‘And is the vault secure? I mean, really secure?’’

‘‘It is the L’au-delà vault!’’ she answered indignantly. ‘‘It has not been violated in at least a century.’’

Somewhat relieved, I signed my name where she indicated.

‘‘Convicted persons may petition for the return of those items not deemed to be dangerous,’’ she added.

‘‘Convicted?’’ A headache suddenly blossomed to life. I rubbed my forehead, trying to figure out just what was going on. ‘‘I was convicted?’’

‘‘Oh, yes,’’ the secretary said. ‘‘Earlier, when you were brought before the committee. You were charged, tried, and sentenced, and now if you would just sign these forms as well, I can initiate your transfer to the Akasha.’’

‘‘The Akasha?’’ I felt like some sort of deranged parrot repeating things the woman was saying, but I was beyond confused. My blood turned to ice at the thought of the Akasha-it was what mortals sometimes thought of as limbo, a place where demons and others who had been banished were sent. It meant an eternity of nonexistence, a perpetual torment, a punishment so heinous, it was reserved for only the most serious of crimes… or people who sufficiently pissed off the heads of the committee.

And this woman wanted me to sign papers that would send me there? ‘‘I don’t think so,’’ I said aloud, snatching up the phone. I didn’t have to think about who to call; I pulled out the small card with Gabriel’s cell phone number, and punched in the appropriate country code and number.

‘‘It would be my utmost delight to speak with you,’’ Gabriel’s smooth voice assured me. ‘‘But unfortunately, I am unable to take your call at this time. Please leave a message.’’

I wanted to cry right there in front of everyone, but as I’ve mentioned, I’m not a weepy sort of person. ‘‘It’s me. Er… May. I’m in Paris, and apparently was unconscious when I was charged by the L’au-delà committee to be banished to the Akasha. I’d really appreciate it if you could do something about it before they send me there.’’ I gave the phone number that was printed on the phone and hung up, despair welling up inside me.

‘‘Do I take it you refuse to sign the forms?’’ the secretary asked, her mouth thin with irritation.

‘‘That is absolutely correct. I won’t sign anything until my… er… wyvern checks it out.’’

She snatched the papers back and marched to her desk, muttering about unreasonable people who had no concept of the amount of work she had to do.

Tej watched me for a moment with sad eyes before escorting me back to my cell, allowing me to make a bathroom stop on the way.

‘‘The windows have been barred,’’ he pointed out as I was about to enter the bathroom, and sure enough, they had been. The air duct was too small to climb through, the ceiling was made of solid plaster, not tiles with access to a ventilation shaft, and there was no exit other than the door that led straight to Tej.

I sighed, made use of the facilities, and prayed to as many gods as I could name that Gabriel checked his voice mail in time to keep me from being sent to the Akasha.

Chapter Fifteen

I have no idea how much time had gone by since Tej had deposited me back in my airless, barren cell of a room. For that matter, I had no concept of how much time had passed while I was in the shadow world- evidently enough to conduct a trial, although why no one bothered to bring me around during that was a question I very much wanted to ask. I suspected the answer would not be complimentary.

Time did pass, enough that Tej brought me a plate of food for which I had no appetite. Since my room had no windows, I couldn’t even tell if it was day or night. I considered slipping back into the shadow world, but I knew that was no solution to my problem.

By my best guess, about four hours later, the door to my room was suddenly opened. I’d curled up on my side, figuring I might as well rest in case the opportunity to escape presented itself, and I looked up with surprise at the person who was shoved into the room.

‘‘-know who I am? I’m a naiad, you idiot! A member of the Sisterhood of Hydriades! You can’t arrest me!’’

The door slammed shut behind Cyrene.

‘‘What on earth did you do?’’ I asked, getting to my feet as she pounded on the door.

‘‘Shhh,’’ she said over her shoulder, before turning back to the door and yelling, ‘‘I demand to speak to the committee! You can’t treat me this way! I’m a water elemental! I have rights!’’

‘‘Cy?’’

She gave the door one last slam of her fist before turning a delighted face upon me. ‘‘This is fabulous! I’m sorry, Mayling, you know I love you dearly, but this is ever so much more fun than hiding in a tree watching in case of intruders. I sounded very convincing, didn’t I? I knew I should have stayed in Hollywood after you were created, but Magoth was being so unpleasant, and… well, you know. But this! I’m a natural at this, don’t you think?’’

I leaned back against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest. ‘‘I take it you have some sort of plan going? Something that calls for you to be arrested?’’

‘‘There, now, you see? I told Drake you’d grasp the gist of things right away, but he had his doubts.’’

‘‘Drake?’’ I straightened up. ‘‘Is Gabriel with him? Did he get my message?’’

‘‘Of course he got your message. That’s why I’m here. Is there no chair?’’ she asked, frowning around the empty room.

‘‘No. I hate to let down the team and all, but what exactly are you doing here? Is Gabriel going to be able to get me out of being sent to the Akasha? Is he going to appeal the conviction?’’

‘‘Better than that,’’ she said with smile, glancing around quickly before leaning in closely, her voice dropped to almost a whisper. ‘‘We’re going to bust you out of here.’’

‘‘Bust me…’’ I closed my eyes for a moment. ‘‘You’ve been watching too many old westerns. No one conducts jailbreaks these days. Especially not when the jailers are the L’au-delà committee.’’

‘‘That’s why this plan is so incredibly cunning,’’ she said, giving my arm a little squeeze. ‘‘They’re all expecting you to try to escape-they’ll never expect us to break you out of here.’’

‘‘Oy,’’ I said, sliding down the wall to the floor. ‘‘This has ‘doomed from the start’ written all over it. You didn’t think up this plan yourself, did you?’’ I asked suspiciously.

She looked offended. ‘‘No, I didn’t, and you can stop being such a negative Nelly. Gabriel thought up the plan, and Drake and I are helping. I’m the decoy, you see.’’

‘‘Of course you are. What, exactly, is this grandiose escape plan?’’

Her mouth set in a prim manner. ‘‘I can’t tell you.’’

‘‘Why not?’’

‘‘There could be bugs. We don’t want them to know our plans.’’

‘‘If they were listening in, you just told them there’s a plan, so they’ll be expecting something to happen,’’ I pointed out.

‘‘Yes, but they won’t know what,’’ she said, pulling off her jacket. Her shirt followed almost immediately, as did her jeans, shoes, and the sparkly pink socks that she was so prone to wearing despite the fact they would look more at home on a twelve-year-old.

I watched her striptease with confusion for a moment before a thought struck me.

‘‘You don’t mean-’’

‘‘Shhh,’’ she said, waving a vague hand around as she pulled off the scarf she wore to confine her bangs. ‘‘Bugs, remember?’’

I bit back an obvious reply, thought for a moment, then decided that although the plan Gabriel had come up with was too I Love Lucy for words, I didn’t have any alternative. I stripped.

A half hour later the door opened to Tej. ‘‘Cyrene Northcott? You may see the committee now.’’

I turned from where I was pacing back and forth across the small room, ignoring Cyrene dressed in my clothing as she sat in a corner hunched over her knees.