I suspect so.
At the far end of the hall, a pile of timber and tiles began to move, sliding away as flames began to pulsate through the pile. A second later, Azriel appeared, surround by a halo of blue fire. It faded as he turned, his gaze searching the ruins and stopping when it met mine. Blood oozed from a wound near his temple, but other than that, he appeared unhurt.
"I guess from all this" – I waved a hand at the mess around us – "that she sensed me."
"She might be powerful enough to summon demons at a moment's notice, but the explosion would have taken longer to set up." He stepped over a pile of broken plaster and tiles and walked toward me. "There was a transport gate in that room. I saw her step through, and had a brief glimpse of shadows and stone before the explosion."
"She's heading for hell's gate." My voice was grim.
"Undoubtedly – though the gate she just escaped through would not get her onto the gray fields. It was nowhere near powerful enough." His voice held little emotion, but his fury and frustration echoed through me, as sharp as my own. "But she knows we're close now, so I have no doubt she is headed to the gate that will. She would not want to risk us reclaiming the key before she has a chance to use it."
"And if she does use it and the Raziq are waiting, the key is theirs." I thrust a hand through my hair. "Fuck!"
"Yes," Azriel said. "Our best chance now lies in finding her access onto the fields."
"And how the fuck are we supposed to do that? There was nothing useful in either of the goddamn warehouses!" Nothing we could access without a lot of time and effort – the first of which we were running dangerously low on.
"We cannot be sure of that because we have not explored the entirety of the larger warehouse. Remember, there was a second pathway you did not explore."
"Then I guess we have no choice but to go there now and do just that." Only my skin crawled at the thought of doing it alone. That section of the tunnel had felt nasty. Besides, it was more than likely where the hellhounds had come from, and I certainly didn't feel like facing more of them alone.
"Perhaps it is time to call in your uncle —" He stopped abruptly and spun, Valdis blazing brightly in his hand. "I sense your presence, Yeska."
"Only because I intended it, Mijai." Amusement, and perhaps more than a little contempt, was evident in the Raziq's voice. "You would otherwise be dead."
"You overestimate your skill yet again." Azriel's voice was even despite the tension so evident in his stance and in the flow of his energy through my mind.
"I overestimate nothing, Mijai. But I am not here to harm you." He hesitated, and though he had no physical form, it was not hard to imagine a particularly nasty smile as he added, "Not at this present time."