Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Elena had a feeling Sam might be right.
After pulling her hair back into a tail, she flew off the Tower to sweep over the city. It had morphed into a lush green place with towers that rose up into the sky, their walls covered with plants, the balconies overflowing with blooms in the spring and summer. Winter meant a snowy white landscape, the rivers covered with floes of ice in the extreme, extreme cold that had begun to hit a couple of centuries ago.
The floating habitats, however—one of which she flew past just then—could continue to have greenery in the winter months, thanks to the shields that protected them. However, one thing they’d discovered when the habitats first went up was that New Yorkers didn’t like living in a seasonless location.
So the shields had been modified to only come up around the edges in order to keep the habitats livable for non-angels, with the top left open to the elements. It also meant the winged could fly in and out at will, instead of having to wear small devices that would open up “doors” in the shields.
The tech had been further improved when the weight of snow had to be taken into account—and there was to be no shoveling any extra onto the city unless it was an emergency, and even then, it was strictly regulated.
Vivek always spent time in a habitat when he visited. Elena’s fellow hunter and Illium’s spymaster remained fascinated by the technology that had first come to life in Raphael’s territory—and where the newest innovations in the field continued to be made.
“Ellie! Ellie!”
76
Have we become?
No, we are still becoming.
Perhaps this is existence? A becoming through eternity?
We…like this. We…like becoming.
—The Legion
Elena laughed at the tiny forms of children waving at her from one of the habitat schools. She couldn’t hear them, but knew the shape of her name on their lips. Since she had the time, she dipped into the habitat and over to land on the field on which they’d been playing before they’d spotted her.
The babies swarmed her, all of them eager to tell her their news and to pat her wings with soft, gentle hands.
Crouching down, she hugged and kissed them in turn, listened to a hundred breathless stories one on top of the other, and solemnly promised to attend their upcoming talent show. Viale, she said to the sweet young maiden born in Amanat who had long ago become her aide, will you please insert this into my schedule? She sent through the date and time.
Shall I make it a priority, Ellie?
Yes. Now, nothing but a critical emergency would override her promise.
“Come along, children,” a voice called out. “It’s time for your art lesson!” A clap of hands as the principal walked closer.
The children waved bye to Elena, but lingered till the last minute before running inside. Their principal, his skin a dark gold wrinkled with time and experience, smiled at her with the ease of family. “Ellie,” he said, drawing her into a hug. “You spoil them, you know. They tell their families that they’re friends with the consort.”
Elena laughed. “As they should. I’ll be there for your talent show, so make room for a pair of wings.”
His eyes sparkled when he smiled, as they had from the time he’d been a small babe Elena had held in her arms. “We always do—the Legion still drop by now and then. They seem fascinated by children.”
Elena had always thought it was because children were always growing, always becoming, and the Legion had been in the process of change since the day they first came back home. “Well then, maybe it’ll be more than one pair of wings.”
After saying goodbye to the man who’d once been a sweet little boy she’d helped up when he fell during rambunctious play, she said her goodbyes and rose up into the air of her city.
Her New York.
Changed but forever a place of color and energy—and vendors with sharp business skills. Like the coffee cart positioned in a prime spot for catching flyers crisscrossing the city.
He held up an empty cup in her direction in a silent question, but she shook her head and flew on to their home across the river. That home had matured over time, until it was no longer the new build it had once been, but an aged and elegant structure swathed with plants but for the windows and the breathtaking skylight that remained as astonishing today as the day Aodhan had designed it for them.
He still inspected it himself every decade, and made the necessary repairs by hand.
“You’re a consort!” Illium had been known to call out. “Act with decorum!”
That always sent up a shout of laughter from them all—because a less decorous archangel no one could imagine, Illium forever their wild and playful Bluebell even as he settled into his power and his responsibilities.