Darkness Hunts(71)

I half wondered if this was yet another letter from my father and flipped it over, sliding a nail under the rim to open it.

The sheet inside was the same blue color as the envelope. Obviously, whoever sent it liked matching stationery.

I tugged the sheet out and unfolded it. And discovered it wasn’t a letter, but rather a warning.

I know where you live, it said.

And I know what protects you.





Chapter 10




For a minute, I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Then fear set in and I began to shake so badly that my legs wouldn’t support me and I dropped onto the bed.

He knew where I lived!

Fuck, oh fuck.

I stared at the letter for several more minutes, then, without warning, started to cry.

Fiercely.

Uncontrollably.

The sobs were so bad my whole body shook with them and though I was gulping down air like a fish, it caught in my throat and made it even harder to breathe.

Tao was suddenly on his knees in front of me. He wrapped his arms around my body, making soothing noises low in his throat as he pulled me onto his lap and rocked me as gently as a father would a terrified child. It felt like a furnace had wrapped itself around me, and it went a long way toward chasing away the chill that had enveloped my body.

But the tears continued to fall. In anger, in fear, and in frustration. For everything that had happened, for everything I’d lost, for all those who had died because of me, and for all those who might yet die because of me.

Because I was sick of monsters chasing me and sick of people using me.

And because I knew, no matter what, there was no going back. This path, this journey, was leading me inexorably into darkness, and I knew with every fiber of my being it was a darkness from which I would not escape.

My mother had sensed this destiny long, long ago. Had, in fact, told Aunt Riley when I was still a child that I would be involved with angels and demons and god knows what else, and she hadn’t been sure if that involvement would be for the side of good, or for evil. She’d never actually said anything to me, of course, but I’d known. She’d had her secrets, but this was one I’d uncovered fairly young—too young to understand the true depth and cost of such darkness.

I understood it now.

Understood, and feared it.

I’m not sure how long we stayed like that, but it was certainly long enough that Tao’s legs had to be cramping. He never said anything, just continued to hold me long after the tears had stopped falling. Eventually, I lifted my head from his shoulder and said, “You wouldn’t have a tissue on you, would you?”

“No, but I can produce a handy sleeve.”

He offered me his left arm. I made an odd sound that was caught between a laugh and a sob. “Thanks, but it’s too nice a sweater to ruin with snot.”

“Snot can be washed off.” He gently thumbed away a remaining tear, then placed his hands on my hips and lifted me onto the bed. “Now, do you want to tell me what that was all about?”

“It was this.”

I handed him the letter. He read it quickly, then met my gaze again, his expression curious. “Who is it from? It doesn’t seem the sort of thing the Raziq or your father would send, and they’re the only crazy people currently in your life, aren’t they?”

“Well, there’s Hunter and the vampire council, but this isn’t from them. It’s from someone who brings a very fresh approach to the business of being insane.”

“Well, you do seem to attract them.” Amusement ran through his voice, but there was concern in his eyes.

“Yeah, I do.” I rose, stepped past his legs, and walked around the bed to grab a tissue, blowing my nose before adding, “I met this one on the astral plane. Apparently he’s been killing people and taunting the Directorate for a week, but now he’s decided to turn his attention to me. Why, I have no idea.”

“The insane rarely need a good reason to do anything.” He studied the note for a moment, then threw it on the bed and rose. “Have your shower and then pack. We’re getting out of here.”

“Why? I mean, this place is more secure than just about anywhere.”

But even as I said that, I remembered that this foe could astral-travel and was apparently able to interact with people on both the plane and the real world while in that astral state.

And though we had the latest in security gadgets in our apartment as well as wards designed specifically to keep Aedh out, it wouldn’t keep out a human in astral form.

He knew where I lived.

All he had to do was wait until I was asleep and vulnerable. And because Azriel couldn’t interact with the astral plane, he wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Azriel.

I wanted the comfort of his presence so badly it hurt, and it was rather surprising that he hadn’t appeared, given the stress I’d been under. But then, he was a man fighting for control and warring against need while trying to do the job he’d been sent here to do. And as our all-too-brief kiss had proved, it was a war he was losing.