"That's a handy trick."
"Valdis is a very handy sword."
I turned the handle and carefully pushed the door open. "You speak about her as if she's alive."
"She is."
I glanced back at him. He returned my gaze evenly. He wasn't kidding. I shivered, not wanting to think about a sword that had a spirit and a life of its own, and stepped into the shadows of the warehouse.
Shadows crowded the interior, and the air was thick with the scent of dust, age, and disuse. I closed the door then stopped, my gaze sweeping the immediate area. I was in some sort of loading bay. The platform I was on ran the width of the building, stretching from the roller door nearest me to the one on the other side of the building. Several offices led off from the platform on the other side of the bay, but on my side there were just the two doors.
I walked across to the nearest one and grasped the handle, but didn't open the door. I couldn't smell anything or anyone on the other side, but apprehension was building in my stomach. Or maybe that was just nerves. After all, as everyone kept pointing out, I wasn't really trained for this sort of stuff.
I licked my lips and pulled the handle. The door was heavy, but opened quietly. It turned out to be an old refrigerator. I swore softly and walked down to the next door. This one led into a wide hallway.
There were several doors leading off it, and one at the very end. I checked each one as I went, but they were little more than dust-strewn offices. The end one led into another loading bay.
"Your friend is being held in the rooms beyond the door to the right," Azriel said softly.
"And the men?"
"One is near the door, the other outside the room that contains Tao."
Which had to mean they were human—any nonhuman would have sensed my presence by now. "And are they armed?"
"They have guns, yes."
Which meant there was no way of getting through that door without alerting the man guarding Tao. And I had no idea what his orders might be if there were intruders.