I glanced at my watch. It was five past one, so whoever was supposed to meet me here was either delayed or not coming. The latter wouldn't actually surprise me, given everything else that had gone wrong of late.
I walked around the room, keeping to the shadows and away from the squares of light. I stopped near one of the windows, which gave me a good view of both the kitchen door and the front door, and also gave me an exit—the window—if I needed it.
After another five minutes, an odd sense of awareness stole over me. I'd heard no one approach—no one beyond the occasional pedestrian on the pavement outside—and the air remained clear of any scent other than the overripe smells drifting out from the other rooms. But in the midst of all that came a wash of heat. Not body heat, but rather the heat of a powerful presence. There was an Aedh close by, and he was in spirit form rather than physical.
I licked my lips, then said softly, "I know you're here. Show yourself."
"That is not possible," came the measured, cultured reply. It whispered around me, familiar in a weird sort of way.
Because it sounded like me. A male version of me.
My pulse quickened. "Who are you?"
"You know who I am. You can feel it."
"I can feel an Aedh. Of more than that, I can't be certain." I paused, then added, "After all, it's not like I've ever had any interaction with the man whose seed gave me life."
"Under normal circumstances, you would not be interacting with me now. But these are far from normal circumstances."
"Yeah, you're trying to permanently close the gates between the light and the dark path, and thereby bring about the destruction of life as we know it."
He paused, and a sense of surprise rolled across the darkness. I wished he'd show himself, because I really did want to see the man who was my father. But I guess I could also understand caution. He had no more idea of whether he could trust me than I did of him.
"That is not entirely true," he said. "Yes, I am a Raziq, and yes, we were working on keys that could be used to close the portals, but that is not my purpose now."
"Then what is your purpose?" I crossed my arms and leaned back against the wall. Although the pose appeared casual, every muscle quivered, ready to launch into fight mode should the need arise.
Not that I really expected to be able to prevail against a full Aedh.