Free Darkness Falls (DA 7) by Keri Arthur

several seconds, then leaned back in her chair. “And that is a threat you would not make if you could not back it up.” She sighed in frustration and thrust a hand through her red hair. “Damn it, Ris, I’m not happy about this—”
    “And you think I am?” I cut in. “Trust me, I’d like nothing better than to have you and Rhoan and Quinn back us up if we’re forced to confront Hunter. But it’s better this way—if Hunter can’t find you, then she can’t use you against me.”
    “And how long are we expected to disappear? We all have lives; we can’t put everything on hold indefinitely.”
    “It would be no longer than a week,” Azriel said.
    I glanced at him sharply. “What?”
    He shrugged. “So the fates said.”
    I wondered what else the fates had said that he wasn’t telling me. Heaps, I suspected. It seemed the more some things changed, the more some stayed the same.
    Riley studied the two of us for what seemed like an eternity—though I very much suspected she was conversing with Quinn. Finally, she grunted. “A week we could do.”
    It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Against all the odds—against pack instinct and her natural desire to fight and protect—she was going to leave.
    But then, she was a mom, and as I’d already said, Iwasn’t blood related. As much as she might want to protect me, her own family had to come first.
    “Thank you—”
    “Don’t thank me yet,” she interrupted. “Not until you’ve heard my conditions.”
    My heart sank again. “And what might they be?”
    “One, that you keep in contact—and by that I mean every damn day. Given Hunter could very easily track us by phone, we won’t be taking them with us, but you find a way. You could send a message via a damn carrier pigeon, for all I care. I just want to know you’re alive and well; otherwise, I will come running.”
    “That is easily achievable,” Azriel said. “Even if inconvenient.”
    Riley snorted and glared at him. “Don’t give me that inconvenient crap, reaper—especially when you can pop in and out of existence at will. It’d take less than a few seconds of your life to update us, and we both know it.”
    “And the second condition?” I replied, cutting off any reply Azriel might have made.
    “That you do not go up against Hunter without contacting me first,” Quinn said.
    “Didn’t we just finish arguing—”
    “We did, and I must—somewhat reluctantly—agree that for the time being, we are better out of the picture. But you cannot go up against Hunter without help—or, at the very least, advice.”
    My smile was grim. “Advice, I’d appreciate. Help, not so much.”
    “We can argue about that closer to the time,” Riley commented. “But for now, you be careful.”
    “Oh, I will.” I smiled. “After all, I do have a couple of reasons to live.”
    “And I have always had a desire to be a grandmother,” Riley said. “So make damn sure you’re around to make me one.”
    Tears stung my eyes. “I will.”
    She pushed upright. “Then we had better get moving.”
    I rose, moved around the table, and hugged her. “Thank you.”
    She grunted and wrapped her arms around me fiercely but briefly. “Just keep safe, and keep in contact.”
    “I will.”
    “Then go, so I can call the tribe and get everyone moving.” She hesitated, frowning. “Rhoan won’t go. You know that, don’t you?”
    I did, but I had to at least try. “I’ll talk to him.”
    She half smiled. “Good luck with that.”
    “Thanks. And be safe—all of you.”
    With that, I stepped back and placed my hand in Azriel’s. A heartbeat later we were standing in the middle of a rather luxurious bedroom. It wasn’t one I recognized.
    I frowned and looked around. “Where are we?” But recognition stirred even as I asked the question. He’d brought me to my favorite hotel.
    “We are at the Langham,” he confirmed. “You need to rest, and you enjoy this place, do you