“No crests inside,” I said, even as I mentally added,
But it’s not like I can perform magic, so why would being sensitive to it matter?
I do not know. Dušan are not something reapers have ever been gifted with, so I am not overly familiar with what they may or may not be capable of.
He mentally shrugged.
But it is more than possible that—given your father was responsible for their creation—he endowed your Dušan with an ability to interact with this world.
Maybe.
I walked on toward the intersection and the end of the building. The Dušan’s claws were digging deeper and beginning to sting. She was
not
happy we were moving away from the key.
Why do you think my father gave you a Dušan if it’s not customary for reapers to have them?
Again, I do not know. Your father’s motives were never easy to understand at the best of times. Perhaps he merely wished to ensure the Mijai sent to protect you had the best possible chance of doing so.
He couldn’t have known you’d be the one, though.
Couldn’t he?
He paused at the end of the building and looked down the side street. The building stretched before us, longer than it was wide. We turned the corner and continued on.
Reapers and Aedh—even rebel Aedh—were not unknown to each other before this event. It is entirely possible he was aware that the most likely candidate to protect you would be a Mijai who not only had a dark and bloody past, but who was already familiar with this plane.
I guessed that did make sense. After all, he’d had me because he’d obviously known that he would need the help of blood kin to find the keys. It was entirely possible he’d also foreseen that Azriel would be assigned to keep me safe until they were found.
Smaller windows dotted this side of the building. I made a show of looking in each of them, but I really wasn’t paying much attention to what each actually revealed.
“Right,” I said, as we reached the end of the building. “Nothing there, so we’d better check the first floor. Is there anyone inside?”
Azriel’s gaze momentarily narrowed. “There are two people in the bedroom of the front apartment. I can use their memories to gain access.”
“Do it.”
A second later we were inside the building. I stepped away from Azriel and looked around. We were in a largish combined living and kitchen area and there were several rooms leading off it. One was obviously the bedroom, given that someone within was snoring very loudly, and the other was a bathroom.
Can you keep the occupants asleep?
I asked, glancing at Azriel.
He nodded.
They will not wake until after we leave.
Excellent.
The Dušan was pointing toward the apartment’s middle front window. Given that there wasn’t a crest or coat of arms to be seen anywhere near it, it had to be outside, on the building itself.
Which meant we had to make more of a show of looking around. We might be doing nothing more than wasting time when we didn’t have a lot of it to waste, but we also just might be saving ourselves a lot of grief. Hunter couldn’t know we’d found the key. Not until we were ready to confront her.
I checked out all the rooms, then finally walked across to the middle sash window and lifted it. There was no veranda along this portion of the building, so I leaned out as far as I dared and looked up. There was some sort of crest or shield at the top of the building, but I couldn’t make out what it was from here. Not that I really needed to. The energy pulsing from it stung my skin almost as sharply as the Dušan’s claws. I called to the Aedh, slipped out the window, and headed up.
It was very definitely an Australian coat of arms, but not the one that was in use today. This one was very old, with the positions of the emu and the kangaroo reversed, and the shield holding images of a sailing ship, a sheaf of wheat, a sheep, and an anchor—images I guess were meant to represent both our origins and the two industries that had helped Australia grow.
I materialized a couple of fingers on my right hand and brushed them over the whole coat of arms warily. Energy bit me, sharp and dark in feel.
The shield portion of the coat of arms was the key.
I pulled my hand away and went back through the window.
“That’s not it,” I said, forcing an edge of disappointment into my voice. “This is
really
starting to piss me off.”
“Shall we move on to the next one?” Azriel asked, then silently added,
We cannot risk leaving it there too long, just in case your ploy fails.
I know. But we can’t retrieve it until we do something about Myer.
I wearily rubbed the bridge of my nose. I was beginning to get a headache, and it was no doubt entirely due to tension. Out loud, I added, “I need a coffee. Why don’t we head back to the café, and resume this in half an hour?”
The only way to deal with her might be to kill her.
“Hunter’s deadline is little more than two hours away—”
I don’t want to kill her.
It was somewhat weird to have a conversation on two very different levels. “I know. But if I drop with exhaustion, that isn’t going to find the key, either.”
“She may not see it that way.”
And there is little other choice.
“Right now, I’m beyond fucking caring. I need coffee.” I hesitated, then glanced around the room and said, “And if you’re listening, Myer, feel free to mention my sentiments. I’m beyond caring about
that
, too.”
There was no response—but given she was on the astral plane rather than
this
one, that was no surprise. I returned my gaze to Azriel.
“Baiting Hunter, even via our watcher, is not a wise idea.”
“Yeah, well, she can’t fucking kill me until we find the key, and if she kills anyone else, she’ll never get it.” I glanced over my shoulder. “And you can tell her that, too, if you like.”
“Enough, Risa.”
If Hunter has killed her brother, she is well beyond any sort of reasoning. Do not goad her into an action everyone will regret.
I sighed and stepped into his arms.
Fair enough.
“Home, James.”
He whisked us back to the café. I headed downstairs
and made myself the largest mug of coffee I could find, then helped myself to some chocolate mousse cake and went back upstairs.
So, Myer,
I said, as I plonked down on my office chair and munched on the cake.
Azriel moved across to the window and stared out.
As I said, I really don’t think there are many options.
And I really don’t want to kill her if I can avoid it.
I paused to take a sip of coffee.
What if I knock her unconscious and bind her? From what Markel said when I killed Krogan, I think wherever they’re astrally traveling from, it’s a place only they access.
It is a very dangerous ploy.
I know, but I really don’t want to have too much blood on my hands at the end of all this, Azriel. Not when it’s the likes of Krogan and Myer, who are really only doing their job.
