Chapter 37 #2
“No.” Eyes wet, she shook her head. “If they’ve risen by mistake, then I don’t want to give them a reason to turn back. I’ve missed them so much. I want to see them even if only for a few minutes.”
“Such a heart you have, consort of mine.” He hugged her to his side.
“You missed them, too,” she said, poking him in the abdomen.
“Yes, one does become used to living gargoyles.” Despite his light words, Elena was right about his feelings toward the Legion.
He’d never forget their sacrifice in the war, or all that they’d done to protect the city prior to it; it had pained him that to save countless lives, he’d had to sacrifice theirs—even if the Legion had been adamant that such was their duty.
This is our purpose. We were created to be the right hand of the aeclari, to rise when darkness rises, and to fall when it is needed. We are content with our destiny. It is…honor.
Elena shifted from foot to foot as they waited, then arched her back against her hand. When he replaced it with his own, she said, “Press harder, so I can really—” A moan that went straight to parts of his body it had no business going.
“Not now, hbeebti. We are in public.”
A snort. “Did I tell you that Harrison just realized I’m pregnant?”
Raphael thought of the vampire as he’d last seen him.
Though he looked physically better thanks to the healers’ regimen, his eyes had been all but vacant.
It had been clear that the only reason he was cooperating with the healers was so no one could say that he was psychologically imbalanced and unfit to make the decision.
“Did he engage?”
“He actually sounded excited.” Elena held up crossed fingers. “It might just be a blip, but…Beth loved him so much, Raphael. I keep hoping that something we’re doing will get through to him.”
Raphael hadn’t gainsaid any of the hours she’d spent sitting with her brother-in-law, talking over their memories of the woman they’d both loved. “Perhaps a new life will give him that impetus,” he said, loath to shatter her hope—for the truth was, he’d previously known vampires like Harrison Ling.
The ones who wanted to end themselves.
Those who knew warriors willing to fulfil their final request were luckier than others, who had to find a way to complete that most gruesome of tasks themselves.
A vampire couldn’t simply hang himself. He’d just strangle over and over without dying.
Strangling had been used as a method of torture against vampires for that very reason.
No, a vampire had to find a way to cut off his own head, sever his spine.
For the young ones, removal of the heart might work, but not for the old ones.
If Nisia did pronounce that Harrison Ling was of sound mind and set in his choice, then Raphael had told Nisia he’d take care of giving the man mercy.
For Elena. And for the sister she’d so loved.
Nisia hadn’t fought to hide her relief; she’d been willing and able to do the act if it came to that, had even fought for Harrison’s right to decide, but to facilitate his choice would’ve hurt her in a way that came from who she was—a healer, a preserver of life.
Raphael, in contrast, was a warrior, understood that some deaths were necessary.
“Do you see them?” Straightening her back, Elena scanned the horizon once again.
“Not yet.”
Her gaze went to his temple. “It’s electric. As vivid as the last time.”
“I feel it.” Not the mark as such, but what it meant—the presence of his Legion, so long missing from the world. “I wonder if they’ll like their home’s evolution.”
“They will.” Elena’s reply was confident. “I mean, the Legion tree is clearly not a normal tree. I don’t know if they fed it with their blood or what, but that’s very definitely their tree.”
“Yes.” It even had a hollow within.
First discovered fifty years earlier, the hollow had made everyone worry that the tree was dying, but no, it had continued on unabated. Today, the hollow was so large that the space echoed. “It’s as if they grew themselves a living building.”
“I was hoping that meant they knew they’d one day return.” His consort’s admission was quiet. “Even if they were just being hopeful, too, it made me happy.”
They looked out again at the water…and this time glimpsed the thin edge of an immense shadow on the far horizon.
“Sam says they can see the city,” Elena said just then, her voice breathless.
Neither one of them moved from that point on, watching the Legion get closer to home.
As the vast force crossed over from the water to the city, their mass shadowing New York, people looked up from parks and rooftops, while the transports that purred along defined pathways halted, their drivers sticking their heads out through retractable roofs or windows to look upward.
“It’s a good thing Sam’s wing is in escort up front,” Raphael said. “Else we might have a panic—all the mortals and a great many of the vampires currently in the city have no knowledge of the Legion.”
The shadow split in perfect formation to go around a floating habitat, then merged again with a flawlessness that was nothing but Legion. The inhabitants of the floating areas watched open-mouthed.