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 do not know,” Raphael said. “It will be tied back to the Cascade. We were both altered by it—but you took the brunt.” He stroked back her hair. “You survived a surge of immortal energies big enough to destroy entire cities, and you came back as Elena. Stubborn, determined Elena.”
She felt her lips begin to curve. “I bet you our kid is just as stubborn. You better be ready to wrangle them.”
Raphael’s own lips curved. “I have survived you, hbeebti. How bad can it be?”
Their shared laughter filled the hallway and sank into the cells of the child in Elena’s womb, cells both mortal and immortal.
14
Ah, my Tia. I need you.
—Archangel Marduk (After the Waking—As the Mantle Fell)
As it was, despite her increased caloric intake, Elena was still a few pounds lighter than she should be—and definitely didn’t look the least bit pregnant—when they entered Marduk’s territory for the ball five days later.
No one would ever guess the secret cradled in her womb. Only…
She came to a hovering halt in the sky above the arid beauty of the red landscape Marduk had claimed for his stronghold. Raphael moved past her, only to circle back when he realized she was no longer by his side. “Guild Hunter?”
“Um, do you think Marduk will do that blood-of-my-line thing with…” She indicated her stomach.
Raphael’s eyes widened before he rubbed his jaw. “He already knows you carry some of my cells in your body, and the babe isn’t large enough yet to be a presence to anyone but a healer.”
“Right, your archangelic cells should provide cover.” Because she wasn’t ready to talk about their child in a social setting. The subject wasn’t and would never be a light one for her—and it had nothing to do with the continued question of their child’s immortality or mortality.
Neither Nisia nor Keir had had any luck in explaining the situation. Only one thing was clear—the mortal cells continued to multiply at a rapid pace. But having accepted the possibility that their child might not be immortal, Elena and Raphael didn’t focus on it, instead enjoying seeing each new scan of their baby as it grew inside her.
The flip side to their joy was the violent shadow of her childhood.
The nightmares refused to let go.
She leveled out in flight, Raphael beside her as the two of them flew toward the low-lying stronghold that melded into the desert landscape with a grace that made it clear it had been built for this environment. Surrounded by desert plants, with no city in sight, the entire area was also a haven for wildlife.
The design was Suyin’s, the Archangel of China having gifted it to Marduk after Marduk asked her if she would consider designing his stronghold. He’d offered her priceless jewels and art in recompense, but she’d told him he’d already given her a gift in reminding her of her heart’s joy.
“I have missed creating,” she’d told Elena when they talked. “My lands have healed, my people are strong—I think I will pick up my pencil again.”
Elena had been surprised by the restrained nature of the stronghold’s design—it seemed unusual for a man who tended to stick out in every other way. She’d have figured it for Suyin’s aesthetic except that Suyin had been clear that Marduk was the one who’d requested a “home elegant and so of the landscape that it appears to grow from it.”
Only later had she understood that Marduk’s singular presence wasn’t a choice.
“In my time, Elena-hunter,” Marduk had said to her once in that voice so deep, it almost hurt the ear, “I was just one among many. This is not my time.”
Yet he’d stayed because the world needed him—though he’d been a lot happier about it since Tiamat-Neith’s tumultuous waking.
Coming to a hover above the rooftop that was their designated landing area, Raphael held out an arm. “Ready?”
She slid into place against his arm, collapsing her wings at the same time, the trust between them absolute. “Ready,” she said as he took over keeping them both aloft.
He took them down, his arm as solid as steel around her. “You are as beautiful in this golden light as you are against New York’s glittering skyline.”
Her stomach fluttered. “Stop it.” She loved it when he flirted with her, allowing the young angel he’d once been to rise to the surface. “Or don’t.”
His smile was wicked, the blue of his eyes incandescent, but there was no more time for play, because they were landing, and their hosts were striding across the large, flat surface to welcome them.
The harsh Australian sun glinted off the iridescent darkness of the scales that covered the right side of Marduk’s face before flowing down his neck and over his shoulder, down his arm. His skin had been a burnished brown when he first woke, but it seemed as if it held sunshine within now, it was so rich and intense with health.