“So I’ve noticed.” He’d crossed his arms and was watching me somewhat grimly, but Valdis flickered with red-gold fire and the energy that surrounded him became more heated than usual. And it echoed through me, stronger than that distant storm and far, far more alluring.
Which was not what either of us needed right now. I resolutely ignored him and concentrated on the business of getting dressed. Once I was, I walked back to the bed to grab my phone, checked the address Stane had sent me, then shoved it and my wallet into my pockets before finally turning around to meet his gaze again.
Heat still shimmered between us, and if Valdis was any indication, he seemed no more able to control or deny it than I could.
“Ready?” he asked softly.
I couldn’t help a slight smile. “Always.”
Amusement touched his lips and warmed the edges of his eyes. “I have noticed that about you.”
Then his energy swept through the two of us, and as one, we surged across the incandescent fields before finding shape once more in the shadows of a two-story building.
Still far too aware of him for my own good, I stepped quickly away from his embrace, but the sharp movement had the world doing a crazy dance around me. I locked my knees against the wobble in my legs, determined not to fall. Azriel held out a hand, not quite touching me, but obviously ready to catch me. I think it was only stubbornness that kept me upright.
After a moment I said, “Where are we?”
“We are in the front yard of the house across the road from Nadler’s,” Azriel said. “There is no one home, so there is no immediate hurry to move.”
Thankfully. I looked around, trying to get my bearings. The area we’d appeared in wasn’t what I’d expected. When Stane had said Portsea, I’d been imagining the Port Phillip Bay side near the golf club and the peninsula. This looked to be the back beach area—which meant the houses were a fraction cheaper and often older.
“What about Nadler’s? Is he—or anyone else—home?”
His house wasn’t much to look at—in fact, it was pretty much typical of the beach houses that could be found up and down the bay. It was flat-roofed, with the ground floor being brick and the first floor weatherboard, and it featured a wide balcony that jutted out from the first floor, supported on either side by steel poles. A flat-roofed carport stood on the left side, and in it sat a Toyota Land Cruiser.
“I cannot sense life inside,” Azriel commented.
I frowned. “Surely he couldn’t have up and disappeared in the few seconds it took us to get here.”
“I wouldn’t have thought so,” Azriel said. “And his vehicle is still there.”
“Maybe he’s visiting a neighbor.” I studied the houses on either side—which didn’t tell me a whole lot—then dug my phone out and called Stane.
“Hey, that was quick,” he said.
“We haven’t caught our man yet, so don’t get excited.”
“Well, damn.”
I smiled. “Can you check his location for us again?”
“Hang on.” A slight whoosh sound told me he was rolling from one desk to the other, and then he said, “He’s still at the house. Why?”
“Because Azriel’s not picking up any sign of life inside the house, that’s why.”
“Maybe he’s just left his phone there.”
“Maybe.” But somehow, I didn’t think so. Instinct was suddenly suggesting the reason was a whole lot darker than that. “Thanks, Stane. I’ll get back to you.”
I shoved the phone away and met Azriel’s gaze. “I guess we should go in there and check it out.”
He nodded, caught my hand, and tugged me toward him again. We reappeared in what looked like some sort of rumpus room. It ran the width of the house and was very shadowed, thanks to the fact that all the blinds had been pulled down. A large TV and several sofas dominated one end, while on the other, there was a Ping-Pong table, and on the wall a much-used dartboard. The faint aroma of toast lingered in the air, but there was no kitchen in this room, so it was obviously drifting down from somewhere else. But there was something else underneath that scent—something odd and unpleasant.>“Are you okay?” Azriel asked softly.
His breath tickled the top of my head and stirred a sense of well-being deep inside. Or maybe well-being wasn’t the right word—it was more a sense of safety. Of being right.
Which was dangerous thinking—things would never be safe or right while the Aedh, the reapers, and Hunter were all such fixtures in my life.
I pulled out of his warm embrace and took a step back. The big living room felt so much colder without the cocoon of his warmth.