by Nalini Singh
"I should be able to ease the strain on your wings." His healing abilities remained erratic, but he'd learned to access a certain low level of power at will--it should be enough to settle a minor strain.
Elena gripped his wrist, her fingers strong and warm. "After we're back at Lumia. I don't want you distracted out here."
Since Lijuan's squadron was by no means the only possible threat with so many of the Cadre in the vicinity, Raphael nodded. "You'll also need to refuel and rest your body a little." Meanwhile, he'd keep an eye on her flight patterns to make sure she didn't need an earlier landing.
Hand dropping off his wrist, she said, "Raphael, I've been thinking . . . the way that painting of Nadiel was left where Caliane might've seen it, it can't have been a simple oversight."
"It reads as a power play to me, too." And it made him wonder what other small aggressions the Luminata had taken against the Cadre. "If the Luminata have become so arrogant as to challenge archangels, then they have become a danger that needs to be swiftly eliminated."
The survival of the world depended on the archangels being the ultimate authority. The Cadre had to be the fear beyond fear. The instant anyone began to question that, they empowered vampires and mortals to do the same. The end result of any such insurgency was always the same: a tide of horror and death.
"When I was a boy," he told Elena, "a small group of powerful angels in a distant part of Caliane's lands mounted a rebellion. Not because she was a bad leader." His mother had been sane then, and beloved by her people for the most part. "They just believed they were too old and too experienced to be under an archangel's yoke."
Elena frowned. "Most archangels seem to leave the older angels pretty much alone to keep an eye over their areas of influence. I mean, you don't interfere with Nimra or Nazarach when it comes to the day-to-day running of their regions."
"It was no different then." The wildflowers swayed in the wind as he spoke, brushing against his wings. "But the angels objected to even the fine thread that linked them back to Caliane and made her their official liege."
"What did she do?" Wariness in Elena's expression.
He didn't blame her; his mother had earned her reputation for mercilessness. "She was tired of their behavior so she told them they were free to rule their section of the territory with no oversight from her."
"I have a feeling this story doesn't have a happy ending."
"The angels bragged to anyone who would listen that they reported to no archangel." Raphael could remember the whispers in the Refuge, had been aware even as a boy of the tension that whitened the lips of more than one adult. "Word soon got out to the vampires that they were under the angels' control, with no archangel in the mix."
"We're talking angels as strong as Nimra and Nazarach?" Elena shifted their positions so she could take his hand, tug him on a walk through the wildflowers. "Those two are plenty strong enough to keep vampires in line."
"These angels were even older and stronger." Arrogant men and women who were used to people cowering before them. "But we live in a world of predators and prey, Elena. And while archangels can only be killed by other archangels, even powerful angels can be killed by anyone."
Elena snorted. "If anyone has a tank or five and a hail of burning hellfire, and oh, maybe eight layers of armor."
"Truth--but vampires chafing at the bit don't think with such logic." He wasn't talking about people like Dmitri or Cristiano, who owned their vampirism, but creatures weak of character and selfish of need. "Such minds are blinded by hunger until they see only the possibility of total freedom to glut themselves on fresh prey."
Eyes stark with the knowledge of a woman who'd survived just such a monster, Elena stared at him. "How many died?"
"Five thousand mortals, four hundred and seventy-three vampires, one angel."
Her fingers clenched on his. "An angel?"
"A predator attacking the herd goes for the weakest link." Vampires in a twisted kiss were akin to a pack of feral dogs, hunted in that same instinctual way.
"In this case, a number of violent and old vampires decided to attack a scholar who was maybe six hundred years old. He stood no chance, was cut into pieces in front of his household." As Jessamy would stand no chance against Dmitri--angels weren't automatically stronger than vampires, a fact most mortals never understood.
"Jesus." Elena's face was white. "And once that first boundary is crossed, there's no going back."
She'd seen it, the point he was making, his consort's mind as sharp as the blades she wore with such lethal grace. "Do you want me to finish the story?"
