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Azriel, stop poking the bear. I’ve already antagonized her enough.
That is a somewhat absurd statement, given she is clearly vampire, not bear.
Amusement slithered through me again, as he’d no doubt intended. He’d grown something of a sense of humor of late—which was, according to him, a consequence of spending far too much time in flesh form. Whether that was true or not, I had no idea, but I certainly preferred this more “human” version to the remote starchiness that had been present when he’d first appeared. You know what I mean.
Surprisingly, I do. He touched my shoulder, the contact light but somehow possessive. But her threats grow tedious. She must be made aware it gains her nothing.
Hunter laughed. The sound was harsh and cold, and sent another round of chills down my spine. “Reaper, you amuse me. One of these days, when I’m tired of this life, I might just be tempted to take you on.”
And she was crazy enough to do it, too.
“However,” she continued, “that time is not now. I will send you my friend’s address, Risa. The Directorate will arrive at his home at four. Please be finished with your initial investigation before then, and report your impressions immediately.”
I glanced at my watch. She’d given me a whole hour. Whoop-de-do. “Where does he live, and what sort of security system has he got in place?”
“I’ve just sent you all his details.”
My cell phone beeped almost immediately. I picked it up and glanced at the message. Hunter’s friend—who went by the very German-sounding name of Wolfgang Schmidt—lived in Brighton, a very upmarket suburb near the beach. No surprise there, I guess—I certainly couldn’t imagine her slumming it with the regular folk in places like Broadmeadows or Dandenong.
I read the rest of the text, then looked up at the main phone’s screen again. “Is the security system just key coded?”
“Yes. Wolfgang is—was—a very old-fashioned vampire. He saw no need for anything more than a basic system.”
And maybe, just maybe, that had gotten him killed. While there was no electronic security system on earth that would actually stop a demon, it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that something other than a demon had killed her vampire friend.
I mean, no one could ever be one hundred percent right all the time. Not even Hunter—although I’m sure she’d claim otherwise. And really, what sane person would argue the point with her when she wasn’t?
Certainly not me.
And yet you do, Azriel commented, a trace of amusement in his mental tone.
I think we’ve already established I’m not always sane. To Hunter, I added, “You’re not going to be there?”
“No.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“Because I have”—she hesitated, and an almost predatory gleam touched her gaze—“a meeting that needs to be attended.”
If that gleam was any indication, the so-called meeting involved bloodshed of some kind. After all, the council—and Hunter—considered it perfectly acceptable to punish those who broke the rules by allowing them to be ripped to shreds by younger vampires.
Still, it seemed odd that she wasn’t hanging around to garner my impressions, especially if she cared for the dead man as much as I suspected.
Like many who have lived for centuries, she has strayed from the path of humanity, Azriel commented. For her, emotions are fleeting, tenuous things.
But not all those who live so long find that fate. Uncle Quinn’s not far off Hunter in age, and he’s as emotional as anyone. Although he could also be as stoic and cold as any of them when the urge took him.
He is one of the few exceptions. It is very rare to live so long and hang on to humanity.
I glanced at him. Does that apply to reapers as well?
Reapers are not human, so we can hardly hang on to what we do not have.
But you are capable of emotions.
Again a smile touched his thoughts, and it shimmered through me like a warm summer breeze. Yes, we are, especially if we are foolish enough to remain in flesh too long.
In other words, I wasn’t to read too much into what he said or did while he wore flesh, because when all this was over, we’d both go our separate ways and life would return to normal.
