Darkness Splintered

Chapter 3

The air exploded, filling the room with a tidal wave that was both heat and magic. As it stormed toward us, I swore and spun, wrapping my arms around Jak and calling to the Aedh.

“What the fuck —”

The rest of his words were abruptly cut off as my magic ripped through us both, shredding skin and blood and bone with quick efficiency, until there was nothing left but two streams of tremulous smoke, separate but entwined.

Then the wave of energy and magic hit, and the doors, walls, and ceiling all around us disintegrated. I very much suspected the wave would have done the same to us had we been in flesh form.

The wave rolled into the kitchen–dining area, its progress trackable through the pulverization of everything it touched. Not just walls and ceilings, but the half-built kitchen as well as the old remnant. But the force behind the wave obviously began to fade as it neared the far wall, because while some of the plaster fell, most remained intact.

I turned, peering through the dusty gloom, wondering if that explosion was all there was to the trap. Wondering if it had been aimed at me, specifically, or just anyone who entered this room. That brief caress of darkness before the explosion certainly seemed to suggest the former rather than the latter, but if that was the case, why not create an explosion that would do damage to an Aedh? Whoever had set this trap – be it the dark sorcerer or Lauren – had to know what I was.

But then, why would they want me dead? The final key still had to be found, and I was the only one who could do that.

Maybe this trap had been set more out of spite and emotion than levelheaded thinking, and that suggested Lauren more than the dark sorcerer. If the argument I’d interrupted between Lucian and her had been any indication, Lauren hadn’t been happy about my presence in his life. And she certainly had to suspect my part in his death.

Maybe destroying any possible evidence had been the main intent of the blast. Damage to me, if I hadn’t been quick enough, might have just been a bonus.

Which made me wonder if the reaper who’d replaced Azriel would have stepped in to save me had my life truly been in danger.

Or wouldn’t it have mattered to him? Or to any of them?

I mean, I was now destined to become Mijai the next time I died, and Mijai could become flesh. Maybe it would be better for them if I did die.

But with Azriel gone, there was no way to get any answers to questions like that…

Except, he doesn’t have to remain gone…

The thought rose like a ghost, seductive and enticing. I pushed it away. If I was going to invite him back into my life, then I’d do it the fair way – when I was safe rather than in trouble.

I studied the mess now that the white dust had started to settle. What it revealed was the broken remnants of the bed and bathroom. Wiring hung like limp snakes from the remains of the ceiling, and the lines of silver ducts that crossed the room had been torn open in several places.

I couldn’t see anything that suggested there was another trap waiting, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t. There was only one way I could ever be sure, however.

I carefully imagined Jak and me as two separate beings, and reached for the Aedh. The magic stitched us back together, until flesh was fully formed and we became ourselves once again.

There was nothing at all elegant about my reappearance this time. I landed with a splat on the dust-covered concrete, shivering and coughing and generally feeling like shit. Back to the old days, I thought bleakly. But I twisted around, ignoring the red-hot pokers that jabbed into my brain as I looked for Jak.

He was lying within arm’s reach, his clothes shredded but his flesh whole. And he was breathing.

Relief spun through me, but I didn’t entirely relax. I reached out and poked him with a stiffened finger. “Jak? You okay?”

“No, I’m fucking not.” His voice was raw and somewhat shaky. “You just tore my whole body down to atoms and then re-formed it. To say I feel like shit is something of an understatement.”

“Welcome to my usual state of being,” I muttered, my gaze sweeping the room again. Given the mess and destruction, it was likely that if there had been clues here, they would have been destroyed. But I still had to look.

At least I would when I no longer felt like throwing up.

“Why the hell would you put yourself through something like that?” Jak raised a hand and scrubbed his forehead rather gingerly. “I mean, it hurts.”

“Better that than being dead.” I carefully pushed up into a sitting position, but no amount of care could stop my stomach from leaping into my throat. I swallowed heavily and added, “And that was our only other option. Just look at the walls.”

