Page 13 (1/2)

"Next time it may not make a difference" He took a deep breath, then blew it out It was a heavy, frustrated sound "I guess I’d better ring Ilianna and tell her what happened"

"Good idea" I glanced around the sodden living area "There doesn’t see"

"No But hopefully the bedrooms will be relatively untouched"

Hopefully The doors still being closed was a good sign, at least "You planning to stay the night?"

"Yeah The fire burned out the security systeet it fixed" He studied ot a key to hunt down, and a deadline to beat"

He frowned "What deadline?"

I briefly explained what my father had done, and he swore softly "Shit, we can’t see"

"It would certainly appear that way"

He hesitated, then said, "You can’t do this on your own, Ris You need help – of the reaper kind"

"I know" I’d known it since I’d woken up earlier thiswith myself to come to the conclusion everyone else had already reached "I’iven the e parted"

"It’s siry, and he needs to explain why he did what he did And then you both need to apologize and move on" He half s on you both, even if they don’t know it"

I sighed "I know Trust htly "You feel hungry? The la is more than a little overcooked as a result of the fire, but I can wander down the street after I ring Ilianna, and pick up soers and coffee"

"That would be lovely In the ht just bite the bullet and contact Azriel"

"Then I shall takeback Just in case there’s fireworks"

"I’," he replied, a cheeky s his lips He bent and kissedto need it

Tao left, closing the door behind him I turned and retreated to my bedroom I really didn’t want to confront Azriel in the ruins of our living rooet heated

My bedroom had a definite smoky s a good portion of the carpet near the door, but otherwise, everything was as I’d left it Which rabbed a bunch of towels from ue hope they would sop up some of the water Then I walked to the center of the roo into knots – aselse

I took a deep breath – though it didn’t do a whole lot to calm my nerves – then said mentally, Rephael, we need to talk

Rephael was Azriel’s real name, a name known and used only by those very close to him Which meant I couldn’t say it out loud si of power, and knowing soave you a measure of control over them That he’d told me meant he not only trusted me, but he cared more than he’d let on Only I’d been too daer to even realize it

For several an to trickle down my back and my heart thumped so fast it felt as if it was about to tear out of my chest God, what if he didn’t coht have said I only had to say his na or where he was, but he’d also warned that the powers that be ht not allow him to come back once I’d sent hioddamn Mijai, I sure as hell didn’t want to spend it alone Or with any other reaper, for that matter

"There would never be another reaper in your life," he replied quietly "In that, also, the choice has gone"

I spun around, a turbulent h me He appeared near the end of h ainst skin Longing shivered through , absolutely nothing, in his expression, and not even the slightest whisper of warn whatsoever that he was, in any way, happy to see me

I sed heavily, but it did little to ease the sudden dryness in h I had any other choice, given you used my name" He crossed his arms, an action that not only eht into stark relief the jagged pink scar that nowsick I’d sent hi punished against escaping deaze over the rest of hins of injury His face – which was chiseled, al an even harder edge than before – was untouched But his well-defined torso bore a new scar, one that ran froe of his belly button and up under his ar tattoo that swept around fro across the front side of his neck

Only it wasn’t a tat It was a Dušan – a darker, more stylized brother to the lilac one that resided on ned to protect us alked the gray fields That the scar swept through the ested that perhaps it, too, was battle scarred