Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 118699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
When it did hit, it took as long—or longer—a period apart for the effect to wear off. Which was why they’d learned to ride the edge, go so far and never too far. Far better to take a week apart every two weeks than be forced to keep their distance for a month or longer.
The repulsion effect was worse with others in the Cadre, but never akin to this sharp blade of actual pain.
“No.” Raphael frowned. “Usually—and especially at the start—it’s a minor irritation at most.” Despite that, he didn’t release her hand for a full minute. “I taste nothing of Lijuan’s evil,” he said as they separated at last, Raphael shaking out his hand and Zanaya rubbing hers on her thigh. “But . . . the force of the repulsion between us may be an answer in itself. I react this way to no one else in the Cadre.”
38
The young archangel’s words whispered in her mind long after he’d moved on to discuss a more local matter with his neighbor, Elijah. Truth be told, Raphael had only vocalized what Zanaya already believed: something was wrong with her. And that something had to do with Lijuan.
Looking up at the sound of Alexander’s laugh, she saw him once more in conversation with Titus. Her golden warrior of a lover so handsome and honorable with his openhearted young friend. They’d fallen back into the best times of their relationship after her waking . . . but now fear nipped at her.
What did she carry inside her?
Was she infectious?
Could she hurt Alexander?
Her throat dry, she swallowed. And the stretching in her mind grew stronger, more powerful . . . and aimed itself in a certain direction.
Alone in this corner of the garden shadowed by the spreading branches of a tree familiar to her from her reign as Queen of the Nile, she shifted on her heel until the stretching settled. As if she’d pointed an internal compass to true north. It took her a moment to orient herself, to realize the direction in which she was gazing.
She’d half expected it to be China. That would’ve made sense.
This, however . . .
A hand on her lower back, a familiar wing sliding over her own.
She jerked away, feeling slimy and dirty. Infected.
Alexander looked at her with a frown. “Zani?”
“Has anyone checked Antonicus’s grave since we buried him?” she blurted out.
Alexander’s forehead furrowed. “Yes,” he said. “We’ve maintained the regular patrols from Elijah’s and Titus’s territories, and each one of us does at least one personal flyover a year.” He searched her face. “We’ve seen no change in the ice island where he rests, felt no indication that he stirs.”
The stretching inside Zanaya persisted. Insisted. “I want to see for myself.” Wouldn’t sleep easy until she did.
“Zani?”
“I’m different, Alexander. In a way subtle and insidious.” No point hiding from that. “I can sense Antonicus as if I have within me a thread that ties us together.”
Expression grim, he said, “The others? Michaela, Astaad, Favashi?”
“No, I sense only Antonicus.” She had no doubts that he was the one calling to her. “Maybe because the others are inside Cassandra’s fire, shielded from the world.” It was the only thing that made sense—though none of this made sense. “I must see where he lies. I won’t rest until I’m certain he doesn’t walk.” Because he couldn’t have recovered, not given what had happened to him.
Then again, neither should she. So perhaps they’d both come back monstrous.
“I’ll go with you.”
Burning lines on her cheekbones, she glanced over at the others. “I don’t want anyone else to know.” Not yet, not until she knew what she’d become.
“No,” Alexander agreed, his skin pulled taut over the bones of his face. “You can’t leave straight after taking over your territory either. It’ll be noticed.”
Zanaya flexed and tightened her hand. “I’ll make it seem as if I’m doing a high-level flight over my new lands, taking in all that is now mine. That’ll give us enough time to fly there and back.”
Alexander’s skin felt as cold as the place where they’d laid Antonicus to rest. The idea of Lijuan having left an echo in strong, honorable Zani was an abhorrent one. “Wherever you go, I’ll be at your side.”
To his surprise, his fiercely independent lover didn’t voice a protest. Rather, she said, “I think you should. Just in case there’s something seriously wrong with me and I try to dig Antonicus up and bring him back to life or commit another act equally repugnant.”
Alexander’s jaw worked. “Lijuan left pieces of herself everywhere. I was speaking to Neha—she says she just discovered a small cave full of nesting reborn who somehow managed to survive by taking only one person at a time from different villages. A deadly level of cunning.”
“Insurance,” Zanaya muttered. “Lijuan really believed that, no matter what, she’d survive to come back, even if she lost the war. She believed herself a god, a being far beyond anyone’s touch.”