Archangel's Heart

by Nalini Singh

  Regardless of the crawling feeling across her skin, Elena stayed in place. She knew Aodhan would be with her in a heartbeat if she gave the slightest indication of trouble, but she wanted to get a handle on Gian. Secrets and lies aside, was he just weird because he was old? Or was he something far more dangerous?

  "You've led your brothers for a long time," she said. "Aren't you tired of it?"

  A slight cocking of his head. "You've asked about me?" His eyes filling with light, his wings flaring out before closing back in.

  "You are the Luminata. I was curious."

  "Yes, of course you would be curious. It is in your blood," Gian said almost absently.

  The words were stones thrown into a still pond.

  Elena wanted to clutch at them, claw out the answers she needed. But she couldn't show her hand. Not yet. Not when she was stumbling in the dark. "Yep. Hazard of being hunter-born, I guess."

  Gian blinked, stared at her for a second as if she wasn't who he expected, then smiled. "Yes." A glance up at the sun. "Alas, I must go. It is time for my first meditation--but I look forward to meeting again."

  Saying her good-byes, Elena walked up to Aodhan while Gian left the same way as his previous partner. "Just so you know," she said, "you're contemplating creating a new artwork."

  "You did not lie, Ellie. This place does interest me on an artistic level." Eyes of shattered light met hers. "Gian stands too close to you."

  "Do you think it's because he's been here for hundreds of years?" She nudged her head and they walked down the corridor. "His social skills might just be rusty."

  "No." Aodhan's response was firm. "He only does it with you, no one else."

  Elena thought of how Gian had stared at her so strangely there at the end. "I remind him of the woman he was involved with." She'd updated Aodhan on that piece of information after their flight the previous night. "I'd probably stare, too, if I met a man who looked like Raphael. And if the breakup was bad, if Gian's lover did betray him, it explains why he hasn't mentioned her."

  Aodhan nodded, but she saw he wasn't convinced. Neither was Elena: she was just forcing herself to look at every possible angle. She couldn't allow herself to be unduly influenced by the fact that those tiny hairs on the back of her neck? They'd quivered upright the entire time she was with Gian.

  A sudden wind whistled through the courtyard.

  Elena shivered, hearing within it a woman's desolate moan.

  *

  Raphael sat next to his mother in the internal chamber. There was nothing in this room beyond ten armchairs arranged in a circle. On his right was Titus, next to Titus sat Elijah. Alexander had taken the seat directly opposite Caliane. Next to him sat Michaela on one side, Favashi on the other. Charisemnon had the seat between Michaela and Elijah, while Neha sat next to Caliane on her other side, Astaad next to Neha.

  The Cadre of Ten was in session though there were eleven archangels in the world for the first time in known history.

  "We shouldn't be here," Charisemnon said into the quiet broken only by the rustling of Neha's silver-shot maroon sari as the Archangel of India crossed her legs.

  Neha's hair was in its usual elegant knot and she wore a teardrop-shaped bindi in jewel blue between her eyebrows.

  Raphael knew that while Neha may have stopped wearing mourning white, she would never forget--or forgive--the death of her daughter. Regardless of how much he respected her, or how much he missed the relationship they'd once had, he could never forget that simple fact.

  Vengeance defined Neha.

  And it was she who responded to Charisemnon. "So sure, Charisemnon--have you had contact with Zhou Lijuan?" Her voice was poisonous grace, but that poison wasn't malicious--Neha was the Queen of Snakes and Poisons after all. Then again, given the way she was looking at Charisemnon, maybe it was very much on purpose.

  As Elena had pointed out, Neha did not suffer cowards.

  And as far as Raphael was concerned, Charisemnon was a coward who brought shame to angelkind and who needed to be erased from existence. The Archangel of Northern Africa had gained the ability to create immortal-harming diseases in the Cascade, had used it in attacks on Titus's and Raphael's territories. In Raphael's case, it had led to the Falling, when angels fell from the sky to be shattered and broken.

  Hundreds had been horrifically injured.

  Five had died.

  Been murdered.

  Including young Stavre, a promising youth on his first placement.

