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 was lying.
* * *
* * *
Elena turned just in time to see Caliane land, greet Raphael. The Archangel of Amanat wore her midnight hair down, the strands studded with diamonds and her face dusted with cosmetics that made her skin shimmer. Her gown echoed the styles favored by ancient Grecians, the simplicity of it elevated by the exquisite fabric and the diamonds at her shoulders.
As a whole, the effect was striking.
Elena couldn’t spot any reason for concern from a distance, or when Caliane came over to talk to her, but she also knew that her mother-in-law had been a political creature for eons before Elena was even a speck in existence.
Wearing a mask was no difficult task for her.
Later, after Raphael had fallen into conversation with Elijah, and Caliane was catching up with Lady Sharine—who wore a long, fitted gown in a champagne hue that picked up the color of her eyes and was stunning against the sunlight-dusted indigo of her wings—Elena looked around for Illium. She was certain she’d caught a glimpse of his distinctive wings on the edge of the roof, so she headed that way through the glitter and glamour of the crowd.
Everyone had come best-dressed for this once-in-a-lifetime ball—that included Elena and Raphael. Montgomery had made sure of it. She’d never had a gown as full of sparkle, the midnight blue of it like starlight on earth. Long-sleeved with a high neckline, it hugged every curve all the way to the ankle.
The drama was in the back—a backline saved from scandalous by a mere inch; her back was covered only by a fine glittering mesh that echoed old-fashioned armor. It was designed to fit perfectly around her wings, and to display the slender ceremonial blade she wore down her spine.
Which was why she’d allowed one of Tiamat’s handmaidens to put her hair up into a sleek roll at the back of her head. Not her usual style, but both the mesh “armor” and the ceremonial sword deserved to hold center stage. Made by Zoe, the blade bore an intricate filigree of design that incorporated Raphael’s emblem—in which Elena was very much present. But Zoe, child of a Guild director, had gone further and added in Elena’s Guild ID.
Elena loved it.
Raphael was in formal but flexible sleeveless black armor. The pants were sleek and simple, but the top boasted a single stripe of midnight blue starlight down the right side.
His heavy gauntlets bore a design that echoed the mesh on her back.
Montgomery knew exactly what he was doing.
Figuring Illium might have flown down to join those in the desert garden, she was about to step over and fly down when she caught a glimpse of wild blue in an unlit part of the garden. Tiamat had told Elena the lack of lighting and ball decorations in that area was to provide a quiet buffer zone for the animals who often roamed around the stronghold. Smiling, she went to reach for his mind…and caught a hint of wings of deep green streaked with Illium-blue in his vicinity.
Fuck!
Glancing back, she saw that Raphael was still in conversation with Eli. Good. She stepped over the edge of the roof to float her way down, wings open. The minute she brought Raphael into this, it’d escalate. Aegaeon had never, and would never, forgive Raphael for being the man his own son had chosen to serve even after Aegaeon rose from his Sleep.
Ellie? What are you doing? Aodhan’s voice in her head, the sound of it deeply familiar though they now lived on different continents.
Making sure no one starts a war tonight. Your task is to distract Raphael if he decides to head this way.
A dangerous pause. Where’s Illium? And Aegaeon?
We’re both consorts, Aodhan, but I’m a woman. And Aegaeon is a chauvinist pig. Let me use that to defuse this. Aegaeon tended to treat her with condescending charm, as if she were an adorable bunny—or a maiden with nothing but fluff in her skull. She was surprised he hadn’t patted her on the head by now.
The only reason Elena hadn’t stabbed him in the eye at this point was because then Aegaeon would’ve declared war—and the asshole wasn’t worth a single drop of her archangel’s time or blood.
They haven’t been speaking long, Aodhan said at last, and she heard the rigidity of his control. Illium was on the roof only minutes past. Go.
17
Even her madness is a thing of impossible beauty.
—Raphael to Elena (Before the Rising of Caliane, Archangel of Amanat)
Walking through the large rocks that were part of the garden’s starkly lovely landscape, Elena soon began to hear two male voices that weren’t raised but rather pitched hard and low. A private conversation that vibrated with anger.
“—gave up that right! So stop with the posturing! Stop with introducing me as your fucking son!”