He cracked open an eye, and swore fluently. “To repeat an earlier question, why the hell would someone do that? It could have been anyone walking through that door.”

“Which is why the magic checked us out first.”

He glanced at me. “It did?”

“Yeah.” My stomach was beginning to settle again, although the madmen in my head didn’t seem too inclined to follow suit. I nevertheless stood upright, and held out a hand. “Need some help getting up?”

“Yes.” His fingers gripped mine. I couldn’t help noticing the slight tremor in them. “Although I have to say, the view from this angle isn’t half bad.”

I glanced down as I hauled him upright. My sweater had not come through the second shift at all well. Not only had I lost a sleeve, but there was a gaping hole down my left side that exposed one breast. And my jeans weren’t in much better shape, hanging on my body in shredded bits.

“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” I commented. “And your clothes haven’t fared much better.”

“No,” he muttered, glancing down. “Although it does explain the sudden feeling of freedom.”

I half laughed – which I regretted the moment the madmen in my head sprang into action with their pokers – and released Jak’s hand. “I think you’d better stay here while I check —”

“No way on god’s green earth,” he cut in. “If I’d hung back last time, I’d be dust like those walls. Consider me your shadow until we get out of this place.”

I couldn’t exactly argue given it was totally true. I took a careful step. The air stirred, and the hairs at the back of my neck rose.

Something else was here.

I stopped and scanned the room again. The dangling electrical wires swayed lightly, even though the place was hushed and the air up here still.

The images of snakes rose again. I swore under my breath and drew Amaya. She began to hum with excitement and flames flickered down the edges of her steel.

“Drawing your sword is not a good sign,” Jak said. “What can you see that I can’t?”

“Moving electrical wires.”

“Electrical wires? Seriously?”

“I’m afraid so.”

I took another step. The swaying got stronger. It was almost as if they were attempting to grab us. My skin crawled and I quickly swiped at the nearest one. It plopped to the ground and didn’t move.

Not that it should. I mean, it was electrical wire.

“You don’t think you’re overreacting, do you?” Jak’s breath was warm against the back of my neck. He might not believe the wiring presented a threat, but he still wasn’t taking any chances.

“Can you feel a breeze?” I swung Amaya around as another piece of wiring snapped toward us. It retreated.

Definitely not the behavior of inert wiring.

“No, but —”

“Then tell me why the hell those wires are moving like they are.”

“I’m sure there’s a reasonable answer, but fucked if I can think of it right now.” He paused. “Maybe we should leave?”

“What makes you think whatever magic inhabits these wires doesn’t also inhabit the ones that control the elevator?”

“There are stairs —” He yelped and jumped, cannoning into me and sending me sprawling forward.

I caught my balance and swung around, Amaya ablaze in my hand. Jak was jumping around like a madman, frantically pulling at the piece of wire slithering up his leg. It was the piece I’d sliced moments earlier.

Amaya, destroy that thing – but don’t hurt Jak!

Won’t, she said, as flames leapt from her blade to Jak’s leg. He yelped again, and raised a hand to batter her away, but I grabbed it.

“She won’t burn you,” I said. “Just stay still.”

“There are flames near my nuts,” he shouted, his expression one of horror. “You stay still —”

“Jak,” I cut in harshly. “Trust me.”

His gaze flashed to mine; then he gulped and stopped moving. Sweat beaded his forehead as Amaya’s flames wrapped almost lovingly around the two-foot snake of wiring stretching from just below his knee up to his groin. When the last of the snake was covered, her flames flared briefly, then disappeared. The snake was gone, and there was little evidence of its presence on Jak other than a few scorch marks on his jeans.

Magic bitter, Amaya commented. Hate made.

