Archangel's Heart

by Nalini Singh

  It's going to happen sooner than anyone predicted. Vivek was healing at a speed even Keir hadn't foreseen--likely because Vivek had been Made a vampire by Aodhan, with Keir's assistance. He's still going to be under Contract. A hundred years to serve in return for the gift of near-immortality.

  Elena, you know he is yours. I will not hold him to the Contract. Eyes of searing blue meeting her gaze. But you should--he is your friend but he will still be a young vampire with violently strong urges. He must have a firm hand on him until he regains his human control once more.

  The idea of restraining Vivek in any way was abhorrent to Elena, though she knew Raphael was right. Maybe I can ask Jason to oversee him. She'd never thought to witness Vivek in awe of anyone but he was definitely in awe of Raphael's spymaster. I think he'd listen to Jason in a way he'd never listen to me. I'm pretty sure he wants to be Jason when he grows up. She and Vivek were contemporaries, equals, while Jason occupied a whole different category. What do you think?

  I think you know your Guard well. Raphael's wings glinted as he swept down to glide over wings of silver blue.

  Illium immediately changed direction to fall in line with Raphael.

  I'm not ready to go.

  I'm not ready for you to go.

  Memories of the awful day when Illium had threatened to burn up alive, power cracking him open from the inside, awoke without warning at the sight of the two of them flying so close. If Raphael and Dmitri were friends before being sire and second, Raphael and Illium's relationship was more the latter--but with a familial element. Illium had sounded so young that day when everyone had believed he might be ascending to archangelic power.

  Had it been true, he'd have had to leave Raphael's territory.

  He was too young for that, and when the blue-winged angel had told Raphael he didn't want to go, Elena had seen a shaken youth asking for reassurance from someone he respected and trusted.

  Naasir treated Dmitri like a father.

  It was only in that moment when Illium said he wasn't ready to leave that Elena realized Illium saw Raphael in the same light. Not quite, not exactly, but close enough.

  Elena had never asked what had happened to Illium's actual father. She could have--Illium remained her closest immortal friend--but his face was so sad when he talked about his mother, the broken Hummingbird, that she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instinct told her there was a reason the Hummingbird was the way she was, and there was a good chance it was tied to Illium's father.

  Raphael would've told her, too, but it felt dishonest to go behind Illium's back. If Illium ever wanted to talk about his family, he would. Right now, he was back to his usual form, his spirit irrepressible.

  No one knew what would happen when the Cascade kicked back into gear but Illium wasn't allowing that uncertainty to dictate his choices. "I'll worry about that when it happens," he'd said to her. "I'm not going to waste a minute when I can be me free from any Cascade effects."

  Today, he dropped below Raphael, circled, then came to where Elena had been riding lazily along their wake. His hair, that astonishing black tipped with blue, was longer than usual and fell forward when he shifted to line up with her. "Ellie," he called out after pushing back the strands to reveal eyes the color of newly minted gold coins, "want to race?"

  She thought about it. When they raced, he gave her a considerable head start as a handicap and it was fun to try to push past her best. "Not today," she said at last. "I don't want to accidentally strain a muscle or tendon." She needed to be at peak strength when they reached Lumia.

  Flipping over onto his back, Illium dropped before twisting around to return to her. Raphael, meanwhile, had swept up and over them, his shadow a kiss against Elena's senses. Is Illium coming to dinner with us? she asked.

  I thought you'd wish to see your Bluebell before we leave. Sparkle will join us, too.

  Lips twitching, Elena said, You know Aodhan hates that nickname.

  Ah, but it is so appropriate. Raphael dropped down beside her just as Illium spoke from her other side.

  "Um, Ellie. You're shimmering."

  She pointed a finger at the blue-winged angel with the wickedly dancing eyes. "Be quiet." Turning to a Raphael who wasn't doing much to hide his amusement, she tapped a mirror-shiny blade on her nose before angling it in his direction. "I'm going to get you for that. Right when you think you're safe, boom, you'll be covered in whipped cream . . . or tomato sauce if I'm feeling extra evil."

