Archangel's War (Guild Hunter #12) - Nalini Singh Page 0,114
probably why I’m not a chrysalis battery and Raphael hasn’t turned into a cold-hearted villain.” She was fucking proud of her archangel for making the choice he’d just made—especially when she felt the chill of the Cascade power continue to roil in his blood. He’d gained considerable control over it, but it took a fierce will not to listen to its sinister promises.
Lijuan had listened. And now Lijuan was a monstrous power that might rule all the world. Being good, being honorable, didn’t seem to come with any prizes in this immortal fight to the death.
Arms folded, Elena glared out at the sky. “I don’t know what the fuck the Cascade wants.”
“To rebalance the world,” the Primary said, as if that was self-evident.
When they both stared at him, he stared back for a long moment as whispered voices built in the back of Elena’s head. The Legion, talking among themselves.
“We have remembered,” the Primary said. “We do not know from when. We do not know from who.”
That was a reasonable enough statement given their age and how many memories they carried in their minds.
“Tell us,” Raphael ordered.
The Primary took his time to speak, a being so ancient that he had been present at the first end and the second beginning of angelkind. “Power grows. Archangels grow. A balancing is needed to keep the world from breaking.”
Elena scowled. “Hold up. This whole power surge thing is part of the Cascade. I don’t know about you, but looks to me like it’s the Cascade doing the breaking.”
Cassandra’s owls flew past the balcony on snowy wings, their silent beauty catching all their attention for a moment before they flew out of sight. “It is a paradox,” the Primary admitted, then seemed to struggle to find words. “Too many Sleepers. Too much stored power. The earth groans. It must be released.”
A susurration of sound, Raphael settling his wings . . . a sound her own wings would never again make. The stab of sadness was unexpected and visceral. Swallowing hard against it, Elena reminded herself that she had fucking retractable wings like a comic book superhero. Not only that, her wings were afire with lightning.
Her archangel spoke into the small silence. “The Cascade is triggered when the gathered power of the Sleepers in the world reaches a certain threshold?”
Voices in the back of Elena’s head again, the Legion engaging in a furious discussion before the Primary nodded. “Wind, rain, tremors, ice, it is a release.”
“Like a volcano letting off a bit of steam.” Elena tapped her boot on the ground. “Of course, then the top blows off and everyone dies.”
“Yes,” the Primary said. “This time, the top will blow. Balance will be found again.”
Elena and Raphael asked him more questions, but that was all he had to give them. “Unbelievably, that all made sense,” she said to Raphael as they got ready for bed. “I mean, in a race of immortals where some of you continue to grow in power, things are going to get out of control without an inbuilt safety switch.”
“Especially when those of us with the most power are all but impossible to kill.” Bare chested and barefoot, Raphael walked to stand by the open balcony door, staring out at the night. “Leave us to continue on that trajectory unchecked and we will eventually become world-destroying powers who will annihilate each other.”
Admiring him as she walked closer, Elena kissed his spine, right between where his wings grew out of his back. “I don’t like where this is going.”
“But I think we must confront it. The only way for power to be released back into the system, and for things to come back in balance, is for some of us to die.” That was what Raphael hadn’t realized for so long—as Elena had said, a race of immortals couldn’t keep going forever without consequences. “And the only way for an archangel to die . . .”
“. . . is at the hands of another archangel.” Elena shifted to face him, her back against the night. “Fucking Cascade’s setting up an immortal fight club?” Fury vibrated in her voice. “But what does it get if Lijuan wins and all the rest of you are dead?”
“Think of how much power the deaths of the Cadre and the Ancients will release back into the system.” Wave after wave after shocking wave. “It explains why we do not have legends of more archangelic Sleepers. For a race of immortals, we appear to have lost countless prior