"Then why did my father turn to my mother when he had the option of a full-blood Aedh to breed with?"
He shrugged. "Your father is an uncommonly powerful Aedh, and one who has long planned domination. It would not surprise me if he foresaw the current problems and created you as a means of working around the Raziq and finding the keys."
"But if he'd known the keys would be lost, why the hell wouldn't he just ensure that they weren't?"
"Because there were other players involved, and Hieu could not control them all. And perhaps you were nothing more than just a backup plan."
Well, that's something every child wanted to hear—although when it came to my father, nothing should really surprise me. "How come you know so much about Hieu and Malin?"
"When one is a hunter, it helps to understand the prey."
"But I can't see either of them giving those sorts of details to their own kind, let alone a reaper."
"They didn't. But the Raziq are nearly a hundred strong. It was simply a matter of capturing one of the unwary, lesser beings, and questioning him."
Whatever it takes. Whatever needs to be done. The words rolled around the outer reaches of my mind, and though I didn't know if they were mine or his, I shivered. Because those words were like a death knell ringing in my future.
"Why would the lower-ranked Raziq be privy to information like that, though?"
"Aedh can read the minds of any who are in close proximity, and though Malin and Hieu are powerful enough to conceal information, they would have considered their relationship neither valuable nor important."
Because they didn't do emotions—although they did seem to have the whole revenge thing down pat.
I sighed wearily. "This is all becoming a nightmare."
Azriel raised an eyebrow, amusement briefly teasing his lips. "Becoming?"
I smiled. "Yeah, I guess that train left the station long ago."