“I won’t stop visiting Tao. I can’t.” Ilianna might send me regular updates, but that wasn’t the same as being there.

He grimaced. “That could be dangerous, not just to you but to Ilianna and Tao.”

Fear slithered through me. “The Ania couldn’t mount an attack inside the Brindle. Her magic wouldn’t let them.”

“The Ania couldn’t, no, but the Raziq might well attempt it if these ambushes keep failing.”

And the witches had already warned us that the Brindle had no defenses against the Raziq. “That’s only if they are the ones behind them.”

“They are. I felt their touch behind the Ania this time.”

Well, fuck. I swiped angrily at the blood still dribbling down my cheek. Valdis might have healed the worst head wound when she melted the helmet shards, but there were obviously several smaller ones if the blood was anything to go by. “I guess this means I’m staying at the Langham again—”

“Not the Langham,” he cut in. “You’ve stayed there before, so it would be wise not to risk it.”

I grimaced. Being hunted by minor demons wasn’t half as annoying as missing out on staying at my favorite five-star hotel.

Azriel wrapped his hand around mine and gently pulled me to my feet. “You, Risa Jones,” he said softly, “have a strange way of looking at things.”

He was standing so close that his breath teased my lips as he spoke, and his scent—a scent that was man and musk and sharply electric—filled every breath. And all I had to do was lean forward, just a little, and I’d be kissing him. But as much as I wanted to do just that, I also feared it could forever change our relationship—and maybe not in a good way. So I simply said, “This, coming from a man who can describe lovemaking only as enlightening.”

How my voice came out even I had no idea, given the tumultuous push-pull being waged inside me.

“It is an apt word when one has never experienced it before.” His gaze was steady on mine and he showed no inclination to release me. Maybe he simply figured I wasn’t steady enough after the accident, but something inside me whispered no. Azriel knew exactly what he was doing—and what it was doing to me. And that, in turn, implied intent.

“Tell me what you want, Risa.” He said it so softly it was little more than a whisper that ran through my mind.

What did I want? I don’t fucking know, I thought, my gaze searching his. Or rather, I did know, but I just didn’t have the courage to reach for it when he was the one person who had my back no matter what I did. And right now, that was more valuable to me than whatever this was between us.

I took a deep, somewhat shuddery breath, and said, “Right now, I really want a shower and fresh clothes. Then I need to meet Jak.”

He didn’t say anything for several heartbeats—which wasn’t that long given just how fast my heart was beating—then he inclined his head slightly. Conceding to what lay unspoken rather than what had been said.

“What hotel?”

I shrugged. “I’m known for my five-star tastes, so we’re probably better off going to someplace like the BreakFree on Little Bourke Street.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when his power surged around us, sweeping us quickly through the gray fields before re-forming us inside a bathroom. Two women were standing at the washbasins, but neither paid any attention to us. He was obviously taking care of that, too.

He released me and stepped back, and something deep inside mourned the loss of his closeness. “I thought you might like to wash the blood away before you check in.”

I glanced at the mirror and saw the blood streaking my face and matting one side of my hair. I grimaced, turned on the taps, and ducked my head under the water, rinsing my hair, then scrubbing my face and neck. As the two women walked out, I hit the dryer button, flicked the nozzle upward, and finger-dried my hair—wincing several times in the process as my fingertips caught the smaller cuts on my head. At least short dark hair had its good points—it didn’t take long to dry, and you couldn’t see the blood that was still weeping from the other wounds.

“I don’t suppose you want to do me a favor?” I said, as I turned around. He merely raised an eyebrow, so I added, “I have a bag of spare clothes and basic toiletries sitting in my locker at the café. Could you go grab it?”

He nodded, and disappeared so quickly I was tempted to think he’d been looking for an excuse to distance himself. I rang my mechanic to pick up the Ducati as I walked over to the reception desk, then booked a room for a couple of nights and headed up to it. A long hot shower didn’t do a whole lot to ease the aches, and if the bruises already beginning to appear were anything to go by, I was going to have a rainbow adorning the left side of my body come tomorrow.

My bag was waiting for me on the floor near the towels once I’d finished. I frowned, wondering how he’d gotten in here without my sensing him, then shrugged and got dressed.

