The room was large, with an air of old-world luxury. Comfortable, if mismatched furniture of indisputable quality littered the space. Heavy, embroidered draperies – a few decades out-of-fashion – obscured the high windows on either side of the room, casting the place in shadows despite the relatively early hour.
The man thought absently that it was unlike Aeriels to prefer darkness. But then, nothing about his present companion had ever been conventional anyway.
“It has to be done soon, if it is to be done at all,” Tauheen said, her voice soft and intimate. She shifted slightly on the large sofa to curl closer to her mortal companion, one hand snaking out to wrap loosely around his torso. She held him down with deceptive strength. “We need to have it before it’s too late.”
“I am not a magician, Tauheen,” the man replied irritably. One of his hands moved instinctively to touch the Aeriel’s flawless, almost translucent skin, stroking along her arms in slow, caressing motions. He closed his eyes. “It’s dangerous now. Ruban is a capable Hunter, as I’m sure you know very well.” He spared her a sidelong glance. Her expression told him she hadn’t forgotten the man he spoke of, or the Parliament attack, during which Ruban had almost casually slashed the throats of two of her best soldiers and closest associates. “He will leave no stone unturned to stop us, to stop you.
“And there will be nothing I can do to help, if it came to that. He will have all the resources of the state at his disposal. Even you cannot hope to win against those odds. As long as nobody knew or suspected, we had the element of surprise. Now the whole country – from the chief justice to every goddamn shoe-polish boy in the capital – is buzzing with talk of Aeriel plots and conspiracies. It’s too dangerous to make a move in such an environment.”
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Tauheen’s wings flared with evident indignation, flooding the surrounding gloom momentarily with a surreal, silver light. Then, just as quickly as it had happened, it was gone, and the chamber was plunged back into darkness. The Aeriel smiled, tightening her hold over him ever so slightly. “We’ll do it when he’s there, then,” she murmured, her voice barely audible. The intimate promise of her tone sent a thrill down his spine. Tauheen was excited, he could tell. And when she was, she had ways of expressing it that he thoroughly approved of.
Getting a hold of his racing heart, the man forced himself to say in as stern a voice as he could muster. “Do what?”
“Why, steal the formula, of course,” Tauheen said, looking into his eyes for the first time that evening.
Her eyes shone with anticipation. They weren’t like any he had seen on an Aeriel before. She had dark eyes. Not as dark as a human’s; nobody would ever mistake them for mortal irises. They were sprinkled with flecks of silver that shone with an almost cutting light against the sun. Dark and alert, full of life, they weren’t anything like an Aeriel’s pearly orbs either. He couldn’t bring himself to look away. “We’ll do it when Ruban Kinoh is in the building. That way, he will lose the confidence of the department and you can replace him with somebody…less troublesome. And even if he’s not replaced, he’ll lose credibility and access to much of your precious resources. Even a man such as himself cannot hope to do much damage without state support. Then, after it’s all done, we can take care of him at our own leisure.”
“And what makes you think he’ll let you steal the formula from under his nose, anyway?” the man asked, frowning.
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, my love.” Tauheen ran a gentle hand over her companion’s chest, a rare smile of true pleasure appearing on her beautiful face. “I’ll take care of all that.”