  "I am forewarned." He dipped his wing, nodded at Illium. "First to the Enclave. Go."

  Whooping, Illium turned into a sleek bullet as he dived to build up speed for the race. Raphael stayed high but he was as fast, even though it didn't appear his wings were beating with any more momentum. Elena enjoyed watching him move--he was magnificent in flight. So she had her eyes on him when his wings turned aflame, and suddenly, even sleek, fast Bluebell didn't stand a chance of defeating him.

  Her stomach clenched.

  The other shoe had dropped.

  The Cascade was no longer on Pause.

  5

  Raphael and Illium landed on the lawn of the Enclave home just in front of Elena. The two had come back to ensure she wasn't alone in the sky. On their faces, she saw the same realization she'd just reached.

  Illium had parted his lips to speak when the earth began to shake under their feet.

  Illium and Raphael both lifted off instinctively. Elena couldn't react that fast, her ability to pull off a vertical takeoff not a thing of speed. But in this case, that didn't matter. Raphael had taken one of her arms, Illium the other, raising her off the ground with them as it bucked and rolled. Below the cliffs of the Enclave, the river churned, waves smashing against those cliffs with brutal force.

  When she turned to look at Manhattan over her shoulder, she saw the buildings swaying in the smudged post-sunset light. Her gut twisted. There were so many people in those buildings, so many of her friends.

  But even as her heart was wrenching itself into a tangled knot, the Hudson calmed, the shaking over as abruptly as it had begun. Releasing the breath locked tight in her lungs, she said, "We have to go back, survey the damage."

  "Illium."

  Illium released his grip on her and then Raphael had her in his arms and was winging up high. He had no need to tell her what to do. She folded in her wings to reduce drag until they were high enough up that he could release her. Spreading out her wings as she fell, she swept out and toward Manhattan at a lower elevation than her archangel, Illium already a blue dot far in the distance.

  Don't land, Elena, Raphael told her. Dmitri has people out checking for land damage. We must do an aerial survey.

  Got it. She went left as he went right, fellow angels doing sweeps in other areas of the city. No collapsed buildings on this side, a couple of shattered windows.

  I have the same.

  They flew for an hour, found their city had weathered the quake with only minor damage. A few fender-benders, more smashed windows, but no buildings had collapsed, no trains derailed. The worst damage appeared to be to a large ship in port that had smashed into the side of its mooring. Raphael had also received similar reports of minor-damage-only from other parts of the territory.

  But, of course, it wasn't about harm to property.

  Elena had managed to send a one-word text to Sara while in the air--OK?--received a message that her best friend and her family, as well as all hunters in the area, were safe. Beth called right as Elena was about to call her. She was hyperventilating.

  "Shh, Bethie," Elena said, so much love and pain inside her. "I'm fine." She knew it was what Beth needed to hear--her baby sister had such a sunny personality, but of late, she tended to panic when she couldn't get hold of Elena, the nightmare of their past rising up to suffocate her without warning.

  As if with the birth of her daughter had come a fear Beth couldn't shake.

  Calming once she knew Elena was all right, Beth told her that she hadn't heard from
Jeffrey yet, but that everyone else in their family was fine.

  Elena hung up to see Raphael dropping to fly at her wing.

  "No reports of fatalities," he told her, easing her concern about Jeffrey.

  Elena and her father might have a broken relationship, but he would always be her father. "Does the quake change our plans for tomorrow?"

  "It would take a major disaster to cause the Luminata to call off a meeting. We cannot know until we hear what has happened in other parts of the world."

  Because, with the Cascade in full effect, the New York quake was highly unlikely to have been an isolated incident.

  "Homeward, then?" Dmitri appeared to have the situation under control here, and if there was a chance of a dawn departure for Lumia, the two of them had to rest up.

  Nodding, Raphael did a wide turn so she'd have more room to maneuver, and they flew back in a straight line across the river rippling quietly under the first edge of night. Montgomery was waiting for them, the butler's black suit and white shirt as pristine as always and his features quietly handsome. "Sire." He inclined his head in a respectful bow. "Dmitri is on the device in the library."

