Awed and astonished, she gripped his forearm, the power that lived in his body an almost painful ache in her bones. And yet his consort had been mortal before her transformation, was yet an angel newborn. Andromeda wanted desperately to meet Elena Deveraux at that moment, to know the woman who had the strength to hold her own against an archangel.
“Because of your and Naasir’s courage and will,” Raphael said after they broke contact, “Alexander lives today. He will not forget it.”
Andromeda found her voice at last, and though it came out raspy, it did at least come out. “I’m glad an Ancient has not been lost from the world.”
Raphael nodded and turned to watch as Alexander greeted his loyal sentinels one by one, having asked all his people to stand. “My mother will be happy to have a compatriot with whom to speak.”
That was the moment Andromeda realized a staggering truth. “There are now eleven living archangels in the world, two of them Ancients.”
The Cadre had, at rare times, been less than ten, but never more. Never.
“It appears the Cascade has changed the natural equilibrium of the world more deeply than anyone comprehends.” Raphael looked up at the painted sky, but she knew he saw the battle that had broken its peace not long ago. “Ten has been enough to maintain balance throughout time. That apparently no longer holds. More Ancients may yet rise before this is over.”
Because the Cascade was just beginning.
44
Raphael escorted Naasir and Andromeda safely out of Favashi’s territory before he went to speak to the Archangel of Persia herself. Midnight had long fallen by then, and he found her standing in that starry darkness in the ruins of Rohan’s palace. Her brown eyes were brittle, her bones stark against the golden cream of her skin.
Sweeping wings the shade of aged ivory touched the broken shards all around her.
“It’s true then,” she said, looking at him when he walked toward her through the ruins peopled by no others, as if Favashi had told them to leave her alone. “Alexander has woken and you battled Lijuan to protect him.”
“Yes.” He could understand her disbelief—there was so much impossibility in those events.
One: an Ancient had been Sleeping in the heart of her territory.
Two: that Ancient was now breathing aboveground.
Three: Lijuan had sought to kill a Sleeping archangel.
“Rohan was always loyal to his father,” Favashi said to him, her voice elegant and cultured but the steel core of her exposed for once. “I knew that should Alexander ever rise, I would lose him, but until then, he was loyal to me.” Midnight winds sifted through the luxuriant dark brown of her hair, creating a tangle she didn’t bother to ease away. “I always knew I could trust him to watch my interests.”
“He safeguarded the people in this area well.”
When Favashi looked at him, he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. The Archangel of Persia might appear softly female, but she was as ruthless as any other member of the Cadre, the archetypal iron hand in a velvet glove. “He was my lover once, before my ascension.” A sudden harsh rasp to her voice. “Strong and loyal. I should’ve taken him as mine, but I wanted someone with more power.”
Someone like Dmitri, Raphael thought, aware Favashi had offered his second the position of consort. “I am sorry for that, Favashi.” Had he not seen her tears, he wouldn’t have believed her heart involved. But those tears were real, as was the twist of her face as she tried to fight them.
The other archangel drew in a shaky breath. “He used to make me laugh,” she whispered. “Even after we went our separate ways and he found a mate, he remained my friend who could make me laugh. I never realized how much I needed that until this instant.” She looked around, her eyes lost. “I should’ve made him mine,” she repeated. “Now he is no more and no one will ever again make me laugh as he did.”
A pregnant silence.
Then, hands fisted, Favashi took a deep breath, and when she turned to face Raphael again, the lost, heartbroken woman was gone. In her place stood a furious archangel with vengeance on her mind. “If Lijuan believes I will forgive her this crime, she is a fool.”
Raphael wondered if Lijuan realized her arrogance may just have cost her an archangel who might’ve otherwise remained neutral in any future battle. “Lijuan’s arrogance is dangerous, but worse are her growing powers.”
Raphael hadn’t missed the fact that the Archangel of China had gone noncorporeal as she fled. Paired with her vicious black rain, her capacity to rejuvenate herself from the lifeforce of others, as well as her ability to create infectious reborn, it made her the most dangerous being on the planet.
“She isn’t the only one whose powers are growing,” Favashi said, and suddenly, the winds were a tornado around them.
Those winds fell flat just as quickly, but the display confirmed rumors of Favashi’s Cascade-born ability.
Considering the offensive uses of such a power, Raphael said, “Alexander and you cannot exist in the same territory for long.”
There was a reason archangelic territories were separated by considerable distances. Two archangels could stay in close proximity only for a limited time. The exact period depended on the archangels involved. Sooner or later, their powers began to shove against each other, creating tension that could erupt easily into bloodshed. Even Raphael’s parents hadn’t always been able to be together, though their deep love for one another had significantly ameliorated the effect.
As if nature knew their hearts should not be forced apart.