"So if I were to place it in an apartment up on the Gold Coast, you'd be able to pick up its signal?"
"No, but if you were willing to fork out the cost of hiring a buddy of mine, I could get him to pick up the signal and bounce it down to me."
"Done. Can we pick it up later, after we've checked out the storage unit?"
"You can, but I won't have everything in place by then. And I'm not sure if Fitz will have the necessary relay stuff on hand."
"Do what you can."
"I will."
"Thanks." I hung up and shoved my plate toward Tao. "You want to finish any of that?"
He snagged the rest of the steak and gave me a thumbs-up. I took the rest out to the kitchen and dumped it in the trash, then grabbed my bag and coat and turned to Azriel. "Let's go."
We reappeared in the side parking lot again. The evening air was cold enough for my breath to fog, so I pulled my coat on as I walked toward the entrance.
But I'd barely taken half a dozen steps when the building exploded in a gigantic ball of flame.
Chapter 8
The force of the blast knocked me off my feet and sent me tumbling. I landed in an ungainly heap near the shrubs that lined the parking lot, with bricks, metal, and wood thudding all around me. I didn't move, just squeezed my eyes shut, threw my hands over my head, and prayed like hell that I wasn't hit. Then Azriel landed on top of me, knocking out whatever breath I'd had left.
But the minute his body covered mine, the debris stopped falling—not just on us, but around us. And it became quiet. Whisper quiet. I frowned and opened my eyes. We were surrounded by a halo of blue fire.
"What the hell?"
"Valdis shields us." His warm breath tickled my ear. "She formed it the minute the building exploded."
"Is that why you're lying on top of me?"