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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.
I wanted that. I really did.
But at the same time, it was becoming harder and harder to imagine life without Azriel in it.
He made no comment on that particular thought, and I returned my attention to Hunter. “Once I’ve checked out the crime scene, what then? Are you going to tell me more about him, or am I expected to work on this case completely blind?”
“Impressions first,” she said, and hung up.
“Fuck you and the broom you rode in on,” I muttered, then leaned back in my chair. “Well, this totally sucks.”
“An unfortunate consequence of agreeing to work with someone like Hunter is being at her beck and call.” He spun my chair around, then squatted in front of me and took my hands in his. His fingers were warm against mine, his touch comforting. “But there is little we can do until your mother’s killer is caught.”
I snorted softly. “Even if we do find her killer, do you really think she’s going to let me go?”
“We both know the answer to that. But once the killer is caught, we will be in a better position to deny her.”
“Maybe.” And maybe not. After all, Hunter wouldn’t have any qualms about threatening the lives of my friends if it meant securing long-term obedience.
“It does not pay to worry about things that may never happen.”
“No.” I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his as I closed my eyes. “I guess we’d better get moving. I want to be out of that house before the Directorate gets there.”
“Do you wish me to transport us there?”
His breath washed across my lips and left them tingling. Half of me wanted to kiss him, and the other half just wanted him to wrap his arms around me and hold me like he never intended to let go. Unfortunately, neither was particularly practical right now.
And it was a sad statement about my life when desire gave way to practicality.
“It’ll be faster if you do.” While I could shift into my Aedh form and travel there under my own steam, my energy levels were still low and I really didn’t want to push it. Not yet, not for something like this.
He rose, dragging me up with him, then wrapped his arms around me.
“Wait.” I broke from his grasp and moved around the desk, striding out of my office and down to the storeroom at the other end of the hall. We kept all of RYT’s—which was the name of the café I owned with two of my best friends, Ilianna and Tao—nonperishable items up here, which meant not only things like spare plates, cutlery, and serviettes, but also serving gloves. It was the latter I needed, simply because the last thing I wanted was to be leaving fingerprints around Wolfgang’s house for the Directorate and Uncle Rhoan to find. I tore open a box, shoved a couple of the clear latex gloves into the pocket of my jeans, then headed back into the office. I grabbed my cell phone from the desk and let myself be wrapped in the warmth of Azriel’s arms again. “Okay, go for it.”
The words had barely left my mouth when his power surged through me, running along every muscle, every fiber, until my whole body sang to its tune. Until it felt like there was no me and no him, just the sum of us—energy beings with no flesh to hold us in place.
All too quickly, my office was replaced by the gray fields. Once upon a time the fields had been little more than thick veils and shadows—a zone where things not sighted on the living plane gained substance. But the more time I spent in Azriel’s company, the more “real” the fields became. This time, the ethereal, beautiful structures that filled this place somehow seemed more solid, and instead of the reapers being little more than wispy, luminous shapes, I could now pick out faces. They glowed with life and energy, reminding me of the drawings of angels so often seen in scriptures—beautiful and yet somehow alien.
Then the fields were gone, and we regained substance. And though it involved no effort on my part, it still left my head spinning.
“You,” he said, expression concerned, “are not recovering as quickly as you should.”
“It’s been a hard few weeks.” I stepped back to study the building in front of us, even though all I really wanted to do was remain in his arms. That, however, was not an option. Not now and certainly not in the future. Not on any long-term, forever-type basis, anyway.
Which, if I was being at all honest with myself, totally sucked. But then, I had a very long history of falling for inappropriate men. Take my former Aedh lover, Lucian, for instance.
“Let’s not,” Azriel said, voice grim as he touched my back and then lightly waved me forward.
Amusement teased my lips. “He’s out of my life, Azriel, and no longer a threat to whatever plans you—”
“It is not the threat to me I worry about,” he cut in, voice irritated.
I raised my eyebrows. “Well, he can hardly threaten me, given he and everyone else wants the damn keys.”
“His need for the keys did not stop his attempt to strangle you.”
Well, no, it hadn’t. But I suspected Lucian’s actions had been little more than a momentary lapse of control—one he would have snapped out of before he’d actually killed me. Although, to be honest, I hadn’t actually been so certain of that when his hands had been around my neck.