Lauren for sure, then. I still had to wonder why, though. It made little sense for anyone to want me dead, even if Lauren did want revenge for Lucian’s death. Unless, of course, both she and the other sorcerer – if indeed there was another sorcerer; we still weren’t entirely sure about that, despite the fact it had definitely been a male who’d snatched the first key from me – had decided they were happy enough having two of the three hell gates open. I guess, if nothing else, it would make accessing hell’s minions a whole lot easier for them.

Although the effort-to-reward ratio seemed way out of whack to me. But then, we were talking about a pair of dark sorcerers. Maybe they planned to hold the world for ransom or something equally insane.

I released Jak’s hand. “You okay?”

He took a deep breath, then nodded. “What the hell are we going to do about the wiring? Severing it doesn’t stop it, and there’s too much hanging down for us to do a proper search of the room without risk.”

“True.” I turned around. Amaya, are you able to burn a path between here and the bed?

She didn’t answer, but flames leapt from her blade, shooting forward, creating a six-foot-wide avenue between us and the bed. The remaining wiring shivered and snapped, as if in anger or frustration.

Another chill ran down my spine. There was no way in hell I was going to use the elevator to get out of this place.

With our path clear, we moved forward. The bed had borne the brunt of the explosion, and was little more than a blackened, twisted mass of frame, springs, and fabric remnants. If there had been something hidden within it, it was unlikely to have survived.

I checked the remnants anyway, and found precisely what I’d expected – nothing.

I bit back a frustrated curse and looked around the rest of the room. Where would Lucian have hidden something if not in the bed?

“If I’d wanted to secure something,” Jak commented, “I would have chosen the loo.”

I shot him a glance. “Why?”

He shrugged. “It’s the last place anyone thinks to look.”

It was certainly a place that would have appealed to Lucian’s warped sense of humor. I cleared more wiring snakes, then walked across to the remnants of the bathroom. Surprisingly, the glass wall had held up well, as had the toilet, which had been positioned behind it.

“Try the tank first,” Jak said. “It’s been plumbed in, so anywhere else would have caused an obstruction.”

I unscrewed the flush button, then lifted the lid off the tank. And there, attached to the plunger, was a small plastic-wrapped envelope.

“Bingo,” I said softly, and pulled it free. I handed Jak the lid, then unwrapped the envelope, slicing it open with a fingertip, then carefully unfolding the piece of paper inside.

It read “-37.76759373693766, 144.88306045532227.”

“Coordinates,” Jak said, looking over my shoulder. “Latitude and longitude, I’d guess.”

“If you’re right, then for what? is the next big question.” I flipped the bit of paper over, but there was nothing else written on it.

“Why don’t I Google it and find out?” He reached into his pocket and frowned. “What the hell…?”

He drew out his hand and held it out, palm up. A collection of broken bits of metal and plastic sat within it. The remains of his phone, I knew without asking. I closed my eyes and cursed again. In the rush to get out of the way of the blast, I’d totally forgotten anything metal not touching flesh would be shredded. Which meant not only his phone, but mine too and my keys.

“Sorry, that’s my fault.”

His gaze jumped to mine, and after a moment, he said, “That change thing?”

“Yeah. Metal not touching flesh doesn’t get re-formed.”

“Meaning we’ll have to go somewhere else to decipher the clue.” He paused, and a sudden, somewhat cheeky smile touched his lips. “My place is nice and close. And I probably still have some of your clothes hanging around.”

I blinked. “Why the hell would you still have those?”

He shrugged. “Couldn’t be bothered throwing them out. And it wasn’t like they were taking up a whole lot of space.”

“I bet that must have pleased the hell out of the girlfriends that followed me.”

“It wasn’t a problem because there weren’t any. Only bed partners.”

I snorted. “You seriously expect me to believe —”

“Yes, because it’s true.” His gaze held mine. “My work may be the most important thing in my life, then and now, but you were, believe it or not, the next best thing.”

“Being the next best isn’t exactly a compliment,” I noted dryly. “And it doesn’t exactly explain why you’ve had no girlfriends since.”

