Which was a given, simply because Stane’s computer was megapowerful and worth megabucks, where as my poor little thing barely had the power to cope with the tax and wage tasks of the restaurant. I really would have to buy a new one when all this was over and things got back to normal.
“Or as normal as they can be given you carry my child,” Azriel murmured. “You have no idea how desperately I desire to see you round and fat.”
“Round I can cope with. Fat, not so much.” I grinned, dropped a kiss on his lips, then said, “To Stane’s, please, driver.”
He wrapped his arms tighter around me; then his energy surged around us and in no time flat we were standing inside the foyer of Stane’s West Street shop. It housed not only his electronics business, but his living quarters and black market business as well. The camera above the door buzzed into action the minute we appeared, swinging around to track our movements. Not that we could go far—the shimmer of light surrounding the small entrance was warning enough that his containment shield was active. Azriel could—and had, in the past—deliver us upstairs, where Stane’s computer “bridge” and living quarters were, but the last time we’d done that, our sudden appearance had just about given Stane a heart attack.
“Hey, Stane, it’s Risa and Azriel.” I smiled up at the camera. “Turn off the shield so we can come up.”
“Hey,” he replied, his warm tones sounding slightly tinny through the small speaker near the camera. “Welcome back. I was beginning to think you’d abandoned me.”
“What, you’ve grown so used to me bugging you daily with urgent tasks that you feel lost without me?”
The shimmering field surrounding us died, allowing us to walk toward the stairs at the rear of the shop. Of course, this meant we had to go right through the middle of all the shelves holding the tons of dusty junk that were little more than a cover for his real business—black marketeering. And no one, not even Stane’s mom the last time she’d been down here, had dared to clean this room for fear of suffocating in the resulting dust storm.
“Well, not so much you,” he said, voice amused. “It’s more the champagne you supply with each task.”
I grinned. “You, Stane, are becoming a lush.”
“And damn proud of it,” he agreed. “Come on up, folks. I just made coffee.”
“Excellent.”
I bounded up the steps. He met me at the top, a grin on his face and a coffee in his hand. “Here you go,” he said, honey-colored eyes amused as he offered me the cup. “It’s even the good stuff.”
“You have good stuff?” I said, feigning shock. “Since when?”
“Since I made a most excellent sale of the latest in limpet lasers.”
Limpet lasers were small but powerful lasers that clung to the palm of your hand, and could be fired through various finger movements. “They aren’t exactly a new development.”
He stepped to one side, then swept an arm forward, ushering me on. “These were, trust me.”
I stepped past him, not bothering to ask what made them special. Just as I didn’t ask where he got them. Sometimes it was better not to know.
Unlike the lower portion of his building, this floor was pristine and dust-free. It had to be, because dust damaged computer systems, expensive electronics, and possibly whatever other black market items he happened to have, all of which were kept on this floor. Stane himself, however, could only be described as a mess, with unkempt brown hair, an ill-fitting blue sweater with holes in the elbows, and wrinkled jeans. But at least he was neither dusty nor dirty.
I glanced around the open living and kitchen area, hoping to see Tao. He wasn’t here, and his scent was little more than a hint in the air, suggesting he hadn’t been here for at least twenty-four hours. I frowned. “I thought Tao was staying with you.”
“He is,” Stane said, expression suddenly grim. “Or rather, he was.”
I swore softly. “When did he disappear?”
“Early yesterday morning.”
He hadn’t been sighted at the café in the last twenty-four hours, either—something I knew because I’d checked when I was there. I swore again and thrust a hand through my hair. “You tried tracing him?”
“Of course I have.” His voice was filled with anger, but I knew it wasn’t actually aimed at me. Rather, it was a result of frustration and worry. “There’s nothing. His phone is sitting in the spare bedroom, as is his wallet. And he hasn’t contacted any of his other friends.”
Meaning, more than likely, the fire elemental he’d consumed to save Ilianna had taken control of his body again. “How was he the last time you saw him?”
“Strung out. Fiery.” Stane shook his head. “I’ve seen him play with fire before. I mean, he’s pyrokinetic, so that’s not unusual in and of itself. But this time . . . it was bleeding from his skin, Risa. There was no way it was controlled.”
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“Yeah,” Stane said. “I tried to get him into an icy shower—I figured it couldn’t hurt—but he practically threw me across the room, then ran down the stairs. By the time I got up and went after him, he’d disappeared.”
And no doubt headed once more for the sacred site in Macedon, the place where the fire elemental within Tao had been created.