"Why would he bother to attack us like that when we’re doing what he wanted and finding the keys? That doesn’t seem very logical."
"Aedh logic is not human logic."
"That still doesn’t explain the fact that it makes no sense for him to be behind the attack."
"It would if it was some kind of subterfuge."
I shivered, and wondered if the night were getting colder or if the chill was simply the result of growing trepidation. "What kind of subterfuge?"
He shrugged. "Maybe it is simply a way of throwing the Raziq off his trail."
"Every time he interacts with this world—or with me—he reveals his presence to the Raziq. Why would he risk all that only to sabotage our efforts?"
"He would know that the reapers follow you. Creating a persion and stealing the key ensures he gets it rather than us reapers."
"But he had no way of knowing we’d found the key," I said, frustration and perhaps a touch of fear sharpening my tone, "because he and I aren’t connected and he can’t read my mind unless he’s in my presence. And I would have felt him if he were present. Besides, you sensed the black magic before we’d gotten anywhere near the key. Whoever was behind the attack, they were well prepared for our presence."
"Which, again, points to your father." He hesitated, his expression cooling a little—which I hadn’t thought possible. "There’s a spy in our midst."
I sighed wearily. I didn’t have the energy for anything else, not even to raise the spark of anger. "Don’t start on Lucian again. He was with us in that house and fought against those creatures, not with them. He isn’t a part of some nefarious plot to steal the keys from underneath our noses."
"And you are one hundred percent sure of this?"
"Yes!" Exhaustion, it seemed, hadn’t quite snuffed out the anger after all. "Lucian might be many things, but a traitor isn’t one of them. Of that I’m positive."
Azriel looked away. "Then I must trust your judgment."
"And I’ve heard that fucking statement more than once. Maybe it’d be more believable if you actually did it rather than merely pay it lip service."