  The "device in the library" was a wall screen. Elena sometimes forgot Montgomery was a vampire centuries old, then he'd slip up and use terms like that and the facts would snap sharply back into focus: though vampirism had effectively frozen his body and face in time--his appearance that of a man in his early thirties--he'd lived for far longer.

  "Thank you, Montgomery," Raphael said. "Illium and Aodhan will be joining us for dinner."

  "I will prepare." Montgomery melted away, no doubt to inform the chef, Sivya--who also happened to be his wife. The two had married in a quiet, beautiful ceremony a year earlier.

  "Dmitri," Raphael said as they walked into the library. "What have you learned?"

  Looking up from something he was reading on a handheld screen, his expression devoid of anything but hard-eyed concentration, Dmitri said, "I heard from Dahariel."

  Elena wasn't surprised at the news. Dahariel might be a cruel bastard with inexplicable taste in women, but he was also an experienced second whom Dmitri respected as a peer.

  "Astaad's territory experienced a number of small tidal waves triggered by undersea quakes," Dmitri told them. "Minor damage only." He motioned with the handheld. "The media's confirmed quakes around the world, but so far, there are no reports of any significant damage except to buildings that were already weak for other reasons."

  Elena's phone buzzed.

  Stepping away from the screen when she saw Sara's name flash up, she walked outside onto the lawn so her conversation wouldn't overlap Raphael's. "Sara," she said. "What's happened? Did someone in the Guild get hurt after all?"

  "No, but I just heard that your dad was in a town car that got hit by a truck."

  Elena's hand clenched tight on her phone, her stomach tensing. "Injuries?" She knew her best friend would've made sure to get that information for her.

  "Jeffrey's got a broken arm but is otherwise fine. Not a scratch on either driver." Sara told her the name of the hospital where her father was being treated. "I know you two don't have a warm and fuzzy relationship but I figured you'd want to know."

  "Thanks, Sara." Staring out toward the glittering skyline of Manhattan, thousands of tiny windows lit up against the night, Elena wondered what Jeffrey Deveraux was thinking at this moment, knew she could never predict his thoughts or actions.

  "Damn it," Sara muttered. "That's another idiot."

  Elena knew exactly what had her friend--and head of the Hunters Guild--so hot under the collar. It was a welcome distraction from thinking about a father who would never again be the papa she'd so adored. "How many vamps decided to make a break for it in the confusion after the quake?" That was why the Guild existed--because not every vampire wanted to fulfill his or her hundred-year Contract.

  Elena had heard all the sob stories, but fact was fact: to become a vampire, you had to agree to serve a hundred years under the angels. And it wasn't as if the angels made any effort whatsoever to hide that such service could involve pain and torture and treatment so harsh it might break you. Not all angels were brutal, but enough had been jaded by centuries or millennia of life to the point that sadistic and often sexual punishments were a source of sick pleasure.

  Vivek hadn't wanted to become a vampire for that very reason, even knowing that vampirism would eventually heal his spinal cord.

  "A hundred years of slavery to have the use of my body," he'd whispered. "A hundred years at the mercy of some random immortal who might decide to treat me like a pet dog."

  Elena had promised him that he wouldn't ever be under the command of a "random immortal," that he'd be overseen by whichever of the Seven was in charge of the Tower at the time.

  Quite aside from that, Raphael was smart: he'd never waste Vivek's skills by assigning him to a menial task.

  As to Vivek's Contract--while he might be permitted more flexibility because of his friendship with Elena and his unique circumstances, her fellow hunter was adamant about completing his hundred years of service. "I want to pay my way," he'd told her, his jaw set. "As far as I'm concerned, the century of service is fair payment for the permanent medical treatment that is vampirism."

  That was truer in Vivek's case than in others--but all vampires gained the potential for millennia of life on becoming near-immortal. As more than one hunter had been known to point out to a whining vamp who'd breached his or her Contract, there was no point crying over it after you'd already accepted the gift with open eyes. Not like you could give it back.

  "I try to tell myself I should be glad," Sara responded in a jaundiced tone. "Because as long as there are idiots, there will be a Guild, but honestly, the recent crop of rabbits doesn't seem to have a single complete brain between them." She blew out a breath. "I better go. Got reports coming in of collars."