“Ours wasn’t the first relationship I wrecked over a story, but it was the last. I decided it was better for everyone if I just didn’t go there.”

I stared at him for a minute. “Good god, was that a touch of remorse in your voice?”

“More an acknowledgment that forming attachments to get a story probably isn’t the best way to go about things.”

Which was probably as close to a sorry as I was ever likely to get. I folded the piece of paper and slipped it into my pocket. “You could have decided that before you printed the story about my mom and destroyed what we had.”

“No, I couldn’t have.”

Because it had taken that destruction for him to see the light – although I had no doubt the threats from Uncle Rhoan, Aunt Riley, and Ilianna had also played a part. They’d certainly prevented him from printing the remaining part of the story. “I can see you becoming a very lonely old man.”

“Not lonely, because there has never been a lack of partners. Just alone.”

Meaning he’d faired better in the after-relationship sex stakes than I had. At least until Lucian and Azriel had come along to liven things up.

“Your place, then.” I paused. “Are you parked somewhere very close? And do you still keep your spare key taped under the rear wheel arch?”

“Yeah, but why…?” He stopped, and tucked a hand into his other pocket. What came out was a handful of metal shards. “Well, shit.”

I glanced down, amusement touching my lips. “There’s also the free willy problem.”

“I don’t see it as much of a problem, but I agree that others might.” He grinned. “So, do we make a mad dash and hope no one notices?”

“Wiring snakes aside, my clothes won’t stand up to a mad dash. I’ll get us out of here, but you’ll have to bring the car around to the building’s entrance.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He turned sideways and waved me forward grandly. “After you, my dear.”

We carefully retreated. Amaya’s steel was quivering by the time we made the stairs, so it was with some relief that I realized not only had the wiring in the stair shaft remained unaffected by the blast, but also by the magic.

When we reached the foyer, Jak pulled off the remains of his sweater and wrapped it around his waist, effectively hiding the ventilation spots around his balls.

I waited until he’d left, then said, “Reaper, show yourself.”

For several seconds there was no response; then heat washed across my skin and the reaper appeared. He wasn’t what I’d expected – although I’m not entirely sure what I had been expecting.

I mean, he, like Azriel, was of medium height, with warm brown skin and mismatched blue eyes, but his hair was a rich honey color rather than black, and there was a multitude of scars crisscrossing his chest and well-muscled arms. Another scar stretched from just below his right temple to his chin. He also bore two swords rather than one.

What surprised me, though, was his expression. It was positively hostile.

“What do you wish?” His voice was cold. Unforgiving.

I eyed him warily. “Do you intend to intervene if I get into trouble?”

“I am here to keep you safe until the keys are found,” he said. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

Meaning, I suspected, that he would keep his distance and be totally unsociable. Azriel might have done the latter when he’d first appeared, but never the former. “What of Azriel?”

He crossed his arms. “We all bear the name of Azriel to those of flesh.”

Animosity practically oozed from his pores. Why? What in the hell was going on? “You know who I mean.”

“Perhaps I do. And perhaps it is none of your business.”

“But it is my business. I don’t —”… want my child growing up like I did – not knowing anything about his father. But I swallowed the words, not wanting to admit something that personal to a stranger – especially such a hostile one.

Besides, it was something I should have thought about before I’d banished Azriel – and it was yet another reason to call him back. I added, “I just want to know he’s okay.”

“He lives. Anything more you have no need nor right to know.”

The urge to smack this particular reaper was strong enough that I actually clenched my fists. But I very much suspected that would not be a good move. He was angry enough to stab me with his swords and claim provocation to higher powers. “Why the attitude, reaper? What the hell have I done to you?”

“What have you done?” He shook his head, as if in disbelief. “Duty is all to those of us who guard, and duty unfinished is a crime against all.”

Meaning my Azriel was in trouble. Serious trouble. My gut twisted at the thought, but even so, anger flared. “What of the way he failed me? He forced me —”

I cut the rest of the sentence off. I was talking to air anyway. The reaper had disappeared.

