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“The danger does not come from the restrictions.”
I opened my eyes. Even though awareness of him was a weight I could feel, he wasn’t even looking at me but rather leaning, arms crossed, against the window, staring out. His expression was thoughtful. Distant. And perhaps just a touch wistful.
“Then what does the danger come from if not the restrictions?”
He didn’t answer immediately. Then his gaze met mine, and in those bright, mismatched depths I saw bleakness.
“Sleep, Risa. I will wake you when it is time to go.”
He had to be the most frustrating, pigheaded man I’d ever known—except he wasn’t a man and I really had to stop thinking of him in those terms. But it was damn hard when he was wearing that form and—by his own admission—gaining more human characteristics the longer he remained in it.
I blew out a breath that contained more than a little irritation, then determinedly closed my eyes. Given everything that had happened over the last twenty-four hours, it wasn’t entirely surprising that I quickly slipped into a deep sleep.
The smell of coffee woke me many hours later. I muttered something unintelligible even to me, then rubbed an eye and glanced blearily at the clock on the nightstand. It was close to six thirty.
I twisted around in the bed. Azriel was still standing near the window, but on the table between him and the bed was a small tray containing several plates and a steaming coffeepot.
“I ordered freshly brewed,” he said. “As well as bacon, eggs, and toast. You will eat before we leave.”
“And if I don’t, you’ll force it down my throat?” I said, somewhat amused.
“If it comes to that, yes.” There was little happiness in his expression, and certainly no sense of it in the energy of him. “It is advantageous to my quest to keep you not only safe but in a fit condition to face whatever might be waiting.”
“And the quest is all,” I muttered, tossing off the bedcovers and reaching for my clothes.
“You wish me well away from you. Succeeding with this mission is the only way to achieve that.”
I glanced up at him as I pulled on my jeans. He still wasn’t looking at me, yet I knew he was as aware of me as I was of him. I could feel the electricity of it in the air. See it in the taut set of his shoulders.
“So if we don’t succeed, I’m stuck with you following me around for the rest of my days?”
“Until either I am dead or the mission is in ashes.” He finally met my gaze, but no matter what I might feel in the air, there was as little emotion in his expression as ever. “Eat, Risa. We will need to drive to this mansion of yours. I cannot risk a journey through the gray fields.”
“But I can take Aedh form.” I frowned as I sat down and poured myself a fresh cup of coffee. Coke would have been better, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. “And why can’t we risk the gray fields?”
“Taking Aedh form will weaken you too much. Besides, if the Raziq can track your father’s energy, they may well be able to track yours.” He shrugged, the movement eloquent. “And we dare not risk the fields because the Raziq still roam there. They were sidetracked, not vanquished.”
“So you think they’ll be able to find us if we enter?”
“I do not know, and I prefer to be safe.”
I sipped the steaming coffee, then picked up my knife and fork and tucked into the bacon and eggs. Despite there being enough on the plate to feed an army, I finished it off in no time. After also finishing the coffee, I rose and strapped Amaya back on. The black blade spat and buzzed, as if angry about being left alone so long.
“You are her lifeblood,” Azriel commented. “She is angry.”
Oh great. I’d managed to piss off a sword. Was there no end to my talents?
“Apparently not.” Azriel pushed away from the window and picked up the jacket lying on the other bed, handing it to me. “Are you ready?”
“Not really, but it’s not like I have a choice.” Not with the threat hanging over both Ilianna and Tao.
Tao. I closed my eyes for a moment and prayed like hell that he’d come out of whatever the elemental had done to him okay.
Azriel didn’t comment. Maybe even he didn’t know what fate awaited Tao.
We grabbed a taxi outside the hotel. Despite the fact that rush hour had passed, there was still a fair amount of traffic on the freeway and the going was slow. I directed the driver to a house just up the road from the mansion’s main gate so that he didn’t think it odd or—worse—do something civil-minded like phone the police.
The night was clear and the air crisp. I shivered and zipped up my jacket, glad Azriel had grabbed it.
