He studied me for a moment, then said, "What of the Aedh?"
"He's going to meet us there at eleven thirty."
"So we should try to get there sooner—"
"No," I cut in. "Remember Ilianna."
He swore again. I smiled, dropped a quick kiss on his lips, and said, "I know. Trust me, I know."
"I bet you do not."
He caught my broken hand and gently ran his fingers over the mangled remnants of mine. Energy flowed from his touch, renewing my reserves even as my fingers began to heal. Or rather, heal as much as they were ever going to. But I could bend them, use them, and the scars—which were red and fierce-looking right now—would eventually fade. I'd been lucky, and I knew it. If not for the fact I was half Aedh, I would have lost them.
He raised my fingers to his lips, brushing a sweet kiss across them, then said, "Go. I will prepare you something to eat."
He disappeared, and I headed for the shower. For the longest time, I did nothing more than stand under the water, letting the heat wash the ache from my bruised body and the scents of lust and Lucian from my skin. I wished it could similarly wash the niggling sense of violation from my mind, but there was nothing in this world that could do that except time.
I ran my fingers across my belly and wondered if I did indeed carry the beginnings of life deep inside. Wondered how I would feel if it turned out to be Lucian's rather than Azriel's.
Another two questions only time could answer.
I took a somewhat shuddery breath, then got the hell out of the shower and dressed. Worrying over events far in the future was not particularly the best way to spend my time at the moment. Not when I had keys to not only find but, hopefully, this time, keep. How we were going to do that given the whole Lucian situation, I had no idea, but one thing was certain. The bastard might think he held all the cards, but there was always, always, a way out. You just had to look hard enough.
And perhaps be willing to pay the ultimate price.
But that price would not be Ilianna's death. That was the one place I would not go.
Azriel, it seemed, had been picking up cooking tips from somewhere, because this time he'd produced the world's biggest steak and some steamed veggies.