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)
She, meanwhile, went to her potting table, and started the process of transferring a set of newly sprouted seedlings into bigger pots.
The narrow black band of her wrist comm buzzed against her skin about forty minutes into it. When she checked, the message that popped up into the air was from Ashwini: Drinks tonight? Me, you, Honor, and Nisia, over at Moonlight on Habitat Five. And possibly Greta if we agree to kidnap her. Nisia has drugs for said kidnapping.
No drugs needed, Elena replied. I’ll just tie her up and bring her along. Her friend was an immortal workaholic.
Planning your funeral now. xo
Oh ye of little faith. See you tonight.
The light caught on the small ring she wore on her pinky finger as she finished up the short conversation. It had been a gift from Nix after he’d successfully earned his own money by working as a runner for a senior wing two seasons past. And she had the thought that this was a good life—loved by her mate and her son, and surrounded by family and friends in a city she had seen rise and fall, only to rise stronger and with more heart each time.
It was a gentle, beautiful thought.
77
Phoenix Zakriel, you are now part of the Courier Corps of this court. Present yourself to the Courier Marshal seven days hence.
—Priority Notice
Elena had come to learn that time passed at the speed of light when it came to watching your child grow. She’d had one hundred years with Nix, one hundred. It was far more than any mortal mother…and yet…
She kissed her strapping son on both cheeks, then snuggled him tight to her for a hug. He groaned even though he was as tall as his father and as broad across the shoulders. “You’ll squash me, Ma!”
“It’s my right as your mother.” She finally made herself let go—but then he was the one to grab her, crush her close.
Love you, Mama. He was a new oak and fresh green leaves on an ocean wave in her mind, but with a clear hint of steel in the background. “I’ll miss getting beat up by you,” he murmured aloud before releasing her and turning to Raphael.
The clasp of warriors, followed by a fierce embrace from father to son—and vice versa. “You will do well, Phin,” Raphael said, and it was neither order nor question. Just fact. Because Phoenix Zakriel had long ago shown them who he was—and that was a being of honor and courage of whom they would ever be proud.
Oh, he hadn’t been perfect—and neither Elena nor Raphael had expected such from him. He came from two strong parents, had an equally strong personality of his own. But even at his youthful worst, he’d never been cruel or unkind, ever the heart of his tight-knit cohort, the one the others came to, to sort out disagreements.
Our baby grew up, Archangel.
And grew up well, Elena-mine. He looks like a warrior already.
Yes.
Nix’s hair was cut in short, crisp lines. He wore dark gray flight leathers that had been a gift from Caliane, while on his back rested the journeyman sword that Raphael and Elena had commissioned from Zoe—who’d also gifted Nix a set of her finest throwing blades, which he wore strapped to his forearms and thighs. From Jean-Baptiste and Majda had come his boots and socks, the latter handcrafted by his great-grandmother.
Eve had provided the slimline pack that hugged his spine between his wings, while the food within had been prepared by Sivya’s and Montgomery’s loving hands. The couple had already said their goodbyes to him earlier, their eyes shining wet.
Greta and Dmitri had made certain the comm device tucked in Nix’s pack was the highest spec available, while Galen had quizzed him on his knowledge of the sky roads until Nix could recite them in his sleep. And that was just a limited list of all those who’d had a hand in the making of him.
Tower, Enclave, and Refuge, everyone would miss their boy.
Nix, however, was ready to go, his eyes bright with excitement, and his skin an even darker gold than usual. He’d spent days in the summer sun in Titus’s territory as he underwent—and passed—the final training sessions that qualified him as a warrior with the skill to serve in a wing—though his official title would be courier for the time being.
It was considered an integral placement for strong young angels, helping to develop both their flight endurance and their ability to navigate the globe using only their own memories of crisscrossing sky roads.
It also gave them the opportunity to make connections across the world.
In Nix’s case, he was particularly excited to pass through the Refuge multiple times a year, some of which would no doubt be overnights. It’d give him the chance to drop in on Bengal’s clan. After their irrepressible Tigress had come two more beloved not-housecats from the same clan, but even now that there was no one in the clan who wanted to leave the mountains, they welcomed Nix as the boy of whom their legendary ancestor, Bengal, had told stories.