Archangel's Heart (Guild Hunter 9)

“I can understand that.” Favashi’s words were quiet, heavy with emotion. “Had I a consort, I would not leave him in unknown lands with an unknown sect, either.”

The other archangel gave an excellent impression of still mourning Rohan, but Raphael remained chary about the truth of her emotions. Favashi appeared one of the gentlest members of the Cadre, but she hadn’t survived this long by being anything but a clear-eyed operator.

“I suggest a compromise.” Astaad’s tone was of a peacemaker. “It is already deep into the afternoon. We leave tomorrow midday for China, while consorts and other escorts leave for our home territories at dawn, giving us time to fly with them a good distance before we return to Lumia for the trip to China.”

It appeared the most feasible solution. Raphael could get Elena to the plane in that time and Elijah could fly Hannah out of Morocco, Elijah’s consort old enough to make the trip home on the wing. Though she’d have no escort, since Cristiano was a vampire. Eli, if you prefer Hannah not return home alone, she’s welcome to join Elena on the jet.

Thank you, my friend, but there is a plane waiting for her, too—Cristiano flew in on it, while we came on the wing. If she is to return without me, I will ask that she go with Cris to save my heart the worry. A small smile. Hannah prefers the open sky whenever possible.

Raphael knew that in two or three hundred years, he’d be making the same response when it came to Elena; his hunter loved to fly, was held back only by her limited endurance and strength. “I have no argument with Astaad’s suggestion,” he said when it was his turn to speak to the Cadre on the proposal.

No one else demurred, either.

“I’m sorry, hbeebti,” Raphael said to Elena after the Cadre rose into the air and he swept out to fly wingtip to wingtip with her. “It appears you will not have as long in Lumia as we’d hoped.” He told her of the Cadre’s decision.

Her face fell, the two of them close enough that he could see every nuance of her features. “Damn. But I get it—a possible surge of bloodlust-ridden vamps trumps my curiosity about my family history any day.” She tucked back a strand of near-white that had escaped the twist in which she wore her hair. “Shall we wait for Aodhan?”

Raphael considered it, nodded. “Yes. I don’t want you alone in case one of the Cadre calls another meeting after we reach Lumia.”

Landing in among the wildflowers after riding down on a gentle wind, Elena folded back her wings as he did the same with his own. “I discovered something disturbing today.”

He listened as she told him of the lack of angels in the nearest township, of the fear and hatred she’d glimpsed in the eyes of the populace—and of the fact that Majda had indeed come from the town.

Intrigued by the latter but deeply troubled by her report on the townspeople, Raphael said, “Did you see many vampires?” As hunter-born, she could scent them even if they didn’t reveal their fangs.

Elena blinked. “No,” she said after a while. “In fact, the entire time I was there, I didn’t scent a single vampire.”

She stared at him. “Raphael, that’s more than odd. In a township that size, there should’ve been at least a few in the marketplace.”

Folding her arms, she scowled down at the inoffensive wildflowers around them, the colors soft pink, lacy white, and a bright, spiky yellow. “Mortal-only towns are pretty much a myth except when people put up their own gated compounds—and even those only last a generation at best. Someone in the family always ends up wanting to reach for the almost-immortality of vampirism.”

“An irrefutable fact proven through eternity.” Which meant there was a reason both angels and vampires were giving the township a wide berth. “Let me see if Aodhan has heard anything.” He reached out easily to the member of his Seven who was still heading away from Lumia.

Aodhan’s answer had him raising an eyebrow. “He knows nothing of why there are no vampires in the town, but according to what he learned from Remus, it’s possible angels don’t settle there out of respect for the Luminata.”

Elena’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I guess I can understand that given the reputation these guys have in angelic circles. But doesn’t it strike you as giving them their own little fiefdom?”

Yes it did. “I think I need to visit the town myself.” He wanted to see firsthand exactly what the Luminata had been doing cut free from all Cadre oversight. “It must be today. We won’t get a second chance until after the threat of war no longer looms on the horizon.”

Wincing, Elena reached back with one hand to squeeze the opposite shoulder. “I’m not sure I can go back with you right away. I’ve already spent significant time in the air today and I did two vertical takeoffs.”

Not that long ago, his consort wouldn’t have admitted the stress on her wings, considering it a weakness. And not that long ago, he’d have challenged her decision instead of asking what he did next. “The takeoffs were necessary?”

“Yes.” A grim reply. “I want the Luminata and everyone else to think twice before believing they can trap me.”

Now that they’d been in Lumia long enough to have picked up the disturbing undercurrents, Raphael saw nothing but ruthless practicality in her decision. “How bad is the strain?” He reached out not to the injured section but a little bit to the left, massaging the area gently with his fingers.