Darkness Rising (Dark Angels 2)

I hesitated, studying him, torn by the need to do whatever I could to help him and the growing desire to protect them both. “Look, if you think he needs it, call in some healers. But don’t leave this place. The Raziq are on the prowl, and this is the only place we know for sure they can’t penetrate.”

“But we can’t stay here forever!”

“I know, and we won’t. It’s just for the next twenty-four hours.” I squeezed her shoulder gently. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“God, I hope so.” She took in a long shuddery breath, then added, “Be careful, won’t you?”

“I will.” And bit back the instinctive urge to tell her the same, to warn her that Tao might not be the person he was if and when he woke. But on some instinctive level, she’d be aware of that—and as a powerful witch, she’d certainly be aware of the energy storm deep with Tao.

I gave her a tense smile, then walked back across the clearing to grab Amaya—and stopped when I saw the Dušan’s book. Or rather, the remains of it. It must have been caught in the last explosion, and it had been all but destroyed.

Damn it, could nothing go our way for a change?

I knelt and gently picked the book up. The leather binding crumbled under my touch and was blown away in cindery pieces by the gentle breeze. There was little left of the pag

es inside—just browned remnants as fragile as the cover. So much for Azriel thinking it would be safer here than on the gray fields.

I dropped it back on the ground, brushed my hands free of its grit, and stood up. There was nothing I could do about the book, and certainly no chance that I’d learn the location of the rest of the keys. I just had to rely on what I had.

And what I had wasn’t a lot.

I picked up Amaya and cased her back into her sheath. Her song was a strand of anger that buzzed at the far reaches of consciousness. It was slightly stronger than before, but certainly no clearer. And right now, I was happy about that. I wasn’t sure I was ready to understand the language of a sword who relished death and destruction so much.

I strode out of the clearing. Many of the trees were still on fire but, oddly, the fire wasn’t spreading. Maybe whatever forces lived and breathed awareness—if not life—into this old ritual site were somehow containing the spread. Right now I was willing to believe just about anything, including a forest that was more than it seemed.

The gates were closed, but opened as I approached. A chill went through me. Far too aware, I thought, as I stepped through them.

Azriel was waiting on the other side. His gaze swept me, and a slight frown marred his otherwise impassive features. “You are injured.”

Which was stating the obvious given I was still clutching my side and breathing as shallowly as I could. And hell, I could be just as obvious. “And you escaped the fields before the Raziq could grab you.”

He either didn’t get the sarcasm in my voice or was ignoring it. I rather suspected the latter.

He said, “They were diverted.”

I blinked. “Diverted how?”

“The how does not matter, just the result. How is your side?”

I shrugged, annoyed that he wasn’t telling me how he escaped yet not entirely surprised. “I’ll survive. We need to find those keys.”

He studied me for a moment, then nodded. “What clues did the book give?”

I told him what I’d read, and he shook his head. “That’s not much to go on.”

“No. We need to sit down and try to work out the possibilities.” I hesitated. “We’ll need Lucian’s help.”

“There is no need—”

“Azriel,” I said wearily, “right now I have a friend who may or may not die, another who is scared out of her wits, and I’m injured and tired. I just need it all to be finished. I don’t really care what you do or don’t think about Lucian. I think we need his help when we go get the keys, and I’m going to use him, whether you like it or not.”

“Tao won’t die,” he said. “And you must live with whatever consequences arise out of using the Aedh.”

Knowing Tao would live didn’t relieve any of the tension still riding me, because living and remaining the man we’d grown up with and loved were two entirely seperate things.

“Azriel, I’ve been living with the goddamn consequences ever since you, the Raziq, and my father all decided to screw up my life!” I thrust a hand through my sweaty hair and sighed. Arguing with him wasn’t going to get me anywhere. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel. I’m gathering it’ll still be safe there?”

He shrugged. “It’s probably safer than your apartment.”