Darkness Hunts (DA 4) (7 page)

“But you can still be a Mijai?”

“Yes. But this is not a position I wish to retain for eternity.” He glanced at me. “And I suspect you would not wish the connection between us to strengthen any further, or become permanent.”

“God, no.” I liked Azriel—a lot—but he wasn’t Mr. Long Term. And neither was my Aedh lover, Lucian. I wanted someone who was flesh and blood
real
, someone who could give me a family and a life on
this
plane.

The lights changed again, so I pressed the accelerator and continued. “Does that mean the attraction between us is a sign that we’re on the cusp of assimilation?”

“Possibly.” He looked away for a moment, studying the road ahead. “But it is never wise to play with fire.”

“We knew it wasn’t wise when we made love,” I commented. “It didn’t stop either of us.”

“No.” The ghost of a smile crossed his lips. “And as much as I cannot regret that moment, to continue down that path is to risk the link strengthening into assimilation.”

“Then you’re going to have to be the strong one, because I’m damn sure I won’t be.” I tried to envision being around him and not being able to touch him. It just wasn’t possible.

“If I was capable of such strength,” he said quietly, “there would not have been a first time.”

My gaze briefly met his. Deep in his differently colored blue eyes desire burned. He might be keeping it in check better than I was, but he definitely
wasn’t
as immune to my nearness as his actions sometimes led me to believe.

I swung onto Spencer Street and headed toward Southern Cross Station. “You do realize this decision of yours means that you can’t object to me being with Lucian. I may not be driven by the moon’s heat as most werewolves are, but I
do
have an above-average sex drive.”

I didn’t need to see his expression to know that his anger had just ratcheted up several notches. The force of it singed my skin and senses. “You know I do not trust the Aedh.”

Yeah, I did. Just like I knew that his distrust—hell, I’d even call it hatred—left him unable to even
say
Lucian’s name. It would have been amusing if it wasn’t so damn frustrating.

“And we both know,” I snapped back, “that your distrust stems more from the fact that
I’m
with him
than from anything he’s actually done.”

For once, he didn’t dispute it. “I am not jealous, if that is what you are implying.”

“Then why do you have a problem with me being with him?”

“He is using you.”

“We’re using each other.”

“Yes, but his reasons are not what he states. He lies, Risa. I can taste it.”

“If he’s lying, then he’s doing it so well my internal radar isn’t picking it up.”

“He has been earthbound for many, many centuries. Have no doubt that he is well practiced in more than the art of sex.”

That, at least, was something we both agreed on. But it still didn’t mean Lucian was lying to me—or rather, I hoped it didn’t. I swung into the parking lot under the Flinders Street bridge and squeezed into a spot between one of the bridge stanchions and a large four-wheel drive.

I turned off the engine, then faced him. “You can’t have it both ways. Either you and I run the risk of assimilation, or you accept the fact that I will be with others. No more shitty aloofness.”

“The first is not an option, and the second will not be easy.”

“I didn’t think it would be.”

When he didn’t say anything else, I climbed out of the car and headed for the Southern Cross railway station. The building’s undulating roofline gleamed crisply in the bright sunshine and, as ever, reminded me of snow mounds—albeit snow mounds covered in pigeons and pigeon poop. A constant rush of people flowed in and out of the station, and the vast area under the unusual roof was filled with the sounds of chatter, footsteps, whistles, and trains.

I made my way through the interior to the main locker area, my footsteps slowing as I neared the doorway. I flared my nostrils, dragging in the air, and I couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. But I hadn’t the last time I was here, either, and that time two Razan—the human slaves of the Aedh—had been waiting for me.

“Anything?” I asked softly.

Azriel shook his head. “There is no human or non-human life within.”

“Which doesn’t mean there isn’t a trap waiting inside.”

“No.” He paused. “There is no sense of magic, however.”

“That’s something, I guess.”

