Darkness Falls (Dark Angels 7)

I waved a hand. “Nothing. This whole key quest thing is just getting me down.”

“If I can help in any way—”

“I know.” I squeezed his arm. His peace with the elemental was too new, too fragile, to even think about bringing him back into the quest, even if I had wanted to.

Which I didn’t.

“I have my phone with me, so if I don’t answer it immediately, leave a message,” he said. “You know I’ll be there if I can.”

“I know. And thank you.” I kissed his cheek. “Go, before the elemental starts getting antsy.”

He turned and went. I listened to the sound of his retreating steps, and though part of me rejoiced that he’d f

ound a solution that enabled him to live, part of me also felt like crying. Because nothing was ever going to be the same. The tight-knit group we’d grown up with had fractured, ever so slightly, and it couldn’t ever go back to what it was. The events of the last few weeks had changed us all, and not entirely for the better.

“I do hope I’m not included in the ‘not entirely better’ portion of that thought,” Azriel said, amusement in his voice.

“You, reaper,” I said, as I turned and headed for the sofa, “generally have a foot in both fields, depending on where my hormones are at the time.”

“Then it is your hormones that are the problem, not me.”

I kicked off my shoes and lay down. “You’re the reason the hormones are going haywire, though.”

“Hardly the only reason,” he said, the amusement stronger. “It does, after all, take two to make a life, whether in this world or in mine.”

“Yeah, but you could have warned me your rockets were such fertile little buggers.”

The amusement faded from him. “Do you regret it? The pregnancy, that is?”

I shot him a surprised look. “Hell, no. I’ve always wanted kids. I could have done with the time to get to know you better, but aside from that, no regrets.”

“Ah. Good.” His relief ran through me, bright and shiny—an indication of just how important my answer had been to him.

“Azriel, you can read my mind. Surely you knew that whatever else I might regret, the pregnancy wasn’t one of them.”

“One of the side effects of sharing my life force with you is your ability to now shield some portions of your thoughts from me.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “Your feeling on the pregnancy was one such thought.”

I frowned. “I wasn’t doing it intentionally.”

“Perhaps not, but it was nevertheless a source of tension for me.”

“Well, you should have just asked. It’s not like you haven’t been vocal about all sorts of other things.”

“But if I had, I might have received an answer I did not desire. I would rather face ten hordes of demons than the knowledge that you did not want our child.”

“You, reaper, are an idiot.” I rose, walked across, and hugged him as fiercely as Tao had me only moments before. Then I stepped back and gave him a somewhat stern look. “The thing is, I not only want this child, but lots of little brothers and sisters for him as well. You’d better start preparing, reaper, because you have a lot of work ahead of you.”

“A task I look forward to.” He tapped my nose lightly. “And now, you should do what we came here to do.” And let us hope that Markel still watches, not Janice Myer.

Because if it was Janice, I might have to kill her, as I had Nick Krogan. Just thinking about the possibility had my stomach turning over.

I returned to the sofa, got comfortable, then closed my eyes. In very short time, I was back on the fields. The fates were with us for a change—Markel was our watcher.

He smiled and gave me a somewhat formal bow as I appeared. I take it you have come here because of Hunter’s recent actions.

So you know about Jack’s disappearance?

I am charged with following you astrally, remember. I heard your conversation with your uncle.