“The Diggers Rest report came in about ten minutes ago.” Jak paused. “Ris, what’s going on?”
“Nothing that I can tell you about.” I swung around, walked over to the light screen, and quickly brought up Google Maps. I typed “Diggers Rest” in the search area and waited for the screen to respond. “When did the first report come in?”
“About twenty minutes earlier.”
Meaning it had taken him roughly twenty minutes to travel the twenty or so kilometers from Strathmore to Diggers Rest. At that rate, he’d be in Gisborne in ten minutes. I kept following the freeway up with my finger, but stopped when I hit Macedon. Oh, shit. The elemental was going home. Going back to where the witch had created the flames that had given birth to it. It had to be. What other reason could there be for it to be heading up to Macedon? Obviously, the witch fire was still alive, though how that could be after all this time I had no idea. That was a question Ilianna would have a better chance of answering than me.
“Thanks, Jak—”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me without—”
I hung up, then swung around to face Azriel. “I have to get out there and find Tao before he creates too much more damage.”
“You wish me to take you?”
I hesitated, then said, “No. I’ll go in Aedh form. It’ll be easier to spot him that way.”
“Remember, I cannot follow you or help you until you retain flesh form.”
I nodded, then grabbed my keys and gave Azriel a quick kiss. “Wish me luck.”
“I wish you safety,” he said. “Luck is not something either of us should depend on at this point of time.”
“True.”
Ilianna’s wards were still active, which meant I couldn’t actually change inside the apartment. I headed out to the street, making sure the apartment was locked and the alarm on, then gripped my phone and keys tightly and reached down for the power of the Aedh. It swept through me instantly, a force stronger than ever before, switching me from flesh to energy form in the blink of an eye.
An unpleasant tingle ran across my particles, a telltale sign that the wards were definitely working. I spun around and headed skyward, arrowing northwest, straight toward Macedon. There was no point in following the roads—not in this form, anyway.
I was going so fast, the streetlights were little more than vivid streaks. The wind buffeted my body, occasionally throwing me sideways, but I still made good time. Soon the lights of the civilization started giving way to longer patches of darkness as I moved from the city to the country. After a while, I found the Calder Freeway and started following it, simply because the elemental seemed to be. For several miles, there was nothing more than the occasional car zooming past; then, gradually, a deeper, richer glow began to show up on the horizon. It was slightly off the highway, walking through paddocks, flicking flames through the undergrowth and sparking more spot fires.
I sped up. The closer I got, the more certain I became that it was Tao. Or rather, the elemental. Fear slithered through me, but it was fear for my friend, not fear for me.
Soon a fiery form became visible. It was trunk shaped, with thick arms and legs and no head. It dripped fire as it moved, the molten globules sizzling as they hit the ground. The dark energy that rolled off the creature crawled through my particles, making them quiver in discomfort.
This is Tao, I reminded myself fiercely. He wouldn’t hurt me. I had to trust that, if nothing else.
I flew downward, shifting shape as I neared the ground. I landed on hands and knees and skidded forward, skinning my palms and ripping the knees out of my jeans. I cursed softly—more from the pain of those injuries than the incapacitating pain that usually followed such a shift—and forced myself upright. The abrupt movement had the world doing a brief three-sixty around me, but I ignored it and forced my feet forward. A heartbeat later, an all-too-familiar heat ran across my skin.
“I have no sense of Tao within that creature,” Azriel said, voice soft and holding little in the way of emotion.
“You may not sense him, but he’s still there somewhere.”
“If he attacks, you must defend yourself.”
“No.” I glanced at him. “And you won’t defend me, either.”
Anger flickered through his eyes, even though his expression was as remote as it had ever been. “It is my duty to protect you from all danger. That includes threats from friends.”
I stopped and swung around to fully face him. “If you even go near Tao, I’ll fucking attack you myself.”
“Tao is not in control of that being,” he all but growled. The fury he was barely showing washed through my mind, a whirlwind of heat that left me singed. “And he will attack you.”
“Maybe. But he won’t kill me.”
I had to believe that. Had to.
“I cannot stand here and watch—”