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Because now we both knew just how good we were together. And we were both aware that what we’d shared was only a beginning, that there was a whole lot more left unexplored between us.
“I understand that now, but I cannot undo what has been done.” He paused, then added softly, “Nor would I want to. When all this is over and we resume our separate lives, I will at least have something to cherish, even if it is only a memory.”
Tears prickled my eyes. Goddamn it, I did want an end to the madness. I did want life to resume normalcy. But at the same time, I couldn’t even begin to imagine my life without Azriel’s presence in it.
Which only testified to just how much I’d come to care for my stubborn reaper.
“We both hunger for things that should not be,” he said, his voice gentle. “But for the sake of our worlds, it cannot be.”
It was very tempting to just say fuck our worlds, what about us? I’d always been one to fight for what I wanted, but this was a very different situation. What I wanted—what he wanted—really didn’t matter in the bigger scheme of things. It never had.
God, I wanted to scream about the unfairness of it all. But that wouldn’t help anyone. I guess I just had to pull on my big-girl britches and deal with the situation as best I could.
“That is all the fates can expect of either of us,” he agreed softly.
“The fates need to be fucking shot,” I muttered, then thrust a hand through my hair. “I guess I’m going to bed alone, then.”
“I guess you are.” His words were as flat as his expression, but behind the facade, frustration burned, and it was every bit as deep as mine.
I forced myself to turn around and climb into bed. Drew the covers up and told myself to sleep.
Which I did.
Eventually.
And not before a very long battle against the urge to get up and claim what we both desired.
* * *
The phone woke me hours later. I groped for it blindly, then realized I’d actually left it in my bag, which was still sitting on a nearby chair. But before I could muster the energy to move, it appeared in my right hand.
I opened a bleary eye, and came face-to-face with Azriel. “It is Rhoan,” he said, rather unnecessarily. The ringtone informed me of that much.
“Let’s hope he has some good news for a change,” I muttered, then hit the ANSWER button. Rhoan’s face appeared onscreen, and the high-pitched wail of a siren just about blew my eardrum out. I hastily turned down the sound and said, “Please tell me you’re on your way to catch the bastard.”
“We hope so.” If the dark circles under Rhoan’s eyes were any indication, he’d been getting even less sleep than me. “And not only do we have a possible location, we have a name.”
“How the hell did you discover that?”
“Do you remember suggesting we investigate the warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“Well, inside we discovered a marijuana crop that had to have a street value of at least four million. Naturally, there was all sorts of security to protect this investment, including cameras.” He smiled. “Actually, your presence must have spooked them, because they were in the process of dismantling and bagging when we arrived. We caught all of them.”
Well, at least some good had come out of Dani’s death. “I’m gathering the cameras also picked up the coming and going of our killer?”
“Yes. And he wasn’t alone.”
“If he’s blind, it makes sense he’d have an assistant.” I paused. “He did have a face, didn’t he?”
“And a butt-ugly one it is, too. Actually, that could apply to him as a whole.”
Which made you wonder how he was hooking his victims. But then, sometimes it wasn’t about looks. Sometimes it was about aura and power. And from what I’d seen on the astral plane, our killer had those in spades.
“So who is he?”
“He’s going by the name of Zane Taylor, but we can only trace his existence back about five years, which is when he landed in Australia. We’re currently checking the Croatian and Slovenian databases to see if we can find a match.”
