Archangel's Heart

24

How could anyone have painted Elena so quickly?

An instant after the question passed through Raphael’s mind, he realized the woman in the miniature wasn’t Elena. Her eyes were a shimmering turquoise, her skin a darker gold than Elena’s. Her face, too, was narrower, more hawk than hunter. None of it took away from her startling beauty—or her startling resemblance to Raphael’s warrior.

“I think we can safely say that you are on the right track, Elena-mine.”

Hand trembling, Elena stared at the tiny canvas.

“If I may, Ellie.” Reaching for the miniature, Aodhan took it, turned it over, then lifted the blade stick with his other hand.

“Don’t damage it,” Elena cried out.

“I promise, I won’t. But sometimes, the artists will write of the subjects on the backs of these miniature pieces.”

A very careful insertion of the tip of the blade stick, an expert lift . . . and Aodhan had separated the miniature from the frame. Frowning, he looked down at the tiny writing on the back. “Majda,” he said. “I think that’s what it says.”

Raphael took the miniature, looked at the writing; it was in the same text Elena had seen in the Gallery. “Yes.”

Elena blew out a breath. “That doesn’t sound anything like Elena.” Folding her arms, she watched as Aodhan put frame and image back together. “My mother told me that my grandmother’s nickname was Elena.”

“There is apt to be more to her name,” Raphael said as she nodded at Aodhan to hold on to the miniature, her dress not having many hiding places. “With this name and the initial E that your mother remembered being on her baby blanket, you have avenues of investigation beyond Lumia—starting with the closest township.”

Looking out at the distant stronghold, she threw her gaze even farther forward, but the town that existed beyond the border wasn’t visible. “I’m not sure I want Aodhan and I to be that far from you while the Cadre is in session.” No matter her hunger to dig up the truth of her ancestry, leaving him without backup wasn’t an option.

“If there is to be a battle among the Cadre, Guild Hunter, I would rather you not be anywhere in the vicinity. Remember Beijing.”

The city no longer existed. The smoke was long gone but the crater remained a brutal scar on the landscape—and some said there were parts of it that were hot to the touch to this day. Elena wasn’t sure whether to believe those reports or not, because most people stayed far, far away from the evidence of what could happen when archangels fought one another.

“Being in the town won’t protect me from that kind of battle,” she said bluntly. And my only fear is losing you.

Raphael closed his hand over hers while Aodhan once more stepped away to offer them privacy. “If you keep your movements erratic, it protects you.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Wandering Lumia’s endless hallways was a good way to get trapped—and to distract Raphael with worry. He didn’t need any distractions, not when he was crossing swords with the Cadre of Ten.

“Maybe this afternoon,” she said, “Aodhan and I can go do a reconnaissance of the town, see if we can get a feel for it. Caliane and I aren’t supposed to meet for our walk until the evening.” She leaned into Raphael on the heels of her words, the heat of him a burn she craved. “Stay safe, Archangel.”

“Do not fear, hbeebti.” The Legion mark glittered in the sunlight as he pressed his forehead to her own. “I don’t think anyone on the Cadre is keen for a repeat of Beijing.” A pause. “Of course, if Lijuan decides to pay us a visit, then the endgame may be upon us.”

Watching Raphael return to the inner chamber had her gut in knots, but Elena kept it together, a casual expression on her face as she forced herself to nibble a little further from the lunch spread. Might as well keep up with the fuel since her huge meal appeared to have digested at the speed of light.

“You were in an energy deficit,” Raphael had said when she mentioned that. “Remember, each and every cell of your body is transforming from mortal to immortal. You are fast-forwarding through a process that takes an angelic babe at least a hundred years.”

Put that way, was it any wonder she was eating like a bodybuilder?

Eyes on wings of white gold, she consumed nuts and dried fruit with mindless efficiency. Dried meat would probably be better, but Elena had her limits. A little jerky on the road? That she could deal with. Eating it piece by piece by piece? No thanks.

Then the doors to the inner chamber slammed shut with a portentous bang, sealing Raphael in with the rest of the Cadre once more.

He wasn’t alone, she reminded herself. Along with the enemies, he had allies in there. And he was a freaking archangel.

“He is also the only one who has displayed an ability to keep Lijuan in check,” Aodhan murmured to her, having clearly followed the path of her thoughts. “Self-interest alone should keep him from being attacked by the others. No one wants Lijuan free to cause mayhem.”