“You could at least have the decency to hear me out, you bastard.”

The reaper no doubt heard, but he was unlikely to care one way or another. And to be honest, no amount of lashing out – whether verbally or physically – was going to make me feel any better.

Only getting Azriel back in my life was ever going to do that.

I swore again and stalked out of the building. Jak’s red Honda pulled up a heartbeat later, and I quickly climbed in.

He glanced at me as he pulled away from the curb. “You look like a woman with a problem.”

“Yeah, and it’s a universal one called men.”

He grinned. “May I point out that we males think much the same about you females?”

“When you’re not trying to get into our pants, you mean?”

His grin grew. “Even when we’re trying to get into them. So who’s trying to get into yours?”

I crossed my arms. “No one.”

“That is a problem, I agree.”

I snorted and whacked his arm. “That’s not what I’m annoyed about.”

“Then what’s upset you? You were fine when I left to get the car. What happened in the five minutes it took me to get back here? Did the wiring attack again?” He hesitated, his brief glance shrewd. “It’s to do with your reaper, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I banished him – justifiably, I might add – but I wish I hadn’t.”

“Then unbanish him.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

Why not indeed. I hesitated. “What he did – it was bad, and it’s something that can’t be undone.”

“Was it worse than me starting a relationship with you to get a story? Worse than Lucian killing your mother, then bedding you for information?”

I opened my mouth to say yes, then stopped. Put like that, the answer was actually no. Even if Azriel had a tendency to keep secrets, he’d never been anything less than honest about his intentions or his priorities – and his priority had always been, first and foremost, his duty to secure the keys for the reapers. All else was secondary.

I might be furious with him, might feel betrayed by his actions, but he’d always warned me he would do whatever he deemed necessary to get those keys. Or die trying.

Why would he think my life – or rather, all my future lives – were any less expendable?

He wouldn’t. As the hostile reaper had pointed out, duty was all to a reaper. It rose above everything, even family and love. He might care for me, but that would not have stopped him from doing what needed to be done in order to finish his mission.

The only thing that had stopped him was me. I’d sent him away, thereby forcing another to take his place. I’d made him fail, and he was now paying the price.

I scrubbed a hand across suddenly stinging eyes and swore yet again.

“So,” Jak murmured. “Not as bad.”

“No.” I hesitated. It felt a little weird discussing this with Jak, of all people. And yet, he was also the one person who would understand betrayal, even if from the other side. “But I don’t know if I can move past —”

“Relationships are hard work,” he interrupted. “They’re all about give and take. If Azriel did the latter rather than the former, the question you have to ask yourself is, are you willing to walk away? Or is whatever lay between you special enough to work on a fix?”

Yes, it is. I stared at Jak for several heartbeats. “When the hell did you start doling out such astute relationship advice?”

He smiled. “I’ve had more than my fair share of broken relationships, remember. And you didn’t answer my question.”

“That’s because I haven’t actually got one.” A lie, but I wasn’t about to admit my feelings to Jak before I admitted them to Azriel.

“Then I suggest you do so – and before the gulf between you gets too wide to traverse. Besides, running away from a problem is never a good idea.”

Which was an echo of what Aunt Riley had said to me when I’d first woken in hospital after being dragged back from death.

I hadn’t wanted to listen to her back then. Hadn’t really wanted to listen to anyone – not even when my own intuition had suggested that banishing Azriel was the worst possible move I could ever make. I’d been far too angry.

But somewhere between waking this morning and now, my brain cells had finally started functioning again. The truth of the matter was, despite the pain and the hurt, despite the sense of betrayal, I needed Azriel in my life. I just had to hope that it wasn’t already too late to get him back.