He was standing at the room’s one window, his hands clasped behind his back and Valdis burning with a muted reddish yellow fire. He didn’t say anything or turn around, so I walked across to the bed, grabbed my phone out of my purse—which thankfully had survived the crash relatively unscathed—and rang Ilianna.

“Hey there,” she said. “I was getting worried about you.”

The vid-screen wasn’t showing a picture. I frowned and pressed the MODE button, figuring it might have somehow gotten switched in the accident, but it made no difference. Which meant I’d be looking for a new phone in the near future—just what I needed on top of everything else.

“Yeah, sorry, but it looks like I won’t make it there tonight.”

“I had a feeling there was trouble.”

“There was. And I think I need to step away from things until we sort out what the hell is going on.”

“Damn,” she muttered. “I gather you’re okay? What about the Ducati?”

Obviously, she’d had more than a feeling if she knew I’d been on the Ducati when trouble hit. “I’m okay, but I have no idea if the same can be said about the bike, as we had to abandon her.”

“Abandon the Ducati?” Her tone was one of mock horror. “Good god, how will you cope?”

I snorted softly. “I’m not actually sure. Lonny’s going to pick it up for me and send me a report once he’s checked out the damage.”

“You want me to take over your shift tonight?”

“Only if you feel up to it. If not, they’ll just have to manage. I’ll arrange for a temp to cover the rest of the week.”

“I’ll head in and cover the busiest hours. And don’t worry about a temp—Margie has been asking for more hours, so this will make her happy.”

Margie was one of our newer waitresses, but she was doing a business course and seemed to have a really sensible head on her shoulders. Ilianna had already pinned her as a potential manager, so this would be a good chance to see how she handled things.

“How’s Tao?”

“Much, much better,” she said, relief briefly lifting the tiredness in her voice. “The sunnier room has done wonders to stabilize his internal temperature, and though he’s not yet awake, we’re getting more gruel into him and he no longer looks so gaunt.”

Thank god, I thought, and briefly closed my eyes against the sting of tears. “Any idea when he’s likely to wake up?”

“No. His body still appears to be adjusting to the presence of the fire elemental. I doubt he’ll wake until the merging is finished.”

And until he did, we wouldn’t know what the end result of that merging was. It was a very real possibility that Tao might not even know us once he woke up. It just depended which nature was stronger—the werewolf or the elemental.

“Ring me the minute anything happens,” I said. “And in the meantime, you and Mirri be careful.”

“Oh, trust me, if we were any more cautious, we’d be dangerous.”

I laughed softly. “Give Tao a kiss for me.”

“I’ll give Mirri one for you, too,” she said, somewhat primly.

“You’ll use any excuse to kiss that girl of yours,” I said, amused. “So give her two. Might as well make it worthwhile.”

She laughed again, but the sound died a little too quickly. “You need to be careful, particularly tomorrow night.”

Unease prickled across my skin. “More omens of trouble?”

“You, or someone near you. I can’t define it more than that, so just keep an eye out, okay?”

“I will.”

“Good. Keep in contact, Ris, or I’ll be calling in the cavalry.”

Meaning Aunt Riley and Uncle Rhoan—two people I did not want involved right now. Mainly because they’d lock me up, throw away the key, and attempt to investigate this whole mess themselves—and that would only end up with them getting hurt. Because no matter how good the pair of them were, this was far beyond their experience and capabilities. Hell, it was beyond mine, but at least I could see the reapers and walk the gray fields.

I shoved the phone away and looked at the time. It was six thirty—time to get moving if I was going to make my appointment with Jak.

I studied the still silent Azriel and frowned. “Are you okay?”

He turned, his expression carefully neutral but his body language hinting at tension. “Of course. How will you get to this café without your bike?”

“I’ll catch a cab.” I tilted my head slightly, continuing to watch him through slightly narrowed eyes. “You’ve retreated.”

“I do what I am here to do. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Which no doubt was a direct result of what I’d said. Or rather, what I hadn’t said—that I wanted him. Though why he wanted it voiced when our chi connection gave him all manner of insight into my thoughts and emotions, I had no idea. But I could hardly complain about his retreat when it was a result of my own. “Then I’ll see you at Chrome.”