"I'm hardly alone. I have Amaya, remember."
"True." He still looked doubtful, however.
I sighed. "I'll be fine. Just don't forget to give Jak all the appropriate memories."
"He will get what he requires."
I snorted softly. "We were seen dancing, Azriel. Include that—all of that."
He just gave me his inscrutable face. Which meant, I was beginning to suspect, Screw you. I'll do what I want. "We still need his help, Azriel, whether you like it or not."
He inclined his head slightly, but again, I couldn't really tell whether it was agreement. "I won't be long," he said, and disappeared again.
I plopped down on the chair, and after a few minutes of twiddling my thumbs, dug out my phone and rang Ilianna.
"Do you know what fucking time it is?" she mumbled by way of hello.
"Yep," I said cheerfully. "But I figure if I'm up, you should be, too."
"Karma will bite your ass for this," she muttered.
"Karma already has," I said. "Trust me, sleep and I haven't exactly been steady companions over the last couple of days. How's Tao?"
"Improving," she said. "His core temperature continues to come down, and he's finally starting to put weight back on."
"But he hasn't woken yet?"
"No." She paused, and soft steps echoed. I was being taken into the bathroom, I suspected. Guess that's what I got for waking her at an ungodly hour. "But we don't think it'll be too long before he does."