Archangel's War (Guild Hunter #12) - Nalini Singh Page 0,141

worked. “Might be time to activate a crawler.” A sudden stiffness. “Things look like bugs and are super stealthy, but have a much narrower field of view.”

“I suggest a new name,” Aodhan murmured. “Bugs.”

“Yeah, bugs it is.” Vivek took another two seconds. “Bug’s on the move.”

At first, all they saw from the bug’s low position were the windows of the buildings opposite and the odd angel flying low. “Her army isn’t all in uniform this time around,” Elena said, that fact only now registering.

Raphael stirred. “Are all our people marked?”

“Yes,” Dmitri confirmed. “If they aren’t in uniform, they’re wearing armbands signifying their allegiance.” He glanced at Illium. “Bluebell, get your squadron leaders to fly out with extras while we’re in the cease-fire. I don’t want the bands accessible to Lijuan’s troops.”

It was only as Illium headed out that she saw he’d had his hand curled over Aodhan’s brutally fisted one. What nightmares did Sparkle remember, she thought. What ugliness had this stirred up?

His departure left Aodhan and Suyin side by side, and the picture they made was startling: Aodhan’s glittering beauty against the ice white of her skin and hair. A symphony of cold starlight and the heart of the sun.

“No time to make uniforms for such a grand army?” Janvier’s molasses of a voice, slow and easy, but the bayou green of his eyes was as hard as jade.

Ashwini ran a hand down his back. All of them attempting to comfort one another.

“Lack of markings could be on purpose, a way to cause confusion in battle,” Dmitri pointed out.

Jason opened out his wings, settled them back in. “We could turn that around, use her lack of uniforms against her.”

Nodding agreement, Raphael said, “Brief Naasir on the situation so he can utilize it as soon as he arrives. He’s going to be heading into enemy territory.”

“I heard from him just before the cease-fire,” Dmitri said. “He and Galen should be here by morning. They helped Elijah’s people move the vulnerable in the Refuge into the most central stronghold. Jessamy and all the babies and kids are in there, along with the majority of the Medica team. Keir’s missing, said to be in Michaela’s territory.”

Elena thought back, realized the most central Refuge stronghold was Favashi’s. Her people certainly had no loyalty to Lijuan or Charisemnon. Keir must be with Michaela’s child.

If I know him, he’s already left with the babe, Raphael replied. He’ll be making his way to the Refuge along isolated routes. Michaela would not want her child in her territory when Lijuan’s infected present the threat of a plague.

Will he be safe? He was crossing a massive distance in the midst of a war.

My guess is that he’s traveling alone with the child, Raphael said. He should attract no attention, especially as other noncombatants will be fleeing to the Refuge for safety. And Keir is tougher than he looks—this is not the first child he has carried to safe harbor.

On the screen, Vivek’s bug finally caught sight of Lijuan and Xi. The two stood in a large garden-like square that Elena recognized from her flights over the city. It was a semi-private park created for business workers, a bright green haven in the summer months and a pretty place to catch some fresh air in winter.

Yet today, despite the rich hues painted on the snow by the setting sun, the park was a place of shadows. In the center bustled multiple vampires; they were constructing something out of materials they must’ve brought with them in one of the submarines. “What is that?” She leaned in closer to the screen.

“I recognize it,” Raphael said. “It’s the jade throne from a mountain stronghold Lijuan often used as a retreat. I saw it on a visit with my father.”

“It went missing hundreds of years ago, is considered a lost relic,” Jason murmured.

“Lijuan must’ve put it in storage.” Dmitri scanned the scene in front of them. “It looks like she’s busy for the time being. I’m going to set some things in play. Janvier, Ash.”

The two slipped away with Dmitri. Together with Naasir, the three led the “sneak attack” section of Raphael’s forces. They’d trained multiple small teams in the time since the last battle, and were the reason the city was so well booby-trapped. Venom’s Holly was part of their group.

“I can watch the feeds,” Vivek said. “I’ll send out an alert if I see anything that indicates preparation for an attack.”

“You have more of those bugs?” Illium, having returned from the