A jerky nod.
"The vampires then slaughtered the angel's small household of mortals and other vampires." Raphael had been too young to be allowed anywhere near the scene, but he'd heard adults talking about gobbets of flesh flung at the walls and bloody feathers ground into the carpet, steaming piles of innards left on the welcome mat.
"The vampires moved on to their next target soon afterward, but only after crowing of the kill so the news ran like wildfire through the region."
Elena just shook her head, her features set in harsh lines.
"Their next target proved stronger than expected, killed the vampires, but the genie was out of the bottle. Other vampires began to strike at angels while feeding on mortals like they were disposable cattle--entire villages were left full of only the dead." He'd looked up and read the historical records once he was older, discovered the maddened vampires had ravaged anyone in their path.
Elders with fragile bones had been thrown against the walls, children's soft throats torn out, young men and women abused vilely while those who would protect them were murdered in brutal ways. "The mortals paid the highest price, but the angels who survived the assaults didn't do so unscathed: a number had their wings hacked off, the vampires having learned to do that first to keep their targets earthbound."
He thrust a hand through his hair. "There were rational vampires, almost-immortals of iron control and will who tried to halt the tide and who fought heroically to protect the mortals in their areas." Good men and women who'd fallen in defense of the vulnerable. "But bloodlust is infectious among the young and those already predisposed to violence. And just knowing that they could kill an angel, it was enough to snap the leash."
"Where were the ruling angels in all this?" His consort's voice reverberated with anger.
"Flying from scene to scene, helping injured angels, executing vampires. But not even their most brutal punishments could slow the vicious rampage, much less bring it to a halt. Nothing did--not until Caliane said enough and swept in. It took her a single day to bring the entire region into order."
Elena's response was hard with the ruthless understanding of a hunter. "Because no vampire can ever kill an archangel."
"And we live in a world of predators and prey," Raphael repeated. "Remove the top predator from the chain and the entire chain collapses."
"It's not chance the Luminata cleared out the vampires from this region."
"No, it appears to have been a strategy to maintain their fiefdom--but that strategy hinges on a single fragile fact: that no murderous kiss of vampires will catch wind of an entire town full of defenseless prey."
29
Landing at Lumia approximately forty-five minutes after the others would've returned, he and Elena made to go to their suite, while Aodhan requested leave to seek out a healer and artist named Laric, whom the Luminata called Stillness because of his unwillingness to speak.
"According to our source, he isn't usually out at this time of the afternoon," Aodhan told him. "But I still wish to attempt to make contact."
"Go. Talk to him," Raphael said, holding the splintered blue-green of Aodhan's eyes as the three of them stood alone in the courtyard. "But remember, you have found your voice. And that voice is beloved by more than one person."
A slight nod. "I will not lose my way, sire." Pausing for a heartbeat, he added, "I want to live in a way I did n
ot live for two hundred years. I kept myself in a cage and that is a truth I must accept and get over."
And Raphael realized Aodhan wanted to help Laric rather than become like him. "We will be in our quarters for an hour, then we'll head back to the township. It's apt to be dark by the time we return."
"I'll ensure I'm present to provide escort."
Raphael made a snap decision. "There's no need. Stay here," he ordered this member of his Seven who was so very luminous that sometimes, he blinded people to his brutal intelligence. "Listen. Learn."
"Sire."
Wings brushing Elena's as they split with Aodhan and began to head in the direction of their suite, Raphael was surprised to see a Luminata walking toward them who pushed back his hood and beamed at Elena in a most un-Luminata way, something in the openness of his face putting Raphael in mind of the pure innocence of a child.
"I have found it, Consort!" He lifted a rolled-up piece of paper before seeming to collect himself and incline his head respectfully toward Raphael, the pale hue of his eyes bright and the dark brown of his skin flushed. "Archangel."
