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)
When Hannah picked up the gift bag, Elena said, “It’s only small and for you this time. Aanisa’s gift is to come.” Elena and Raphael had decided on a beaded bracelet formed of smooth crystals that stood for well-being, health, wishes for joy, and other beautiful thoughts.
They’d also made sure it was strung so that it couldn’t be pulled apart by baby hands, and it was their hope that when Aanisa outgrew it, it would be a sweet memento for Hannah and Eli.
Because at this stage of their immortal lives, gifts weren’t about the cost, but about heart and meaning.
They planned to give it to the other couple together.
“Oh, Ellie”—Hannah touched her shoulder—“the best gift is having you on this journey with me.”
“Thanks for going first,” Elena said on a rush of emotion reflected in Hannah’s face. “I mean that with every fiber of my being. Seeing her, holding her…I’m not anxious at all now. Just impatient.”
They shared a look of unspoken understanding before Hannah returned to her gift.
“Oh, this is beautiful!” She lifted the block of translucent golden soap with preserved flowers within to the light. “And it smells heavenly.”
“I make them with Sivya. It’s her hobby, but she invites me to join in every season. Honestly, I always wanted to ask her if I could,” she confessed, “but she’s so sweet that I didn’t want her to feel pressured. I did a literal happy dance in front of her when she asked me on her own.”
Laughing, Hannah reached in to remove another bar, this one a soft peach that echoed the blushes on Hannah’s wings; the flowers within were a delicate pink. “You grew the flowers, didn’t you?”
Elena nodded while rocking the warm weight of the sleeping baby.
“I love them, thank you,” Hannah said, after looking through all the handmade soaps and lotions. “Elijah has been spoiling me, too. Each time I turn around, there is a new treat from our kitchens, or a fresh batch of my favorite fruits from the tropics, of all places, and I only have to wince and I’ll be offered a full massage.”
The baby made another noise, and this time, Hannah held out her arms. “I think she must be hungry.”
As the other woman put the babe to her breast, Elena felt her own breasts ache, grow heavy. Anticipation and hope and wonder filled her veins. Like Hannah, she, too, would soon be a mother.
48
Mortal born. Mortal fall. Mortal heart. Ambrosia’s sweet kiss. Wings of dawn. Wings of night. This will be.
—The Legion to Elena (Once, as they remembered Cassandra, Seer of Seers)
Perspiration beaded along Raphael’s spine as Elena walked up and down the hallways of the Medica almost exactly three weeks later, the running water beneath the clear tiles a peaceful harmony that was doing nothing whatsoever to dampen his nerves.
“Oof.” Her hand clamped down on his as another contraction hit.
Raphael knew his wings were glowing with the force of his frustration at his total inability to do anything to help her. Even his Cascade-given ability to heal could do nothing in this situation—Elena had to give birth, and that was that.
It infuriated him.
“No blowing up the Medica,” his consort told him. “We do not want Keir annoyed with us.”
“You’re making jokes while I’m losing my mind?”
Weaving her fingers through his, she said, “Now, breathe with me. In, hold, out.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Very funny, Guild Hunter.”
A wicked grin before she rose up to kiss him. “The super-parasite and I will be fine, Archangel,” she said. “Cassandra said so.”
Raphael exhaled. Took a moment. Focused on that damn peaceful running water. “I’m sorry. This should be about you, and here you are having to comfort me.”
She elbowed him in the side. “We’ve only been here ten minutes. Just wait till I break your hand during the actual birth.”
“Hbeebti, if it brings you comfort, you may break every bone in my body.”
Fingers linked with his, Elena walked on. And in his need to be there for her, he found his own calm. He also managed to make her laugh when the pain got so bad that even his tough hunter’s face paled, and they left the hallways to make their way to the same birthing chamber Hannah had used not so long ago.
The Legion stood with their backs to the glass in a thick mass while others of their brethren crouched on the roof and still others guarded the remaining flanks of the Medica. It wasn’t needed, the Refuge a safe place, especially so in this time of peace, but seeing them calmed him—as it had Eli. For the Legion had done the same during Hannah’s birthing.
The knowledge that Dmitri stood sentry in their stronghold, watching over their people, further eased the strain. He knew Eli would’ve done the task for him as he had for the other man a month earlier, but their circumstances were different. Elijah was father to a newborn right now, his protective instincts in overdrive.