His presence swirled around me—a blanket of heat and something else, something that was oddly comforting.
And yet it made me ache far worse than any injury, because I wanted more than just a comforting swirl of energy. I wanted what Riley had. Someone to hold me, support me, to kiss me gently when I needed it, or to tell me off when I was being an ass. I wanted someone who loved me for me, warts and all, rather than loving my money or for who my mom might have been.
But I might never find any of that. Mom had never mentioned love and children in my future, and certainly it wasn’t something my visions had ever hinted at. Besides, the depth of love and understanding Riley and Quinn had found seemed to be rare in this world—or at least, that was the way it seemed to me given Mom’s experiences and mine. But that knowledge didn’t dampen the desire.
Still, right now I had to settle for what I had. A fallen Aedh who was an excellent lover, and a reaper who was a protector if not a friend, and in whose presence I at least felt safe.
Even if that odd tension still rode him.
I stopped beside him, rubbing my arms lightly as I turned and watched Ilianna lead the two witches—who were carrying a stretcher between them through the ritual site’s gates.
"If you are cold," he said, almost immediately, "you should go sit inside Ilianna’s car."
"I will."
He glanced down at me. "And yet here you remain."
"Because I want to know why you’re so tense. Are you expecting another attack?"
He hesitated. "There will be more attacks. We would be foolish to believe otherwise."
"Yeah, but that’s not the cause of your tension right now, is it?"
"This person you saw stealing the key—was it your father?"
I frowned at the change of subject, although I wasn’t entirely surprised. He tended to do that when hit with a question he didn’t want to answer. "No. It didn’t feel like him. Why?"
"Because I cannot escape the notion that he is the most logical person behind this attack."