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“To taunt us.” His gaze centered on me. “How did you get involved?”
I told him about the gray fields and what I’d witnessed there.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t give us much to go on.” He paused, then added more severely, “You’re not intending to chase this one down yourself, are you?”
It was a warning more than a question, and I gave him a lopsided smile. “No. I’m not a guardian and have no desire to be.”
He grunted. “That’s the first sensible thing I’ve heard you say in weeks.”
“I can do sensible.”
“Really?” Rhoan’s tone was disbelieving. “This is the first evidence of it that I’ve seen, and I’ve known you a very long time.”
I punched him lightly—though it was like hitting a brick wall—and he grinned. “Go home and get some rest, Ris. You look beat.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You don’t need a statement?”
“Yeah, but later will do.”
“Thank you.” I dropped a kiss on his cheek, then left. Once we were outside, I raised my face to the sky. Though it was barely ten, the promise of heat was in the air, and sunshine bathed my skin. But it wasn’t warm enough to burn away the uneasy fear that had first stirred on the astral plane. The no-face killer wasn’t my problem, but I still couldn’t escape the notion that he and I would meet again. I had to hope that notion was wrong, because I needed to get back to the business of chasing down portal keys and deadly sorcerers.
“Do you wish to return home now?” Azriel asked softly.
“I wish I could.” Wished he would just take me in his arms and hold me. Just hold me.
But he didn’t react in any way—even though he could follow my thoughts and knew my desires as clearly as if I’d spoken them—and I sighed softly. “But I need to collect my car from Adeline’s, and then we have that meeting at the rail station.”
“You should eat—”
I cut him off with an abrupt wave of the hand. “I’ll grab a burger and chips along the way.”
“That’s hardly what you need right now—”
“It’s food,” I cut in wearily. “And it’s better than nothing. You’re not my mom, so don’t nag me, Azriel.”
“Someone has to.” His blue eyes flashed with the annoyance he wasn’t quite containing. “Because you seem absurdly determined to run yourself into the ground.”
“And we can’t have that when there’s keys to be found, can we?”
“As I have said before,” he said coldly, “that is not a fair comment.”
I sighed. “Sorry.”
He once again accepted the apology with an almost regal incline of his head, then said, his tone still frosty, “You wish to go back to Adeline’s now?”
“Yes.”
He stepped close, and once more whisked us through the gray fields. Adeline jumped when we reappeared in her living room.
“Gracious,” she said, placing one hand on her heart. “You could at least give some warning before you pop into existence like that.”
“I thought you could sense reapers.” I stepped free from the warmth of Azriel’s arms, but distance did little to ease the fires his presence ignited. I picked up the cup of tea Adeline had poured earlier and gulped it down. I might not be fond of the stuff, but it was better than nothing.
“If they are on this plane, yes, but not before then.” She eyed me for a moment, then said, “You didn’t succeed in saving her.”
“No, but only because he didn’t keep his end of the bargain. He killed her too early.”
“He is a dark energy, so that can be expected.”
