Deep inside me anger flared. For fuck's sake, Azriel, I'm choking and in serious pain here, in case you didn't notice!
He either didn't hear me or didn't care. Neither, apparently, did my father. The iron band of energy continued to squeeze my neck, and it felt like my lungs were about to burst. Tiny spots began to dance in front of my eyes.
"If you kill me, reaper, you will fail in your quest to capture the keys."
There was no hurry in my father's voice, no urgency. As the shadows of unconsciousness began to crowd close, I wondered where the hell the Raziq were. At least their arrival would break this uncaring tableau.
"As will everyone else who seeks them," Azriel replied. "That is an outcome I could live with."
It was an outcome I could live with, too. If I got to live, that was.
"You and I both know such an outcome would be unacceptable to those who sent you here, reaper." Amusement ran through my father's deep tones. "It would appear we have reached an impasse."
Azriel!
The mental shout was filled with desperation, and his gaze flickered briefly toward me. Frustration and anger burned in his eyes. "Release her. Or I will kill you."
And hurry. The spots were getting larger, my heart felt like it was about to shatter, and the need for air was so fierce my lungs were on fire.
"You won't kill me, reaper." The trace of amusement was gone from his voice. "As I've already stated, you need the information I carry too much."
"And we both need her alive. Release her—now!" Valdis's flames skittered across the fierce energy that was my father's presence, enveloping him in a fiery cage.
Whether it was the threat of the flames or simply the realization that he did need me alive, the steely band of energy bruising my neck suddenly disappeared and I collapsed to the ground. There I remained, on hands and knees, dragging in shuddering gasps of air and grateful that I could still do so.
"You bear the device of the Raziq in your body," my father said. Though the force of his anger no longer held me captive, it vibrated through the undernotes of his voice. "Why?"
Because I had no fucking choice, I thought, but the words remained locked in my throat as I continued to suck air into my still burning lungs.