Chapter 29
Don’t kill Bluebell. He’s teaching me to do a downward spiral roll right now.
—Elena to Raphael (Once, in the skies above Lumia)
There could be no surprising Illium, not when it came to their arrival. He was an archangel, had scouts monitoring his borders. Which was why Elena and Raphael had sent him a message saying they’d decided to make a spur-of-the moment trip and would like to drop by.
They used the sky roads high above Suyin’s territory to get to Illium’s—after first alerting the Archangel of China that they’d be crossing her region and requesting permission to stop as needed.
They’d also alerted Alexander of the same, in case they needed to alter their intended flight path due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances.
Neither had questioned them, both likely assuming their need to stop was related to Elena’s lack of archangelic speed and strength.
“Come see me if you have the time,” Suyin had said with a smile. “I am always happy to welcome friends.”
Alexander had, unexpectedly enough, offered the same invitation.
In return for Suyin’s and Alexander’s grace, though they couldn’t accept the invitations, Raphael and Elena had ensured they didn’t cause disruption by landing only in uninhabited areas in Suyin’s territory. Had they ended up over Persia, they’d have chosen remote desert oases.
Yana had provided them with more than enough food to see Elena through this flight.
Their primary—and alternative—flight plans were all based on giving Aegaeon’s region a wide berth.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Illium and Aodhan were waiting for them over Illium’s half of the wide span of the Amur River, which formed a natural border between his territory and Suyin’s. The riverside landscape they’d passed in China had been a verdant green, the river a bringer of life.
No doubt it’d be the same on the other shore.
Suyin’s territory was uninhabited in the area they’d crossed, but regardless, they should’ve noted scouts.
Raphael had seen none—and saw none now. Only then did he realize the depth of the friendship and trust between Suyin and Illium.
It seemed that while Illium was the open rebel, Suyin was a quiet one, the two of them deciding not to play politics just because it was expected.
As Raphael and Elijah had long ago decided the same.
The only scouts between their territories these days were young warriors who needed scout experience—the majority of the time, those young ones ended up getting lessons from both sides of the territorial lines.
“Ellie!” The man who would ever be Elena’s Bluebell, no matter how much he grew into his power, spiraled around her in welcome, the silver-kissed blue of his wings vivid in the sunlight, before rising up to kiss her on the cheek.
Laughing, she cupped his face. “You’re supposed to welcome Raphael first, archangel to archangel. Angelic etiquette 101.”
“Hello, Rafa,” Illium said with a cheeky grin, using a name he’d only been permitted to use as a child.
Raphael threw a bolt of power at him, but it was never one meant to hit. “One of these days,” he threatened, “you’ll push me too far.”
Illium’s grin widened. “Never.”
It was true.
Never will you have to fear me as an enemy. This bond between us, it is forever. I will come to your aid should anyone dare raise their hand or sword against you.
Words the small blue-winged boy become an archangel had spoken to Raphael on the day of his ascension. A vow he’d kept, would always keep. This Raphael knew with every fiber of his being.
Even as Illium hugged a laughing Elena, a smiling Aodhan exchanged the grip of warriors with Raphael, complete with a back-slapping hug, before kissing Elena’s cheek in welcome.
He dazzled in the sunshine, this man made of crushed diamonds and crystalline beauty, his wings appearing afire in their brilliance.
Some called him a cold, distant star, but none of those people knew their Aodhan. The quiet boy who’d once been so angry at Aegaeon on his best friend’s behalf had grown into a strong, loyal man, a man with a heart as powerful as the sun.
“It’s so good to see you both,” Aodhan said as Illium came to hover beside him. “You’ll be staying?”
“Just a day or two,” Raphael said. “We have come to share news.”
Illium tilted his head a little, his hair shining in the light that refracted off Aodhan. “Has to be big if you’re delivering it in person.” Narrowed eyes. “Can’t be bad, not with those smug and happy expressions on your faces.” He stroked his chin. “Hmm.”
Almost able to see the gears turning in Illium’s brain, Raphael turned to his hunter. Do I appear smug and happy, hbeebti?
Yes, and it makes you even more gorgeous, was the delightful response before his consort decided there could be no more private and perfect moment. “Super-parasite incoming.” Because these two were well aware of Nisia’s old joke.
