Archangel's Heart by Nalini Singh

Author:Nalini Singh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-12T09:31:37+00:00

24

How could anyone have painted Elena so quickly?

An instant after the question passed through Raphael’s mind, he realized the woman in the miniature wasn’t Elena. Her eyes were a shimmering turquoise, her skin a darker gold than Elena’s. Her face, too, was narrower, more hawk than hunter. None of it took away from her startling beauty—or her startling resemblance to Raphael’s warrior.

“I think we can safely say that you are on the right track, Elena-mine.”

Hand trembling, Elena stared at the tiny canvas.

“If I may, Ellie.” Reaching for the miniature, Aodhan took it, turned it over, then lifted the blade stick with his other hand.

“Don’t damage it,” Elena cried out.

“I promise, I won’t. But sometimes, the artists will write of the subjects on the backs of these miniature pieces.”

A very careful insertion of the tip of the blade stick, an expert lift . . . and Aodhan had separated the miniature from the frame. Frowning, he looked down at the tiny writing on the back. “Majda,” he said. “I think that’s what it says.”

Raphael took the miniature, looked at the writing; it was in the same text Elena had seen in the Gallery. “Yes.”

Elena blew out a breath. “That doesn’t sound anything like Elena.” Folding her arms, she watched as Aodhan put frame and image back together. “My mother told me that my grandmother’s nickname was Elena.”

“There is apt to be more to her name,” Raphael said as she nodded at Aodhan to hold on to the miniature, her dress not having many hiding places. “With this name and the initial E that your mother remembered being on her baby blanket, you have avenues of investigation beyond Lumia—starting with the closest township.”

Looking out at the distant stronghold, she threw her gaze even farther forward, but the town that existed beyond the border wasn’t visible. “I’m not sure I want Aodhan and I to be that far from you while the Cadre is in session.” No matter her hunger to dig up the truth of her ancestry, leaving him without backup wasn’t an option.

“If there is to be a battle among the Cadre, Guild Hunter, I would rather you not be anywhere in the vicinity. Remember Beijing.”

The city no longer existed. The smoke was long gone but the crater remained a brutal scar on the landscape—and some said there were parts of it that were hot to the touch to this day. Elena wasn’t sure whether to believe those reports or not, because most people stayed far, far away from the evidence of what could happen when archangels fought one another.

“Being in the town won’t protect me from that kind of battle,” she said bluntly. And my only fear is losing you.

Raphael closed his hand over hers while Aodhan once more stepped away to offer them privacy. “If you keep your movements erratic, it protects you.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Wandering Lumia’s endless hallways was a good way to get trapped—and to distract Raphael with worry. He didn’t need any distractions, not when he was crossing swords with the Cadre of Ten.

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