I considered the doorway for a few seconds longer, then took a deep breath to fortify my nerves and headed in. The locker room was large and the air cool. There were two rows of cream-colored lockers in the center of the room, while more lockers lined the walls. The one I wanted sat about midway along the central locker row. I dug the little key out of my pocket and walked toward them. Trepidation crawled across my skin. Nothing, no one, was here, and yet every sense I had tingled.

My fingers shook as I opened the door. It was a stupid and illogical response given everything I’d survived over the last couple of weeks, but I just couldn’t help it. I
feared
my father. Feared him more than the Raziq themselves, even though he’d done little more than threaten me and my friends if I didn’t comply with his wishes.

And his threats were nothing compared to what the Raziq had actually done—they’d torn me apart, placed a tracker in the fabric of my heart, and then rebuilt me.

Perhaps
that
was the problem. I knew what the Raziq were capable of, and I knew what they wanted. Hell, I knew what Azriel, the Mijai, and even the vampire council wanted from me. But my father’s motives were little more than murk. All I could be sure of was that what he
said
he wanted and what he actually
planned
were two entirely different things.

It was the
not
knowing that scared the shit out of me. That, and the intuition that he could be far more dangerous than the Raziq as a whole ever could be.

The locker door swung open, revealing a totally empty interior. No letter, nothing to indicate what he wanted or what I was supposed to do next. It didn’t make sense. Why send me here if he didn’t intend to leave instructions?

“What the fuck is going—”

The rest of the sentence died in my throat, because it suddenly felt like someone had a hand around my heart and was threatening to squeeze the life out of me.

And hot on the heels of
that
came the awareness of an approaching presence. Only it wasn’t body heat I sensed, wasn’t humanity, but rather the heat of a being that was all energy, all power.

An Aedh.

My father, to be precise.

Chapter 3

As the awareness of my father’s presence grew, so did the ache in my heart, until all I felt was pain, inside and out.

I doubled over, unable to do anything more than gasp. But it wasn’t a heart attack. It was something far more deadly—the transmitter the Raziq had placed in my heart, reacting to my father’s presence.

Calling the Raziq, telling them he was coming.

And I could barely even breathe, let alone give him any sort of warning.

An instant later, I was flung up against the lockers, my feet off the ground and a band of iron against my neck.

“What have you done?” The voice was a deeper, angrier version of mine, and it seemed to shake the foundations of the room around us. “What have you
agreed
to?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out because no air was getting in. Panic surged, and for a moment I wondered if he intended to kill me in sheer and utter rage.

Blue-edged steel appeared in my line of vision, the sword’s sharp point aimed at the heart of the fierce energy holding me captive.

“Tell us where we can find the keys,” Azriel said flatly. “Or die now.”

Deep inside me anger flared.
For fuck’s sake, Azriel, I’m choking and in serious pain here, in case you didn’t notice!

He either didn’t hear me or didn’t care. Neither, apparently, did my father. The iron band of energy continued to squeeze my neck, and it felt like my lungs were about to burst. Tiny spots began to dance in front of my eyes.

“If you kill me, reaper, you will fail in your quest to capture the keys.”

There was no hurry in my father’s voice, no urgency. As the shadows of unconsciousness began to crowd close, I wondered where the hell the Raziq were. At least their arrival would break this uncaring tableau.

“As will everyone else who seeks them,” Azriel replied. “That is an outcome I could live with.”

It was an outcome I could live with, too. If I got to live, that was.

“You and I both know such an outcome would be unacceptable to those who sent you here, reaper.” Amusement ran through my father’s deep tones. “It would appear we have reached an impasse.”

Azriel!

The mental shout was filled with desperation, and his gaze flickered briefly toward me. Frustration and anger burned in his eyes. “Release her. Or I
will
kill you.”

And
hurry
. The spots were getting larger, my heart felt like it was about to shatter, and the need for air was so fierce my lungs were on fire.

“You won’t kill me, reaper.” The trace of amusement was gone from his voice. “As I’ve already stated, you need the information I carry too much.”

