Me and My Shadow by Katie MacAlister Page A

not a dragon, then?”
    â€œTo be honest, I don’t know quite what I am anymore,” I answered with more than a touch of despair.
    Gabriel took my hand, his fingers warm and strong, offering comfort. “Do not fight the shard, May. Control it as we discussed, but do not fight it. I will not allow it to consume you.”
    René’s eyebrows went up. “A shard? You do not mean . . .”
    â€œI’m technically known as the Northcott Phylactery, yes,” I said, giving Gabriel’s hand a squeeze to let him know I appreciated the support. “I’m a doppelganger, really.”
    â€œA shadow walker? How very interesting. I have only ever met one other of your kind.”
    â€œOphelia?”
    â€œ Oui. You know her?”
    I shook my head. “Not really. I gather she’s having a rough time being on her own, but other than one or two conversations on the phone with her, I have no contact with any other doppelgangers. We tend to stay pretty much on our own.”
    â€œAh, you were not born,” René said, nodding his head as he figured out how we had gotten around the curse put on the silver dragons by the dread wyvern Baltic. “Very clever. And now you are here to help Aisling with the birth, Gabriel?”
    â€œI would be happy to act as midwife, but Drake, I believe, would rather birth the child himself than let me near his mate.”
    â€œDragons,” René said, nodding, adding in an aside to me, “They can be very protective.”
    â€œSo I gather. Perhaps you can answer a question for me. Are daimons assigned to particular individuals, or can you be hired? I know Gabriel will feel otherwise, but I certainly feel as if we could use a helping hand—”
    A racket exploded from the entrance of the house, a woman’s shouts carrying loud and clear over a more masculine rumbling.
    â€œ Cabrón! Do you think I will be kept from seeing my grandchild? Move aside before I have my son throw you into the gutter where you belong!”
    â€œWho on earth—?” I started to ask, but I asked it to an empty room, Gabriel and René immediately racing from the room. I followed, pausing at the door to take in the sight of a tall, olive-skinned, dark-haired woman chewing up István, who was probably double her weight, not to mention built like a truck. To my intense surprise, István was backpedaling madly as the tall Spanish woman yelled, her hands gesticulating wildly.
    â€œWhere is my Drake? Where is my grandchild?” She punctuated her sentences with blows to István’s chest. “Stop running from me and fetch—”
    The woman caught sight of us from the corner of her eye. She stopped hitting István and rounded on Gabriel, her black expression suddenly turning sly and sultry. “Gabriel!” she all but cooed.
    Hackles I didn’t know I possessed went up at the sight of her as she sauntered toward Gabriel, brushing past René as if he didn’t exist, her hips swaying with an unmistakable message. My fingers lengthened into claws, but I curled them up, refusing to give in to the shard’s demand that I deal with the brazen hussy who was going to be one very sorry person if she so much as laid a finger on my mate.
    â€œI did not know you were here,” she continued, her voice a blatant invitation.
    I don’t remember moving, but somehow, I found myself standing in front of Gabriel, my hands clenched as I thought for a few seconds of how nice she would look unconscious on the entryway floor. “Hello. I’m May.”
    â€œThis is my mate, Catalina,” Gabriel said, laughter obvious in his voice as he snaked his hand around my waist, gently pulling me over to his side. “Mayling, you have heard me mention Drake’s mother, yes? This is doña Catalina de Elférez.”
    â€œMate.” She said the word as if it were rancid, her dark eyes scrutinizing me for a