I pressed my body against his and hugged him close. Though he had no identifiable scent of his own, he smelled of rain and freshness, and the heat of his skin burned into mine, chasing away the chill and lending me strength.
His arm came around my waist, holding me steady as his gaze met mine. “Ready?”
I nodded, my eyes searching his, wondering at the slight flicker in those bright depths. It was almost as if he were fighting a reaction—although maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Or rather, stupid thinking. I had no real desire to get involved with a reaper, no matter how pretty or sexy the packaging. And he’d certainly given no indication that he wanted anything to do with me. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Power surged through the darkness. His energy enveloped me, running through every muscle, every fiber, until my whole body sang in tune with it. Until it felt like there was no me and no him, just the sum of the two of us—energy beings with no flesh to hold us in place.
And then the darkness was gone, the brick tunnel was gone, and we were in a place that was bright and vast and beautiful. The gray fields, but not as I saw them.
Then it, too, was gone, and suddenly I was surrounded by the familiar walls and scents of my apartment.
“I found her,” Azriel said, rather unnecessarily, because both Tao and Ilianna were bolting out of the kitchen and heading toward us at full speed.
And Ilianna at full speed was a fearsome sight. Even Azriel took a step back as she all but threw herself at us.
I disentangled my arms from Azriel’s neck, grunting as her weight hit and barely holding us both up. In fact, I think it was only the steadying hand Azriel placed on my back that kept me upright.
“You’re safe, you’re safe,” she whispered, smelling of fear and relief and tangerines. “God, I’ve been having such weird visions—”
“Ilianna,” Tao said gently, his gaze meeting mine briefly over the top of her head before moving on. He nodded an acknowledgment at the man who stood behind me. “She’s battered and bleeding. Right now she needs medical attention, not your weight.”
“Oh God, sorry.” She jumped away, her gaze sweeping the length of me. “You look like crap. And where are your jeans?”
“I used them to escape.” Her gaze jumped back to mine, but I waved the unasked question away. “Long story. Right now, I need Coke, something to eat, and to get off my bloody feet. Oh, and I need to get my bike back before someone decides to steal her.”
“I retrieved the bike once it became obvious you were missing. I knew you’d worry about her.” Tao stepped forward and swung me into his arms. “Ilianna, grab the med kit. I’ll handle the rest.”
He walked me across to the table, kicking a chair to the side and placing me on it. My feet he propped up on a second chair. “Stay,” he said, and disappeared into the kitchen.
I glanced across to Azriel. He was still standing where we’d appeared, but his sword was sheathed and his arms were crossed. It was a defensive stance, a watchful one. It had me suddenly wondering if the Aedh could track us here.
“Yes,” he said softly. “And the scent of them lingers. They have been here already.”
“Oh God—”
He disappeared before I’d even finished the sentence, then reappeared a heartbeat later. He did not look happy. “The book has gone.”
I closed my eyes briefly, relieved and yet not. Because while they’d at least taken it without harming Tao or Ilianna, they couldn’t read it or find the keys without me—if my father was to be believed, anyway.
Would they come back here the instant they realized that?
“Yes,” Azriel said.
I glanced up at him. “So you really can read my thoughts?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted, a glimmer that could have been amusement flaring briefly in his eyes. “But I have discovered over the years that human thoughts are often not worth listening to, so I usually don’t bother.”
“I’m not human.”
“No, you are not.”
And again that glimmer rose. Damn, I thought, a hint of heat touching my cheeks. He’d heard those thoughts.
I cleared my throat and said, “What took you so long to find me? I must have called your name a hundred times when I was being questioned.”
“There were impediments—barriers that prevented me getting any lock on your location.”