Darkness Hunts (Dark Angels 4)

“Dead, if your expression is any indication.”

“Very. There’s maggots, so she’s been here a while.”

He swore softly but vehemently. “Damn it, this bastard’s death will be neither quick nor pleasant when I get my hands on him.”

“Good.” I hesitated. “You might want to investigate the warehouse, too. I don’t think it’s connected in any way to these murders, but someone has electrified the fencing, so there’s obviously something here worth protecting.”

“What, you haven’t investigated? Color me shocked.”

I grinned. “See, there is some common sense left in me after all.”

“Apparently so.” He glanced away briefly as someone murmured something behind him, then said, “I’ll get another cleanup team out there. There’s no need for you to hang around.”

“Good, because I need to go home and shower.”

“Ring me if you happen to chase down either the club or the man Vonda mentioned,” he said. “Don’t go off investigating them by yourself. This bastard is too dangerous.”

I knew that. Not only had I seen the rotting evidence of it in the container behind me, but I’d confronted him on the astral fields. It was not an experience I wanted to repeat in real life.

“I won’t—don’t worry.”

“The more you say that, the more I will,” he muttered, and hung up.

I shoved the phone back into my pocket, then raised my face to the sky, letting the sun bathe the chill from my flesh. After a few minutes, I said, “This is not getting me home.”

“No.”

Azriel’s voice held a slight edge, and I glanced at him. “What?”

“I am just wondering if you’re going to be sensible enough to let me take you there or not.”

“Given your somewhat dour expression, I’d say you’ve already guessed that particular answer.”

He sighed. “There is no need to tax your strength when I can very easily—”

“Azriel, I can’t keep doing this. I can’t touch you, or be kissed by you, without wanting more. I understand the dangers you’ve mentioned—I do—but if you want resistance, then that has to mean complete distance.”

He studied me for a moment, then gave a quick, sharp nod. “Perhaps you are right. It is shortsighted of me to expect such control from you when I am not able to find it in myself.”

And with that, he disappeared again. And this time I couldn’t even feel him in the immediate vicinity. He had obviously gone back to watching from a distance.

Not what I’d wanted at all.>The heat and energy that was my Aedh half surged with the defiant thought, numbing pain and dulling sensation as it invaded every muscle, every cell, breaking them down and tearing them apart, until my flesh no longer existed and I became one with the air. Until I held no substance, no form, and could not be seen or heard or felt by anyone or anything who wasn’t reaper or Aedh.

I swept in under the gate and headed toward the back of the warehouse building. Even though I had no flesh in Aedh form, I felt heavy and movement was slow. It was just as well I didn’t have far to go, because I wasn’t going to be able to hold this form for long.

I’d barely reached the rear of the warehouse when my energy gave out and I hit the ground with an undignified splat. I stayed there for several minutes, my head booming and my breath a harsh rasp that burned my throat. Azriel, wise person that he was, didn’t say a word, although he was standing so close that the heat of him washed over me, chasing the worst of the tremors away.

I took a deep, somewhat shuddery breath, then released my grip on my purse and phone and climbed slowly to my feet. The world did a couple of mad turns, then settled. I swept the sweaty strands of hair from my forehead and, with some determination, walked on.

Azriel followed closely. I had a suspicion he was ready to catch me should I fall—a distinct possibility considering how shaky my legs still felt.

My gaze swept the old building as we neared the rear entrance. It was covered in grime, and there were cracked and broken windows along its entire length, but the roof—or the bits I’d seen of it—seemed in far better condition than what I’d expected. Once again I couldn’t escape the notion that someone was using this place—and that there would be more than just electrified fencing waiting if we dared go inside.

Something I really didn’t want to do.

“There is no need,” Azriel commented. “The magic comes not from within the building, but from a container over to our left. This way.”

I followed him through the maze of rusted and rotting containers, although my strides were a whole lot less elegant and assured. In fact, I was amazed I was even still walking, given how crappy I felt.