Feel my breath on your lips, he continued softly. Imagine it running across your tongue and into your body. Let it fill you, become you.
Warm air teased my mouth. My lips parted and I drew it in, filling my throat with his taste and my lungs with the scent of him, until all I could feel and all I could sense was the energy of his presence. In me, around me.
Imagine that energy inhabiting every part of you. His voice was soft, hypnotic. Draw it within, deep within, until it infuses every atom, until we are connected not by skin, but by the essence of all that we are.
Energy swirled through me, around me. His and mine, burning bright, within and without, making me tremble. Ache. He was right. This was dangerous. But there was no other way. Not if we wanted to be absolutely sure he was there by my side to confront the Raziq.
Draw it in, accept it, he said quietly. Let flesh and energy truly become one.
I drew a deep breath and his energy became a river that flooded every part of me, until the music of his being played through my body and mine through his. It was a dance, a caress, a tease. Heat and movement and desire, and I slipped into the firestorm we’d created so very easily.
Power of a different kind spun around me. Ania. Fear surged and it was all I could do to ignore the dark and uneasy particles twisting around my flesh. Then the music of Azriel’s being surged anew, and awareness slipped away again, until there was nothing but him and me and the pleasure of the moment.
And god, it was glorious. It carried me away, made me soar ever higher, until I felt lighter than air, brighter than the sun…
Then it was gone, ripped away as I crashed back to earth – literally. I hit hard enough to knock the air from my lungs and, for too many seconds, breathing became impossible. I couldn’t even groan. The energy that was Azriel re-formed beside me, on his back. Though I felt the shudder of surprise that ran through him, he nevertheless scrambled to his feet, Valdis ablaze in his hand.
He scanned the area, then bent, grabbed my arm, and hauled me upright. Are you all right?
Yeah. A little shell-shocked after your abrupt departure from that rather pleasurable experience, but otherwise okay. I paused and glanced around. Where are we?
Underground.
Deep underground, if the stale air was anything to go by. I swung Amaya around. Her purple light parted the night, revealing the rock that surrounded us. Like the previous times the Raziq had kidnapped me, they’d dropped us into a cavern that didn’t seem to have either an entry or an exit point. Our tomb – for that’s what they always felt like – was about ten feet wide, and about the same height. At least we could stand, which was a definite improvement over previous occasions.
I glanced up at the ceiling. Once again, there was a faint, multicolored shimmer that reminded me of oil on water. I swore softly. That shimmer was a field of magic designed to prevent me from reaching for the Aedh – something I’d discovered the hard way the first time. At least this time, unlike the others, I wasn’t alone.
Wasn’t alone before, Amaya muttered. There was I.
One time, not the other.
Fault yours.
True. And it was the reason I rarely removed her these days. I glanced at Azriel. Can you sense them?
They are near.
But not near enough, I gathered from the edge in his voice.
Will they be able to read my thoughts? Hear me talking to you?
No. That applies to flesh beings and Aedh. You are more than either now.
Which explained why my father didn’t catch my thoughts when he’d confronted me earlier. It should have been a relief, but it only ratcheted up the tension. After all, if they couldn’t read my thoughts, they might be tempted to do something about it.
Not while I draw breath, they won’t, Azriel commented.
Does an energy being actually need to draw breath?
He half smiled. You know what I mean.
I do. And thank you.
He glanced at me, eyebrow raised. For what?
For always being here.
It is both my duty and my desire.