  The fallen had been carried home from New York by an honor guard of angels, their funeral biers covered with flowers as they traveled the sky road they'd so loved in life. When the honor guard passed by Neha's lands on the way to the Refuge, they'd been joined by another squadron. The new squadron had carried lanterns to light the way, those lanterns refreshed all the way to the fallen's final home in the mountains where each had been born.

  The Archangel of India was a complicated woman.

  "If I had met Lijuan," Charisemnon said with a smile that dripped charm, "I would've spoken up when this ridiculous summons was first sent." He remained boneless as a cat in his seat, a handsome man with flawless skin. No sign remained of the disease that had ravaged him when his abilities turned on him; he was once again an archangel who attracted lovers in droves and who had a liking for young flesh in his bed. Too young.

  That one was always full of himself even as a boy.

  His mother's voice, that stunning symphony of sound, broke into Raphael's thoughts. Sometimes, he said, I forget that you knew everyone here as a child. What was Alexander like as a boy?

  Her eyes met his for a fleeting instant, the incandescent blue flame burning with memory. As ambitious and as honorable as he is today. She turned to face the others once more. Though now he carries a violent rage deep within. Sadness in her tone. I hope he will not allow it to poison him.

  Xander is helping. Lijuan had murdered Alexander's only son as well as Rohan's wife, but that son had left behind a son of his own. Alexander can't drown in grief when he has a boy to raise. Like Elena's adored Izak, Xander needed seasoning, needed a firm guiding hand as he grew into his wings and learned his own strength.

  Yes. Caliane's agreement was soft. But it is a harsh thing to outlive your child. Some never recover. I have seen this in my eternity of life.

  Raphael could say nothing to that; his mother had lived so many years that he might never know quite when she'd been born, when she'd taken her first steps. Across from her, Alexander raised his eyebrows very slightly and he had the feeling the two Ancients were talking to one another.

  Charisemnon, meanwhile, was still attempting to convince the rest of them to dissolve this meeting and give Lijuan more time to surface.

  Raphael decided it was time to get things back on track; he had no intention of being stuck in Lumia for weeks. Especially not when the Luminata watched Elena from the shadows, their intent unknown. "We can't cancel this meeting," he said when Charisemnon paused for breath. "Bloodlust has already hit."

  "Isolated incidents." Astaad stroked his goatee as he had a habit of doing when deep in thought. "While you all know I believe vampires must have a strict hand on them regardless of age, it is a big thing to depose an archangel. We must be certain."

  Neha inclined her head, her tone far less poisonous in response to Astaad. "I share a significant border with Lijuan. Any outbreaks of bloodlust could well spill over onto my lands and yet I would not declare her derelict in her duties or gone to Sleep without irrefutable proof."

  Neither statement surprised Raphael. Astaad was an ally, Neha an unknown at this point in time, but both were archangels who believed in tradition over change. "The incidents are no longer so isolated," he said in the pause that followed their exchange.

  18

  A piercing silence.

  "Jason got word to me before dawn this morning."

  "How?" Charisemnon sat up in his seat. "Mortal technology cannot presently penetrate Lumia and the borders of
the stronghold are heavily patrolled."

  He may as well have called Raphael a liar.

  Strangling the ice cold anger that would disrupt the meeting and give Charisemnon a victory, he shrugged and spoke to the room at large rather than deign to respond to an archangel he planned to kill as soon as it became feasible. As far as he was concerned, Charisemnon was a cockroach, a scourge on the earth.

  "Jason isn't known as the best spymaster in the world for nothing." It was a deliberate dig--Charisemnon had once tried to lure Jason away by promising him lands of his own to rule.

  The other archangel had never understood that, to Jason, such an offer wasn't freedom: it was a cage.

  "I don't care how that black-winged shadow of yours got word to you, Raphael," Titus said. "I want to know what he said."

  A number of the others nodded, though Charisemnon's face was rigid, the color of an overripe tomato and as attractive.

