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.”
Aodhan understood her meaning: Whatever had taken place, it was too late to save the residents. Waiting for Vetra wouldn’t put them in harm’s way—and, harsh as it was, right now they knew the people of the stronghold settlement were alive. And those people needed their help to prepare for the journey to come.
Suyin opened out her wings in a restless movement, closed them back in. “I don’t foresee an easy answer—it is for this reason that I’d like you both to stay behind with the domestic team in charge of closing up the stronghold.”
She held up a hand when Aodhan would’ve spoken. “You know we have the numbers to do this safely—and Caliane’s elite squadron even now watches over the location where I intend to settle.” A light in her eyes. “I think I will like my citadel by the sea, across from a friend.”
Frown lines between her brows as she looked in the direction of the dark stone of the stronghold. “This is not a good place.”
“Investigating the hamlet while keeping an eye on the stronghold shutdown team seems a small task. Illium and I would be more use to you en route.”
Frown deeper, Suyin said, “I overflew the hamlet prior to our meeting to see if I could spot what Vetra might’ve missed. I had little time, but I felt an awareness of a cold evil. As if the silence of the hamlet made its whispers audible.”
Aodhan raised an eyebrow. “Are you Cassandra now, Suyin? Making prophecies and talking in riddles.”
Sudden laughter that brightened Suyin’s eyes. “Truly, I did sound so, did I not?” She shook her head. “No, it’s just an itch under my skin. You keep telling me to listen to my instincts and so I will. Stay until the shutdown team is ready to leave, see if you can unearth what it is that so disturbed me.”
“If we find nothing?”
“Then join me by the sea.” No laughter now, only a heaviness of emotion. “It may be that what I took for the kiss of evil may be a thing of quieter horror.”
Not understanding, Illium glanced at Aodhan.
Many survivors can’t deal with the grief and guilt, Aodhan told him. They choose death—for themselves and their children. Eyes of translucent blue and green shards held Illium’s. As I chose a living death for an eternity.
Illium flinched. Aodhan never talked about those years. The odd allusion to it, yes, but never anything so full frontal. As he stood there, shaken by the unexpected blow, he realized something: I don’t know this Aodhan at all.
9
Yesterday
Illium pointed. “Mama, look! Sparkles!”
His mother glanced over from where she was talking to the Teacher. Illium was too young to go to school yet, but he liked the Teacher. She was kind and had soft eyes, and when she smiled, he always wanted to smile right back.
“Oh,” his mother said, her face lighting up in a way that made him bounce. “That’s the little one you met once, when you were both babes. His parents took him with them to a remote posting soon afterward.”