“Except Charisemnon,” she pointed out, once again ignoring Riker when the vampire tried to catch her eye.

“I’m no expert in Cadre politics,” Aodhan said, “but I believe the Archangel of Northern Africa has few friends in the Cadre. He went too far with the Falling.”

“Coward.” She crunched down on a bunch of nuts on that single word, reminding herself that every mouthful she ate was another step closer to true immortality. Her bones were getting stronger day by day, her tendons less difficult to snap, her skin harder to bruise.

Of course, it was all relative.

The vampire walking toward her was far stronger than her. “Elena,” Riker said with a smile that was full of psychotic charm, the cedar and ice scent of him as incongruously beautiful as always. “Want to play?” He stepped close enough that their boots touched.

The swish of steel leaving a sheath. “Consort, would you like me to cut off his head?”

Aodhan’s toneless question had Riker looking up with narrowed eyes, but whatever he saw in Aodhan’s eyes had him paling before he gave her space. “I’m only being friendly.”

She felt as if she were being covered with slick black oil with every word he spoke. It would’ve been easy to let Aodhan handle it, but she was a hunter and she was Raphael’s consort. She hid from no one. “How’s your heart these days?” she asked with a razor-sharp smile. “I haven’t had a close look at it lately.”

Hissing out a breath, his eyes hot red, Riker fisted his hands. She almost wished he’d say something that crossed the line so they could legitimately cut off his head and rid the world of his nastiness, but he just bared his fangs and said, “It’s inside my ribcage, where it belongs.”

“You should try to keep it there.”

An unblinking stare before he turned on his heel and walked back to where he spent his time waiting for Michaela.

“I didn’t know you could be scary enough to terrify genuine psychopaths,” she said to Aodhan.

“Galen made me practice.”

Shoulders shaking at the cool statement, she ate more of the damn nuts.

“Hungry, Elena?” Tasha’s voice, the warrior angel strolling into the room to pick up a grape from the table and pop it into her mouth.

Elena was glad she hadn’t taken a seat at the table. Being seated while Tasha stood would’ve irritated the hell out of her. “All this lounging around looking at art gets tiring.”

Tasha watched her eat a piece of high-fat cheese. “Yes, Lumia is a little too peaceful for me, too.” Shrugging her shoulders, she drew a sword from a thigh sheath and, moving away from the table, swung it through the air.

“Aodhan, will you spar with me later today? I need a little activity to relieve my boredom and Titus’s Mau’lea has already made plans to train with Astaad’s escort.” A glance at Elena. “I know the sword is not your weapon of choice.”

It wasn’t, but Elena was learning. “That’s a heavier blade than I would’ve expected you to favor.” Yes, Tasha was stronger than her, but why go for a heavier blade when a lighter one would use up less strength and get the job done as well?

“It’s what my trainer used,” Tasha replied, sliding the sword back into its sheath. That sheath wasn’t a decorative one—like Aodhan, Tasha was dressed as a warrior, dressed as Elena wished she could dress. “I suppose I became used to it and it is what feels right in my hand.”

“If you two want to spar, I don’t mind,” she said to Aodhan and Tasha both. “Maybe I’ll learn a few new tricks by watching.”

Tasha’s eyes narrowed. “I can’t tell if you’re being gracious, or if there’s a little venom there.”

Swallowing the last bite of a little quiche she’d picked up, Elena said, “Venom sinks into the blood and I don’t want to end up like Michaela one day.” No matter how much Tasha annoyed her, Elena wasn’t going to waste her energy on unnecessary jealousy.

Raphael’s heart was hers. If she ever lost it, it wouldn’t be because of Tasha, but because something had gone catastrophically wrong between her and her archangel. She couldn’t even imagine what that might be.

“I hate it when you make sense, Elena.” Walking to the table, Tasha ate a few more grapes. “Aodhan?”

“Not today,” he replied. “Perhaps tomorrow. Today, Ellie and I were planning to fly to the closest township, stretch our wings.”

Elena frowned inwardly—why would Aodhan give away their plans?

Face brightening, Tasha said, “Do you mind if I join you? I swear I’ll lose my mind if I have to wander one more hallway or speak to one more of these hooded men.” A sneer. “All of them afraid of women and hiding it under the veneer of a ‘brotherhood.’”