I can understand the desire, but in war, there is sometimes little other choice.
We aren’t at war, I wanted to say, but the fact of the matter was, we were battling dark forces who wanted to either destroy this world or control it, and if that wasn’t war, then what was? I finished my cake and licked the mousse from my fingers.
The only trouble is, to know where her physical body is I’m going to have to astral travel, and she’ll suspect something is wrong the minute I step onto the plane.
Can you not travel from where you are? It would be less obvious.
I can try.
Then do so. And be fast, in case she becomes aware of what is happening.
I drank some coffee, then put my mug on the table and closed my eyes. There was no time for finesse, no time to find calm and inner peace. I quickly went through the process that would take me onto the astral plane, and
in very little time felt the pull of my soul as it came away from my body.
I immediately imagined myself standing in front of Myer’s physical body, and even as I pulled fully free from my flesh, the plane blurred around me; then I found myself in a small, dark room. Myer was short and dark haired, with muscular arms and scars down one side of her face. She lay on one of half a dozen beds that were in the room, none of the others of which was occupied.
I glanced around, the tension running through me reflected in the vibrations beginning to roll across the nearby plane, creating an odd sort of thunder. I flexed imaginary fingers, trying to calm down, yet knowing I couldn’t stay here long. Myer was far more adept at astral traveling than me and might just realize something odd was happening back at the café. If she decided to travel to wherever I now was, the shit would really hit the astral fan.
I spotted a heavy-looking metal door and imagined myself on the other side of it. In the blink of an eye I was. There was a security checkpoint in this room, complete with iris and body scanners, and a guard armed to the teeth. They weren’t taking any chances with the safety of their travelers—which made me wonder how in the hell Markel had gotten rid of Krogan’s body.
I moved on, past the scanners, following the shadowed corridor. I couldn’t travel in Aedh form to this place if I didn’t actually know where in Melbourne it was located.
The corridor led to a series of other rooms containing beds, some of them occupied, some of them not. I frowned, confusion growing, and moved on. I came to a lobby, saw a directory on the wall above the call button, and felt like swearing.
I was at the Directorate.
Which made sense, I guess. It was the safest place to
conduct such journeys, given it would take an army to break into this building.
I wasn’t an army, but break in I would have to. I imagined myself back in my body and shuddered, gasping in pain, as the force of my return hit like a club.
I took several gulps of coffee, which hit my stomach and threatened to come right back up again, then swung around to face Azriel.
That area of the Directorate is unlikely to be shielded against astral travelers given that is its purpose,
he said,
so it is unlikely they would be guarded against your Aedh form.
It’s unlikely they’d be warded against Aedh anyway. Before all this crap started, no one was even really aware such protection was necessary.
Yes, but the Directorate
are
now aware, and no doubt will be working to solve the problem. How do you wish to play this?
I glanced at the time, thinking fast. Dawn would soon be upon us, and with it came the countdown to Hunter’s deadline. But there was another deadline approaching, one we could use to our advantage. “You need to go report to Aunt Riley. The last thing I need is for her to come out of hiding and present the perfect target to Hunter.”
“Your aunt is cannier than that.”
“I know, but I still don’t want to take the risk.”
“And you? What will you do while I am gone?”
I hesitated. “I might go to Stane’s and see if there’s any way he can hack into the security of the remaining properties. If we can use their camera systems to look around, it might stop us wasting so much time.”
“If that were possible, I think he would have done it.”
I shrugged. “It’s still worth a shot. Shall I meet you there?”
“Do.” Silently, he added,
Not. If you are unable to subdue Myer, then we have a brief window of opportunity in which to grab the key and take it to safety.
Then where will we meet? The first place she’ll look is back here.
He hesitated.
It will take you too long to travel in Aedh form to the key’s location, so meet me at the Aedh’s apartment building and we shall go from there.
I raised my eyebrows.
Why there?
Because it is close, and also a place they will not immediately think of.
Aloud, he added, “Be safe.”
I nodded, finished my coffee, then called to the Aedh. In particle form, I sped from the café and arrowed not toward the Directorate but to a hardware store, where I bought rope and duct tape. Only then did I continue on toward the Directorate. And every bit of me was crossed that we’d guessed right, that the Directorate hadn’t yet had the time to form any sort of defense against energy beings.
The green glass building came into sight. I slipped down to the pavement level but didn’t immediately enter, waiting impatiently for someone else to do so. As they walked through the bristling array of scanners, I went in with them.
No alarms went off.
Relief slithered through me, but it was tempered by the fact that I hadn’t reached my destination just yet. I continued on to the stairwell, slipping in under the door, then swirling down the stairs until I reached the floor that held the astral traveling room. I retraced my steps, flowed over the guard, and entered the room where Myer slept. It was still otherwise empty.
I moved across to where she lay, then imagined Amaya in one hand, the tape and the rope in the other, and called to the Aedh.
The minute my feet hit the floor, alarms went off.
Chapter 14
There were fucking sensors in the
floor
.
The moment I’d regained flesh, I set the damn things off. And as soon as they went off, Myer began to wake. I flipped Amaya and swung her as hard as I could. Even half-groggy and still suffering the aftereffects of her swift return to her body, Myer was fast. She threw herself sideways, and the blow that should have smacked her across the jaw and knocked her out hit her temple instead. She came up fast, murder in her gray eyes.
Amaya, flame and contain,
I yelped, even as I reached for the Aedh magic.
A ball of lilac erupted from the sword’s side and shot toward Myer. She swore and dove away, but there was no escaping Amaya’s cage. As the door behind me began to beep, Amaya’s flames flashed around Myer and pinned her to the spot. In half-flesh, half-Aedh form, I moved over.