  "A moment." Reaching into his boot, Raphael retrieved the thinly rolled map that had been slipped under the door to his and Elena's suite during the early hours of this morning. Raphael would've questioned its veracity except that Jason had reached out with his mind to confirm his presence, before the spymaster disappeared back the way he'd come, a shadow among shadows.

  He was no longer anywhere near Lumia, having flown back in the direction of China the instant after passing on the map and the information. His parting words, however, hadn't been what Raphael expected from his long-silent spymaster. I hope you settle this fast, sire. I wish to return home to Mahiya.

  Jason's princess understood who and what he was, accepted that he needed to travel to distant lands, but she missed him desperately. So much so that when Jason was away, Elena, Honor, and those of the Seven located in New York City, as well as all the other friends she'd made, worked together to keep her company as often as possible.

  The last time Mahiya visited the Enclave, she'd told Elena and Raphael that she was training so she could accompany Jason on missions that didn't require stealth Jason alone could pull off. Your princess is thinking about joining you, he'd said to the other man. Not on this journey. Others.

  Jason's response had been so aggravated that Raphael had laughed--his spymaster had not sounded so very "real" in an eon. Yes, we are in discussions about her plans. She refuses to listen to reason so it appears I must teach her how to be a spy.

  The memory of that unexpected interaction faded as he unrolled the map, then rose and used a mere dusting of his power to meld the edges into the stone of the wall behind his armchair. It showed Lijuan's territory in detail. The fine tide of red that licked at China's northeastern border needed no explanation--the line was nearly unbroken.

  A gasp of sound, erupting from more than one throat.

  "Surely that isn't true." Michaela's tone was, for once, pure archangel, no undertone of seduction or nastiness. "Your spymaster has noted cases of bloodlust all along that region? We would've heard had it been so."

  "The outbreaks have only ratcheted up in the past forty-eight hours," Raphael told them, tapping at a red dot on the map. "A dot of this size denotes one or two fatalities." The vast majority of the dots were of that size.

  "Sporadic breaks," Elijah murmured, two deep grooves between his eyebrows. "Those happen everywhere in the world. The worrying thing is how close the outbreaks are to one another."

  Getting to her feet in a rustle of silk, Neha came over to examine the map more closely, the pleats in front of her sari opening and closing with quiet grace as she walked. "Raphael, are you certain?"

  He ignored the biting, jagged edge of her. "You know Jason, Neha."

  A sigh, a nod. "Yes, I know Jason. He wouldn't report this unless he'd confirmed it twice over."

  Alexander's silver wings caught the light as he leaned forward, his expression grim. "We have time yet, but not as long as we'd hoped."

  "I refuse to believe this until I see it with my own eyes," Charisemnon countered, jumping to his feet. "Lijuan deserves that from us. She was the oldest among us until Caliane's rise."

  "I agree," Titus said, as Astaad nodded. "It is a titanic decision and we can't rely only on the word of even the best spymaster in the world." His dark eyes met Raphael's. "You understand."

  "Yes." Not simply for reasons of honor and tradition. "If we make a mistake and place two active archangels in the same territory, we risk igniting a catastrophic war." The Cadre had to be dead certain that Lijuan had gone into Sleep.

  Favashi spoke for the first time. "The tide of blood is concerning, but it is sporadic yet. I say we come to a decision as to what would be the best course of action should Lijuan indeed be in Sleep, then make our inspection. That way, should Lijuan prove to have disappeared, the archangel or archangels in charge of her former territory can take over at once."

  Michaela tapped a finger on the arm of her chair. "Why waste time discussing a 'what if' scenario? I say we go to China now, scare the vampires into good behavior, investigate, then make our decision."

  Raphael wasn't in the habit of agreeing with Michaela, but she was right: why waste time and energy if there was no reason for it?

  "There is no decision," Favashi said, her steel showing. "We are all dancing around the very large elephant in the room." Her eyes went to Alexander. "You and I are attempting to share a territory that should belong to only one. If Lijuan is dead, I take over her lands and you keep Persia. That is the only viable option."

  Having retaken his seat after Neha took hers, Raphael waited for one of the more land-hungry of the archangels to dispute Favashi's point. But no one did. I didn't expect such quick agreement, he said mind to mind to Elijah.

