Tyler paused. “But what if it isn’t Azriel who took Delilah?”
The politics of war made my head spin. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the various intricacies. “Ty, I’m tired. Don’t be cryptic.”
“If Azriel is shacked up with the Lyhtans, maybe there’s a displaced leader. Maybe he’s the one who wants you dead.”
It sounded far-fetched, but I was willing to pursue any angle if it meant getting Delilah back. “What do we do, then?”
“Find out if there’s a disgruntled leader out there and arrange a meeting.”
Oh, fabulous. That sounded like a ton of fun. “Ty,” I said. “How fragile is Delilah? I mean . . . could they—”
“Don’t worry,” he said, a sad smile offering assurance. “If we’re right, they don’t want to hurt her, just use her as a crystal ball. Besides, she’s not as breakable as she looks. Meet me at The Pit tonight around ten. Okay?”
That didn’t seem like the best place to start looking for a Lyhtan king, but I wasn’t about to question Tyler anymore. “I’ll be there.”
The typical throng of people hadn’t yet lined up outside the door, giving Tiny little to do. Inside, the club wasn’t much busier; only a few regulars hanging around, drinking their evening away. Tyler sat waiting for me, in my usual corner, but tonight he wasn’t alone. Levi sat with him.
I took a seat next to Ty. He brushed his hand along my arm, squeezing as he settled on my hand. I pulled away. There was no such thing as PDA at a business meeting.
“So, what’s up?” I asked.
Ty looked a little crestfallen. I sighed. I was sure we’d have it out later. For some reason, he had a hard time differentiating between us in public and us in private. They were all one and the same to him. It might have had something to do with the bond Delilah talked about; he had been a lot more touchy-feely lately. In fact, I felt a little more tuned in to him as well. He put me at ease just by being near. Had we been bonded all along these past five years? He’d made me feel safe since the night of my first job when we sealed our business relationship with a handshake and a silver ring. I hadn’t thought about it, but perhaps something as simple as skin-to-skin contact had prompted Ty to bind himself to me. Or maybe it had been that first kiss outside Xander’s warehouse, because I hadn’t felt the same since that night. And like every other piece of knowledge I’d had to fight for these past weeks, I was going to make Ty spill his knowledge as well.
“Levi is what you might call a liaison,” Tyler said, breaking me from contemplative thoughts. “He’s a go-between for the natural and supernatural worlds.”
That’s the understatement of the century, I thought. Levi was a walking supernatural encyclopedia. “Well, Levi,” I said. “What’s the word?”
He smiled at me, a very genuine expression on his frat-boy face. I fought the urge to ask him if he was late for a kegger.
“There’s a lot going on right now,” Levi said. “There’s talk of war between the Shaedes and Lyhtans. Many beings have their eye fixed to the outcome. It could mean change for more than just the parties involved.”
“What about the Lyhtans?” I asked. “Do they have a leader who’s been kicked from his throne or something like that?”
“They don’t generally live that way,” Levi explained. “Lyhtans are wild, lawless. They’re solitary. Every once in a while you’ll find them moving in packs, groups not much larger than ten. There’s no real leadership hierarchy, no pecking order. They don’t follow.”
I looked at Ty and gave a silent shake of my head. We weren’t getting anywhere.
“Have you heard of a Shaede who is banding the Lyhtans together?” I asked Levi. “Named Azriel.” And did I mention I need to kill the bastard?
“I have,” he said. “Like I said, they don’t usually follow, so this Shaede must be promising the world to get them on board for his campaign.”
“What do Lyhtans want?” I asked. “What could he use as a bargaining chip?”
“They’re tired of hiding,” Levi said. “They want to be more like you.”
Acceptance. That’s what the Lyhtans wanted more than anything. They wanted to blend in with the human population and pass as something close to normal.
“How?” I asked no one in particular. “How could he promise that? How does he think he’ll give that to them?”
“Who knows?” Tyler chimed in. “It could be just a bunch of lies he’s telling them to string them along. Otherwise, we’re in for a shit storm of trouble.”
“Because they’re nasty fuckers,” Levi added. “If they can come and go as they please, blend in with the general population, they’ll cause all sorts of chaos.”
Tyler and I exchanged a knowing glance. “Is there any Lyhtan who might not like that?” I said.
“I’m not sure,” Levi said. “I can look into it—for a nominal fee—but I would think they’d all be pretty excited by the prospect. If there’s anything to find out here, I’ll find it.”
We left, no better informed than we’d been when we entered. Frustration built up inside me like bubbles against a champagne cork. I wanted to kill something, just so I had an outlet to vent my anger. Ever the voice of reason, Tyler discouraged me from violence, convincing me it would only be counterproductive. It would’ve been in his best interest to keep his mouth shut. He was still pretty high up on my shit list, and I could just as easily release my anger on him as anyone.
Tyler made himself at home on my couch while I changed for another training session. My anger had been mounting, and I’d continued to suppress it. Much easier to do when we weren’t alone. But, damn it, it pissed me off that the one person I trusted had pulled the wool over my eyes. The more I thought about it, the more my blood began to boil. Now was as good a time as any to broach the subject of Ty’s true nature. In fact, I’d put it off for far too long.
“How does this work?” I asked, lacing up my boot. Keep it nonchalant. Don’t bite his head off. “Delilah said you’re bonded with me. What the hell does that entail?”
The twinkling light faded from Tyler’s eyes and his mouth tightened into a fine line. Apparently, he wanted to discuss this just as much as I did. “Can’t you just accept that I want to protect you and leave it at that?”
Um, no. If one more person tried to keep me in the dark, he was going to lose his head. “You mean just eat every spoon-fed bite of your bullshit? No, thanks. I think I’ve had my fill.”
“Darian—”
“Do you think I’m stupid? Weak? Incompetent?” My ire rose with every word. “Do you have any idea how humiliated I feel? Five years! Five fucking years I’ve known you. And you let me act like a complete fool. You knew there were others. Shit, you were one of them! Why didn’t you just tell me? Did you get off on seeing me alone and disconnected from everything? I threatened you, for Christ’s sake! I called you human, like it was a dirty word or something.”
Tyler’s eyes held mine, showing a depth of emotion I was afraid to believe. “I was trying to protect you.”
“Oh, really? From what? And did you ever think about asking if I wanted your protection? No. You just bound yourself to me.”
“Darian, with Jinn, the urge to protect is like instinct. But with you, I feel the need twice as strong. And you, being the tough girl you think you are—there’s no way in hell you would have submitted to the binding and let me become the protector that I had to be. You’ve always thought you could take care of yourself with no help from anyone. So I hid behind a normal-guy persona. I did what I had to do. It was beyond selfish of me, but I refuse to apologize. Yes, I kept the supernatural world from you. There are bigger and more dangerous things than Lyhtans and Shaedes in the world. And you would’ve taken them all on. Single-handedly. I couldn’t risk your safety. I knew if I kept you focused on humans and human business, you’d be relatively safe.”