“Oh, fuck.”
That, ten times over, I thought grimly. “I think we’ve worked out a way to free her, Mirri—”
The phone was snatched from her hand, and suddenly I was staring at a man with piercing, light blue eyes, pale skin, and silver-white hair. Albino, I thought, and then realized this was probably Carwyn.
“I want in on any rescue attempt,” he said, voice deep and fierce.
“I doubt that Ilianna would—”
“I may not yet be her mate,” he cut in. “But I will be. Whoever did this to her must pay.”
And that was both the stallion and the man speaking, I thought grimly. And yet I couldn’t do everything. If I were to have any hope of prizing Ilianna away from Lucian’s clutches, then it would have to be when Lucian was otherwise distracted.
“We’ve got to find her first,” I said; then, when he opened his mouth to obviously argue, I quickly added, “The minute we do, we’ll ring you.”
“I’ll be standing by.”
“Great.” I hung up and handed the phone back to Tao, who was looking decidedly more awake.
“Ilianna’s really missing?”
“Lucian’s snatched her and hidden her location through magic. I’m about to go over to the Brindle to see if her mom can find her.”
“What can I—”
“No,” I cut in. “Time is of the essence. We’ll come back here the minute we uncover anything.”
“To echo Carwyn’s words, I’ll be standing by.” He half turned, then clicked his fingers and added, “Oh, a parcel was delivered for you an hour ago. I dropped it on the coffee table so you’d see it coming in, which you obviously haven’t.”
No, because I hadn’t come in the regular way, but rather via the Azriel express. I walked across to pick up the small white box. It wasn’t particularly heavy, and the writing was my father’s. This had to be the wards he promised. Heart beating a whole lot faster, I glanced up at Tao and said, “Thanks.”
He frowned. “It’s not one of those parcels, is it? Because you’re suddenly looking a whole lot paler.”
“It is, but it’s something I’ve asked for this time.” I forced a smile. “Hopefully, it’s something that’ll keep the hordes at bay while we grab the next key.”
“Shame it couldn’t also keep Lucian at bay,” he muttered.
“A sword would,” Azriel commented, voice as flat as his expression. “And I know two that would gladly cooperate.”
“He does make an excellent point,” Tao said, then held up his hands as I opened my mouth. “Yes, I know. We can’t do anything until Ilianna is safe. But that doesn’t stop either of us from wishing the worst on the bastard, does it?”
“You can’t wish anything worse on him than I am, trust me.”
I couldn’t stop the bitterness in my voice, and Tao’s gaze narrowed. “Is there something else going on you’re not telling me about?”
“No.” He didn’t look convinced, but then, I guess he had known me a long time. “I’ll call you when we find anything.”
“You’d better.”
I turned to Azriel. He caught my hand unasked, drew me to him, and whisked us through the fields to the Brindle. I handed him the box, suspecting the Brindle would not react kindly to Aedh magic being taken into its midst, then ran up the steps and into the foyer. A geyser of golden sparks followed me as I ran through the shadows.
A gray-clad woman appeared. “Please, there is no need for haste—”
“There’s every need,” I bit back, but I nevertheless slowed. “I urgently need to see Custodian Zaira.”
“I do not think—”
“Risa, what draws you here in such a state?” The familiar voice was as soft as the shadows around us and just as powerful.