"Raphael," Elena said with a smile, "this is Ibrahim. He promised he'd look for a historical map of Lumia for me." She touched her hand to the slender male's forearm in a silent thanks that made Ibrahim's smile even more incandescent.
"Ibrahim," Raphael said in greeting. Why a historical map?
Taking the map from Ibrahim, Elena replied to his mental comment the same way. If the Luminata are hiding things, I didn't think we'd get access to a current map, but we can extrapolate from an older one.
Or, Raphael pointed out, depending on the age of the map, we may see what's missing or what's been added.
Elena's eyes gleamed in appreciation of his point, before she returned her attention to the Luminata who continued to glow with that inner purity so rare among the sect. "Did you find this in the Gallery?"
Ibrahim shook his head. "There is a dusty old room where--" Glancing around, he ducked his head and lowered his voice. "It's where the archivists in charge of the Gallery stack damaged items or things that are not seen as fit for display." A wince. "They never tell the artists and I don't know if that is a kindness, or if it's because they don't want to expend time and energy on restoring items they deem inferior."
How did you win this Luminata's trust so quickly? It was obvious Ibrahim was struggling with having shared what he had, his expression heavy with guilt, yet he had shared it nonetheless.
Ibrahim's new, Elena responded, and I get the sense he's questioning his vocation now that he's been here a while--he's sniffed out the corruption but he's having trouble coming to terms with the fact his heroes have feet of clay. I just gave him an outlet.
"Thank you for searching," she said to the Luminata, placing her hand on his forearm again for a second--her demeanor appeared almost protective to Raphael. "This map will make it much easier to explore the stronghold. Not that we'll have long."
"No?" Ibrahim's face fell. "You are leaving?"
"Tomorrow, I'm afraid." She held out her arm, offering it in the grip of warriors.
Ibrahim took her hand between the two of his instead, like a scholar or another of a gentler vocation. "It has been an honor, Consort. I hope you will return to Lumia one day."
"I hope so, too." Smile gentle, Elena held the rolled-up map to her side as they left the Luminata to continue the walk to their room.
Placing it on a small decorative table set with a mosaic of semiprecious stones once they were inside, she turned to slide her arms around his waist. He wrapped his wings around her in turn, cocooning them in privacy both because he didn't trust these walls, and because he liked having his Elena so close.
Sliding his hands up from her waist to her wings, he said, Where does it hurt the worst?
Elena listed the areas with the pragmatic knowledge of a hunter who saw her body as a tool she had to keep in fighting condition. Absorbing the information, he spread his hands over two parts of her wings and reached for the energy inside him that was life. His hands glowed with a slight blue fire that was concealed by his wings.
Sighing as the energy sank into her, Elena rested her head against his chest, shifting until she was right over his heartbeat, as if listening to it. "Even though it frustrates me that we have to leave tomorrow, I'm glad, too. I really don't like this place," she murmured in a tone that was soft, private. "I can't point to any one thing as the reason why, but--"
"I feel it, too." While the warmth of her against him settled his protective urges, his skin continued to prickle with an awareness of subtle wrongness. "I spoke to my mother as we were flying back. She says in the past, the Luminata had vampiric border guards as well. The complement was never only angelic."
"The change fits with what we were talking about earlier, doesn't it." Elena kept her head against his chest as he moved his hands to different parts of her wings, easing the strain and healing muscles that might've sustained microtears. "Only . . . vampires given that position would be pretty solid, not the type to go nuts even if they figured out the Luminata were ruling their own little mortal colony."
It was an excellent point.
Then she made another one. "Maybe it's because while angels seem to revere the Luminata enough that even the Cadre's left them alone for a long time, vampires would be more clear-eyed."
"Especially," Raphael murmured, "vampires of the age to be stationed here. It's far too sleepy a region to send experienced warriors--they'd consider it a punishment. I know Galen tended to send no one over two hundred and fifty."
