I frowned. “Aren’t they the same thing?”
“No, they are not. It is easy enough to bounce magic to prevent entry. It is harder to contain once in.”
Ah. You learned something every day. “What about the Raziq?”
“The wards will be designed to react to the energy of their beings, so will restrict entry regardless of the form they take.”
“Does that mean they will also restrict Lucian?”
“My chrání has basically been reduced to flesh form, so no. But the restrictions that apply to the sorcerer would also apply to him.”
Meaning he could not use any of his lover’s magic to transport in and snatch the keys from under our noses, but he could certainly walk right in. If he managed to get past Azriel, that was.
“So how long would it take for you to get something like that to me?”
He paused. “Perhaps a day. I will have a Razan deliver it to you.”
“Thanks.” It stuck in my craw to actually say that, but being polite didn’t cost me anything, and it was certainly a better option than pissing him off in some way.
“Just ensure no one else gets this key, or I will not be pleased.”
“I’ll do my best.”
The energy in the cylinder became so electric, the hairs on my arms stood on end. “I am not interested in your best. I just want that key.”
You and everyone else. I rubbed my arms and didn’t say anything. A heartbeat later, the white light died and I found myself blinking at the abrupt darkness.
“You were successful?” Azriel said, then raised a hand and lightly brushed the hair from my eyes.
I nodded. “He said whatever he creates will not restrict anyone in flesh form from entering, though, so we still could be attacked.”
“It wasn’t so much the attack that was the problem last time, but the fact that the sorcerer used it to divert our attention from his arrival.”
“Well, he can still arrive, just not via magical means.” I paused. “It also means Lucian will not be blocked.”
“Trust me, it will be my great pleasure to deal with him if he does attempt to take the key from us.”
I eyed in him for a moment, then said, “You’re hoping he does, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” His reply was short, sharp. Angry.
“Because you want a reason to kill him.”
“Yes.”
“Why? Because of me? Because he was using me?”
He didn’t reply, but he really didn’t need to. I could feel the answer echoing deep inside of me. I reached out and placed a hand on his leg. His muscles tensed under my touch. “You cannot kill Lucian because of me, Azriel. I don’t want that guilt on top of everything else.”
“The guilt would not be yours—”
“If you break reaper rules to gain revenge for the way he’s treated me, then that is my problem. We’ve broken enough rules lately, Azriel. Let’s not top it with murder.”
“There are some rules worth breaking.” He sheathed Valdis and crossed his arms.
Talk about closing himself off, I thought with amusement. But before I could actually say anything, my phone rang. I bounced off the bed and ran into the living room to answer it.
“Risa? It’s Jak,” he said, rather unnecessarily given his rather handsome face was crystal clear on the phone’s screen. “You wanted to know if I’d heard anything unusual concerning fires?”