I grabbed a quick shower at Jak’s in the vague hope that it’d wash away all the bits of fluff and debris that were both on and in my skin – the Aedh magic didn’t always re-form clothing as precisely as it deformed it, and it wasn’t unusual for me to have annoying bits of fiber sticking out of my flesh for days after becoming Aedh – then went in search of clothes. I found a pretty, knee-length dress at the back of the wardrobe in the spare bedroom, but had no such luck when it came to underwear – for which I was kind of glad. It would have been a little too weird if he’d kept any of that after all these years.

But just as I was about to pull on the dress, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror behind me, and froze. Because my reflection now bore a series of tattoos that ran up the back of my neck and disappeared into my hairline. They were a mix of patterns that sometimes resembled the known – one looked vaguely like a rose, another like an eye with a comet’s tail – and at other times looked nothing more than random swirls. But these weren’t any old tats. They were a tribal signature – Azriel’s tribal signature.

Obviously, when he’d leashed our energy beings and bound us together forever, I’d become part of his tribe. His family. The one he was apparently refusing to see because of his shame at being a dark angel.

And for the first time since I’d woken up in the hospital, I had to wonder – at what cost to himself had he made me one?

He’d once said that if we’d assimilated – if we’d become so attuned to each other that our life forces merged – his reaper powers would become muted, and he would never again be able to function as a soul bearer. So in saving me, had he sacrificed his own desire to once again escort souls?

As much as I hated that he’d taken away my right to die as I was destined, it seemed very wrong that he’d also suffer the loss of his own dreams. Becoming a Mijai had been a punishment for him, and it wasn’t something he’d wanted to spend eternity doing.

So when he’d put the mission first and dragged me back to life, had the cost been as great to him as it had been for me?

God, I hope not. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep, shuddery breath. It was time, I thought, I not only started acting like a rational adult, but thinking like one.

And that meant putting on my big girl knickers to not only confront the man I’d banished, but sit down to discuss where the hell we now went relationship-wise.

Or even if we had a relationship.

But I couldn’t do that here. It would have to wait until later, after I’d gotten home and contacted Hunter.

I tugged on the dress, finger-combed my hair, then went in search of Jak. I found him in the study.

“Did you find out where those coordinates were?” I asked.

His gaze skimmed my body as he swiveled around in his chair. “Always did like you in that dress. The lilac matches your eyes. And yeah, it’s smack bang in the middle of an old Department of Defense site in Maribyrnong. They sold it off thirty years ago for development.”

I frowned. “That’s nowhere near the other warehouse.”

“No, but it is on a ley line.”

My eyebrows rose. “Since when did you become an expert on ley-line location?”

“Since you dragged me into this goddamn quest. I thought it might benefit the story if I actually knew what I was writing about.” His expression was somewhat wry. “That’s presuming I’m actually allowed to write about it once it’s all over.”

“Uncle Rhoan said you could.”

“Yeah, but I’m betting they’ll vet it before it goes to print.”

Undoubtedly. “Being on a ley line could suggest it’s hiding another transport gate.”

The first one certainly had – we’d witnessed a Razan using it, right before hellhounds had attacked us. What it wasn’t was the gate they were using to get onto the gray fields. But that had to be somewhere near the first warehouse, because that was where the intersection was. I guess it wasn’t all that surprising we were having trouble finding it, though – it wasn’t like they’d want anyone accidentally stumbling onto it.

“Well,” Jak said, rising. “There’s only one way we’re going to find out what’s out there.”

“As long as it doesn’t take all day. I have to be back home by five.” It was just after two, so that gave me a couple of free hours before I had to contact Hunter. “And you might want to grab that knife Ilianna gave you, just in case.”

“It’s stashed in the car.” He hesitated. “I haven’t heard any whispers about weird things happening out that way. No reports of dogs with red eyes, like the first one.”

He touched my back, guiding me out of the house and into his car.

“That doesn’t mean they’re not there,” I said, once he’d climbed into the driver’s seat.

“I know. It would be nice, however, if just once we could enter a building without getting attacked.”

“Amen to that,” I muttered. Hell, it would be nice if just once we caught a decent break. Maybe even a decent clue or two.

