"A fancy-dress night sounds a little too tame for your tastes."
"If you think that, then we obviously need to go. And it will be my extreme pleasure to teach you otherwise."
"One step at a time," I said, trying not to smile. "Let's meet with Lauren, and see how that goes first."
"So you can get here by five?"
I glanced at the clock. It was close to five now, but it wouldn't take me that long to get there by taxi. I could travel by Aedh form, but even though I felt a whole lot stronger after eating and sleeping, I wasn't about to waste energy uselessly. Lucian and his dark sorceress would just have to wait if I was late.
"Depends on the traffic," I said. "But probably."
"Good. See you soon."
I hung up, then tossed the phone in my purse and walked to the bed to retrieve Amaya from under the pillow. Happy, not, she said, as I slung her over my back. Should not leave alone.
It wasn't my choice to get snatched without you, I replied, then wondered why in the hell I was justifying myself to my own damn sword. Maybe I was going crazy—which would not be surprising given the mess my life was in at the moment.
I made the bed, then slung my purse over my shoulder and headed for the door.
"Risa, don't go," Azriel said softly.
Fuck it, Azriel, don't do this. I stopped. "Why not?"
"Because I do not want you to go."
I flexed my fingers, and found myself reeling between the desire to do what he asked and the knowledge that what he was asking was wrong. "You were the one who said this quest was more important than anything else. If talking to this dark sorcereress gets us closer to the keys, then we have to do it."
"I am not talking about the keys. I am talking about you and Lucian."