A child is not to be blamed for the actions of evil.
—Archangel Raphael
45
To say that Raphael hadn’t anticipated the reason behind Suyin’s call was a vast understatement.
“I wanted to tell you this myself, Raphael,” she said, her voice quiet. “You have been a good friend to me, and it was two of your Seven who unearthed this latest horror.”
Raphael understood exactly why Illium hadn’t come to him with the knowledge. This went beyond politics and into the complicated and emotional realm of family. “There’s no doubt the child is Lijuan’s?” He couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea that Lijuan, a being of death and rot and evil, had borne a child.
“Illium and Aodhan have agreed to bring Jinhai to me—they are fashioning a carrier as we speak, with what I’m told is the child’s enthusiastic agreement. So I have not yet seen him with my own eyes, but the images Aodhan sent . . .”
A shuddering breath. “He is hers. I’ve authorized Aodhan to send you the images, too, so you will see. Illium has informed me that there are scientific tests that can be done to confirm Jinhai’s bloodline, and we will do those, but I do not need them to know.”
“There were periods when Lijuan disappeared from public view,” Raphael murmured, “but none of us saw anything unusual in that. Even Michaela did that a few times.” And the former Archangel of Budapest had loved attention and adored being the muse of artists as well as the fantasy of millions, mortal and immortal.
“My aunt’s people were also so loyal to her that they would help her hide many things.”
“But to hide an angelic child? To allow that child to grow up alone in the dark?” Were Lijuan not already dead, Raphael would’ve killed her then and there. “That isn’t loyalty, Suyin. It’s the same kind of blind faith that led to so many of her people supporting her goal to shroud the world in death.”
“I won’t argue with you there,” Suyin said. “But I ask your advice—should I share this with the rest of the Cadre?”
Raphael paused, gave the question serious thought. By every measure, this was a private family matter. And judgmental eyes were already looking Suyin’s way. On the flipside, it appeared the boy could be a treacherous threat. “Can you control him on your own?”
“I can cage him.” Bitter words. “But a jailer is not who I want to be. And when I think of what was done to him . . . Where is the moral line, Raphael? I want him in the care of healers of the mind, not locked up like an animal.”
“I agree with you.” Despite the terrible darkness of the child’s crimes, Raphael struggled against the idea of simply imprisoning or executing a being who’d never been given a chance to become anything better.
Jinhai had to be given a choice—and a foundation on which to make that choice. “I think,” he said at last, “so long as you take the necessary measures to keep him from harming others, this isn’t Cadre business.”
Truth was, some on the Cadre would kill the boy rather than allow any piece of Lijuan to exist. But the child should not be judged by the crimes of his mother. “I can assist you. My mother will also help.” Raphael knew Caliane well enough to be certain of that. “Three archangels being aware of the problem is enough for now.”
“He will need to be caged, even as we seek to help him,” Suyin said, the bitterness back in her tone. “Lijuan has won there. Made me like her.”
“No, Suyin. You won’t consign him to the cold dark. You’ll contain him in the light. And once he has the power of flight, you’ll ensure he has the opportunity to take to the sky.”
“I thought to put him in an old stronghold half a day’s direct flight from my new citadel, with a dedicated security and healing team,” Suyin said. “No vampires or mortals, only angels old enough to be immune to his strange abilities. I can fly to him often, speak to him.”
“Keir is currently in my city,” Raphael told her. “A short trip to check on a few of the war-injured who aren’t yet back to full health. Do you want me to alert him of this, and ask him to make plans to join you?” he said in an effort to take a little of the load off her shoulders. “You know he can be trusted.” The senior healer had worked with Suyin after her escape from Lijuan.
“Yes, I trust Keir.” Exhaustion in her voice as she said, “Do you think there is hope? Or am I just delaying the inevitable? Will I end up having to execute Jinhai when he transforms into a maddened adult with ever more deadly abilities?”