Darkness Rising (Dark Angels 2)

“There are Cazadors examining that situation as we speak.” She pushed to her feet. “I wish an update once you talk to Catherine. I need to keep the council informed as to your progress.”

“And what if there isn’t any?”

“I still wish an update.”

Her expression made me gulp. No progress was not an option if I valued my life. “Is it possible to get a list of anyone who might have held a grudge against Alston and Boulanger?”

“That could be a very long list.”

“Meaning you’ll arrange it?”

“The list is being prepared as we speak,” she said, a cool smile teasing her lips again. “But it is an encouraging sign that you’ve asked. You might yet survive this little task of ours.”

She turned and walked out of the room, but her scent and her presence lingered, casting darkness through the sunlit room.

As soon as she’d vanished, Azriel reappeared. Valdis lay quiet across his back. “She does not linger. She has left the house.”

Tension slithered from my limbs, and I blew out a breath. “Do you have any idea what might be attacking the councilors?”

He shrugged. “There are many things—both in the gray fields and beyond—capable of such acts.”

“But surely most of them would have enough sense not to attack a councilor.”

“Most of them,” he corrected, “would only do so if ordered. Those who break through the dark gates under their own power are generally not so selective with their targets.”

Probably because they knew the Mijai would be on their tails, and that, if they were caught, their fate would be eternal death, not eternal hell. “Has anything like that broken through recently?”

He shrugged. “Things break though all the time.”

In other words, either he had no idea or he wasn’t going to tell me. I squashed the flare of irritation and glanced at my watch. It was nearly ten thirty, so I had to get going if I wanted to make my appointment with Catherine Alston. Given that she was a high councilor—and generally you had to have a few hundred years under your belt to even be considered for the local council—I suspected it would be a bad move to be late. I met Azriel’s gaze again. “Are you going to be present at the interview?”

“Do you wish me to be?”

I hesitated, then nodded. “We both know you’re going to be listening in anyway, and I think I’d feel safer if you were an actual, physical presence.”

“Meaning you do not trust this vampire?”

“Right now, I’m not much into trusting anyone.”

He studied me for a moment, his face as impassive as ever even if I felt an odd sense of fierceness emanating from him. “Even me?”

Especially you, I wanted to say, but that wasn’t entirely true. “I wouldn’t be asking you to watch my back if I didn’t trust you to do it.”

“Which does not entirely answer the question.”

“No, it does not.”

I gathered my things from the table then brushed past him and headed down the stairs. No footsteps followed me, but I felt his presence nonetheless. And this time, annoyance seemed to mingle with the fierce heat of him.

Although why he’d be annoyed I wasn’t entirely sure. At least I was being honest—which was a lot more than I could say about him.

My phone rang as I neared the front door. I tucked everything under my arm, then dug the phone out of my pocket with my other hand.

“Tao,” I said, as his handsome features appeared on the vid-phone’s screen. “What’s up? Is there a problem at the café?”

Tao, Illiana, and I weren’t only best friends who shared an apartment together, we also co-owned RYT’s—a café situated right in the heart of Lygon Street’s famed restaurant and club district. We had a prime position near the Blue Moon, and had been so busy lately that all of us had been working extra shifts. Not that I particularly minded; the more I worked, the less time I had to think about Mom. But it also meant I had less free time to spend with Lucian, who’d come to my rescue a couple of months ago and had quickly become my lover. He’d never be anything more than that, because—like Reapers—Aedh were unemotional creatures. Lucian might be a sexual being, but he didn’t want or need anything more. Which was okay by me. Having suffered the heartbreak of one broken romance, I wasn’t ready to step into another. Sex for the fun of it was all I wanted right now. And with Lucian, fun was always guaranteed.

Tao laughed, the warm sound jarring against the cold stillness of the house. “Can’t I call my best friend without her expecting something to be up?”