Archangel's Heart (Guild Hunter 9)

“Where does he get his books?” Somehow, Elena didn’t think Laric would’ve caught on to the Internet and mail order.

“There are some Luminata who are still kind to him. Donael is one, Ibrahim another,” Aodhan added. “They make sure he has books.”

“Glad to hear they’re not all bastards.” Reaching out with her mind, she touched Raphael’s. Any news?

Not yet. We have asked Gian to gather all those who might’ve walked through the nearby areas at the time Ibrahim was attacked.

She told him about Donael getting Laric his books. Not sure what that tells us except that he’s not totally self-absorbed in his quest for luminescence.

I will keep that in mind.

Elena found a small table in front of the armchairs, and taking a seat in one since the table was too low to use standing up, she put her gun on the table, then retrieved the map and spread it out. She placed a throwing blade on each edge to keep it pinned down. “It’s beautiful.”

Shock had her staring.

She’d been expecting an old-fashioned blueprint at best, but this was a three-dimensional artwork that showed Lumia as a dollhouse peeled open, with more detailed smaller drawings around the edges for areas where the dollhouse approach didn’t permit an inside look.

Candles, books, even tiny pots and pans in the kitchens, they’d all been drawn with stunning attention to detail. And of course, there were Luminata scattered throughout, going about their daily business. “They’re not all wearing robes.”

Instead, they were dressed in various types of clothing from warrior leathers to flowing garments of color and more prosaic outfits that said “everyday wear” to Elena. The robes were present but not many of these Luminata wore them with the hood pulled up. In fact, in the scenes she could see of people passing each other in the corridors, the one with the hood was always shown as pulling it back to greet his fellow resident.

Only one thing remained the same: this was a brotherhood. No women.

Not an inexplicable choice, Elena found herself thinking—hard to keep sex out of the equation otherwise.

No, wait.

I have been alive thousands of years, have learned that love does not always wear a single face.

Keir had said that to her after she saw him flirting with a male warrior—where previously, she knew he’d had a female lover. As with mortals, immortal sexuality was a wide-ranging canvas with many variations. So having a male-only environment wouldn’t necessarily take sexual temptation off the table.

“Why just men?” she murmured.

A shrug from Aodhan. “Why did human men create gentlemen’s clubs in earlier times? And why does Caliane have a temple in which only her maidens are permitted?”

“Hmm.” She twisted her mouth to the side, thought about what he’d said. “I see what you mean. Might be nothing more complicated than the fact the angels who set up Lumia wanted it to be a male club.”

“Whatever their reasons for not admitting women, Lumia has changed in a profound way since this map was created,” Aodhan said. He’d remained standing beside her, but he’d pushed aside one of the armchairs so he could look down at the map without compromising his ability to move quickly should he need to.

His wing lay half across hers, a warm weight. “Does it have a date?”

36

Elena searched all over the map at his question, found a scratching of words in the corner. “This looks like that angelic language we saw in the Gallery.” She’d have to see if she could learn some of it at least; she hated not knowing things. Then again, every hunter had his or her specialty—ancient languages were more up Honor’s alley.

Leaning in, Aodhan looked carefully at the writing before nodding. “There is no exact date, just the millennium. It was done at least a thousand years earlier.”

“How many Luminata leaders since then? Did Laric mention it?”

“Remus did.” His tone didn’t change as he named the angel who’d sought to break him when he’d been hurt and vulnerable. “After the one Laric spoke of, there have been only two.”

“So it’s not only Gian who’s ruled for longer than the fifty-year-term Luminata are meant to serve. He’s only been leading for four hundred years.”

Aodhan nodded slowly. “Yes, you’re right. Before him, it was Hanjel who held the position. He gave up the title to Gian after deciding he wished to find luminescence walking the hidden roads of the world.”

Elena jerked up her head. “No shit,” she whispered. “I always figured that was an urban legend.” At Aodhan’s curious look, she said, “Over the years, a number of hunters have reported seeing an angel walking along isolated roads and forest trails on bare feet, his wings coated in dust—as if he’d been walking forever. The reports are rare for how long he must’ve been around, so he must stick to really remote regions.”

Shaking off her surprise, she said, “So which one of them began the change?” From Lumia with a heart to Lumia with cold, hidden secrets and violence. From a place where the brothers cheerfully showed their faces to one where shadows ruled.

“Gian,” Aodhan said definitively. “Remus was here during the second century of Gian’s rule and he said the more established Luminata spoke of the difference in management styles. Hanjel was focused only on his own inner luminescence, left Lumia to run itself as it would.”

“While Gian thinks of Lumia as his personal territory.”