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I plopped down on one of the chairs and handed him the ribbon bracelet. “Put that on and don’t take it off.”
He raised his eyebrows, even as he did as I ordered. “What is it?”
“An early warning system against any sort of spell headed your way.”
He studied the twined ribbons, expression bemused. “Does it also protect against it?”
“Against all but the really dark stuff.”
“Then it is now a permanent feature on my wrist.”
I smiled and got back to the business at hand. “So you have nothing for us yet?”
“On the contrary, I currently have a list of over a thousand places,” he said. “Right now, I’m programming in variables using historical records and photographs in an effort to cut down the numbers.”
I blinked. “Why are you using old records and photographs?”
“Because it’s rare for modern buildings to have a coat of arms designed onto them, let alone one that’s been placed upside down or the wrong way around. And given it’s not unusual for a building to be renamed when a new business takes it over, I’m also doing a search through business registration records.”
“Good point. But I can’t justify sitting here doing nothing while the computers work. I need to be doing something.” Needed to be seen to be doing something. I very much suspected Hunter would not be pleased to hear that I was sitting around twiddling my thumbs, waiting for answers to appear on-screen.
Stane blew out a somewhat frustrated-sounding breath. “I guess there’s always a chance you could stumble on the right one.” He leaned over and flicked a list across to another screen. A second later, my phone beeped. “That’s the entire list of possibilities. I’ll continue sorting through them, so let me know if you do find the correct building.”
“I will.” I jumped to my feet, dragged out my phone, then brought up the list. The first town listed was Bairnsdale, which was one of the largest towns in the East Gippsland region. I’d only ever been there once, and that was when Ilianna and I had decided to spend a week or so exploring the Gippsland Lakes district. I glanced at Azriel. “Can you take us there?”
He nodded. “Your memory of the place is hazy, but there’s enough information for me to get us there.”
“Good.”
I glanced at Stane. “Talk to you soon.”
He nodded. Azriel whisked us out of there, and in very little time, we were standing in the shadows of Bairnsdale’s beautiful old rotunda. It was situated in the gardens that were maintained on the wide median strip that divided the two sections of Main Street. I glanced around, vaguely recognizing several of the shops, then brought up maps on my phone and plugged in the addresses of the possible key locations. More than an hour later, we’d checked out all of them, and there was nary a key in sight.
We repeated the process at the next two—much smaller—towns, with exactly the same results.
“This is next to useless.” I collapsed back onto a park seat somewhat dispiritedly.
“Yes,” Azriel said. “But you were well aware that was a possibility before we started.”
“Yeah, but I guess I was just hoping we might catch a break.” I scrubbed a hand across my eyes. “I suppose the only thing we can do is head back to the office and hope like hell Stane comes through with a smaller list of possibilities sooner rather than later.”
Although, if I was being honest, all I really wanted to do was head back to the hotel and catch some sleep. Nothing major—a week or two would do. But with Hunter’s deadline looming over our heads, I doubted I’d be able to sleep even if we could spare the time. At least if I was at the office, I could search the Net and make like I was looking even if Stane had more hope of getting a result than I ever did. At least on a computer, anyway.
Azriel didn’t say anything, but a second later, his energy surged around us, and I found myself sitting in the chair in the café’s office rather than on a park bench.
I raised an eyebrow, a grin teasing my lips. “So you really don’t need to touch me to transfer us both.”
“Of course not. As I’ve said previously, I merely prefer it.”
“You, reaper, are a lecher in the making.”
He raised an eyebrow. “If by that you mean I have a strong, sexually based desire to hold you in my arms, then yes. And I see nothing wrong with it.”
“Neither do I,” I replied mildly. “Except for the fact that until recently, you seemed quite determined to keep me at arm’s length.”
“Which was self-protection, as you well know.” He hesitated and tilted his head sideways slightly, as if listening to something. “It might interest you to know that Tao is downstairs.”
I stared at him for a minute, not quite believing I’d heard him right, then thrust up from the chair and bolted downstairs for the kitchen. I slammed through the kitchen’s double doors, saw Tao, and all but threw myself into his arms.
