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)
Jason nodded. “Jessamy sent out an alert about the situation. And my people don’t forget their tasks, so if she hasn’t come to our attention, it’s because she’s kept her nose clean there.”
“Could she have switched to young vampires?”
Jason angled the camera so they could see Mahiya, her braided hair ashine in the sun.
“Yes,” Jason’s princess said. “When she was in India, I saw her with a vampire who was yet under Contract.”
As vampires were mortal adults when Made, their brains and psyches fully mature in comparison to immortals of the same age, such relationships crossed no ethical boundaries unless that vampire—per their Contract—happened to be under the control of the other party at the time. The latter was considered distasteful.
“We’ve had word that she was last seen in Elijah’s territory,” Illium said. “But we suspect that she moved to New York before the war.”
The tattoo on the left side of Jason’s face stood out in stark relief as he turned slightly in the air. Long strands of his unbound hair waved across his face at the same moment.
After pushing them back, the spymaster said, “I’ll send a message out to my people. If she is in the sire’s territory, she might’ve attempted to insinuate herself with one of the powerful angels in the region. Check with Vivek, too.”
The Tower’s chief intelligence officer, however, struck out on the topic of Vixen. “Must not have poked her head above the parapet,” he muttered as he continued to search his databases. “Gap could also be a result of post-war chaos. Balls did get dropped even by me.”
Leaving him with a scowl on his face, Aodhan contacted Janvier to ask if he and Ashwini could plumb the gray heart of the city for any details of their target, to the Cajun vampire’s easy agreement.
“We should check out Erotique, too,” Illium suggested, the two of them having walked out to stand on the railingless balcony outside that level of the Tower. “Vixen sounds like the kind of person who’d want to be seen at the hottest club in town.”
Aodhan shuddered. “Being closed up inside a small space filled with discordant music and erratic lights is not my idea of enjoyable.”
Illium smirked. “Come on, Sparkle. I’ll protect you from the googly eyes of the other patrons.”
Aodhan smacked him in the back using his wing.
Having not expected it—it was a thing done among children in the Refuge, not adults—Illium tumbled off the balcony with a startled shout. Aodhan’s shoulders shook as he walked over to watch the other man straighten himself out, then shoot back up to scowl at him.
“Really?” his friend said in a stern voice, hands on his hips. “Are we younglings now?”
“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first.” The only way to succeed in that particular game of one-upmanship was to take your target unawares. With Illium, that was close to impossible. “Admit it,” he said, aware of their audience of amused angels nearby.
“Grr.” Illium did an excellent impression of the Seven’s resident chimera. “I won’t forget,” he threatened. “A century or nine after today, long after your memory of this insult has faded…bam, off you go.”
26
Aodhan’s laughter filled the air. “I await your vengeance, my Blue.”
Illium’s heart burst with hope, love, happiness. To see Aodhan laughing so hard, with his head thrown back and his eyes alight, to see mischief in those eyes that had been solemn too long—for that, Illium would forgive any ignominy.
Especially now that he’d heard Aodhan’s chuckle deep in the night, against the curve of his neck. The man was lethal and Illium was so susceptible to him that it was his greatest weakness.
“As I was going to tell you before you attacked me,” he said on a huff as Aodhan’s laughter faded into a deep smile that would’ve caused heart attacks had he been on the street, “the club’s not open right now. You’re safe.”
Aodhan narrowed his eyes. “Or maybe you’re plotting something.” Then he grinned again before sweeping off the balcony, his next words in Illium’s mind. Whatever it is, bring it on. I’m ready for you.
At last, thought a long-buried part of Illium’s heart, a part that had waited with loving patience for centuries. You’ve come back to me at last. All of you. Every beautiful fragment.
Giving a battle cry of untrammeled joy, he raced after Aodhan and the two of them flew an acrobatic path to the club—and perhaps they took the long way, because this was pure delight. They rose, they fell, they cut each other off, and they took corners at dangerous speed.
Illium grinned when he caught startled faces at high windows, and flat-out laughed when Aodhan buzzed a group of shocked pedestrians—who then screamed in delight and grabbed for their cameras at having been so close to an angel no one ever saw at ground level. One of Aodhan’s feathers floated off at the same time, and a car came to a screeching halt, doors flying open as the people inside raced to grab it.