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“The Aedh waits at the gate,” he commented. I peered through the darkness but couldn’t actually see Lucian. Then again he’d been around long enough to know how to remain hidden from prying eyes. “I will go inside and neutralize the guards.”
I frowned. “I thought you said it would be too dangerous to walk the gray fields at the moment?”
His gaze met mine. “Only if I’m accompanied by you. Alone, I’m just another reaper on the fields. Your presence, however, is like a beacon to those attuned to you.”
“And the Raziq are?”
“I cannot say for sure, but I am not willing to run that risk. Wait with the Aedh until I return.”
And with that, he winked out of existence. I headed for the gates and, in the shadows of the signs, saw Lucian.
“Hey gorgeous,” he said, stepping away from the back of the sign he’d been leaning against. “Why the hell did you arrive by taxi?”
“Azriel was worried that the Raziq might have been able to sense my presence in the gray fields.” I let him sweep me into his arms, feeling the tension in him, the urgency—an urgency that spoke of the need to move, to fight. “For the same reason, I couldn’t become Aedh.”
“He’s being overly cautious.”
I shrugged. Maybe he was, but it was for my safety and I couldn’t exactly argue with that. “Did you bring any weapons?”
He smiled. “A small armory, starting with two long knives strapped to my back.”
“Knives aren’t going to be much use against Raziq. They may not even take human form.”
“Ah, but these knives are specifically designed to cut through energy beings.”
“So Raziq.” And reapers.
“Yes,” he said, leaving me wondering if he was confirming one thought or both.
I pushed down the slither of unease again and asked, “Was there electronic surveillance?”
He nodded and slid his hands down to my butt, pressing me a little closer. Despite my certainty that passion wasn’t part of his emotional makeup right now, he was fully aroused and as hard as a rock.
“The anticipation of an oncoming fight does that to me,” he commented. “But I shall restrain the urge to ravish you senseless until after we complete our mission.”
“Just as well,” I said drily. “Because if you’d tried, I would have knocked you out.”
“That wouldn’t have been any use.” He grinned as he tapped his head. “It’s way too hard.”
I snorted softly and pulled away from him. “Did you neutralize the surveillance?”
“No, but I do have contacts who have few scruples and who respect only the power of money. This entire area will be blacked out in—” He paused and glanced at his watch. “—three, two, one …”
Right on cue, the lights in the nearby houses went out. I raised my eyebrows. “And just how did they manage this, given said contacts don’t sound as if they actually work for any power company?”
“It’s easy to knock out a grid if you know exactly where to strike.” He shrugged. “This way, it’ll also look less suspicious.”
True. Azriel reappeared and said, “The guards have been neutralized for two hours.”
“And if we need more time than that?” Lucian said.
Azriel barely even glanced at him. “The mansion is not endless, and not
all the rooms are furnished. Shall we go?”
That last was directed at me. I nodded, walked across to the white wooden fence, and leapt over it. And tried my best to ignore the ache in my side as I headed down the long, asphalt road. Crickets chirped loudly in the paddocks to either side, their song stopping briefly as we jogged by, then resuming once we were gone. The asphalt eventually gave way to stone, then the road split, one fork heading to the zoo, the other toward the mansion. We went over a second set of locked gates and continued down the road, the paddocks on either side giving way to trees, parking lots, and picnic areas.
“There is a gatehouse just ahead,” Azriel said, his voice soft and oddly at one with the darkness. “The mansion lies to the right of the gardens.”