Damn it. There she went again, saying something that made Elena want to grin. “Sure, you can come,” she said, since any other response would’ve been odd. “Maybe we should ask Xander and Valerius as well. I know Xander’s definitely bored.”

“I saw the boy in the nearest courtyard,” Tasha said. “I’ll go speak to him. When shall we meet?”

“I need to change,” Elena said, having zero intention of exploring the town while in her Lumia getup. “Say, twenty minutes?”

“Done.”

Elena waited to speak to Aodhan until they were away from the Atrium and headed to her and Raphael’s suite. “Why did you tell her?”

He bent, spoke close to her ear, his breath whispering over her skin once more, the touch of his wing over hers almost familiar. “We may need to go to the town multiple times. It would be highly suspect if it is only the two of us who keep turning up. A group of bored escorts, on the other hand . . .”

Oh. “You’re good at the sneaky stuff,” she said approvingly.

“Jason made me practice that,” he said in the same cool voice as earlier. “It took seventy-five years before he declared I’d be passable as a spy if I didn’t glow in the dark.”

Laughing so hard that her stomach hurt, Elena tried to see if he was joking. “Did they ever leave you alone?” she asked when she could speak again.

“No, no matter how hard I tried.” A smile that held an ineffable joy. “They were always there, Ellie. Constantly hauling me back from the edge of the howling abyss.” He swallowed. “Illium . . . he used to sneak into my house and leave art supplies everywhere, until what could I do but start using them or be buried in them.”

Elena dared link her fingers to his for a second, felt her heart squeeze when he curled his own around hers. “We lucked out with the people who love us, didn’t we, Aodhan?”

His answer was a smile that lit up even the secret-shadowed hallways of Lumia.

Tasha, Xander, and Valerius weren’t the only ones waiting for them in the courtyard. Titus’s escort, Mau’lea, was also there, as was Neha’s general, Hiran.

It appeared everyone was ready for a field trip.

Seeing her and Aodhan, Tasha said, “Magnus has already left. He’ll go overland, meet us in the town.”

Magnus, she remembered, was the vampire Astaad had brought as his escort. The other man had arrived on a glossy black stallion he left to run wild, calling it back with a whistle when he needed a ride. Elena had no idea how they’d got the horse to Morocco—maybe the gorgeous creature was used to planes. “Cristiano?” she asked Tasha.

“He’s going to stay with Hannah—she’s still drinking up the Gallery.”

Seconds later, they all spread their wings in preparation to rise, and then the sky was filled with wings as they took off one by one, careful to give one another space to get lift without the risk of tangling wings.

Elena waited right to the end, until only Aodhan was left. It would make it more difficult for the others in the sky to judge how much effort it took her to achieve a vertical takeoff. As for the Luminata, hopefully, since she stood in the center of the courtyard, they were far enough away not to catch any betraying nuances.

“Ellie, I can give you a boost.”

She shook her head. “No, I’ve decided I want the Luminata to know I won’t be easy prey.” There was a time to play games of stealth, and there was a time to showcase your weapons so your enemies would think thrice over before considering any hostile action.

That the Luminata had done nothing threatening to this point didn’t change the fact that her skin crawled with an awareness of danger every instant she was in this place. Keeping her face expressionless despite her emotions, she spread her wings, gathered her strength, and launched. The familiar strain pulled across her shoulders, made itself felt in her chest, sent sparks of sensation shooting down her back.

But then she was airborne and able to glide on an air current while Aodhan came up to join her. “Go high, Aodhan,” she said to him, her fitted black T-shirt sleek against the wind. “You’ll be better able to keep an eye on things.”

“I can’t protect you if I’m too high.”

“I can hold off anyone in this crew until you’re here to back me up,” she pointed out, patting the crossbow she’d strapped on over her jeans. “I’d rather have eyes above so you can monitor any strange movements.”

So brilliant in the sunshine that it was hard to look at him, Aodhan nodded and then he was winging his way to the clouds, where he turned into a distant shatter of light, an independent piece of the sun.

The others had all scattered across a wide area, each one flying independently while staying with the wider group. When Neha’s general fell back until he was next to Elena, she had to stop herself from checking that her gun remained within easy reach.