Illium hesitated. “We don’t know the danger—”
“Go, before I lose my temper again,” Aodhan muttered. “How do you think I’ve survived without you this past year? Go.”
Narrowing his eyes, Illium decided not to argue. Not when lines of tension marked Aodhan’s face and his skin was an unhealthily pale shade. Tucking Smoke close so she wouldn’t be buffeted by wind, he arrowed his body toward the stronghold—but couldn’t help throwing back a final caution. Don’t land. You’re harder to jump in the air.
One more word and I’ll pluck out your feathers one by one.
Even as Illium scowled, relief bled through his veins. Aodhan was sounding more and more like himself—though he was more irritable than Illium had ever before known him to be.
“He is the deep, boundless ocean to your tempestuous storm,” his mother had said to Illium once, her smile wide. “He anchors you and you take him flying.”
“Right now,” Illium complained to an alert Smoke—who didn’t seem to mind flying at all, “he’s a grump.” But he was Illium’s grump and this was far from over.
* * *
* * *
Alone in the stygian cold of the night, Aodhan began to do slow, steady sweeps over the area around the cavern while never losing sight of it. Given the darkness, it was likely he’d miss any signs of movement were his prey stealthy, but none of Raphael’s Seven ever just gave up. That wasn’t who they were—alone or as a group.
The forest and the pillars of Zhangjiajie remained motionless. Even the wind had fallen to silence.
Then it came, the first breath of air that held not only cold but an icy chill.
He glanced at the horizon, but of course there was nothing to see. When he looked straight up however, he could make out a sudden heaviness of clouds in the night sky. Snow? Possible in this time and place.
Zhangjiajie tended to have light snowfall in general, but angelic and mortal meteorologists had both warned of a high chance of a nasty winter across China due to the way Lijuan’s fog had altered the atmosphere. Not a permanent change, it was thought, more a lingering aftereffect that would fade after one bitter season.
If only Lijuan’s evil would fade as fast.
On the heels of that thought came another: would a child who’d grown up in that dank prison know how to survive in the snow? Even an angelic child was still a child, without the recuperative capacities of an adult angel. It was part of the reason angels were so careful to keep their children out of sight of mortal eyes until they were of an age where injury wouldn’t lead to death.
They were called immortals, but angels could die. It just took so much to achieve such a result that the point was moot—except when it came to children. Children could be killed far easier than adults. And this child’s growth was apt to already be stunted as a result of their captivity.
Fine white flecks began to hit his face—a pretty spray of sugar if not for what the cold of it could mean for the vulnerable. Like a child with no armor.
No, this wasn’t good.
He said as much when Illium appeared out of the softly falling snow, his wings dusted with white in the moments before each wingbeat. “We have to make it so the child feels safe to return to his cavern,” Aodhan said. “Else he’ll be out in the snow—and I can’t see him having the skills to survive that.”
“It’s cold in that place,” Illium said. “Did you notice? I don’t think an angelic child could’ve survived there while a babe. I’m guessing there must’ve been some system to provide heat—might be it broke down after Lijuan’s fall.”
Aodhan’s skin prickled under a memory he’d done his best to bury for two hundred years: of cold, cold water dripping onto his face, seeping into his skin, rising up past his nostrils until he drowned and drowned.
It had taken him until the war to realize he couldn’t outrun that piece of his past; he had to face it or he would always be the prey and the memory the hunter. He’d spoken to Keir privately in the immediate aftermath of Lijuan’s defeat, and the healer had made time for him many times this past year, regardless of all the other demands on his attention.
“Why now?” Aodhan had asked while New York lay devastated around them. “Is it because of the horror of what Lijuan did? It’s awakened my own horror?”
“I can’t answer that,” Keir had murmured, his wings a stir of golden-brown next to Aodhan and his power a quiet thing of profound depth, “but I think I have earned the right to say I know you, Aodhan. So I say with certainty that the memory rises now because you are ready now.”
Keir had been right. Aodhan had been ready to face the nightmare head-on. And so today, while it whispered to him, it didn’t derail his thoughts or suck him back into the darkness. “Do we still lure the child with food?” He knew he wasn’t rational on this topic, needed to rely on Illium’s clearer vision.
“It’s our best bet of catching them,” Illium confirmed. “Which is why I spent a few minutes heating up the food. The scent might help. We’re here to scare off any predators who might be drawn to it.”
Aodhan stayed on watch above while Illium landed. Where’s your new pet?
I left her with Kai, who will undoubtedly spoil her.
They both went silent as Illium stepped inside the passageway to place the food. I’ll leave it close to the door. More chance of the scent reaching them—and less of us having to chase them deep inside the cavern. Last thing I want to do is freak out a kid.
An out-of-control and scared child would be no match for two angels of their strength—but they’d be trying not to hurt the child, while that child would have no such compunction.
Blue?
I’m done, but I was thinking I should go farther inside, hide in the shadows. If the child does come in, you can land behind them, while I’ll be in front. We should be able to make a quick capture.
Aodhan’s neck muscles knotted, his biceps rigid. It’s not safe down there.
Illium didn’t give him a smart-ass reply about how the mountain wasn’t about to fall down on him. He said, I’ll stay in touch throughout. In fact, I’ll tell you bedtime stories while you freeze your ass off in the snow.
The snow was increasing in force, but Aodhan had flown for hours through worse. I hope the caravan is out of range of this snow front.
Even if not, Illium said, they’re prepared to hunker down. Still . . . I didn’t want to bring it up with Suyin, but were things really that bad with the survivors that the move had to be now? Everyone looked like they were soldiering on to me, but I know I only glimpsed the surface.
Yes, Aodhan confirmed, remembering the hollow-eyed man who’d woken to repack his belongings. China’s people are broken. Not only the mortals. Any surviving vampires and angels, too, even those that followed Lijuan into war. Being close to a physical reminder of Lijuan, it was leeching away their ability to be happy in any real sense.