  I think the possibility of war is in everyone's thoughts, and right now, Favashi and Alexander are ripe for it--you cannot put two such aggressive powers next to each other and expect peace.

  Still, Raphael responded, Charisemnon seems the kind who would encourage a war that would decimate his enemies.

  I see your point. Elijah's eyes lingered on the Archangel of Northern Africa. We must not forget, Raphael, that for all his faults, Charisemnon has ruled for two thousand some years. He may have more sense in him than we realize.

  Michaela waved a languid hand. "Your solution is simple, Favashi," she said with a smile that was a wonder of physical beauty. "However, there is a reason Lijuan is the Archangel of China--and it's not because it was the land of her birth. Her territory also includes a significant portion of what was once Uram's."

  Astaad nodded. "Michaela is right. Lijuan's is one of the physically largest territories."

  "Michaela's territory is as large now," Favashi countered. "She, too, controls a sizable percentage of what Uram once did."

  "But those lands contain areas that are largely uninhabited, and the overall population in Michaela's lands is in the same vicinity as Astaad's," Neha said with crisp pragmatism. "China, in comparison, has the largest number of vampires in the population, and Lijuan was the most powerful among us for a long time."

  That was a very, very good point.

  "Are you implying that I can't control the vampires under my command?" Favashi's whip of a question was directed not at Astaad but at Michaela.

  Titus boomed an answer, his voice echoing off the stone before he tempered it--after he had everyone's attention. "We are all archangels," he said. "But I am quite prepared to accept that some of us have more power than others--and Lijuan has proven that multiple times. You are the newest member of the Cadre, Favashi. It would be irresponsible to hand you China and Lijuan's associated lands."

  Favashi's face tensed, her bones pushing out against the cream of her skin, but it was Michaela who next spoke--and very strangely for her, she didn't ask for a piece of the pie for herself, or suggest they redraw the borders of all the Cadre territories. "Lady Caliane," she said, her tone respectful. "The easiest answer is for you to take over a larger section of Lijuan's territory, while Favashi oversees the rest."

  Favashi's angry express
ion faded into thoughtfulness. "A workable solution," she said at last. "And your lands, Lady Caliane, are currently the smallest in the Cadre. Such is not respectful to your status as an Ancient."

  The truth was that Caliane didn't want anything more. The only reason she'd taken over Japan was that she and her people needed a home.

  "I have done my ruling, child," Caliane said, and from her, the world "child" was no insult. In this circle, only Alexander was her compatriot. "Unlike some of my friends"--a glance at Alexander that held dry amusement--"I have no desire to step back into that arena. I wish to live in peace with my people. Japan is enough for me."

  "I think you do not have a choice, old friend." Alexander leaned forward again, muscled forearms braced on his thighs. "There is a reason that we two are both awake--and I think it's partly because of this. The world does not need eleven archangels. It needs ten for optimum balance."

  Caliane's wings glowed with power. So did Alexander's.

  Had any other archangel in the circle done that during a meeting, it would've been a sign of aggression. With Ancients, it had become clear that such things were often accidental. They had so much power running through their veins that it poured out of them without their conscious knowledge.

  "Alex," Caliane said softly, "do you not think we should leave the world to the young?"

  "Callie, you know we cannot. They have made a mess of it."

  Everyone else in the circle sat in stunned silence. Even Raphael was startled. As he forgot his mother's age at times, he also never thought of her as young. But once, she must've been. Once, she'd been simply Callie, not Lady Caliane.

  Now, she laughed, the sound haunting music that made several archangels close their eyes and just listen. "Such arrogance," she said to Alexander. "We made our own messes and we cleaned them up. We should leave them to clean up theirs."

  Alexander's smile was open, containing none of the distance so often in it when he spoke to younger archangels. "It is the time of the Cascade," he replied. "The normal rules do not apply."

  Sighing, Caliane gave a reluctant nod. "Perhaps you are right." Her expression was quiet for a long moment, the quiet of ages long gone. "I will assist young Favashi to maintain order--and when she is old enough, I will release the lands to her. Will this satisfy the Cadre?"