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)
“I’ve seen it before.” Nisia’s wings rustled as she resettled them. “Some vampires, despite all they’ve done to prepare themselves, never get over the loss of their mortal loved ones. A percentage go into seclusion as soon as they’re out of Contract, while the rest find a way to do what Harrison wants to do.
“Some losses are too much.” Nisia exhaled slowly. “Which is why even healers will permit the ending of a near-immortal or immortal life if the patient asks for it with a clear mind.”
Elena jerked her attention back to the other woman. “Even if he’s healthy and could live for millennia?”
“He’s in pain, Ellie.” A soft rebuke. “The kind of pain that never ends. To him, death could be the greatest mercy. As it is mercy for mortals who fall victim to accidents or illnesses where their lives become constant agony. They have the right to petition for a final ending. So do vampires.”
Elena saw what Nisia was telling her, but—“Please try to get through to him. My sister…she loved him so much. She wouldn’t want him to end himself if there was any other option.”
“He’s my patient—I’ll do my very best for him.” The healer slipped her hands into the pockets of her ankle-length day gown; the style had been her preferred infirmary wear as long as Elena had known her. This one was a sedate navy cut in flattering lines but otherwise unadorned.
The set of three small hair ornaments that fluttered near her left ear had been a gift from Naasir’s triplets, and they were the only embellishments she wore fairly regularly. A constellation of moving stars, a tiger that unfolded from crouch to jump, and an intricate puzzle that solved and unsolved itself, all in Nisia’s favored silver. Together symbolizing the rowdy little boys who Nisia had patched up many a time over their childhood.
“Any decision Harrison makes,” she said now, “he will do so with a sound mind, not mired so deep in the fog of the heavy shadow mortals call depression that his thinking is altered. If, after that, he is still firm on his choice, I will ensure a painless final rest for him.”
Nisia met her eyes. “What if Raphael had died and you had no child to hold you to this world? Would you wish to stay for an endless eon when your heart would break anew with each dawn?”
There was nothing Elena could say to that.
13
I had a lover once who actually made me feel human…
I had him killed—an archangel can never be human…
You must kill her.
—From She who is to be Forgotten, to Raphael (Once, long before the War of the Death Cascade)
The next two weeks passed by with Elena consuming copious amounts of food and still losing weight until Nisia started her on a regimen of special nutrient-dense smoothies to up her intake of calories.
“Super-parasite,” the healer said after ordering Elena to drink a smoothie between each meal. “Needs a lot of energy.”
The baby’s energy needs reassured Elena that the pregnancy was going as expected…which was why her heart kicked hard when Nisia asked her and Raphael to come up to the infirmary for a private meeting.
“What’s the matter, Nisia?” Raphael said the instant they entered the healer’s office, while Elena’s pulse thudded against her skin, her breath shallow. “Are Elena and our child all right?”
Nisia rose from behind her desk. “Sire, if you could close the door.”
After Raphael did so, she took them across to a large screen on the wall of her office, on which she brought up the latest scan of their developing babe. “First of all, the child is healthy and the pregnancy is progressing as expected.”
“Then why are we here?” Raphael’s wings were edged with a fine glow, his hand gripping Elena’s.
“Given that this child is the progeny of an archangel and an angel-Made, both of whom survived a Cascade and were altered by it, I’ve been keeping an extra-close eye on their development.”
Elena’s throat was dry. “Please, just say it Nisia.”
“The last two blood tests confirm the presence of mortal cells in the fetus.”
Elena stared at the other angel, her brain struggling to process the information. “That’s impossible,” she said while Raphael said, “How?” at the same time.
Nisia rubbed her forehead. “I tested Elena’s blood, too—I always do, to ensure she’s not having any complications. I never thought to check for mortal cells until the fetal results.” She met Elena’s eyes. “You have mortal cells floating around in your bloodstream.”
Elena looked at Raphael, back at Nisia. “I don’t know what this means.” She spread her hand protectively over her belly. “Will our child…” She couldn’t say it, her mind coming up against a hard mental block.
Raphael completed her question. “Will our child be mortal, Nisia?”
“I don’t know,” Nisia murmured with infinite gentleness. “I’ll confer with Keir, but I’ll be honest with you and say that at this stage, given the rapid multiplication of the mortal cells…it’s possible. The difference between the first blood test and the second is marked.”