“And we both need her
alive
. Release her—now!” Valdis’s flames skittered across the fierce energy that was my father’s presence, enveloping him in a fiery cage.

Whether it was the threat of the flames or simply the realization that he
did
need me alive, the steely band of energy bruising my neck suddenly disappeared and I collapsed to the ground. There I remained, on hands and knees, dragging in shuddering gasps of air and grateful that I could still do so.

“You bear the device of the Raziq in your body,” my father said. Though the force of his anger no longer held me captive, it vibrated through the undernotes of his voice. “Why?”

Because I had no fucking choice,
I thought, but the words remained locked in my throat as I continued to suck air into my still burning lungs.

God, where the hell were the Raziq? My father might have released his death grip on me, but the Raziq’s transmitter had not. The pain of the device was all-encompassing, and spots still danced madly across my vision.

“It was not her choice,” Azriel answered. “And if you know a means of removing it without killing her, tell us.”

“There is no removal except death.” My father paused, and the energy of him pulsated. “The Raziq come. I will find another way to contact you.”

“Leave a damn note—” I croaked.

“No,” he said.

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because I need to read your mind and understand what the players around you do.”

And despite the net of fire enveloping his form, the force that was my father disappeared. I couldn’t say I was entirely sorry to see him go. I might not have gotten any answers, but at least the fire in my heart began to ebb away. It left me trembling and weak.

“I’m afraid it is not over yet.” Azriel tucked an arm under my arm and hauled me upright. “The Raziq come, as he said.”

The words had barely left his mouth when another storm swamped me. Panic surged, but I drew Amaya and tried to ignore it. Of course, past experience told me she wouldn’t be enough against the force of them, but at least this time I had Azriel by my side. Surely
he
wouldn’t fall victim to the mind tricks the Raziq had used last time I was with them.

Fire dripped from the points of the two swords. It hissed and spat as it hit the concrete, and spread out in a sweeping arc, forming an incandescent barrier around us. It was almost as if the swords had drawn a line and were daring the Raziq to cross it.

The storm grew stronger, until I was being physically buffeted by it. I narrowed my gaze against the dust and rubbish flying through the air, my breath caught somewhere in my throat and my stomach churning. Every time I’d faced the Raziq, something had gone wrong.

Every single damn time
.

“Not this time,” Azriel said. He took a step forward, half protecting me with his body.

No protect!
Amaya’s protest echoed through my brain.
Want to kill
.

There is time enough for that,
I snapped, my gaze on the flicker that was growing beyond the circle of fire. Once upon a time I would not have seen it, but my sight seemed to have altered fractionally since Amaya had become one with me.

Want now,
she grumbled, but her voice had at least lowered a couple of octaves.

Soon
. I waved her lightly back and forth. Her fire spat through the air, reaching past the wall of fire, landing near the edge of the Raziq’s shimmery presence. But there was more than one here. There
had
to be. The wash of energy was too fierce.

And Azriel’s readiness to attack was so strong that the force of it vibrated through every part of me, vying for prominence with the energy crawling across my skin.

“I told you my father would sense your approach,” I croaked, before either the Raziq could say anything or Azriel could react. “He’s far more cunning than you give him credit for.”

Red flames flickered down Valdis’s sides. I wondered if it was an indicator of the sword’s annoyance or her master’s.

“It is also possible that you warned him.”

The voice was cool, without inflection or emotion, but it nevertheless sent a chill down my spine. This was one of the Raziq who’d torn me apart to place the tracker in my heart.

“I
didn’t
warn him, trust me on that. I want as little to do with him as I do with you.”

“That, at least, is true.” The energy in the air sharpened. “Do not release your weapon, Mijai. There are too many of us here, and your numbers are few enough.”

“Our numbers are irrelevant.” Though his voice was as calm and cool as the Raziq’s, his stance had shifted imperceptibly. He was readying for action. “What matters is my ability to counter your presence, and
that
is not in question.”