Hurt flicked through me, but I forced a smile. “I’m not about to do anything that would endanger his life.”
“But you all too readily endanger your own, and one cannot be without the other.”
Tears prickled my eyes. Which was stupid, because his concern was perfectly natural. My health could adversely affect the health of our child, and there was no denying I really hadn’t been taking the best care of myself lately, what with the drinking and the lack of eating. And I did know that he cared for me. Trouble was, caring wasn’t enough. Not anymore.
I pulled out of his embrace and headed for the door, adding over my shoulder, “I won’t be long.”
“Risa —”
I didn’t stop, just said over my shoulder, “I’m fine, Azriel. Don’t worry about it.”
“If you were fine, you would not be close to tears. We need —”
“I’m pregnant, and pregnant women tend to get irrational,” I cut in. “You’ll probably have seen a whole flood of tears by the time this child is born.”
And with that, I retreated down the stairs. Not that running would do much good when the man I was running from could pop into existence anywhere he chose to. He didn’t, though. Maybe he knew that there was nothing he could say to ease the irrationality. Nothing but one simple four-letter word; a word that probably wasn’t even in reaper language.
I paused on the bottom step, searching the room for Margie. She was easy enough to find – she was built like an Amazon and towered over most of the patrons by a good six inches. She was clearing a table near the front door, so I made my way through the crowd toward her.
“Good to see we’re so busy,” I said, as I neared.
She glanced up, and her bright smile flashed. “Yeah. Been meaning to ask if I could get another waiter or two. It’s been insane these last couple of days.”
“Go ahead. I’m not sure when Ilianna or I are going to be back – things are hectic elsewhere at the moment.”
She nodded, obviously unfazed by our absence. Which was one of the reasons we’d singled her out to become our manager. That and the fact she’d passed her business course with honors. “Excellent. I’ll get the ad in the paper tomorrow. Oh, and the accountant left a note for you. It’s sitting under the till.”
“Thanks. Any other problems I need to know about?”
“Jacques wants to change the menu again, because he’s bored cooking the same things, but other than that, no.”
I smiled. Jacques was our sous-chef, although with what Tao was currently going through, Jacques had all but become our head chef. He was damn good, too – which is why we paid him so well and, subsequently, why he remained, even though he hated cooking burgers. Fancy burgers, but burgers all the same. “Tell him he can change one item to anything he desires, but don’t expect a rush of orders. Ninety percent of our clientele are werewolves, and they like their burgers.”
She smiled. “I told him that. He doesn’t care.”
I chuckled softly, and headed over to the till to grab the note. Need to talk to you ASAP about a couple of problems, Mike’s bold scrawl read. How about we do so over dinner?
I frowned at the note, trying to decipher the intent behind the invitation. Mike and I had always had an easygoing relationship – mainly because he’d been dating my mom, even if their relationship had never been confirmed or even acknowledged until after her death. I’d never been entirely sure why she’d wanted it kept secret, but had always figured it had something to do with the fact it would probably be considered unethical for Mike to be in a relationship with one of his clients.
What I didn’t understand was why in the hell he’d want to meet me for dinner, when up until now we’d only ever talked at his office or mine.
Or was this merely an extension of his need to keep an eye on me for my mother’s sake? It probably was, but it nevertheless made me uneasy.
Of course, just about everything was making me uneasy these days.
I glanced at my watch. I couldn’t ring him now – Mike had said in the past he was an early riser and liked getting into the office closer to eight rather than nine, but given that it was barely five a.m., I doubted even he’d be up. I folded the note and shoved it in my pocket as I headed into the kitchen. I’d deal with Mike later. Right now, I needed to grab something to eat, before my reaper started hassling me again. Besides, who knew when I’d get another chance – especially given Mirri had fewer than twenty-four hours left before the rope around her neck began to tighten.
Tao still hadn’t arrived home by the time we got back there, and the worry that sat like a weight in the back of my mind ratcheted up another notch. As much as I kept telling myself he’d be okay, that we’d get him through this, the longer he remained unfound – the longer the fire elemental remained in control of his body – the harder it would be for us to pull Tao’s spirit back. That’s presuming the fire spirit was in control, and Tao hadn’t just decided to follow in my recent footsteps, and drink himself into oblivion.
“If he was drunk,” Azriel said softly, “he could be found. But his essence has disappeared, which can only mean the elemental has overtaken him again.”
“I know that,” I snapped, then sighed and scrubbed a hand across my eyes. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be taking my frustration and anger out on you.”
He shrugged. “Is it not better to release such emotion than to restrain it?”
“Depends who’s at the end of the release.” If it was Hunter, maybe. She deserved my anger, and a whole lot more. Azriel didn’t.
“I have broad enough shoulders. I can take it.”