they don’t, there will be trouble.
I suspect even the fates would be wary of your kind of trouble.
I grinned, but it faded quickly as my thoughts returned to the problem at hand. So why can’t Quinn hear us? He’s part Aedh, after all.
And although reading the minds of those in the immediate vicinity was one Aedh talent I didn’t get, Quinn was an extremely strong telepath. For the first time I wondered just how much of that was due to his Aedh heritage.
He can and does read your surface thoughts, but our connection is at soul level, and not something he can access, Azriel said.
Then I’d better watch my thoughts. The last thing I want is to endanger either of them. I pulled my sweater off and dumped it on the floor. Although it has to be said, the two of them together are a force to be reckoned with.
Against Hunter, who has the force of a god behind her, they are still nothing.
I doubt Quinn would be so easy to beat. Hell, if Hunter had any inkling she could defeat him, she would have done so by now, surely.
She has not done so because she is not ready. And while he may be one of the few here on Earth capable of defeating her, he is now vulnerable because he has a family. Hunter is not above using such a weakness, as you well know.
I did know. The bitch wasn’t above using anyone and anything she could to get what she wanted. She’d certainly used my grief and my bitter need to avenge my mother’s death to hook me into working for her. And when common sense finally did hit me, she’d reverted to threatening my friends and family. It was the reason Jak—a former lover, and a reporter who’d been helping us in our search—was now dead. She’d had him gutted as a warning of what might happen to others if I didn’t start toeing her line.
Even if I can convince Riley and Quinn to play it safe, I know for sure Tao and Ilianna won’t go anywhere. I kicked off my shoes, then peeled off my jeans. Hunter still has their lives to hold over me, no matter what I do.
I could force them to leave.
It was so casually said that I blinked, not entirely sure I’d heard him right. What do you mean?
He half smiled. What I said. I am reaper, remember, and able to touch the minds of humanity.
Even someone as strong as Riley?
Yes. He hesitated. Although not Quinn. He is a former priest and, as such, immune to my influence.
It was tempting. Very tempting. If we could force everyone but Quinn out of the way, it would minimize the risk and make dealing with Hunter so much easier.
Because as much as I was trying to avoid a confrontation with Hunter, I knew it was coming.
But as easy as it might be to take that route, it was also an action that should be used only as a last resort. Taking away free will was never a good thing. Lucian had basically done that when he’d used magic to ensure that I was unable to resist him sexually. My intentions might be a whole lot more honorable than his, but it didn’t alter the fact that by taking away their freedom to choose, I would be forever altering my relationship with all of them. It might even destroy it.
And I’d already lost far too much.
You might have no other choice. Azriel’s mental tones were grave. I fear she will not accede to your desire to fight Hunter alone without some sort of intervention.
And I feared he was right. I sighed. “I better go shower before Riley gets antsy.”
“Do you wish company, or would you prefer to be alone?”
“That is the stupidest question I have ever heard.” I glanced down his bloodstained torso. “And a good start to proceedings would be removing those jeans.”
“Given the jeans are little more than an illusion of energy, that is no problem.” Even as he spoke, the jeans disappeared and he was standing there in all his muscular glory.
I had no idea whether Azriel’s energy form was considered handsome by other reapers, but when he wore “human” form, he certainly was. His face had a chiseled, almost classical
I suspect even the fates would be wary of your kind of trouble.
I grinned, but it faded quickly as my thoughts returned to the problem at hand. So why can’t Quinn hear us? He’s part Aedh, after all.
And although reading the minds of those in the immediate vicinity was one Aedh talent I didn’t get, Quinn was an extremely strong telepath. For the first time I wondered just how much of that was due to his Aedh heritage.
He can and does read your surface thoughts, but our connection is at soul level, and not something he can access, Azriel said.
Then I’d better watch my thoughts. The last thing I want is to endanger either of them. I pulled my sweater off and dumped it on the floor. Although it has to be said, the two of them together are a force to be reckoned with.
Against Hunter, who has the force of a god behind her, they are still nothing.
I doubt Quinn would be so easy to beat. Hell, if Hunter had any inkling she could defeat him, she would have done so by now, surely.
She has not done so because she is not ready. And while he may be one of the few here on Earth capable of defeating her, he is now vulnerable because he has a family. Hunter is not above using such a weakness, as you well know.
I did know. The bitch wasn’t above using anyone and anything she could to get what she wanted. She’d certainly used my grief and my bitter need to avenge my mother’s death to hook me into working for her. And when common sense finally did hit me, she’d reverted to threatening my friends and family. It was the reason Jak—a former lover, and a reporter who’d been helping us in our search—was now dead. She’d had him gutted as a warning of what might happen to others if I didn’t start toeing her line.
Even if I can convince Riley and Quinn to play it safe, I know for sure Tao and Ilianna won’t go anywhere. I kicked off my shoes, then peeled off my jeans. Hunter still has their lives to hold over me, no matter what I do.
I could force them to leave.
It was so casually said that I blinked, not entirely sure I’d heard him right. What do you mean?
He half smiled. What I said. I am reaper, remember, and able to touch the minds of humanity.
Even someone as strong as Riley?
Yes. He hesitated. Although not Quinn. He is a former priest and, as such, immune to my influence.
It was tempting. Very tempting. If we could force everyone but Quinn out of the way, it would minimize the risk and make dealing with Hunter so much easier.
Because as much as I was trying to avoid a confrontation with Hunter, I knew it was coming.
But as easy as it might be to take that route, it was also an action that should be used only as a last resort. Taking away free will was never a good thing. Lucian had basically done that when he’d used magic to ensure that I was unable to resist him sexually. My intentions might be a whole lot more honorable than his, but it didn’t alter the fact that by taking away their freedom to choose, I would be forever altering my relationship with all of them. It might even destroy it.
And I’d already lost far too much.
You might have no other choice. Azriel’s mental tones were grave. I fear she will not accede to your desire to fight Hunter alone without some sort of intervention.
And I feared he was right. I sighed. “I better go shower before Riley gets antsy.”
“Do you wish company, or would you prefer to be alone?”
“That is the stupidest question I have ever heard.” I glanced down his bloodstained torso. “And a good start to proceedings would be removing those jeans.”
“Given the jeans are little more than an illusion of energy, that is no problem.” Even as he spoke, the jeans disappeared and he was standing there in all his muscular glory.
I had no idea whether Azriel’s energy form was considered handsome by other reapers, but when he wore “human” form, he certainly was. His face had a chiseled, almost classical
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