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He swore softly. “How the hell did that happen? Why didn’t the reaper stop it?”
“He couldn’t—”
“It’s his job to protect you.”
His voice had sharpened significantly, and the waiter glanced over at us. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile, then met Lucian’s angry gaze and added softly, “He is. But it’s not that simple.”
“It fucking is—”
“Lucian,” I cut in. “Enough. I’ll explain.”
“Then explain.” He glanced down at my hand. “But I would suggest you allow me to come in first.”
I dropped my hand and waved him inside. The waiter had finished setting out my meal, and approached with the tray in tow. “Will that be all, ma’am?”
“Yes, thank you.” I gave him the change as a tip, then closed the door behind him.
Lucian stood in the middle of the room, his arms crossed and his stance radiating displeasure. “So, explain.”
Rather than answering immediately, I walked over to the table and lifted the lid off the various plates. Azriel had ordered steak, vegetables, and pasta, as well as several cream cakes. After a few minutes of dithering, I picked up the triple-layer chocolate cake and started eating it. The steak and veggies might be the saner choice, but I needed the immediate sugar rush.
Lucian waited. Anger rolled off him, thick and heated. The little hairs on my arms stood on end, even as my pulse rate quickened. It wasn’t exactly fear, and it wasn’t a more sexual reaction, but rather sat somewhere in between. Which was kind of odd, because up until now I’d always reacted on a purely sexual level to his presence.
“Over the last couple of days,” I said eventually, as I finished the cake and licked the cream from my fingertips, “the Raziq have made several attempts to capture me using Ania. We managed to thwart most of them, but we were simply caught off guard this last time.”
“If they caught you off guard, then the reaper isn’t doing his job,” Lucian snapped. “He is sensitive to the creatures of hell—there is no known way they should have been able to sneak up on you.”
“They didn’t. They were transported in magically and were just there. There was nothing Azriel could have done to prevent it.” I picked up my knife and fork, then glanced at him pointedly. “And you wouldn’t have been able to do anything, either, so stop giving me attitude and just sit down. Having to look up at you is making my head ache.”
He grunted, but pulled out one of the chairs and sat. “What, exactly, did the Raziq do?”
“From what they said, they unmade me and attached some sort of sensor to my heart. It’ll inform them when I’m in my father’s presence.”>“Actually, I do, because I am reading your thoughts.” His voice was calm, yet there was an undercurrent within it that spoke of violence.
I opened my eyes and shifted just enough to look up at him. Even that small movement hurt, but it was more a dull ache than the frenzied needle stabbing I’d been half expecting.
His eyes were dark with the fury barely hinted at in his voice. I raised a still trembling hand and ran my fingertips down his stubble-lined chin. “I’m okay, Azriel. They can’t kill me. Not yet.”
“They unmade you. That is death itself in many ways.”
I let my fingers slip down his neck and placed my palm over his heart. Its beat was strong and steady and real, and it somehow made me feel even safer than being cradled in his arms.
“At least they put me back together again,” I said eventually.
“But you are not as you were. You are now tied to Raziq and it cannot be undone.”
Not unless I die. Fear crawled into my stomach and I swallowed heavily. “I know. But at least I can go home now, and I don’t have to worry about Ilianna and Tao falling afoul of them.”
“There is that.”
He strode toward the bathroom. Once inside, he carefully placed me on my feet, then held me as the bathroom did a brief but dizzy dance around me.
“God,” I said, swallowing bile, “I hope that doesn’t happen too often.”
“You need to rest.” He gently began to strip the remnants of my clothing from my body. “And eat.”
“I know. But there’s also Jak—”
“No.” He said it softly, but his tone suggested that in this he would brook no arguments.
