He shrugged. "Danger comes in all forms and guises. You learn to live with it when you are a Mijai."
I studied him for a moment, wondering why I suddenly had the suspicion he wasn’t talking about the Raziq or the things that broke through the dark path portal. "So if you’re right, I can go home and retrieve my bike right now and be safe?"
"If I’m right, yes. If I’m wrong, we’ll be running. Either way, I would not recommend staying there until our plan has fully materialized."
"I wasn’t planning to stay, but I will need to grab some extra clothes and stuff."
He nodded. "Do so. Just don’t be long."
A smile teased my lips. "There speaks a man who has no idea just how long it can take a woman to decide on what clothes to pack."
"No," he said, his expression as blank as ever but with a bright glint in his eyes. "But I am the man who will just grab the nearest items and whisk you both away if you linger unnecessarily."
"Now, there’s a threat I’m truly scared of!"
"As you should be. Reapers have no fashion sense, after all." He released his grip of the right banister and stepped to one side. "You will head there now?"
"Yep. We’re not far away, so I’m walking."
"Would it not be easier to become Aedh?"
"Not to my clothes, it wouldn’t." I brushed past him and tried to ignore the tremor that ran through me as the warm, rich smell of him momentarily washed over me. He winked out of existence a moment later, and by the time I’d finished my Coke and walked home, my breathing had returned to a sensible rate.
Which obviously meant I needed to either see Lucian or go visit Franklin’s. I mean, seriously, this hunger for the reaper was getting ridiculous.
I paused in front of our ugly building, my gaze searching it, trying to see—or feel—anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing. And even though I trusted Azriel’s statement that the Raziq were unlikely to attack, every sense I had was on high alert the minute I entered our apartment. The air was still and smelled faintly of roses, honey, and rum—with undernotes of wolf. Tao had been here recently.
I headed into my bedroom and quickly collected clothes and various other personal items, then reset the alarms and went down to collect my bike. I couldn’t help running my hand over her sleek metal, or the stupid grin that stretched my lips. I loved this bike—and not using her for this long had hurt.