Archangel's Sun (Guild Hunter #13) - Nalini Singh Page 0,48
depth of knowledge. “To mortals, archangels are all one and the same. The Cadre is too far above mortal existence to truly understand them.”
“You are all but an Ancient,” Titus said, not sure why no one ever referred to her as such—perhaps it was the sense of bright freshness that clung to her. “You’re no closer to mortals than I am.”
“Before Lumia, I was even further away.” Surprising words, soft and heavy. “Lost in the fragmented pathways of my mind.”
Titus had so many questions, but he made no move to pursue that thread. No one became as she had unless it was a thing of terrible pain. He wouldn’t rub that pain raw anew, no matter how she irritated him.
“Since moving to Lumia, however, and basing myself in the adjacent town,” she continued, “I’ve come to see mortals not as a faceless mass but as individuals. I know that some are funny and sweet. Others are courageous.
“Still others have darkness in their hearts. And I know that outside Lumia, most mortals have never been in close contact with an angel. The idea of speaking to an archangel . . . It is beyond their comprehension.”
Sharine knew that she was being hard on Titus; the truth was, she couldn’t help it. It was simply that he reminded her so much of Aegaeon. Her former lover’d had the same confidence, the same swagger to him.
Though she was beginning to think that Titus had a far bigger heart. Big enough to rule this continent and bring it back from the brink of ruin. It was tempting to admire him for his clear moral lines and refusal to bask in his power, but Sharine wasn’t about to fall prey to the urge.
Especially when she’d already found herself susceptible to his devastating smiles. No, the last thing Sharine needed was to begin to admire the Archangel of Africa. Big, brash, beautiful Titus would use any such admiration to walk all over her. Not because he was cruel, but because he was Titus.
19
Avelina, your Titus challenged me to climb a mountain—and the damned pup beat me! To assuage my mortally bruised honor, I challenged him to climb down in the dark. It is as well that he doesn’t know that terrain as well as I do, for otherwise, he would’ve beaten me again, without remorse.
I thank you for trusting me with the gift of your son. With each century that passes with him under my command, he becomes less a stripling, and more a man I consider a friend. It’s a strange thing for one so old as I to have a youthful friend, but I think I would’ve considered him a friend no matter at which point in life I met him.
Soon, the time will come when he leaves my court. It is inevitable. He must learn more of the world, learn more of himself. But always, I will hold a place for him in my army.
Enjoy your sojourn with Euphenia. Tell the child she owes me a concert.
—Letter from Archangel Alexander to First General Avelina
20
After flying for another ten minutes, Sharine said, “What do you have against Aegaeon?” She’d been startled by the depth of Titus’s anger when she’d made the comparison between one archangel and the other.
Titus shot her a look darker than any she’d ever witnessed on his face. “I have sisters, do you know that?”
Sharine frowned. Perhaps she had known that once upon a time, but if so, she couldn’t lay her mental fingers on the knowledge. “Are they older than you?” she asked instead of answering.
“The youngest was a thousand years old at the time of my birth. My oldest sister is now some eight thousand years old.”
“Is it a mother you share or a father, or both?”
“Zuri and Nala are twins, thus share both parents. We, all five of us, are linked by our mother, Avelina. My sisters,” he muttered, “are also bonded by their shared aggravating temperament.”
“Your mother is very fertile.” Sharine felt the stab of admiring envy, for such fertility was not often found in their kind.
“She also loves children and is brilliant at raising them to be strong, honorable angels—I’m quite sure I would have another sibling by now if the first general hadn’t decided to go into Sleep a millennium after my birth. Truly, my mother would have to beat men off with a stick were she not so formidable they don’t dare advance on her without permission.”