Chapter 66
Aodhan, are you seeing this?
—Vivek Kapur, Spymaster to Archangel Illium (Behind Enemy Lines)
Raphael paced the Tower roof, his energy barely contained in his skin. He hated that he couldn’t just go to Illium’s aid ahead of time. It had been three days since they’d all believed Aegaeon was about to strike—everything had seemed to indicate a critical escalation of hostilities.
Midnight and dawn on the horizon, Elena coming in to land after her flight with Sameon to blow off steam. Sam, meanwhile, veered away to the left, and even from here, Raphael could see that the senior wing commander’s expression was grim.
He loved Illium; they all did.
“Any news?” Elena strode across the roof, folding back her wings as she did so.
“Not since yesterday afternoon, when Aodhan reported that heavy massing of troops on Aegaeon’s side of the border. Illium was forced to increase his own presence there—it would’ve been stupid not to.”
Elena paced with him, their wings brushing with the easy intimacy of two people who had loved each other for centuries.
“What’s that asshole waiting for?” she muttered.
“I don’t want Illium to be forced into a war, but if Aegaeon’s going to strike, why doesn’t he just damn well strike so we can all head that way and end him? ”
Raphael shoved a hand through his hair. “Even Jason’s hit a wall, and he has multiple people embedded in Aegaeon’s court. The only thing he was able to ascertain for sure is that Aegaeon’s been holed up in his quarters as of three days ago—no one knows why or what it means.”
“Maybe he’s gone into Sleep and saved us the aggravation of seeing his face ever again.” Elena danced a knife through her fingers.
Plucking the weapon away from her at just the right moment, Raphael lifted it up and dropped it back down blade first…and she continued her playing of the lethal item through her fingers without missing a beat.
But even that little game didn’t keep them distracted for long.
Sliding the knife back into its forearm sheath, Elena reached back to tighten her ponytail. “Want to spar?”
“Yes, why not.” His consort couldn’t keep up with him at full speed, but she was sneaky and clever and the bouts were always fun.
“Why don’t we do it at the Enclave?” she suggested. “Probably not good for our people to see us working off our stress that way.”
Nodding, Raphael was about to tell Dmitri where they’d be when his second walked out onto the roof. “Just had a call from Aodhan.”
Raphael’s power surged, his wings aglow. “It’s begun?”
But Dmitri, his expression difficult to read, shook his head. “Aegaeon’s troops are withdrawing.”
“Huh.” Elena put her hands on her hips. “Was that on anyone’s bingo card?”
“Hell fucking no.” Dmitri folded his arms, his biceps defined beneath the short sleeves of his fitted top of fine armor. “I don’t like it. What’s his game?”
Raphael was as suspicious. “I wouldn’t put it past him to pull a double bluff.”
“Illium’s thinking along those same lines—they have watches everywhere.” Dmitri slid his hands into his pockets. “We have to wait and see. Fuck.”
* * *
The next startling report came from Jason himself. “Lady Caliane was spotted in the region the day Aegaeon went into seclusion. Rumor is they met over the ocean, but I haven’t been able to pin down any actual source, so it could be nothing.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
But when Raphael did, she gave him a sad smile. “Yes, I was there, but on what we spoke, I will say nothing except that I reminded Aegaeon that one does not recover from hurting their child.”
Her hand rising, as if she would brush his cheek. “The guilt and sorrow and grief of it become part of your being, with you every moment of every day.”
Raphael frowned. “That’s not enough, Mother. Alexander tried to talk to him on the same theme and got nowhere.” As a father who’d lost a son—albeit at enemy hands—the Archangel of Persia had spoken from a place of dark experience when it came to the pain involved in such a loss.
“I’ve said all I will say on this, Raphael.” Her tone was final. “What was spoken will remain forever between Aegaeon and me.”
He took in her expression, the lines of grief and pain that overlaid a core of steel, and he knew she wouldn’t budge. Whatever this was, it was about more than politics. “Will he regress, do you think?”
A pause, her gaze turning distant. “I can’t say, but…I hope he will not. Sometimes, memory is a cage, and sometimes, memory is a revelation.”
With that, Raphael had to be content.
“I forget at times,” he told Elena when next they met, “that my mother knew Aegaeon when he was a youth.” A light breeze blew across their bodies as they stood on the railingless balcony outside his Tower office.
“I don’t blame you—she doesn’t interact with him the way she does with Alexander.
