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He disappeared, and I headed for the shower. For the longest time, I did nothing more than stand under the water, letting the heat wash the ache from my bruised body and the scents of lust and Lucian from my skin. I wished it could similarly wash the niggling sense of violation from my mind, but there was nothing in this world that could do that except time.
I ran my fingers across my belly and wondered if I did indeed carry the beginnings of life deep inside. Wondered how I would feel if it turned out to be Lucian’s rather than Azriel’s.
Another two questions only time could answer.
I took a somewhat shuddery breath, then got the hell out of the shower and dressed. Worrying over events far in the future was not particularly the best way to spend my time at the moment. Not when I had keys to not only find but, hopefully, this time, keep. How we were going to do that given the whole Lucian situation, I had no idea, but one thing was certain. The bastard might think he held all the cards, but there was always, always, a way out. You just had to look hard enough.
And perhaps be willing to pay the ultimate price.
But that price would not be Ilianna’s death. That was the one place I would not go.
Azriel, it seemed, had been picking up cooking tips from somewhere, because this time he’d produced the world’s biggest steak and some steamed veggies.
I sat down and tucked in with gusto. Once I’d demolished everything on my plate, I grabbed my Coke, sat back, and asked the one question that had been quietly bugging me. “Why weren’t you able to rescue me?”
“Because, as you have already guessed, he used magic to not only snatch you, but to disguise your whereabouts.”
“And Jak?”
“Unharmed.” His voice was as neutral as his expression. “I will admit to a somewhat angry response to his part in your abduction, but I controlled it the minute I realized he was an unwilling participant.”
“Meaning you beat him up, then healed him?”
“Something like that.” He returned my gaze evenly. “He does not now remember the event.”
Meaning the event, as he put it, had been pretty bad. “I told you Jak wouldn’t willingly betray me, Azriel.”
“He has before, so that is an illogical statement.”
Perhaps it was, but I nevertheless believed it. “What, exactly, did Lucian do to him?”
“Nothing more than luring him to the warehouse with the promise of a story, then capturing his mind.”
Which was why Jak hadn’t really sounded himself. They had been Lucian’s words, not Jak’s. I drank some Coke, enjoying the fuzzy goodness for several seconds before saying, “We need to find Ilianna. Until she’s free, we’re stuck doing whatever Lucian wants us to do.”
“I would suspect that he has her position well hidden by his magic.”
I frowned. “Does it take much magic to do that sort of thing?”
He shrugged, the movement brief but somehow elegant. “I am not knowledgeable when it comes to magic, but I would suspect so.”
“So perhaps what we need is someone who is not only knowledgeable in all matters magic, but who is able to detect such things.”
“Ilianna’s mother.”
I nodded and thrust upward. “We need to go see—”
I cut the rest of the sentence off as a phone rang. It wasn’t my phone—I hadn’t yet gotten around to charging the damn thing—but rather a phone coming from Tao’s room. It was answered after a few seconds, but that didn’t do much to ease the tension suddenly running through me.
I knew who was making that call. Knew why.
After a few minutes, Tao stumbled out, looking somewhat disheveled and far from awake. “It’s Mirri,” he said, thrusting the phone at me. “She’s not making sense. Is Ilianna missing or something?”
“Yes.” I grabbed the phone and said, “It’s okay, Mirri. I know what’s happened to her, and she’s okay.”
“Oh, thank god.” Tears filled her bright eyes. “I was so afraid something bad had happened to her. Where is she? Why hasn’t she contacted me?”
Something bad had happened, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. At the same time, I couldn’t not tell her what was going on. I hesitated, then said, “I’m afraid she’s being held hostage against my good behavior. She hasn’t been hurt, and won’t be, as long as I do everything her kidnapper says.”
