“Actually, I do, because I am reading your thoughts.” His voice was calm, yet there was an undercurrent within it that spoke of violence.
I opened my eyes and shifted just enough to look up at him. Even that small movement hurt, but it was more a dull ache than the frenzied needle stabbing I’d been half expecting.
His eyes were dark with the fury barely hinted at in his voice. I raised a still trembling hand and ran my fingertips down his stubble-lined chin. “I’m okay, Azriel. They can’t kill me. Not yet.”
“They unmade you. That is death itself in many ways.”
I let my fingers slip down his neck and placed my palm over his heart. Its beat was strong and steady and real, and it somehow made me feel even safer than being cradled in his arms.
“At least they put me back together again,” I said eventually.
“But you are not as you were. You are now tied to Raziq and it cannot be undone.”
Not unless I die. Fear crawled into my stomach and I swallowed heavily. “I know. But at least I can go home now, and I don’t have to worry about Ilianna and Tao falling afoul of them.”
“There is that.”
He strode toward the bathroom. Once inside, he carefully placed me on my feet, then held me as the bathroom did a brief but dizzy dance around me.
“God,” I said, swallowing bile, “I hope that doesn’t happen too often.”
“You need to rest.” He gently began to strip the remnants of my clothing from my body. “And eat.”
“I know. But there’s also Jak—”
“No.” He said it softly, but his tone suggested that in this he would brook no arguments.
“Azriel, we need—”
“No,” he repeated. “Do not make me force you to rest, Risa.”
“But Jak will be waiting—”
“I will visit Jak and alter his memories. You, for once, will do as you’re told.”
I half smiled. “Given that I’m in no fit state to argue, I’ll obey. But don’t expect such easy compliance next time.”
“Oh,” he said, his gaze coming to mine. Humor crinkled his lips and teased the corners of his eyes. “That is one thing I never expect when it comes to you.”
“You knew the task was dangerous when you took it on,” I said wryly. “You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Indeed,” he agreed. He turned on the shower taps, then slid his fingers down to my elbow. “Can you manage to shower yourself, or do you wish assistance?”
At any other time I would have voted for assistance, simply because it would have led to a whole lot more. But I didn’t even have the energy for anything resembling a sexual urge, let alone desire.
“I’ll be fine.” With my fingers pressed against the glass side of the shower, I stepped in cautiously and raised my face to the water. Its warmth ran down my body, washing away the grit, blood, and whatever else was sticky on my skin.
Azriel didn’t release me immediately, his grip still on my elbow, as if he expected me to fall down at any minute. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
I opened my eyes and looked at him. “Yes. And thank you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What for?”
“For knowing when to do nothing more than hold me.”
“That,” he said softly, “will never be a problem.”
He reached out and gently ran his fingers up my chin to my lips. It hurt, even though his touch was light. He dropped his hand, his fingers suddenly clenched. “I will order your meal and then go take care of Jak. Call if you need me.”
I nodded, my skin still aching from his touch. Once he’d left, I simply stood there, letting the heat of the water chase the chill from my flesh and wishing it could do the same to the odd knot of coldness deep inside of me.
After what seemed like ages, I sighed and washed myself properly, then grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower. One look in the mirror revealed the reason why Azriel’s soft touch had hurt so much. Half my face was bruised, and there were similar blotches all over my body. It was as if in taking me apart so brutally, the Raziq had damaged the very fabric of me. And it made the bruises I’d received when I’d been knocked off my bike seem mild in comparison.
My bike… damn, in all the madness I’d forgotten about her. And while a bent and busted Ducati sat pretty low on the scale of immediate problems, it was at least something that had a clear path of action.
Unlike everything else in my goddamn life at the moment.
I swung around and went in search of my phone, then remembered I’d left it in the rear of the rental car. Which was unlocked, with the keys sitting inside. If it hadn’t been stolen, it would be a goddamn miracle.
I scanned the room, found the hotel’s phone, and rang Lonny to see what the damage was.
“Well, it ain’t pretty.” His voice held even more of a drawl than usual, and that probably meant bad news. “We can fix her, but it’s going to cost. Spare parts for that model are a bitch to find.”