"It's a place to get a little seasoning, then move on." Elena nodded. "Vamps like that probably wouldn't see the Luminata as anything but a bunch of angelic monks. No reverence, no looking the other way." She began to play her fingers up the inner surfaces of his wings, the caress an intimate one between consorts. "I feel back to normal wing-wise."
"Good." Giving her one last pulse of healing energy, he bent his head.
She lifted hers as if he'd spoken, the kiss they shared a soft brush that was about connection, about being one in this place filled with outsiders, not all of whom wished them well. Raphael wanted to do so much more with his consort, but time was their enemy today. "I do not like abstinence," he said against her lips.
Laughter in her eyes. "Great minds." She ran her hands down his chest, his leathers soft under her touch. "We'll make up for it when we're back home."
The dark gold of her skin pulled taut over her cheekbones, her laughter erased between one pulse and the next. "I don't want you to go to China."
"I must."
"I know. Doesn't make me any happier. The entire thing could be a giant trap."
"It's possible--but I don't think even Lijuan is delusional enough to take on two Ancients at once, forget about the rest of the Cadre."
"Since Her Creepiness thinks she's a goddess, that fact lowers my worry levels by point one percent at most." She touched her fingers to the Legion mark on his temple, and where her fingers brushed, wildfire sparked, as if drawn to her. "Shall we look at the map when we're away from here? I can carry it easily in the same sheath as my crossbow bolts."
Raphael nodded, aware the sheath had a cover she could zip up to protect her bolts from falling out during flight. It'd do as well to protect the map. "You need fuel first."
"I'll have a couple of energy bars." She went to her travel case and opened an inner pocket to retrieve the bars. "I'd rather buy food from the marketplace. It'll give us an excuse to talk to people, too. And then I don't have to change to go to the Atrium."
Catching the bar she threw over, Raphael bit into it.
*
It was as they were about to leave five minutes later that Elena said, "It would've been useful if I could've had a translation of what the woman in the marketplace told me." It had clearly been important enough--and dangerous enough--that the woman hadn't wanted Riad to hear it.
"I don't suppose you have a local contact who can trans
late Moroccan Arabic," she said jokingly. "And oh, someone who you trust to give us the correct translation." It was the latter that was key, because the Luminata no doubt spoke the local language.
Raphael's lips tugged up a little. "You will not like the answer, hbeebti."
Surprised by his comment, she parted her lips to ask him to explain, then groaned. "Don't say it."
"I'm afraid I must--Tasha spent many years in Morocco once upon a time. She speaks the language flawlessly."
Gritting her teeth, Elena said, "Can you contact her mind to mind, get a translation? And oh, damn, I'll need to reschedule my walk with Caliane, too, since we won't be back in time."
"Of course I can contact Tasha. But I will not."
"It's fine." Elena waved a hand. "I won't do the jealous lover thing. She just annoys me because she's so damn impressive."
Raphael cupped her jaw. "She is not my warrior."
Spreading her wings, Elena pressed her hand over his heart. "I really can handle it, Archangel."
"I know. But I would not play with Tasha's heart, either. Warning her about the painting was a courtesy that could not be misconstrued as anything more personal. This may cross a fine line."
Elena remembered what Aodhan had said about Tasha watching Raphael with the eyes of a lover, nodded. If the other woman did still have feelings for Raphael, it wouldn't be fair to give her hope that it might ever be reciprocated.
"But," Raphael said, "we can go see my mother, speak to Tasha there."
*
Raphael contacted Caliane as he and Elena left the suite. Mother, Elena needs to consult Tasha on something. We would like to meet you outside in an open space.
His mother's response was immediate, the purity of her voice the song of his childhood. So you feel the eyes in this place, too, my son, she said. There is a garden that Tasha discovered, if you would meet us there.
Raphael got the instructions, told his mother they were on their way.
He and Elena ran into Gian not far from the garden. "Archangel, Guild Hunter." A deep smile, not even the faintest incline of his handsome head. "May I offer any assistance? I know Lumia can be a maze."
