Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Raphael now had two competing narratives on the situation, with his instincts telling him Atu had steered him wrong. Whatever the truth, he’d find it—a stronghold had many eyes; it was just a case of asking the right person the right questions. “Gather the angels and vampires with whom you say you’ve been working,” he ordered Minjarra. “We meet tomorrow night at your residence.”
“Sire.” The vampire bent in a deep bow before retreating from the roof.
Frowning, Raphael was about to move on to another matter when it struck him that he was leaving a valuable resource on the table. He took out his phone and initiated a visual call.
The woman who answered had a lovely oval face with skin of rich brown framed with hair of soft black. She’d lost weight in her grief, her eyes dark pools of sorrow. “Archangel Raphael.” Mele’s voice was quiet but welcoming. “Is all well?”
22
“Yes, Mele,” he said to this woman who had been a huge part of Astaad’s life. “How are your sisters of the heart?” he asked, using the term Elena had told him Mele used for her fellow members of the harem.
His tough, independent, and possessive lover had refused to surrender her unexpected friendship with Astaad’s favorite concubine, even after the entire harem left Astaad’s home for a small island Qin had signed over to them.
No one could say that Qin had been unkind to the harem; fact was, he couldn’t have them inside his territory. Any member of the Cadre would’ve done the same, for they were a physical reminder of another archangel, and past loyalties.
“My sisters yet mourn,” Mele said, her voice soft. “We watch the horizon for our archangel each day as we wake, and each night before we sleep. He was the center around which we spun, the love which warmed us.” A sad smile. “What do you need of me, Archangel Raphael? I will do all I can.”
“I want only information.” Then he asked her about Minjarra.
“He speaks the truth,” she said at once, her eyes flaring. “I broke the rules that say the intimates of a past archangel shouldn’t interfere in the affairs of the new archangel, but I was so worried for my animals.”
“I’m not here to castigate you,” Raphael reassured her. “The time after the war was chaotic. It would’ve been easy for things to be overlooked.”
“Yes, I worried no one would remember my beasts, and I couldn’t bring them here, for the journey would be arduous, and they wouldn’t thrive in this climate. So I asked Minjarra—a good neighbor and a loyal part of my archangel’s wider court—to care for them for the short term.
“I believed new keepers would be assigned once matters settled down, as did he. They never were, so Minjarra has kept up with the task all this time though it was dangerous for him. Please, do not punish him. The fault is mine.”
The only one at fault, Raphael thought, was Qin. But he couldn’t say that to Mele—for Qin had still been an archangel. “Minjarra isn’t in trouble.” Mele’s testimony confirmed what he’d already believed, which meant he could now put Minjarra where Qin should’ve put him: in a position of trust where he had the public backing of an archangel. “I do, however, need further details on the current situation in this territory. What can you tell me?”
Mele hesitated.
“I know you, Mele,” he said, his voice gentle because this wasn’t his hunter, who could stand toe to toe with him.
Mele’s strength was a quieter thing, but her gifts were no less valuable for that.
It was Elena who’d pointed that out. “You all ignore her like she’s beautiful but dumb arm candy.” A knife playing over and in between her nimble fingers. “You never look, never see that she watches and listens and learns. Mele’s never going to be flashy or in your face—but neither is Aodhan. And he’s one of your most valuable assets. She’s the same for Astaad.”
The comparison with Aodhan had been startling—and accurate. It had also made him pay careful attention to this member of Astaad’s harem, and what he’d learned had only added to his confusion about why Astaad didn’t simply call Mele his consort. It was clear the archangel relied on her for advice, that he discussed matters with her—and that he loved her.
“You would watch over this land for Astaad,” he added. “You wouldn’t be able to help it.”
A sigh, a swallow, before she gave him a concise breakdown.
Toward the end, she said, “I am not a consort, do not have the right to speak so, but Archangel Qin didn’t care for his people. My archangel cared. Archangel Qin did only his duty, no more.”
It was the harshest statement he’d ever heard out of Mele’s mouth.
She continued before he could reply. “But let us end on a happier note. How is Ellie? I have been a bad friend in not accepting her offer to host me and my sisters in New York, but that she cares to love us even in our unending grief . . . she is a friend I treasure.”