"If I was to go back to the Brindle, it would have to be done willingly, with no form of inducement. The building and the magic would not accept my presence otherwise."
I raised my eyebrows, but she waved away my questions before I even asked them. "Trust me to do what is best for both myself and for Tao," she said softly.
"I do." I gave her another hug then stepped away. She climbed into the back of the van with one of the gray-clad witches, then the driver closed the door and climbed into the front. Five minutes later they were gone and the normal night sounds of the forest returned.
I sighed and slowly walked across to Ilianna’s car. Thankfully, she’d left the keys in the ignition, because I hadn’t even thought to ask for them.
I opened the door, then stopped and looked across to Azriel. "You might have to come with me, just to make sure I don’t fall asleep at the wheel."
"Why not let me transport you home? We can retrieve the car later."
Because I don’t want to be that close to you. It was disturbing on far too many levels. Then I sighed, reached in, and grabbed the car keys. I was being an idiot again.
I turned and caught a brief glimpse of annoyance before his expression cleared again. I really, really needed to keep my thoughts in check.
I locked the car and forced a smile. "Okay, brave sir, whisk me away to safety on your wild white steed."
He walked toward me, his strides long and graceful. "I am not brave, but merely do what I am assigned to do, and I do not possess a white horse. That sentence does not make sense."
I didn’t rise to the bait—and bait it was, given the amusement teasing the corners of his lips. He wrapped his arms around me, and I did my best to ignore his closeness and the way his body seemed to fit perfectly against mine, not to mention the musky, enticing scent of him.
Power surged—a song that ran through every part of me, taking what I was, making it more, making it less, until there was no me, no him, just the sum of the two of us—energy beings with no flesh to hold us in place.
Then the forest was gone and we were on the gray fields, and somehow everything seemed brighter, more beautiful, and so damn tranquil that I wanted to cry. It almost seemed like I was seeing it clearer than I ever had before.
And then something happened.
The gray fields shuddered. Shifted. Leaned. As if it were a structure from which one of its main supports had been removed. The brightness flickered briefly then returned, but the tranquility was gone, replaced by a sudden uneasiness.