It was said in that same flat tone, and yet there was an odd hostility coming from him that made no sense. But then, nothing about this reaper really made any sense. Not him, not his actions, and not his reactions.
And certainly not mine.
He rose and offered me a hand up. I hesitated briefly, then accepted it, letting him pull me easily to my feet. Pain stabbed into my brain, and I had to close my eyes and breathe deeply for several seconds before the sensation eased.
"Yes," Azriel said, pulling his fingers from mine. "It is obvious that you are totally okay."
"Sarcasm does not become you, reaper."
"And stupidity does become you."
He moved past me. I took another deep breath, then opened my eyes and carefully turned around. Selwin was still on the ground. Her clothes—like mine—were shredded, hanging in fibrous bits from her body, but she obviously didn’t know or care. She was staring at her fingerless hands, her wailing getting louder and louder.
I’d done that. I’d maimed her.
And the knowledge that she’d intended to do far worse to me didn’t ease the guilt.
Azriel squatted down beside her. Valdis’s blade flickered with blue fire, as if in expectation. Azriel raised an arm and lightly touched two fingers to Selwin’s forehead. Valdis’s fire swirled down his arm and jumped from his fingers to her skin. She stilled instantly, her screams dying on her lips and her expression curiously blank.
"Can you re-form her fingers?" I asked softly as the blue fire spread from Selwin’s forehead, down her face, to her body.
He didn’t even glance at me, but I could feel the annoyance rolling off him as clearly as I could feel the watchful energy still haunting the air. "I do not know. I will meet you at the Brindle."
And with that, he and Selwin disappeared.
For several moments I simply stood there, staring at the spot where they’d been, irritated not only by the fact he’d disappeared but by his refusal to even look at me. And I honestly had no idea why he was so annoyed. I mean, Azriel wasn’t a friend and he wasn’t even here by choice, so why would he care if I pushed myself to my limits or not? Unless, of course, he merely wanted me in a fit state to find the damn keys.
I shook my head and walked across to my bike. Even that short distance had exhaustion trembling through my limbs. There was no way on earth I was going to have the strength to become Aedh and journey all the way back to Melbourne. It would kill me. Which left me with little other choice than to do as he suggested. And that was even more annoying. I retrieved my phone and said, "Madeline Hunter."