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No exultant victory on Mahiya’s face at his unspoken decision, just a silent joy that scared hi had touched for an eon “And old as the tunnels are,” she said, “souarded”
Jason recalled what Venom had said
“Only reason I even know the ins and outs of the entire labyrinth is that when I was first Made, I wascloser to the otherness in me I can’t work out how anyone else would’ve known some of the oldest parts of the tunnels—but that’s where I found the footsteps”
“Twin siblings,” he murmured, “one of whom had an affinity for snakes, would’ve turned those tunnels into their playground” Where Neha round syste desire for vengeance to hone her e-scale attack It’d take too long to bring in her people one at a time, leave them vulnerable to extermination if they were spotted” A fire within the tunnels would annihilate
Mahiya wrapped her arms around herself “I want my mother alive, but should Neha die, the entire territory will be thrown into chaos, millions of lives at stake”
Jason shook his head “Only another of the Cadre can kill Neha Had Nivriti joined their number, the whole world would’ve stood witness” All ascensions to the Cadre initiated ide phenoels were locked into the very fabric of the planet
On the day that Raphael crossed the border, the seas had turned a violent, impossible blue, as had every river and every lake across the world Even the rain that fell froe residue, faceted diamond dust in the pal of the power contained within the bodies of the Cadre “She’ll never survive a confrontation with Neha” The Archangel of India would need but a single strike to end Nivriti’s existence forever “Speak to Vanhi, see what else you can discover”
“I can’t tell her that ht be alive—Vanhi is loyal to both Neha and Nivriti, and otiate peace” Her hands fisted, her skin drawn tight over the fine bones of her face “I just hope I will not have to an to connect with his inforone, having left for the Refuge right after calling Jason about the tunnels
“I stay any longer and Neha will consider me a spy”
However, another one of the Seven arrived an hour before sunset, just as Jason returned fro with a vaht tiel who appeared to be htness of his hair to wings whose filaolden sheen of his skin and the crystalline blue green of his eyes, the irises shattered outward fro a sculpture in ice “I did not expect you”
“I cannot stay—Neha won’t permit another of the Seven here Veno forthe infore He would have made an excellent spymaster if not for the fact that there was no place in the world where Aodhan would not stand out
Instead, the angel had long been Galen’s right hand in the Refuge Now, he went to New York and the Tower, and would take up many of Dmitri’s duties while the leader of the Seven helped his wife through her transition Whether the transfer would work, no one knew As joint head of Tower operations, Aodhan would have to deal with any number of people, when he was a ht isolation as often as not
“It is the first time in centuries that Aodhan has indicated a desire to be a part of the world” Raphael’s eyes, a blue seen in the wider world only on the day of his becoreed, hoped the angel would make it
Now, Aodhan said, “I know you can’t speak tohere, but I’ve detected a pattern linked to this region It may have no relevance to your task, but el could continue, a butterfly, its wings an unabashed red dotted with saffron yellow, alighted on Aodhan’s shoulder Another followed a second later, its er Aodhan looked at theain, woefully embarrassed by his most curious of abilities
“It’s as if they can smell me,” he muttered, but didn’t brush the delicate creatures away Instead, he lifted a finger, and a third butterfly appeared out of the sky to alight on it, this one ings of creamy sunset “Illium says that perhaps I can use them to flutter someone to death”
Jason watched as Aodhan put the butterfly carefully beside the others, creating a living ornament on his otherwise prosaic T-shirt of deep brown They weren’t the only fragile beings of flight ere drawn to Aodhan—once, long ago, Jason had seen the other angel laughing as he was covered by an array of tiny jewel-hued birds, his attraction greater than the nectar on which they customarily sipped “As Galen would say,” he replied, “Bluebell has the wings of a butterfly hireat deal to pull Aodhan out of the abyss, that the bond of friendship between the tas fast
Shaking his head, Aodhan returned to the subject at hand “A nuned their posts without fanfare in several courts across different regions over the past six rid All of them had some tie to Neha’s territory in their past”
Six uarded base “How strong were these angels and va as Dether, they’d conificant and prolonged assault”
If, Jason thought, that assault force didn’t include an archangel “Did they take people with them?” Trusted retainers who could keep their mouths shut