Light spilled across the scene.
‘Everything okay out here?’ Perry stepped through the open doorway, spotting the fallen woman. ‘What the hell happened?’
Kira hesitated, her attention all on Azrael. Light from inside the pub pooled around him. He’d stopped rocking, and his arms rested at his sides. His focus lifted from the woman and moved to the slowly closing door. Azrael lifted his hand, tilting it back and forth as if it was the very first time he’d noticed it stuck to the end of his arm.
‘Kira, what is going on?’ Perry rushed past her, reaching the woman in three long strides.
‘She was like this when we came out.’ Kira grabbed at all the straws available to her. ‘Azrael got a little freaked about it. Don’t think he’s seen a rotten drunk before.’
If she did say so herself, it was a magnificent display of thinking on one’s feet. Only a fraction of it was actually a lie.
‘Oh man, I’m going to call an ambulance.’ Perry grimaced. ‘This woman’s been hanging around here a lot lately, but this is the first time I’ve seen her legless. I’m going to take her inside. Your ride will have to wait.’
‘Can I have the keys?’ Kira said. ‘I’ll let you do the Good Samaritan thing, and we’ll wait in the car.’
Perry tossed her the car keys and bent down to pick up the woman. She was short and could have done with a decent sandwich or two, so he managed easily. ‘Don’t do anything in my car I wouldn’t do.’
‘That ship sailed a year ago.’
Kira held the door open for Perry so he could manoeuvre the woman inside. Her hair was a little messier, if that was possible, but she had no scratches, cuts, or gaping wounds. No bloody injuries. In Kira’s expert medical opinion, she’d be okay once she came to. The whole thing just a warped, drunken hallucination. Kira grabbed Azrael’s arm, tugging a couple of times before he left the circle of light. His drool face was back, and he stared down at the golden glow on the pavement as if it were a long-lost lover.
Kira guided him to the car. Not so difficult this time. The dude was as keen to get out of there as Kira was. ‘Little over-reaction there buddy.’
Going on the run was one thing, leaving people in unconscious piles was another altogether. She couldn’t keep attention away from him if he kept flooring people. For the first time since Blake had shooed them out of the Facility, Kira had some doubts.
Getting Azrael back into the car was surprisingly easy. Maybe the dude was still in shock, maybe he thought the darkness wouldn’t get him in there. Whatever the reason, he hopped in as though he’d been getting into cars forever. He huddled into the corner, sitting at an angle that pressed his butt against the closed door, clutching at the back seat as if the whole car were about to shoot up into space. Not an intimidating sight. But the rocking and scratching had stopped. Good thing.
Kira sighed, wishing she’d brought a drink for the road. ‘Shit, what have I gotten myself into?’
Azrael’s hand was on her metal fingers before she took another breath. Contact was all hot wax on bare skin again, tingling nerves and hollow stomach. Pleasurable pain. Then came the jolt. A sharp snap of electricity crackled between the metals, and dropped to an uncomfortably pleasant tingle. The whole armadillo hummed beneath the faux skin, the echo of it playing with every nerve in Kira’s body. A groan lolled at the back of her throat, and her eyelids fluttered low.
Azrael didn’t want to go back. He really, really didn’t want to go back to the Facility.
The groan wedged itself halfway up her throat. She was afraid. No. Kira frowned. She wasn’t afraid at all.
He was. Terrified.
The fear weaved through her, coarse and vibrant.
Kira jerked her hand free, and the groan caught in her throat morphed into a cry. Eyes wide open, she met Azrael’s steady emerald gaze.
‘Az, you poor bastard,’ she whispered.
He was alive in there. She’d felt him there, buried beneath the metalwork. Kira flexed her metal fingertips. They were still tingling. The whole limb was too-near-the-campfire warm. Holy shitballs. If she wasn’t very much mistaken, she’d just slam-dunked into Azrael’s psyche. A living, pulsing thing.
The dude wasn’t a robot. Not even close. Fucking hell, Blake. Azrael still watched her. Whatever it was behind those eyes, watched her. Maybe she should be shitting herself, but the only one doing that right now was Az. And the idea of that pissed her off. Way more than it should do.
‘I hate that fucking place too,’ Kira said, voice raspy. ‘You’re not going back there.’
For the time being, they would play Blake’s game. Azrael slumped back against the seat, chin dropping to his chest. Kira didn’t have the advantage of a hot-and-heavy connection this time, but she was going to go out on a limb and say he looked relaxed.
A few minutes later, Azrael appeared to have drifted off to sleep. Eyes closed. His posture a little awkward, like a toddler who’d just fallen asleep halfway through playing. Completely damn adorable. And if anyone came near the guy, she’d cut them. Kira shook her head, dislodging the sudden thought. For fuck’s sake, what had been in that champagne? She shifted out of the back seat and hopped into the passenger seat, needing to put a little distance between them.
Perry returned about fifteen minutes later. He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. ‘All good here?’
Peachy. ‘Yeah. All good.’ She massaged her bare feet, boots and socks discarded in the footwell. ‘How’s the patient?’
‘She’s going to feel like hell tomorrow. Wasted off her tits. And she’s got a great bump on the head. They’re taking her away now, but
