Illium had to admit he’d have done exactly the same in her position.
“On her way home, Vetra stopped at the hamlet beyond the stronghold.”
Aodhan glanced at Illium. “A small group of citizens, about fifty or so, who survived the fog. They’re based a ten-minute flight from here.”
Illium had heard of these pockets of life—random and scattered across China. Never more than half a mile across, mostly much smaller than that. The working theory was that Lijuan’s deadly fog had been thin in places, or had been affected by local geographical formations. No one knew for sure.
“The problem is that Vetra found no signs of life,” Suyin said. “But she found no bodies or other signs of death, either. However, she had little time to investigate before she had to turn back—we got word of a group heading this way and she’s gone to guide them safely to the stronghold.”
Suyin pushed back her hair. “Given their slow speed, she won’t make it here until late into the night—she’s volunteered to go back to the hamlet, but I want her with us when we leave this place.”
“She’s been far from home for many weeks,” Aodhan said in quiet agreement. “Even spymasters cannot always fly alone.”
“Exactly so, my second.” Pursing her lips, Suyin blew out a breath. “Vetra herself said that it’s highly possible she missed things in the settlement. She is certain that all their belongings remain in the houses—boots, clothes, food supplies, tools—which works against the theory that they slipped off into the forests and away from me out of a lingering sense of loyalty to my aunt.”
Illium thought of the events that had taken place in Titus’s lands. It was instinct to reach out to Aodhan. Could it be another infected angel? Angels weren’t meant to get sick, but the Cascade had brought with it the gift of disease. The first known case was violent.
Concern in the look Aodhan shot his way. We’ve found no signs of anything like that, but it’s an expansive territory.
That an archangel as old and as formidable as Lijuan had left behind a plethora of deadly secrets was no surprise. Elena had muttered as much to him when she hugged him good-bye prior to his flight here. “Watch your back, Bluebell—and remind Aodhan to watch his. I don’t trust our psychotic neighborhood archangel not to have left behind a vicious surprise or three.”
“Vetra,” Suyin added, “would’ve taken the empty homes to be a result of human raiders who’ve escaped our net, or those few starving bloodborn vampires who remain in the wild, but she saw no obvious signs of violence or a hasty departure.
“The scholars keeping a record of the population have also triple checked with the mortals and vampires settled around the stronghold. The citizens of the hamlet are not within their number.”
An eerie stillness in the air that made Illium’s skin turn to ice as Suyin said, “Fifty people—men, women, children, mortal and vampire—appear to have vanished into thin air.”
8
Suyin put her hands behind her back after that chilling statement, the hum of her power so subtle it was almost negligible. She had to be controlling it—archangelic power was never so muted.
Shaking off the shiver that wanted to crawl up his spine, Illium wondered if she was aware the problems her preference for such subtleties might cause her when the Cadre began to meet in person once more.
A sudden piercing look from Suyin. “What are you thinking, Illium? I can all but feel your concentration.”
Caught by surprise, he nonetheless held his ground. “You’re used to keeping your power contained.” It had to be a remnant of her captivity—a subconscious survival mechanism to stop Lijuan from considering her a threat. “That won’t do you any favors with the Cadre.”
A long moment of unblinking eye contact, and for the first time, he felt it. The icily practical power of an archangel. It raised the tiny hairs on the back of his neck, but he didn’t flinch. He’d been sired by an archangel, had grown up under the wing of another, had served Raphael for centuries. He understood that—no matter their outer skin—they were apex predators who didn’t trust or value weakness.
Then she gave him a small smile and the threat passed like a summer rainstorm. “It seems the two of you are in agreement.” A nod toward Aodhan. “But I will tell you this: thousands of years cannot simply be wiped away or forgotten. I have, however, never been called less than intelligent. I will take your advice onboard and attempt to appear more scary.”
Illium blinked. “Have you been talking to Elena?” Because that had definitely not been Suyin’s type of thing to say.
Laughter now, delicate and lovely. He could see why Aodhan liked being around her. She was like him. Gentle, artistic, kind.
“No,” Suyin said at last. “Naasir.”
That was when Illium remembered that it had been Naasir and Andromeda who’d rescued Suyin from Lijuan. “He told you to be more scary?”
Suyin pretended to form claws. “Show your claws, show your teeth,” she said in an approximation of Naasir’s blunt tone with people he knew and liked. “Or the bigger predators will eat you and spit out your bones.”
Ducking his head, Aodhan coughed into his hand. “Good advice.”
“Yes, yes.” Suyin folded her arms. “You have all made your point.” But then she smiled. “Do you think I have any chance of stealing Naasir and Andromeda for my court?”
“No,” Illium and Aodhan answered at once.
What they didn’t add was that so long as Dmitri stood as Raphael’s second, Naasir would never go far. He was fiercely bonded to Dmitri—and now, to Dmitri’s wife, Honor.
“That’s what I thought. But to have two such trusted people . . .” Suyin exhaled. “I hope Raphael understands how lucky he is.”
Andromeda didn’t technically belong to Raphael’s court, but that didn’t matter here.
“It took him hundreds of years to put together his Seven,” Aodhan pointed out, careful to do so in a way that wasn’t about judgment but about offering his archangel clarity. “We were not Seven until roughly just over two centuries ago, when Venom joined our ranks. At the very start of his reign, the sire had only Dmitri by his side.”
“You are wise yet again, my second,” Suyin murmured. “I will think of this and I will practice patience.” Wings held with warrior control she’d perfected since healing from her wounds, she said, “I want you and Illium to examine the hamlet.
“But first, we will wait for Vetra’s return so she can more fully brief you—before she departed the area, she did a careful sweep over the forests to ensure the people of the hamlet were not hurt or lost in there. The trees stood silent, no voices to break its quiet.”