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)
* * *
* * *
In the days that followed, however, Illium tasted as much sorrow as excitement. Especially when it came to saying goodbye.
Vivek, with whom Illium had worked side by side constantly over the years, gave him a manifesto he’d prepared at insane speed; it was a guidebook on how Illium should set up his own surveillance and spy network. He also flat-out refused to say goodbye. “I’ll see you again,” he said in a tone of voice that Illium couldn’t quite decipher.
Nisia, the healer who’d patched him up more than once, scowled even as she hugged him tight. “At least you’re all but indestructible now.”
Janvier, Ashwini, Izak, Sam…so many of the people he loved and called friends, the latter two angels he’d watched grow from fledglings. One a senior wing commander now, the other nearing his own promotion to that role.
He’d been their teacher once, flown with them under his wing, and now they almost crushed him with the force of their hugs.
“City won’t be the same without you, mon ami,” Janvier said with the affection of long friendship, while Ashwini stared at him with eyes that saw too much and made a face.
“No,” she said firmly. “Irritating Aegaeon for funsies is not a good idea.”
Laughing, he accused her of being in Ellie’s pocket, but as she hugged him, she whispered, “I see a dazzling horizon for you, Illium, a life extraordinary. As long as you’re not stupid enough to be derailed by old anger.”
He allowed the words to settle deep within—because Ash, like Cassandra, rarely said words she didn’t mean.
Montgomery and Sivya, both trembling with the force of their emotions, gifted him a photo of the entire Tower family from a decade earlier, when they’d tumbled into a shot together after a celebration. An old-fashioned still, it captured lifetimes of friendship and happiness.
The goodbyes weren’t tough just for him—Aodhan was leaving everyone behind, too, would be missed as badly. But the other man shook his head when Illium voiced that. “I can come back, stay for long periods if I wish. You, my Blue, never can.” A cupping of Illium’s cheek. “Let them focus on you, let them cherish you. You’ve been the heart of the Seven and Raphael’s Tower for centuries upon centuries.”
There were so many more people he knew and loved in ways he hadn’t understood till this moment of parting, so many more people he had to see before he left. But the worst goodbyes came toward the end.
All of the Seven not based in the city managed to make their way to it before his departure.
Galen hugged him so tight that Illium could barely breathe.
Jason whispered intelligence about his new territory in his ear.
Naasir, feral and loyal, had eyes that shone wet as he grabbed Illium’s face and growled, “I will come into your territory whether you invite me or not.”
His own throat rough with emotion, Illium said, “Bring your cubs and Andromeda. I expect you to help establish my reputation as an archangel with wild and unsuitable friends.”
Naasir’s embrace was a huge thing full of the love he held for the child angel he’d once known, and the man who’d become his battlemate. “I will come,” he promised, the tiger’s stripes in his skin. “I will make your enemies fear your friends.”
Dmitri and Venom, based in New York, said their goodbyes in the final hour before Illium flew from this city that had pulsed in his blood since the day he’d first come to it. Venom’s grip was that of a warrior, forearm to forearm, and though his viper’s eyes looked unflinching and hard, the truth of his emotions was in the fact that, though his throat moved, he didn’t speak.
Heart raw, Illium somehow found his own voice. “Visit me,” he said to this friend, as he had to all the others. “I’ll need people I trust more than ever.”
A curt nod before Venom drew back…but then he returned to embrace Illium, his speed that of the viper in his eyes. “I’ll miss you, you blue asshole.” Words ground out in a harsh whisper.
“Will you watch over the little bakery in Harlem?”
“You know you don’t have to ask.”
Then Venom was gone, and Dmitri was there. Like Naasir and Raphael, he’d hauled a child Illium out of many a scrape, and now tapped him on the cheek with an open hand. “I always knew you’d get into trouble. I just didn’t think you’d join the Cadre to do it.” His eyes glinted. “Stay safe, Bluebell. And know that no matter how far you go or how much you grow, you’ll always be one of the Seven. We’ll never let you go.”
The words were the best gift the other man could’ve given him.
He embraced Dmitri with the love of the child he’d been, primal and free. The vampire returned his embrace with as much affection.