“Ringing her was the first thing I ordered when it came to my attention he was missing. She doesn’t deny that he was with her but says she has no idea where he is now.”
Thank god he’d asked someone else to ring her rather than confronting her himself. “And you believe her?”
He snorted. “No, but I have no evidence to the contrary, and I’m not fool enough to make any sort of accusation until I do.”
“Is there any security footage anywhere of him? Perhaps coming in or out of her office?”
“They didn’t meet in her office; he went to her house. There’s no security footage because Hunter had all cameras removed not too long ago.”
Meaning this step had been planned for a quite a while—and yet, knowing that didn’t make me feel any better. Jack had gone to see Hunter basically because I’d pushed; if he was dead, then in some ways it was my fault.
You cannot take the blame for the actions and choices of others, Azriel said. Jack’s decision to talk to Hunter stemmed from both his desire to keep the Directorate autonomous in the battle he knew was coming and his need to protect both your uncle and the other guardians. Your comments only confirmed what his next course of action should be.
Yeah, but he might still be alive if he hadn’t actually decided to go right away.
Given Hunter’s recent cleansing of council members who oppose her, that is a debatable point.
I guessed it was. It still didn’t make me feel any better, though. I returned my attention to Rhoan. “If Hunter has either killed Jack or simply contained him somewhere to take him out of action, she can’t be too far from making her move for total control. And that puts you in a very tenuous position.”
“A point I am well aware of, believe me.”
“Then you’re going to do the sensible thing?”
He snorted again. “You ask that, and you’ve known me how long?”
“I know, but Hunter is a bigger threat—”
“I will do my job,” he cut in, “and now that Jack has disappeared, that’s running the guardian division. The only reason I’m ringing you is to let you know what has happened. Be careful, Ris. If she’s done this, she could do anything.”
I wasn’t the one who needed to be wary. She still needed me to find the key. She didn’t need him, other than as a lever to ensure my good behavior.
“Trust me, I’m totally aware of what she’s capable of. Just make sure you watch your back.”
“I’m surrounded by people I trust at this very moment. You just make sure you’re doing the same. Don’t let Azriel leave your side.”
“I won’t,” I said.
“Good,” Rhoan said. “Ring me if anything happens.”
“I will.” I hit the End button and glanced at Azriel. “Do you think it’s possible Jack is still alive?”
He hesitated, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I cannot hear his resonance, but that doesn’t mean he’s dead. It might just mean he’s being kept underground, where I cannot sense him.”
“I guess we can only hope that’s the case.” Though I personally feared it wasn’t. I thrust a hand through my still-curly hair and added silently, Do you think it’s worth contacting Markel, to see if he knows anything more?
I doubt Markel would, given he is tasked with following you around. Harry Stanford, however, might be an option.
Except that he’ll use Jack’s death as a means to entice me into his plot.
It is nevertheless worth talking to him. If someone would have any understanding of Hunter’s current moves, it would be her fiercest opponent.
I guess. But to talk to him, I had to go back to the office and get comfortable. It was the only way I could astral travel.
Azriel caught my hand, tugged me into his arms, and a second later we were back in the café’s office.
“Fucking hell,” a familiar voice said. “You could give a person warning when you’re going to drop in like that!”
I swung around. Tao stood in the doorway, his brown hair wet, a towel half slung over his right shoulder, and his expression a mix of surprise and amusement. At first glance, little appeared to have outwardly changed since I’d seen him just over nine hours ago; his face was still gaunt, his body rail thin, and heat radiated from him, the force of it so strong that I could feel its caress from where I stood in the middle of the room. But flames no longer burned uncontrolled in his eyes, and the air of desperation that had surrounded him seemed to have fled.