Seven would still leave me time to see Tao. “Okay. Save me a barstool.”
“Naturally.” He hesitated, then added softly, “I love the new hair color. Makes your eyes stand out more.”
And with that, he disconnected. I swore softly and wished that he—and the past—would just leave me alone. Which was a stupid desire, since I was the one responsible for bringing him back into my life. The past was always going to come as accompanying baggage.
I finished my breakfast, then went back into my bedroom, swapping my dress for a summer top and jeans. Although the jeans I found myself reaching for were the Kevlar-infused ones, and that had me wondering if my sometimes unreliable clairvoyance ability sensed a bike fall in the near future. I hoped not—I didn’t want the Ducati damaged.
It was close to five by the time I locked up and headed down the side steps to the garage. Azriel was waiting near my bike, his expression as remote as I’d ever seen it. Not happy about something, that was for sure.
“What’s happening?” he asked, his voice as neutral as his expression.
I raised an eyebrow as I plucked my helmet free of its stand. “What, you haven’t been following every single thought I’ve had since I woke up?”
Yellow fire flicked up Valdis’s side, although Azriel’s expression remained stony. “You know that’s not possible when Ilianna’s wards are powered up. She has placed far more restrictions than your father did.”
“How is that something I’m supposed to know when you’ve never bothered to tell me before now?”
He ignored the sarcasm in my voice and simply said, “I take it Jak called?”
“Yes.” I sat astride my bike and half wondered if he was annoyed because Lucian was allowed into the warehouse and he wasn’t. “He refuses to discuss anything on the phone, so I’m meeting him at seven.”
“But you’re going to see Tao first?”
“Yes.” I eyed him for a moment, wondering again why he’d reverted back to the stiff and unyielding Azriel I’d first met. It couldn’t just be annoyance over Lucian, surely. I added silently, Is our watcher still near?
Yes.
Which meant I’d better act like I’d been investigating the case rather than sleeping and fucking. “Did you manage to scope out any information about the Rakshasa?”
“Some. I’m told the best way to kill them is to smash the heart of their dark god, which is usually to be found in a sacred urn within their lair. This will make the Rakshasa stay in flesh, and render them easier to kill.”
“Their lair?”
He nodded. “Apparently they are found in packs of six or more.”
Fabulous. Not. “If there’s six or more of them, I can’t say I fancy the idea of tracking them back to their lair. Surely there’s another way to kill them…”
“If you can trap it when it’s about to consume its next victim, then white ash, silver, or even sunlight might destroy it.”
Might. Not a good word choice. “What about the others in the lair?”
“There is usually only one hunter per pack. Take out the hunter, and you probably destroy the others.”
“Which means we need to be there when it selects its next victim, then track it home if the trap doesn’t work.” I stared at him as dread settled into the pit of my stomach. “And that means keeping watch at Dark Earth. That’s not something I want to do.”
“Then do not.” But remember, you do this because you fear Hunter and her council. He paused, then added, with a little more emphasis than was needed, How do you think she would react if you backed out of this investigation now?
Badly. And with much venom. I sighed. “Dark Earth is not a place I want to go near again—especially at night.”
“I’ll be there.”
And he would protect me as much as he could. I knew that. But I also knew he was just one against a possible frenzy.>“I might. I might not.” I hesitated, then added in a more biting tone, “Which right now is exactly what I’m thinking when it comes to seeing you again.”
He chuckled softly. “As if you could give up what we share so easily. Do not fool yourself, Risa. Roughhouse or not, you enjoyed every inch of what we did here today.”
“I did, but that isn’t the point.” I ran my fingers through my sweaty, matted hair, then added, “Just go. I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to smell you, and I certainly don’t want to feel you. Not now, and not in the foreseeable future.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And just how am I to get out, given the wards and the security system you have installed in this place?”