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Tao straightened just a little. The determined light in his eyes became stronger. “Then I should at least stop my whining and give it a try.” He gave me a somewhat wan smile. “Because if I give up and take the easy way out, I have no doubt that, being a Mijai in waiting and all, you’ll find a way to make my afterlife hell.”
“Too damn right.” I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight for several seconds. When I finally stepped away, I added, “Do you want me to send a boatload of supplies up to the sacred site?”
He scrubbed a hand across his jaw, the sound not unlike sandpaper across a wall. “Might be wise. There’s a ton of rabbits up there, but I have a feeling it might not be a good idea to hunt and kill anything within the walls of that place.”
“Well, it was a witch sacred site.” Besides, spilling blood tended to raise darker magic, and given that wild magic was alive and well within the boundaries of the place, who knew what might happen.
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” He touched a hand to my face, his fingers warm against my skin but no longer dangerously so. “I’ll see you soon.”
It was more a question than a statement, and I smiled. “You will.”
He glanced past me, nodded at Azriel, then turned and walked away. I crossed my arms and watched him leave.
And wondered whether I’d ever see him again.
“That,” Azriel said, “depends entirely on what now happens between him and the elemental.”
“And whether we actually survive.”
“That, too.” He stepped up behind me and rubbed my arms lightly. “You should go inside. You’re cold.”
“Yes, I am.” But I didn’t move. Not until the very last traces of Tao’s scent had left the air, and all that was left was the gathering sense of the storm and the aroma of rotting rubbish.
On my way through the kitchen, I grabbed some bread and a couple of thick slices of beef, munching on them as I made my way through the café. The news was being shown on one of the TVs, and the picture of a tall, thin man with dark auburn hair and muddy, empty eyes flashed onto the screen. I frowned, trying to remember where I’d seen him before.
“He was one of the three vampires who was with Hunter at that blood-whore establishment,” Azriel said. “It was he who commanded you to stay in that room with the ghosts until the Rakshasa appeared.”
The vampire with the silky-smooth voice, I thought with a frown. The councillor whose energy had felt dark and coiled. But why had he suddenly made a news report? I was under the impression those on the high vampire council preferred to fly under the radar. I stepped closer to listen to the report.
The body of high councillor Angus Donvale was found in his home today, the newsreader said. Police indicated that while there was no sign of either a break-in or a struggle, Donvale’s body had been mutilated almost beyond recognition.
The news went on, and it got worse. Two more murders, both prominent businessmen, both vampires. Both attacked with a ferocity that went beyond mere murder. The newsreader noted that the Directorate had been called in but at the moment had no comment. Nor were they discounting a possible link between all three murders.
I had to wonder whether they would ever actually find that link, or if this case would simply become yet another in a long list of unsolved crimes.
Because I had no doubt who was behind these murders. Had no doubt why.
My stomach began to churn, and my sandwich suddenly lost its taste. My gaze met Azriel’s. His expression was grim.
“It would seem,” he said, saying what I feared, too, “that Hunter has begun to exterminate all those who would oppose her.”
Chapter 6
I dumped the uneaten portion of my sandwich in a nearby bin, then tucked the plate behind the counter, out of the way. “Angus Donvale didn’t seem to be in opposition to Hunter the day we met him. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
“The fact that he apparently supported Hunter in her dealings with you does not mean he supported her overall,” Azriel noted. “The majority of vampires, from what I have witnessed during my time here on Earth, always seem to put their own interests first and foremost.”
I snorted softly. “If they were putting their own interests first, they sure as hell wouldn’t be going up against Hunter in any way.”
“Unless, of course, they thought the end reward was greater than the risk.”
“Which I guess they did. And because of that, they’re dead.” As dead as we would be, if we weren’t very careful.
“Except for the technicality that you can’t actually die this time around,” Azriel noted, pressing his fingers against my spine and gently guiding me toward the stairs. “You become a Mijai on your death, and that does have certain benefits in this particular case.”
I raised my eyebrows as I began to climb the stairs. “How is becoming a dark angel a benefit in this case?”
A smile lurked in the mismatched blue of his eyes, despite the seriousness of his expression. “It means you could come back and kill her. I’m sure Amaya would be willing enough to help out.”