Mirri’s life might just depend on it.

It took us just over half an hour to scoot across to Maribyrnong. The old defense site was easy enough to find, although much of it was now warehouses in various states of ill repair. Jak wound his way through the estate until we’d reached the coordinates, and parked up the road from a line of boxlike concrete buildings. There were no cars other than Jak’s in this immediate area, and all the warehouses seemed empty of movement or life.

“It’s the unmarked one in the middle.” Jak crossed his arms on the steering wheel and studied the building through the windshield. “It looks harmless.”

“So did the first one.”

“True that.”

I opened the door and climbed out of the car. The air swirled around me, rich with the scent of humanity. There was no one close, though. These warehouses were definitely as empty as they looked.

Jak came around the back of the car and halted beside me, the sheathed knife gripped firmly in his right hand. “The lady with the psychic skills may lead the way.”

I smiled and walked down to the warehouse. It was a two-story structure, with small, evenly spaced windows lining both levels. The bottom ones were protected by metal bars, but not the top. I couldn’t see anything unusual or out of place, yet tension crawled through me. Maybe it was just the expectation of trouble rather than the sense that anything lay in wait.

The double gates were padlocked but there didn’t seem to be any other security measures in place. No cameras or sensors, anyway. Amaya could have dealt with the padlock easily enough, but that would tell whoever owned the building someone had been here.

“Looks like we’re climbing over,” I said. “And no looking up the dress.”

His grin was decidedly cheeky. “Would I do something like that?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“I’m mortified you think me so uncouth.”

I rolled my eyes. “Will you just get over the fucking gate?”

He grinned and leapt up, grabbing the top of the gate and hauling himself over. I was right on his tail, landing beside him in a half crouch as I scanned the building again. Still no sense of anything untoward.

I rose and padded forward. There were pigeons strutting about on the roof, but little else moved.

The main entrance was on the side of the building, near the large loading bay. The door was locked, as were the bay doors.

“Now what?” Jak said.

I studied the side of the building, then said, “Maybe we should check the windows around the back.”

He frowned. “The windows are barred, and not even you’re skinny enough to squeeze through them.”

“The top ones aren’t. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find one open.”

He snorted. “Since when has luck been on our side?”

There was that. We checked anyway and, as it turned out, lady luck had obviously decided to throw us a small morsel. One of the rear top windows was open an inch or so.

Jak eyed it dubiously. “I’m gathering you’re going to use your magic trick to get up there?”

“Yeah.” I hauled off my dress and handed it to him. I’d already destroyed one set of clothes today – I wasn’t about to destroy another. “I’ll get you in if I can.”

His gaze skimmed me; then he sighed. “As lovely as ever. I really am an idiot, aren’t I?”

I grinned, but didn’t answer. I simply called to the Aedh, then whisked upward, slipping in through the small gap and cautiously looking around. The room appeared to be some sort of storeroom – metal shelving lined the walls, but there was little else here other than dust. I scooted under the small gap between the door and the concrete floor, then checked out the various rooms – all of which were empty – before making my way downstairs. Other than the offices that lined the road side of the building, it was a vast, empty space. Once I’d checked there were no hidden security cams, I shifted back to human form.

The madmen in my head went a little crazy with their knives, making my eyes water and my stomach twist alarmingly. But that was to be expected. Not only had I changed shape a fair bit so far today, but I’d yet to eat anything other than a few mouthfuls of bread. I waited until the ache eased and my stomach seemed less inclined to jump up my throat, then slowly rose. The chill air caressed my body, hardening my nipples and sending goose bumps skittering across my skin. But there was no sense of magic in its touch, nothing that suggested anything or anyone had been in here for some time.

“Jak? You there?”

“Right outside the loading bay door. You see anything?”

“No.” I spun around, my gaze sweeping the area. There was nothing here that prickled my psychic senses, either. “The place is empty.”

