"Don’t you ever sleep, Azriel?"
"I have no need to. We are not governed by the restrictions of flesh as you are."
"But you’re wearing flesh, and you did say that the longer you remain in this form, the more dangerous it becomes."
"The danger does not come from the restrictions."
I opened my eyes. Even though awareness of him was a weight I could feel, he wasn’t even looking at me but rather leaning, arms crossed, against the window, staring out. His expression was thoughtful. Distant. And perhaps just a touch wistful.
"Then what does the danger come from if not the restrictions?"
He didn’t answer immediately. Then his gaze met mine, and in those bright, mismatched depths I saw bleakness.
"Sleep, Risa. I will wake you when it is time to go."
He had to be the most frustrating, pigheaded man I’d ever known—except he wasn’t a man and I really had to stop thinking of him in those terms. But it was damn hard when he was wearing that form and—by his own admission—gaining more human characteristics the longer he remained in it.
I blew out a breath that contained more than a little irritation, then determinedly closed my eyes. Given everything that had happened over the last twenty-four hours, it wasn’t entirely surprising that I quickly slipped into a deep sleep.
The smell of coffee woke me many hours later. I muttered something unintelligible even to me, then rubbed an eye and glanced blearily at the clock on the nightstand. It was close to six thirty.
I twisted around in the bed. Azriel was still standing near the window, but on the table between him and the bed was a small tray containing several plates and a steaming coffeepot.
"I ordered freshly brewed," he said. "As well as bacon, eggs, and toast. You will eat before we leave."
"And if I don’t, you’ll force it down my throat?" I said, somewhat amused.
"If it comes to that, yes." There was little happiness in his expression, and certainly no sense of it in the energy of him. "It is advantageous to my quest to keep you not only safe but in a fit condition to face whatever might be waiting."