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)
One thing he did understand was her choice to continue using the Archangel of Amanat as her formal title, rather than switching to the Archangel of India. “I will always rule Amanat, in all my lifetimes,” she’d once said of the city so beloved that she’d taken it into Sleep with her. “Other titles will come and go but Amanat is forever.”
The hum in Raphael’s head had only grown louder as he neared his mother’s palace. Once in proximity to the others who’d already arrived, it intensified into an irritation. They were in the right place. But even when the full eight of them stood with their hands out, the pieces of the Compass overlapping and touching, all they got was an angry hum. Adding Marduk to the mix made no change.
The archangel out of time shrugged when they looked at him. “Attempt it again after Raphael’s consort joins us.”
Alexander scowled. “Why does the hunter need to be present?”
Raphael didn’t stir in insult—because from Alexander, referring to Elena’s track record in the Guild wasn’t an insult. Alexander respected warriors, and he’d come to accept Elena as one in her field. He more often called her a hunter or warrior than he did consort.
“My relic reacted to her,” Raphael said, unwilling to share the painful reason why Elena carried within her a little bit of an archangel. His heart twisted in agony each time he thought back to that moment when he’d come so close to losing her forever.
“Raphael, you know I like Elena a great deal”—Caliane was as irritable as the rest of them—“but this doesn’t make sense. It is a thing of the Cadre.”
The others nodded.
Unexpected, but it was Zanaya who took the wind out of everyone’s sails. “Actually, this is a thing of the Ancestors. Who knows what they built into it.” She glared down at her own piece of the Compass. “For all we know, we need her because she was transformed with ambrosia and that’s the magic last ingredient.”
The group stared at Marduk.
Who shrugged again. “I was nothing to their power when they chose to Sleep an endless Sleep. All I know of the Compass, I’ve shared with you.”
The man was lying. Raphael knew that with every bone in his body. But why he was lying was the real question.
“Is the base apt to be buried or otherwise obscured?” he asked in an effort to work around Marduk’s indirect recalcitrance. “Should we prepare to dig it up out of a volcano or smash through a mountain?”
Marduk’s expression altered. “Do any of that and you will kill the base before the gift of their blood resets the Compass and the world.”
“Kill?” Suyin asked, her pitch high and tone jagged. “Are you saying it is sentient?”
“A person.” Caliane’s face was white. “Dear Havens. The ‘base’ is a person.”
Marduk looked at her and bowed. “Wisdom lives in you, Lady Caliane.” Sorrow in every line of his body. “Most specifically, a person who holds the trust of every single member of the Cadre.”
“Such is impossible.” Elijah rubbed his chin, his brow furrowed. “We are too varied a group.”
“There is always one,” Marduk insisted. “And now you will ask me why I did not mention this to you prior to this moment. As you did not yet have the subcomponents, it was a pointless discussion—and would have hindered you by weighing down your conscience. In ordinary times, archangels have countless millennia to come to terms with the knowledge.”
Raphael looked down at the object shaped like a dagger in his hand. Not as sharp as a true weapon . . . but sharp enough to rend and tear and cut all the same.
His fingers were chilled, his skin tight.
When he lifted his gaze, he found himself accidentally locking eyes with Suyin.
Horror roiled across the delicate bones of her face. “How are we meant to ‘slot’ these objects into place in a person?”
“A blood sacrifice?” Aegaeon cried out. “No! This is not our way, has never been our way.” He made as if to throw his piece of the Compass down to the ground . . . only it stayed in his hand.
This time, the silence was deafening.
“Fuck!” Titus’s booming voice. “I just tried it, too, and . . .” He held up the object.
Frowning, Raphael tried to put his blade back into the sheath on his upper arm. He was able to do so without problem. Seeing this, Elijah attempted to put his own into his thigh sheath. Again, a success.
“We aren’t permitted to lose these things once found,” Zanaya said, having already slid hers into a sheath visible below the shimmering green of the dress that hit her high on the thighs. “I did say they were cursed.”
Teeth gritted, Aegaeon shoved his into an arm gauntlet. “The hum is making my head vibrate to bursting. I’m going to fly if we’re to wait for the mortal you call consort, Raphael.”