It made sense, yet still I hesitated to agree and I wasn’t sure why. My gaze searched his, looking for lies and finding nothing but honesty. But that didn’t mean a whole lot given he’d been bound to earth for many centuries. I was betting he could lie so well that even someone with the most sensitive of bullshit detectors wouldn’t know it.
But what if he wasn’t lying? What if he was actually telling the truth? We probably would need help retrieving the keys, and the only other person I could really call on who would be of any use against the Raziq was Uncle Quinn. And I wouldn’t do that to Riley—even if she’d be madder than hell if she ever found out that I hadn’t asked him.
I sighed, more than a little frustrated by the twisting of my thoughts, and said, "Even you and Azriel might not be enough if they attack en masse."
"The reaper has his sword. I have weapons of my own. Trust me when I say we will hold them off long enough to get you and the keys to a safe place."
I finished washing my hair, then met his gaze again and said, "And how are you going to do that when all you want to do is kill the bastards?"
He grinned, and it was a ugly thing to behold. "Because merely killing them outright is not good enough. I want them to suffer as I have suffered. Finding these keys and having all their plans turn to dust is but one means of ensuring that."
I believed him. It was impossible not to. "Okay," I said slowly. "When we go look for the keys, you’re in. But not before."
He frowned. "Will you not need help when you go read the book?"
"No."
He studied me for a moment, then shrugged. "I don’t think that’s wise, but this is your game, not mine."
His words had a trepidation stirring, and I couldn’t help wondering if I’d made my situation better, or much, much worse.
Chapter Eleven
THE CAFÉ WAS PACKED WHEN I ARRIVED, AND several staff members had called in sick, so both Ilianna and Tao were in as replacements and working the floor. Which, in Tao’s case, was a rare event that pleased his many fans—some of whom were young, many of whom weren’t, but all of whom were female. Given most of them were wolves who were not afraid of grabbing what they wanted, Tao ended the shift with a sore butt and more phone numbers than even he could handle in a year. But he wasn’t the only one who’d scored—although in my case, it was offers of drinks rather than actual dates. Obviously, I’d looked as if I’d needed to drown my sorrows, even though I’d tried to be my usual cheerful self.
As the evening shift swept in and took control of the madness, the three of us retreated upstairs, beers in hand. I didn’t drink often—except when Ronan was around—but sometimes, when things got really insane, there was nothing more refreshing than a crisp, cool beer.
And insane was certainly an apt description of my life at the moment.