The next hug involved both men wrapping her up in their arms, while all their wings tangled and Raphael had to use his power to keep them aloft. Then the two tackle-hugged Raphael instead and it was all over.
Elena, with no archangelic powers to keep them aloft, watched as all three crashed into the cool green waters of the Amur…
to come up laughing, their joy so infectious that she wished she was Lady Sharine and could paint this scene.
Instead, she decided she’d keep a journal for their baby, not just of this day, but of all the ones that had come before and all that would come after, full of memories of how many people already loved them, and how joyously their arrival had been awaited.
Flying down to hover above the water when the three lingered in the lazy current, chatting, she said, “We still have to tell Lady Sharine, Titus, Zoe, and Vivek, so don’t spill!
” Though now Illium’s spymaster, Vivek had once been a loyal member of her Guard and—despite his service to Illium—remained one of her greatest friends.
Raphael pushed back his dripping wet hair. “Elena-mine, we forgot that spymasters are mobile. He’s probably not even in the territory, is he, Illium?”
“You lucked out. He and Lady Katrina are both present and accounted for as of the last three days—but you’d better tell him as soon as we arrive, because I plan to start wearing clothing bearing the legend ‘Future Uncle Illium’ as fast as I can get it printed.
” He looked at Aodhan. “You know what, why don’t you just paint the words on my current clothes? ”
“I will be too busy painting ‘Future Uncle Aodhan’ on mine,” Aodhan said with a straight face.
Later, however, after they were all dry and in the Spire, archangel and second both made it clear they’d keep the news to themselves as long as possible.
The two understood that the farther along Elena was in her pregnancy, the safer she and the child would be.
While angels didn’t tend to attack children or use them as pawns in war, there was no need to take unnecessary chances.
Especially when angelkind wasn’t the only threat. Vampires could turn vicious either from bloodlust or a hunger for power. The end result would be the annihilation of all involved—but their babe might still end up dead.
Better to remove even the glimmer of temptation.
“Zoe and Vivek next,” Elena said, her heart full at the idea of sharing this news with Sara’s daughter, and with a friend who’d known her since they were both mortals. Living pieces of another time, another life.
* * *
Zoe proved to be hanging out with Eve when Elena tracked her down. Her shout of delight jubilant, she drew both Elena and Eve into a crushing hug. “Mom would’ve been so excited!” she said, her smile dazzling. “I bet you she’s celebrating up there.”
Elena’s eyes grew hot at the idea of it, and her tears had the other two women sniffling even as they jokingly rebuked her for making them all lose it…
while never breaking contact with her. It was a moment sweet with happiness—and just then, looking into Zoe’s shining eyes, Elena could almost hear Sara’s familiar voice, as if her best friend stood with them in this circle of joy.
“I can’t wait to meet the baby,” Zoe added later, after Eve was pulled away for a few minutes. “I’m so thrilled about the news that I’m not even mad you didn’t tell me when you told Eve.”
“You’re a kid,” Elena said, hands on her hips.
“I couldn’t tell you until the pregnancy was well into what the healers consider the stable stage.
How could I risk breaking the heart of Sara’s baby girl, hmm?
” She could still see how Zoe had once been—a tiny sprite with a halo of curls who’d come running into her arms; the idea of bruising her heart was a knife to Elena’s own heart.
Grinning, Zoe shook her head. “Mom called me her baby girl right till our last day together.” She leaned her head against Elena’s shoulder. “Don’t tell anyone I said so, but I’m glad you still do.”
Eyes hot all over again, Elena cupped the back of Zoe’s head and dropped a kiss to her hair. “You’ll always be Sara’s baby girl to me, Zoe.”
And it struck her then that no matter if Zoe teased her about her protectiveness, they were both more than okay with their relationship. It was about family, about bonds that had been formed long before either one of them stepped on the road to immortality.
* * *
As for Vivek, the instant Elena told him, he promised to send through any hint of a threat against the baby should it ever come across his radar. It was, Elena knew, a potent emotional declaration from him—as was the hug in which he enfolded her.
Unlike with the others, she’d told him alone; while she had a good relationship with Katrina, Vivek’s lover was a remote being who trusted a strictly limited number of people—but she also wouldn’t be offended that Elena had told Vivek on his own.
Kat understood that Vivek’d had a life before her, as she’d had a life before him.