Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Andromeda, in contrast, had chosen a knee-length and wide-skirted dress of a deep citrine that complemented the dark chocolate shade of her wings while closed. When opened out, the design on her feathers was far more intricate, altering in subtle nuances of color that culminated in a pale golden brown at the tips.
Curls wild around her fine-boned face, she ran over to welcome Aodhan, her smile startled when he took her hands. “Oh,” she said, her fingers curling slightly over his. “This is wonderful, Aodhan.”
He knew she didn’t mean the party.
“Yes,” he agreed with a smile.
They’d barely finished the exchange when Jason landed with Mahiya. He was in black as always, but Mahiya had chosen an ankle-length skirt of vivid magenta embroidered with golden thread, and paired with a close-fitting blouse in the same rich hue but without any embroidery. Draped over the set was a scarf of translucent gold that she’d pleated to appear like a sari. The same gold glinted from the fine rope she’d woven through her braid.
Her eyes crinkled as she laughed at something Jason had said.
Aodhan wanted to paint her and the spymaster just this way, mentally tucked away the image. As he did snapshots of each of the others on the roof tonight, he’d paint the entire scene, he decided, gift it to his Blue.
Dmitri and Honor arrived just then, Jessamy and Vivek right behind them. Jessamy’s gown of soft pink brushed against the brown of Vivek’s suit pants as they spoke intently. Vivek was in his most streamlined wheelchair, his hands partially covered by leather gloves that matched his sharp suit. Honor, meanwhile, had gone for a thigh-length and long-sleeved dress in dark red velvet, while Dmitri’s suit was as black as Jason’s formal tunic and pants.
Aodhan made note of the fine details like Dmitri’s grin at a comment from Naasir, and how Andi hugged Honor with a delight that was reciprocated. How Galen clasped Vivek’s arm the same way he would any warrior, and how the head of the Tower’s tech command seemed to fall into easy conversation with the man they called the Barbarian, even as Jessamy broke away to take Mahiya’s hands.
When Elena and Raphael landed on the roof, Raphael proved to be in formal leathers of a dark gray, while Ellie had chosen a fitted thigh-length dress in a vivid blue that she’d paired with black ankle boots, her hair scraped up into a high tail. When she turned, he saw that the side panel of the dress was an intricate lattice of sharply angled fabric that exposed not skin, but a shimmering inner layer.
“Only because I just had to fly up from our suite,” she said with a laugh when Mahiya complimented her dress. “Otherwise I’d have flashed half the city. Raphael had to give me the all clear before I could come up as it was!”
As Mahiya giggled and lifted up her skirts to show Ellie the black tights she wore underneath while an intrigued Jessamy looked on, Venom ran up, Holly’s hand in his. Elegant suit and a youthful dress at the height of fashion, they were both smiling.
The entire Seven was together, but for Illium.
Also on the roof were the Tower’s chief healer, Nisia; Montgomery and Sivya; and angels like Andreja who had known Illium a long time. The younger crew would have to wait till the morning to see him. This wasn’t the time for a huge, overwhelming gathering.
How late am I? Illium’s clear voice in Aodhan’s mind.
Not late at all.
Wings of blue appeared over the side of the roof…and then Illium was laughing as the gathered group sent up a cheer. “What are you all doing here?” he cried out as he landed, and was mobbed by hugs, and kisses on the cheek, and shakes of his forearm.
“It was a good excuse for a party,” Venom quipped, but his hug was as tight as the others.
The other man could be cool and distant with outsiders, but never with his brethren. The deadly vampire with the slitted pupils of a viper had welcomed Aodhan home by re-creating his favorite dessert—one usually only available from a single baker in the Refuge. Not that he’d taken credit, of course. It had just appeared in a box on Aodhan’s dining table.
Aodhan stayed back while the others spoke to Illium—he’d had more time than anyone with Blue of late, when their sojourn in China overlapped. It gave him joy to see the other man deluged with love and affection…and he felt a surge of possessive happiness when he saw that Illium wore the belt buckle Aodhan had designed and made for him.
Jessamy took Illium’s hands and squeezed them, a deep smile in the soft brown of her eyes. “Well,” she said in that gentle way of hers, “I wouldn’t have believed it when you were a babe, Illium, but you have somehow managed not to fall into a gorge, get impaled on a weapon far too large for you, or fall off a roof while attempting to prove that you could fly even when the best you could do was imitate a drunken bumblebee.”