  Elena had barely hung up when her phone rang again. This time, it was Marcia Blue, the chief operating officer of Blood-for-Less. It had begun with one small blood cafe and was now a thriving chain of three across the city. And Elena was the official CEO. That cracked her up every single time.

  Ransom and Demarco found it so funny that they'd printed out glossy black business cards for her with Elena Deveraux, Guild Hunter Angel CEO on the front and a silhouette of a suit-wearing, crossbow-wielding female angel on the back.

  Smart asses.

  "Hey, Marcia," she said. "Our businesses still standing?"

  The once-timid vampire responded in a warm but efficient voice and they talked over a number of matters, including plans for expansion. "I'm heading out of town," Elena said after listening to what Marcia had to say, "but talk to Jonas, hammer out the finances." Jonas was a vampire and Elena's financial manager. "I'll make a final call once he gives me all the numbers."

  "Oh, sure." Marcia's enthusiasm bubbled over. "Jonas is great to work with."

  Elena's eyes widened. Hmm . . . "I have to go now, Marcia," she said as Raphael stepped out to join her, "but we'll talk when I get back."

  "Okay, sure. Good night."

  Hanging up, Elena slid away her phone. "Archangel, I think my business partner and my financial manager might have zing between them."

  "Zing?"

  Turning, she touched her finger to his chest, felt the spark ignite, her belly heating. "Zing."

  Raphael closed his hand over hers. "That's excellent. Perhaps Marcia can steal Jonas totally away from the angel to whom he is loyal so I can then steal him from you and Marcia."

  "Hey, no industrial espionage while I'm setting up my conglomerate." Elena gave him her best scowl before returning to the matter at hand. "What else did Dmitri have to tell you?"

  When the heartbreaking blue of Raphael's eyes went metallic in its chill, she knew the news wasn't going to be good.

  6

  "He received a report from Jason while we were speaking," Raphael told his consort, anger ice in his veins at the poss
ible implications of Jason's information. "The tremors in Lijuan's territory were similar to what we felt. But Xi didn't send out extra troops to check the damage."

  "As if he needs those troops to stay somewhere else? Guard his crazy mistress maybe?" Elena folded her arms, feet set widely apart.

  "Or to give that impression." If Lijuan had told Xi to cover her absence long past the time when she was safe in her place of Sleep, then she'd deliberately set up her territory for bloody anarchy.

  The other option was that the Archangel of China had only recently gone into Sleep, but that she'd been in trouble for a long time beforehand after overextending her Cascade-given abilities. Of course, there was a third option. "Lijuan could be playing a lethal game, hoping to get the Cadre in one place at one time for purposes of her own."

  Narrowing her eyes, Elena nodded. "It doesn't really matter, does it? Not when nonattendance at the meeting could lead to war."

  "No--we must go to Lumia." Raphael settled his wings, which were once more solid. "Whatever happens, we'll have an answer after that meeting. Lijuan may mount a siege. If she doesn't, but she isn't in Sleep, then she won't permit her lands to be divided and thrown into war as Xi attempts to hold the territory against the might of the rest of the Cadre."

  "Yeah. She's psycho but she takes the goddess-over-her-people thing seriously."

  "Yes." It hadn't stopped his fellow archangel from turning many of her people into the shambling reborn, a mockery of life stinking of death, but the idea of anyone else taking control of what was hers? No, that she would not permit.

  "You think the Cadre will also discuss the whole Alexander-Favashi thing?"

  "The question is moot if Lijuan has retreated from the world." Alexander, the former Archangel of Persia, had risen unexpectedly and, as an Ancient, had far more power and influence than Favashi, the archangel who'd been the Archangel of Persia on his waking.

  As a result, Persia had been divided in two.

  Alexander retained the title, while Favashi was now the Archangel of Sumeria. Relations seemed calm between the two, but Raphael knew neither was satisfied, tensions simmering beneath the surface that would eventually explode into war. Alexander wanted all of his lands back, and Favashi was furious at what she saw as a demotion.