“The warehouse near Stane’s that we searched a few days ago looked empty,” he pointed out. “Until we fell through the damn floor and almost ended up a hellhound’s dinner.”

“Yeah, but we knew something had to be there because of the hellhound reports.”

“Lucian wouldn’t have hidden the coordinates of this place for no reason,” Jak said. “There has to be something – you just can’t see it.”

“Well, I certainly don’t want to find it by falling into it.”

But the truth was that might be the only way we would uncover what secrets this place might hold. I walked over and opened the window, but the bars were welded securely in place. As werewolves, we could have ripped them off easily enough, but again, that would only announce our presence to whoever owned this place. “How high can you jump?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Fairly high, especially with a run up.”

“Then go around the back. I’ll open that top window wider for you.”

He nodded, and disappeared. I ran back upstairs, and five seconds later he was scrambling in – sans my dress. I peered out the window. It was neatly folded next to the wall. “Why the hell did you leave it there?”

He grinned. “I may not be able to touch these days, but no wolf in his right mind is going to pass on the chance to look. Besides, we have to leave this place as we found it, and that means you closing the window and slipping back out in that other form of yours.”

“It’s bloody cold in this building, you know.”

He sighed dramatically, and proceeded to take off his cotton sweater. “You do spoil all my fun.”

“Sorry. But thanks.” I pulled it on. It was long enough to cover my butt, and was filled with the warm spicy scent of him. As I rolled up the sleeves, I added, “We do this the old-fashioned way – search every room carefully and see if we spring any traps.”

Which is precisely what we did. After more than an hour of walking up and down both levels of the building, we found precisely nothing.

“Damn it!” He thrust a hand through his dark hair. “There has to be a reason he hid the coordinates of this place.”

“Obviously.” I plonked down on the windowsill and rubbed my arms. “But maybe you need to be a sorcerer to find it.”

“Fat lot of good that does us when neither of us are.”

No, but Ilianna, while not a sorcerer, might be able to see what we could not. I hated the thought of dragging her here, but I really couldn’t see what other choice we had.

“Maybe we need to tackle this from another angle.” Jak crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “I could search public records, see who owns the place, and track them down. And in the meantime, we could keep a watch on the place.”

“A physical watch would be too noticeable. The area isn’t exactly a hive of activity.”

“What about Stane? He owns an electronics shop, doesn’t he? Couldn’t he get you a camera or something?”

Stane could get me a whole lot more than just a camera, thanks to the fact the shop was a cover for his black marketeering business.

“Good idea.” I glanced at my watch. We’d wasted a whole two hours and gained absolutely nothing – nothing except moving Mirri two hours closer to death. Frustration and anger surged anew, but there was little I could do but ignore it and keep on searching. I pushed myself off the sill and headed for the stairs. “Right now, I need to go home. I have to get to that damn meeting.”

He followed me. “You want me to drop you off, or are you going to get there under your own steam?”

“You can drive me, if you wouldn’t mind. Becoming Aedh drains the hell out of me.”

“Which probably explains why you’re so damn thin these days.” He held out a hand. “Sweater. Don’t want it wrecked.”

I hauled it off and handed it over. He studied me for several seconds, his gaze lingering on my breasts, then he sighed again. “Do you know how hard it is not to touch right now?”

I resisted the urge to glance down and see for myself just how hard it was. “Will you just get out the window.”

He grinned and jumped down to the ground. I slid the window back into its original position, then changed form and followed him out. Once the knives and my stomach had again settled, I redressed and we headed to the car.

He dropped me off on the corner of Punt Road and Tanner Street, then zoomed off to begin his hunt for the warehouse owners. I walked down toward Lennox Street, half wishing I’d borrowed his sweater again. The bite in the air was getting stronger, and a dress, however pretty, wasn’t enough to keep me warm.

I swung left into Lennox, then stopped dead. There were cops, firemen, and others everywhere.

And the old building that was our home was a half-burned-out shell.