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)
For the Seven were as much a brotherhood as they were warriors under the same liege.
“My aunt,” Mahiya had said when the conversation drifted to India and Archangel Neha, “wasn’t the best of foster mothers is about all I can say politely.” Her peacock’s wings still, her face holding a distant look as she rolled out a fresh roti. “But I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the colors and scents and wonders of the place that was my home for most of my lifetime.”
Today, Mahiya danced in the street below with a number of other women, mortal and vampire, all in jewel-hued skirts and tops embedded with tiny mirrors that reflected the light of the setting sun. The dancers had tied their long scarves—the colors matched to their skirts or tops—cross-body to keep them out of the way, their bangles making fine music as they raised their hands.
Four of Mahiya’s bangles—one on each end of the stacks of color that covered her wrists—had bells on the end; she was so delighted by them that she’d come over to show Illium before she left the palace. “Look what Jason got made for me!” She’d moved her hand, her skin decorated with an intricate tracery of henna, to release a delicate cascade of music. “Aren’t they so beautiful?”
Jason himself was difficult to see below, hidden as he was against the shadow thrown by an ancient building of pink stone pitted by time, but when Illium did finally spot him, he also spotted the smile on his face.
He glimpsed a far different expression on the face of the angel with wings of peacock blue and green who stood on a facing rooftop. Over three thousand years of age, Nivriti had within her the ability to hurt an archangel—but only one specific archangel. Neha, her twin. Now gone into a Sleep from which she might not return for eons, if ever.
He’d never seen Nivriti in anything but warrior leathers, but she’d softened enough for the celebration to have donned slim silk leggings of a pale purple paired with a thigh-length tunic in a more vivid shade of the same hue. Silver embroidery ran thick on the hems and along the neckline, that silver echoed in her bangles and in the thread woven through her single braid.
That Princess Mahiya Geet had inherited her wings from her mother was not a question.
Today, Nivriti watched her daughter with pride and love tempered by an old anguish…and also frustration. As used to getting her way as Neha, Nivriti was clearly still struggling with the unalterable truth that any relationship she had with Mahiya would always be on Mahiya’s terms.
Asshole parents, Illium thought, never quite got it.
Mahiya might disagree with that description of Nivriti, given that Neha had imprisoned her twin and stolen Mahiya. Illium accepted that Nivriti hadn’t abandoned Mahiya out of choice, and that her love for her daughter was true. On the flip side, all three people concerned in the love triangle that had led to Mahiya’s horrific time at Neha’s court had been selfish assholes.
Mahiya didn’t much talk about it, but Illium had heard enough through the grapevine to draw his own conclusions.
Aodhan, crouched on the rooftop beside Illium, said, “I have no idea how Mahiya’s managing to do that dance without tangling up her wings.”
“It’s like combat.” Fascinated by the same, Illium had watched the movements with intense focus. “I could do it. So could you.”
His features kissed by the red-orange glow of the sun, Aodhan shot him a dubious look. “Go on. I dare you.” A grin as roguish as Illium’s—and one that had once again become a normal part of their life after being absent so long.
“Oh, you think I won’t.” Illium’s blood heated. “Dare taken. What do I get if I succeed?”
Aodhan rubbed his jaw. “I’ll let you teach me the dance. And I’ll do it in public before we leave.”
“Done.”
With that, Illium flared out his wings and flew down to join the dancers. Waiting until one of the women broke away to sit for a while, he flowed into the rhythm. Laughter feminine and delighted rose up around him as he began to move his hands and his body with the near-liquid fluidity of the others.
It was, quite frankly, a lot harder than it looked, but he’d never been one to give up.
“Wings like a babe!” Mahiya called out from across the circle, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright under the dusting of gold on her eyelids. “Triple fold!”
A triple fold was extremely difficult for an adult angel to pull off. Illium managed it, but had to keep concentrating to hold the position for any longer than a split second. But he saw what Mahiya meant at once. He was able to move much faster with his wings in that awkward position.