Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Raphael and Elena weren’t the type to drape their home in black, but this technology required walls of a particular sleek black material that the mortal who’d invented it called obsitru. Given Raphael’s requirements as a member of the Cadre, rather than creating a box within the basement, it had been easier to create the entire basement out of that material.
The obsitru was smooth and warm under his touch when he put his palm on it and, right now, quiescent. Once active, however, it would sing with the softest hum. Nothing that irritated, more like one of the old computers that used to purr in the background, a technology as far from this as computers had been from stone tablets.
The same ambient glow he’d encountered on the steps illuminated the meeting floor. Illium could’ve put ten circles on the floor, to mark the spot for each member of the Cadre, but it would’ve been a useless affectation. Quite aside from the fact that Raphael used the room for non-Cadre meetings, too, the Cadre itself had been nine when he helped install this; a defined placement would’ve left an obvious gap each time.
The tech was also clever enough to create a meeting circle on its own.
Taking a deep breath, Illium activated the slick touch panel integrated into the main left wall. It recognized him from that minor contact, immediately flicking to his profile…which had a new security setting that could’ve been added only by Raphael in tandem with two others of the Cadre.
Archangel.
That was it, all that was needed. Prior to today, he’d had administrator access, but even with that, he couldn’t have ever spied on meetings of the Cadre. The system was built to make that an impossibility, with the entire team of builders acting as cross-checks on each other to ensure that—though the latter had never been a necessity except for the peace of mind of future archangels.
Every single person on that team was a being of integrity, and say what you would about archangels across time, the good and the bad, they were sticklers about certain things. One of which was the privacy of Cadre meetings. Not even Her Batshitness would’ve found it acceptable for anyone but an archangel to be privy to their conversations.
Now…now he was one of them.
He checked to ensure the system had changed his name over from First General Illium to Archangel Illium. He hated giving up that title, but it was no longer his, and much as he didn’t enjoy playing politics, he also wasn’t an idiot. Before he could change the Cadre, he had to learn how it functioned. Good generals always did their research.
The door opened, footsteps heading down. “Archangel Illium?”
“One minute, Montgomery.”
The butler waited with quiet patience as Illium finished the setup. Then he stayed while Illium methodically ate his way through the tray. Because Montgomery had been with Raphael since Raphael was a very new archangel. He understood that it wouldn’t do for Illium to be seen with food nearby at this first meeting. The technology wasn’t supposed to pick up random objects in the space, but they couldn’t take the risk.
“My thanks to you and Sivya,” Illium said after he’d eaten everything, and thrown back the glass of cold, clear water provided to cleanse his palate.
“Archangel, if I may…”
“Always, Montgomery.”
“If anyone was to ascend, I am very glad it was you.” The butler’s voice was thick with emotion he rarely permitted himself to show. “But we will miss you terribly. The city won’t be the same without you and Aodhan in the skies.”
Illium swallowed his own thickness of emotion. “If I have a steward half as good as you, I’ll consider myself a lucky man.” Montgomery might prefer the title of butler, but they all knew he was so much more to Raphael.
After the vampire left—with a stiff nod that said everything—Illium set his wings and body to warrior formality, then stepped onto the main floor. “Activate.”
A slight shimmer in the air at his command, and where he’d stood alone, now he stood across from Raphael. Caliane appeared within the next half heartbeat, Titus and Elijah at almost the same instant.
Alexander, Zanaya, Aegaeon, Suyin, and Marduk followed suit.
Each of them appearing as solid as if they stood in person in this circle of power, nothing akin to the flickering holograms of the first versions of the tech.
“The Cadre,” Lady Caliane said, “is in session.”
Her voice was clear, resonant, but the words might as well have been a gavel coming down, they held such portent.
Titus was the next to speak, a beaming smile creasing the mahogany skin of his face. “Welcome, Archangel Illium.”
Illium had made a short call to his mother and Titus prior to his flight here. Now he smiled at Titus’s warm greeting. It was echoed by others, several with enthusiasm, others less so—his father’s muttered welcome was more sour than a lemon on the tongue.