Page 100 of Archangel’s Lineage

Marduk calls them the old ones. Angelkind calls them the Ancestors. And if Marduk’s only a faint echo of what they were...

Yes. Whoever and whatever the Ancestors had been, their ways were not those of modern civilization. They foresaw so much, but didn’t foresee that we wouldn’t wish to sacrifice one to protect the majority.

Elena rode a wind gust that brought her just below and to his left. Maybe they had no choice? Per Marduk, archangelic energies will always eventually destabilize the world.

Everything we know is per Marduk, Raphael muttered. How do we know he speaks the truth?

Cassandra, Elena said simply.

Despite his anger at the shattering importance of the information Marduk had withheld, Raphael couldn’t argue with Elena on that point. Because the Seer of Seers had made it clear that she wanted only the best for them. Half of him almost expected to hear her voice once again, but he saw no owls, felt no aged voice in his head.

It seemed she Slept at last, had found a fleeting peace.

“Wow.” Elena came to a hovering stop above Caliane’s palace. “I can see why your mother chose this as her home base in India.”

The gentle sprawl of the palace gleamed a warm cream in the dull light of the cloudy day, the sand below a pale gold kissed by the frothy white caps of the waves rolling in to shore from an ocean azure blue even in this light.

“I want to ask her why the ocean.” Raphael shoved a hand through his hair. “Never did I expect this.”

Lightning burst out of the clouds before Elena could reply.

“Drop!” he yelled even as she did the same. They both collapsed their wings to accelerate the fall—but Raphael stayed above her, in the path of any bolt to come.

He’d survive a hit. She wouldn’t, not even with his cells in her body.

She landed hard on the sand. Lightning was still hitting the water and the sand in strikes that burned the air when he joined her. Throwing an archangelic shield around them both, he ran with her to the shelter provided by the house.

The lightning might damage the structure, but at least it wouldn’t be a direct strike on their heads. He’d seen several other angels fall from the sky at the first sign of the lightning storm and wasn’t surprised when the Cadre ended up gathered on the wide covered balcony.

Aggravation at the headache-inducing hum or not, no one had gone far.

“We do it now,” Titus said without preamble. “We have to know if it’ll work.”

No verbal replies. The eight of them just placed their relics and hands one on top of the other. Elena waited till the end, then looked at him.

***

Now, hbeebti.

Elena felt as if every cell in her body was vibrating in time with the energy that boiled the air. The entire living Cadre—and Marduk; so much power that it eclipsed the lightning that lit up the world in deadly flashes.

She didn’t want to touch that stack of hands that glowed obsidian-blue, but she had no real choice. As the “base” would have no real choice. Because if that person held the trust of the entire Cadre, then they were a person with a good heart.

Here goes nothing, Archangel.

Glad that Raphael’s hand was at the very top, she reached out and placed her own over his.

55

Nothing happened.

Even the lightning stopped.

A pulse later and their hands vanished in flames of obsidian-blue, and she could hear the melody in her head, perfect and piercing... and emanating from one specific direction. She turned, looked that way, and knew. “The Refuge!” Her throat felt as if she was screaming, and only then did she realize that the world was thunder, rain crashing around them with a force she’d never before experienced.

“Are you certain?” Caliane demanded, her face obscured by the obsidian-blue fire that held no warmth.

Elena made herself concentrate, even as an unknown force pushed her body to lean in that direction. “That way!” Gritting her teeth against the pressure, she pointed a finger on the exact bearing. “Either the Refuge or on the path to it!”

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