AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Of course there was. I mean, why wouldn’t fate just chuck more fuel into the bonfire of insanity that was my life at the moment? “Same MO?”
“Apparently. The report came in via Directorate channels, and it is not someone I know.”
Thank god for that. The last thing we needed was for someone to be targeting Hunter’s friends or lovers. She was close enough to the edge as it was. “I’m guessing you want me to check it out?”
“Yes. The address has been sent, so get there.” Something flashed in her eyes. Something that was almost unholy. “Find this thing, Risa.”
She hung up. The phone beeped as her message came in. I glanced at it, noting that this time, the murder had occurred in the more middle-class suburb of Caulfield.
Azriel appeared in the kitchen. “How do you wish to travel there?”
I hesitated. “As much as I’d love to go on my bike, I’m thinking that when Hunter said ‘get there,’ she meant immediately.” If not sooner. I grabbed some gloves out of the cupboard under the sink, then stepped toward him. “Ready when you are, chief.”
His arms came around me, wrapping me in warmth. “Hardly an appropriate name when you never listen to a word I say, let alone do what I say.”
Though his tone was light, there was an edge that suggested there was more emotion behind the comment than he’d intended me to hear. I glanced up quickly, but his power surged, sweeping us from flesh to energy in a heartbeat before zipping us through the gray fields.
“Azriel—” I said, as we re-formed, but the rest of the sentence was cut off by a sudden and angry, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
And the shit just hit the fan, I thought, but plastered a smile on my face as I turned around. Uncle Rhoan stood in the doorway of the ultramodern brick and concrete two-story house, his red hair glowing in the last remnants of daylight and gray eyes glinting with anger. Obviously, Hunter had not given me priority over the Directorate this particular time.
“I was asked here,” I said. “Believe me, I’m no happier about it than you are.”
He eyed me for a moment, expression disbelieving. “Are you saying Jack ordered you here?”
“Yes, I am.” And heaven help me if Jack didn’t back that statement up.
If Rhoan detected the lie, he gave no indication of it. He came down the steps and strode toward me. I held my ground in the face of his fierceness, even though all I wanted to do was run.
“Why the fuck would he do that? You’re not Directorate.”
No, I was something far worse—Hunter’s go-to girl when it came to all things hell related. And while Jack might be the senior vice president of the Directorate and the man who ran the guardian division, it was Hunter who held the reins of overall control. She also happened to be Jack’s sister, and he was undoubtedly wise enough not to go against her wishes—not even when it came to something that would ultimately cause him grief. Uncle Rhoan had not been a happy camper last time I’d been called in to help the Directorate, even though that had been totally accidental. The lunatic he’d been hunting just happened to be the same one I’d come across on the astral plane, and the creepy bastard had subsequently decided he only wanted to play his games with me.>You cannot beat yourself up over decisions others are ultimately responsible for, Azriel commented. Tao had the choice. He chose to help, just as he chose to save Ilianna by consuming the elemental.
If he weren’t there, he wouldn’t have had to make the decision.
And Ilianna would now be dead. You cannot have all things, Risa. Fate is not a generous woman at the best of times.
Yeah, I’m learning that. To Rachel, I said, “Did you try his phone?”
“I can’t, because all his belongings are still upstairs. He didn’t even change.”
Damn. I closed my eyes for a moment and fought for calm. “Do you need me to get someone in?”
She hesitated. “Jacques is due in next shift—perhaps if you could get him to arrive a little earlier? We’re not usually rushed until after six most Tuesday evenings.”
“I’ll do that. Let me know if Tao does show up again.”
“I will.”
She hung up. I called Jacques and asked him to start early, then threw the phone onto the bed and glanced at Azriel. “I don’t suppose it’s possible for you to locate Tao via his life force, is it?”
“That would depend very much on which life force is in control. If it is the elemental, then no.”
“Well, at least we’d know for sure if the elemental has taken over.”
Azriel nodded. “It may take me a few minutes. Do not leave the security of this place while I am gone.”
“I won’t.”
