So why did she seem familiar to me? I didn’t know, and that niggled.
“I still would not erase the possibility that she is involved, especially considering the chrání’s liaison with her. Everything he does, he does with intent.”
“Like master, like student,” I muttered.
“Indeed,” my father agreed. “I taught him well.”
Too fucking well. And the worst thing was, he was yet another person who was going to create trouble for me in the weeks ahead.
I rubbed my forehead wearily. “Look, you called me here for a reason. What is it?”
“What else would it be? You need to find the next key.”
“You still want me to find it after the shitty mess I made of the last attempt?” It was a stupid question, but I couldn’t help asking it all the same. I mean, miracles did occasionally occur, and there was always the faint hope that my father would decide I was useless and try to find someone else.
And by tomorrow, pigs will have flown.
“You are my only child, and therefore my only option.”
Meaning if he’d had another option he probably would have taken it. And as much as I’d always longed for a sibling, I was suddenly glad that I was an only child. It was bad enough risking the lives of my friends; I couldn’t imagine doing it to a brother or sister.
“Okay, so hit me with the clues.”
“As I said in the book you destroyed, the second key bears the semblance of a dagger. It was sent to the northwest, where the alluvial fields run deep and the soil is stained by rebellion.”
He stopped, and I waited. He didn’t go on. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”
“That’s all I dared give my Razan. I could not be more specific in case I was captured—which I was.”
I thrust a hand through my hair. “It doesn’t give me a lot to go on.”
“That was the whole point. But you found the first one; you will find the others.”
I was glad someone had confidence in me. Although I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted my father’s confidence.
“What am I supposed to do when I get it?” Especially now that I knew I couldn’t destroy the keys—if my father was telling the truth, that is. He had told me previously that they could be destroyed, and Azriel seemed of the same opinion as well.
“Use this stone to contact me. I will give you further directions.”
“What about Azriel?” He wanted the keys destroyed—or at least in Mijai hands, and I had no doubt he’d take it the minute we found it. Especially given what had happened with the first key.
“Do not let the reaper gain possession of the keys. Whatever it takes, whatever you have to do, do it. Otherwise, your friends will not live to see another dawn.”
Fury, fear, and frustration swirled through me, and I clenched my fists. Uselessly, because there was nothing and no one here to hit. “Damn it, how the hell am I supposed to stop a reaper? I’m only human—”
“You were never human. You are a creation of my flesh, and that well runs deeper than you realize.” He paused, and the energy in the cylinder became so electric the hairs on my arms stood on end. “Do what I say, Risa, or face the consequences.”
And with that, the white light died and I found myself blinking furiously against tears as I stared at Azriel.
“What happened?” he asked, concern in his voice.
I brushed away the solitary droplet that trickled down my cheek. “You weren’t following events through the chi connection?”
“No, the ward severed the connection.”
I guess that was no surprise—my father was more than aware of Azriel’s presence in my life. “He gave me the clues to find the second key, and then gave me a fucking horrible choice.”
Azriel studied me for a moment, his expression giving little away, then placed Valdis on the floor and rose in one smooth movement. He disappeared into the kitchen, but was back within minutes, a large glass of bourbon and Coke in one hand. “Drink this, then tell me.”