” His consort stretched her shoulders, while both of them kept an ear open for Phoenix, who was playing a pouncing game with Tigress in his special corner of Raphael’s office, with Bengal his ever-present friend and guard.
Raphael and Elena both worried for their son’s heart when it was time for Bengal to lie down for his final rest—Tigress would make the transition easier, but the loss would still shatter him.
“No,” he said. “I don’t think Mother and Aegaeon were ever friends. I’m fairly certain she and Alexander are a little older—old enough that they wouldn’t have been children with Aegaeon. Still, she knows things about him that none of us ever will.”
“She’s also honorable enough to keep whatever it is that she used to get through his thick head to herself.” Elena smiled at the sound of Bengal’s warning growl. “Here he comes.”
Had they not been on the balcony, the feline would’ve physically blocked Nix from walking out. He no longer had to do that much—their boy was old enough now that he understood he wasn’t to go on the railingless balconies alone until his flight wings came in.
Because Phoenix Zakriel, this most fragile piece of their hearts, could still die. He wasn’t strong enough to survive a fall from this height—but he was also a winged being who ached for flight. To satisfy that hunger, Raphael and Elena took him flying with them each and every day.
Then there were the special permissions they’d given to a highly limited number of Nix’s favorites in the Tower.
Sameon was one of those favorites; he’d strap Nix to his chest, Nix facing out, and off they’d go; Raphael could often hear the whooping from around the Tower as they dived and rose together.
As for protecting Nix from his own primal urges, they’d installed balcony shielding for the first nine years of his life, taking it down only when he was old enough to begin to understand why the rules were in place.
They’d also instructed the Legion to reiterate the need for him to stay away from dangerous edges rather than reassuring him they’d catch him if he fell—which they would, the Legion always near their son.
He was never in any danger, shield or no shield, but every indication they had told them that Phoenix was going to be a powerful youth and man. He had to learn discipline from the beginning.
Having Bengal as their early-warning system—with Tigress quickly catching on—helped tremendously.
Today, Nix stopped in the doorway. “Mama, Papa, can I come?”
My heart. Elena’s mental voice was the sound of love. “Yes,” she said aloud to their son, and when Nix ran over to her, she crouched down to hug him. “Good job following the rules.”
Their son beamed, looked up at Raphael.
He reached out to tousle his boy’s hair and say, “I can tell you’ve been doing your wing exercises.” Phoenix had had a growth spurt these past two weeks—specifically in the musculature of his wings.
“I did, Papa!” He lit up. “Can you see?”
Raphael nodded solemnly, even though his poor son’s wings were drooping with tiredness. “I’m proud of you, Phin.”
Phoenix’s face was a small sun…and Elena’s expression as she looked up at Raphael…
You’re one hell of a dad, Archangel. I knew you would be, but seeing you doing it? I might even get pregnant again.
Grinning, Raphael took their son’s hand on one side while Elena took his other, and they walked together to peer out over the edge so that Nix could look down safely. Ready to throw the keep-the-baby-away leaves to the wind?
His consort rubbed her jaw, as if considering it—and Nix jerked forward in excitement when he saw Izzy’s wing take off.
He’d have tumbled off into thin air if they hadn’t been holding on to him. As the sudden appearance of multiple Legion flyers below indicated—they’d been doing the gargoyle thing, just hanging about…but they never lost sight of Phoenix.
On second thought, Elena said dryly, let’s survive this one first.
“Oops.” Their boy righted himself, then sighed. “I wanna fly.”
Elena’s entire face softened. “I know, baby. When I first woke with wings, I wanted nothing more than to fly. It’s so hard to stay on the ground when you have wings.”
“Mama practice,” Nix said. “Nixie practice.” A pause. “Anise?”
“Yes, Anise also has to practice,” Elena confirmed.
“She’s probably doing the same wing exercises as you,” Raphael added. “Why don’t you ask her in your next call?”
Phoenix and Aanisa were firm friends and had been from the cradle. They’d laughed together as babies, and that friendship had continued unabated after both children returned to their own territories—because their parents made sure to give them opportunities to talk and meet.
“I fly see Anise!” Phoenix pronounced. “Scout Phin, Papa!”
Raphael grinned. “Yes, I think you will be a scout. You have the temperament.” Curious and brave and willing to take occasionally foolhardy risks. He met eyes of silver fire. I know exactly where he gets it from.
Elena winked. You’re welcome.
This time, Raphael threw back his head and laughed—and his son laughed with him, as around them, the entire city sparkled in the brilliant afternoon sunshine.