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He nodded, and I leaned a shoulder against the nearest wall. My legs were as shaky as hell, and my stomach was still doing unsteady flip-flops.
“What did your father want?”
“Aside from beating me up and threatening to kill my friends, you mean? He wants me to find the keys, and he got rather irked when I suggested that the damn things would probably be better where they are.”
He frowned. “Why would you want to leave them as they are?”
“Because if no one can find them, then they can’t endanger the fabric of my world.”
“But that is foolishness. If they are out there, they will eventually be found. The Raziq will never give up looking.”
“And my father won’t let me give it up, either.” I sighed again and walked unsteadily across the room to scoop up the scattered jewelry and photo disks. “He’s directed me back to the locker at the railway station. Apparently, he’s had further instructions left there.”
“If he was here, why did he not simply tell you?”
“He claimed he was out of time,” I said irritably.
“But who knows? It’s not like anyone is actually confiding in me.”
Azriel studied me for a moment, expression neutral even if a faint hint of annoyance flickered through the heated energy of his presence. “I tell you what I can.”
“No, you tell me what you think I need to know. There is a difference.”
He didn’t dispute it. No surprise there, given it was the truth.
“The last time you followed your father’s instructions, you ended up being captured by the Raziq.”
“My father won’t be anywhere near me this time, so he claims it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, if the Raziq wanted me, they could have come after me anytime they wished.”
“I doubt it. The wards that Ilianna has set around your apartment are as strong as those at the Brindle. They would make it difficult for the Raziq to enter.”
The Brindle was the witch depository, and few outside the covens even knew of its existence. “We were told that the magic surrounding the Brindle wouldn’t keep the Aedh out, so it’s unlikely to keep them out of our apartment.”
“Granted, but they also now know that I guard you, and they could not be certain whether there would be one or more Mijai waiting for them if they did attempt it. The Raziq are single-minded when it comes to their goals, but they are not stupid.”
“So why haven’t they snatched me outside the apartment? And why don’t the wards make it difficult for you?”
“I am attuned to your Chi, so any magic that allows you to pass should also allow me.”
“And yet the wards my father set up did stop you?”
“Because those particular wards were designed to reject energy forms. Human wards are not, so even the strongest will not prevent the Raziq—or a reaper—from getting through.”
“If the Raziq did come after me a second time,” I asked, suddenly curious, “would you actually stop them?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I wouldn’t?”
“To be honest, I have no idea what you’ll do in any situation.” Especially given how many times in the past he’d stated that he would not interfere in the daily events of my life. And in fact, he hadn’t—not when I’d been attacked by humans who could somehow attain half-animal form, and not when the Raziq had captured me. Although he had, at least, saved me and Tao—one of my best friends—from the hellhounds.
But once again he changed the subject. “You are fortunate the Aedh can only form a permanent telepathic connection through sex. Otherwise, your trip to the railway station would now be compromised.”
Did that mean that Lucian—the fallen Aedh who’d become my lover—had formed a telepathic connection with me? Or was that one of the skills that had been stripped from him when they’d ripped the wings from his flesh? I didn’t know, but I suspected it might be wise to find out—even if I was positive Lucian was on no one’s side but his own. Still, given what the priests had done to him, I had no doubt he’d kill them given the slightest opportunity. His punishment might have happened many centuries ago, but the anger still burned in him.
I frowned at Azriel. “The priests rifled through my thoughts when they held me captive, and they certainly didn’t do that via sex.”
He nodded. “Aedh—like reapers—can read thoughts when in the same room as a person, but unlike human telepaths we are incapable of doing so from any great distance.”
Thank God for small mercies. Although I did wish my rebellious hormones would remember more often that, when I was in his presence, he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Then you’d better be vigilant. If the Raziq get their hands on me, any information we get from the locker will be theirs.”
