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“Only he doesn’t want to basically destroy humanity by permanently shutting the gates.”
“No,” she agreed. “What Hieu wants would be far worse.”
Trepidation crawled through me. Her words all but echoed my earlier fears. “And what are his motives?”
“Dictatorship over all realms.”
“As in heaven, hell, and earth?”
“Yes.”
Fuck. Which didn’t really seem an adequate response to that bit of news.
Of course, given who was relating it, maybe I should be taking it with a grain of salt. They wanted my help to capture him, after all, and maybe imparting this bit of mind-blowing news was little more than an extension of their revised plans.
“Believe what you want,” Malin said. “It is not important to us.”
And with that, the dark energy swept around me again, shifting me from flesh to Aedh in the blink of an eye. It didn’t re-form me in Stane’s bed, but somewhere dark, cold, and wet.
It was rain, I realized, after staring at it running down my arms. I was kneeling in the rain. Why the hell did they dump me in the middle of a storm? Because they didn’t want to risk a clash with Azriel, even with greater numbers on their side.
I sat back on my heels. The madman in my head was reacting less severely than usual, enabling me to at least look around without feeling like I was about to pass out.
Not only was I in the middle of a storm, but if the height of the moon was anything to go by, it was also the middle of the night. Obviously, I’d been in the hands of the Raziq for longer than I’d thought.
A heartbeat later, a hurricane hit, blasting my skin with heat. Azriel dropped onto his knees in front of me, his fingers cupping my cheek as his gaze met mine.
There was a whole lot of anger in those blue depths. A whole lot of guilt.
“I’m okay,” I whispered, wishing he’d just wrap his arms around me and hold me like he never intended to let go. It might be a lie, but it was one I suddenly needed, if only for a few minutes.
“You are changed.” The words came out tight.
“It didn’t hurt. Not this time.”
“That is not the point.”
No, I guess it wasn’t. And like the last time, it couldn’t be undone. Not by him, and certainly not by me.
“Just take me home, Azriel. Please.”
He swept us across the fields even before I’d finished speaking, but when we reappeared, it was in Stane’s room, not mine.
“But—”
“No,” he said, his voice sharp, almost vicious. “I allowed you to be taken once. I will not risk it a second time.”
And I, for one, wasn’t about to complain about that, even if I’d rather be home. I stepped back and rubbed my forehead wearily. “The Raziq won’t snatch me again.”
“I didn’t mean the Raziq.”
I stared at him blankly for several heartbeats, then fear struck anew and I began to shake again. God help me, with everything else that had happened, I’d forgotten about our faceless madman.
But he was still out there, still after me.
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t cope. Damn it, why wouldn’t everyone just leave me the hell alone? Was that too much to goddamn ask?
Azriel caught my hands and tugged me into his embrace. I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek against his chest, listening to the rapid pounding of his heart. It felt like heaven. Like I was home.
