Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
“I think the only reason Aegaeon hasn’t attacked yet,” Raphael added, “is because he knows Illium has far more friends on the Cadre than he does—but he’s at the point where he’s going to strike out in rage one day soon. Even if we all respond at once, Illium will still be alone against an Ancient at the beginning.”
“Illium is an archangel, one forged by the Cascade, and he was once a first general. He understands war.” But even saying so, Caliane knew that Aegaeon was the more powerful—he’d been through Cascades, too, and he had thousands more years of experience.
If it came to a direct battle, father against son, Caliane was very afraid that Sharine’s playful, generous, bright star of a son would die.
63
…if you do anything to hurt our son, I will find a way to end you…I’ll be cunning and stealthy in my vengeance, and I’ll find you when you believe yourself safe.
—Lady Sharine to Archangel Aegaeon (A Reckoning in Lumia)
A week after the Cadre meeting, Illium backwinged to a landing beside Aodhan on the roof of the border fort where his consort was currently based. “Any change?”
Aodhan’s jaw was all hard angles. “He’s amassing more ground troops—Eve is countering with the same on our side.” He pointed out locations on a three-dimensional map that popped up on the flat screen in his hands. “Vivek managed to slip in behind enemy lines, has confirmed that these four supply stations are all but operational. Two more days and they’ll be at full capacity.”
Illium hissed out a breath. “This is it, then. He’s going to strike.” In a way it’d be a relief from the tensions that had never quite gone away since Illium’s first day in his new territory.
“Given the extent of his preparation, he’s planning for a long siege,” Aodhan pointed out. “That’s something.”
Arms folded, the sun glinting off his metal bracers, Illium stared out at his father’s lands. “Yeah, the asshole’s learned I’m not easy prey.” They’d had more than one skirmish by now, both of them in the air while their troops stayed stationary per their orders.
Just father against son.
Aegaeon had got in his hits—but so had Illium.
“Our supply lines are secure,” Aodhan said. “Dulcie’s been working on that in the background the entire time. We won’t be caught shorthanded. Zoe’s primed our battle resources—and managed to get a jump on our weapons stockpile, thanks to both her own contacts and Lady Katrina’s.”
Illium wasn’t surprised. His entire senior team was made up of highly intelligent and lethal people who knew how to do their jobs. Zoe, for one, while she remained a weapons-maker at heart—and still reverted to that in times of peace—had turned into a first-class strategist when it came to the best use of their troops and weapons.
She’d also somehow cracked the code to enter Lady Katrina’s inner circle.
“Should we ask Raphael to head this way?” Aodhan said.
Illium shook his head. “No—that’ll give the asshole an excuse to blame us for starting the war with a show of force. Fuck that. If he’s going to do this, then he wears the responsibility for fucking eternity. The archangel who declared war against his own son.”
His wings glowed, his veins turning gold.
64
Venom is the only vampire of my Making who inherited some of my gifts on his transition. I have my suspicions of late that he may have gained the ability to mesmerize.
—Archangel Neha to General Rhys (Before the War of the Death Cascade)
Caliane had spent the week following the Cadre meeting getting up to speed on her territory. It had proved a smooth undertaking—because the Cadre had left her people in place, just added archangelic oversight into the mix.
“They took you at your word that you’d return,” Jelena had told her at their first meeting.
The angel had been on one knee at the time, her sword held across her upright knee as she bowed her head to her sire, the dark scarlet of her hair in a tight braid and the bronze-edged gold of her wings spread behind her in a ceremonial position. “There was no reason to cause disruption when the territory was stable due to your stewardship over the centuries.”
A long exhale. “Still, my lady, I’m so very happy to see you again.”
Tugging her to her feet, Caliane had exchanged the forearm clasp of warriors with the other woman, for Jelena had ever been a warrior and wasn’t affectionate with many. Perhaps she dropped her tough shield with Avi, but Caliane had never seen so in public. Only with Tasha, when she’d been a child, had Jelena appeared soft.
Jelena and Avi and their daughter hadn’t been alone in maintaining the watch over Caliane’s territory. A great many of Caliane’s senior people had stayed behind, and they had kept her faith, their hearts loyal.