“I don’t care what it takes. Fix her.”
He grunted. “Figured you’d say that, so I’ve already started ringing my sources. You want an estimate or shall I just go ahead?”
“Just do it.” Money wasn’t a problem, and even if it had been, I wouldn’t have cared. She was the first thing I’d ever purchased with my own money, and I’d be damned if I let her go. Besides, she was a reminder of the sane, normal life I wanted—a life that seemed to be slipping further and further away from me. “Thanks, Lonny.”
“I’ll be in contact if we have a problem,” he said, then hung up.
I rang Ilianna next, getting an update on Tao—who was still improving but not yet conscious—and asking her to alter the power of her wards so that Azriel could get into our apartment.
The doorbell rang as I said good-bye to her. Figuring it was probably the meal Azriel said he’d order, I shouted, “Hang on a minute,” then quickly threw on a shirt and jeans. I grabbed some of the change I’d dumped onto the bedside table the night before and walked across the room to open the door.
“Just put it—” The words froze in my throat.
Because it wasn’t just a waiter and one of those new hover trays standing outside my door. A grinning Lucian stood behind them.
“Ma’am?” the waiter said politely.
“Oh, yeah, just put that over on the table.” I stepped aside and waited until the tray and the waiter had moved past, then quickly raised a hand to stop Lucian. In a heated whisper I added, “How the hell did you find me?”
“I simply phoned hotels asking to speak to you until I found which one you were staying in.”
Damn, I should have thought of that. Next time I wanted to hide from the world, I’d better use a false name! “But you didn’t leave a message.”
“No. I thought you’d have a harder time ignoring me if I simply turned up.” His gaze suddenly fixated on my face and his smile faded. “You’ve been in the hands of the Raziq, haven’t you?”
I hesitated, but it was pointless denying it. And I guess if he was going to help us find the remaining keys, he had to know just how much deeper the shithole had gotten. “Yes.”
He swore softly. “How the hell did that happen? Why didn’t the reaper stop it?”
“He couldn’t—”
“It’s his job to protect you.”
His voice had sharpened significantly, and the waiter glanced over at us. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile, then met Lucian’s angry gaze and added softly, “He is. But it’s not that simple.”
“It fucking is—”
“Lucian,” I cut in. “Enough. I’ll explain.”
“Then explain.” He glanced down at my hand. “But I would suggest you allow me to come in first.”
I dropped my hand and waved him inside. The waiter had finished setting out my meal, and approached with the tray in tow. “Will that be all, ma’am?”
“Yes, thank you.” I gave him the change as a tip, then closed the door behind him.
Lucian stood in the middle of the room, his arms crossed and his stance radiating displeasure. “So, explain.”
Rather than answering immediately, I walked over to the table and lifted the lid off the various plates. Azriel had ordered steak, vegetables, and pasta, as well as several cream cakes. After a few minutes of dithering, I picked up the triple-layer chocolate cake and started eating it. The steak and veggies might be the saner choice, but I needed the immediate sugar rush.
Lucian waited. Anger rolled off him, thick and heated. The little hairs on my arms stood on end, even as my pulse rate quickened. It wasn’t exactly fear, and it wasn’t a more sexual reaction, but rather sat somewhere in between. Which was kind of odd, because up until now I’d always reacted on a purely sexual level to his presence.
“Over the last couple of days,” I said eventually, as I finished the cake and licked the cream from my fingertips, “the Raziq have made several attempts to capture me using Ania. We managed to thwart most of them, but we were simply caught off guard this last time.”
“If they caught you off guard, then the reaper isn’t doing his job,” Lucian snapped. “He is sensitive to the creatures of hell—there is no known way they should have been able to sneak up on you.”
“They didn’t. They were transported in magically and were just there. There was nothing Azriel could have done to prevent it.” I picked up my knife and fork, then glanced at him pointedly. “And you wouldn’t have been able to do anything, either, so stop giving me attitude and just sit down. Having to look up at you is making my head ache.”
He grunted, but pulled out one of the chairs and sat. “What, exactly, did the Raziq do?”
“From what they said, they unmade me and attached some sort of sensor to my heart. It’ll inform them when I’m in my father’s presence.”