Archangel's Resurrection (Guild Hunter #15)(68)

“There’s a reason I’m awake when they’re not,” Zanaya continued before he could tell her that her eyes were once again as they should be, “and I’m not sure it’s a good reason. Especially with these.” She pointed two fingers, angled in a sharp vee, toward her eyes. “That insane monster did something to me. Maybe insurance in case she died.”

Alexander was horrified at the idea that Lijuan could’ve somehow infected Zanaya. “Do you have her voice in your head?” He tightened his hold. “Any urge to do things that you’d never do?”

Hands on her hips, Zanaya stared down at the ground. When she lifted her head at last, it was to shake it. “No, my thoughts are my own.”

“So are your eyes,” he said, finally breaking contact—but only so he could stroke his fingers over the arch of her wings. “The gray has vanished.”

She shivered at the intimate caress before saying, “At least I won’t see her when I look in the mirror.” Biting words, but her expression was taut. “How will I know, Alexander?” A rough question. “What if I am infected with her menace, but in a way I can’t discern?”

“I will be your lieutenant in this watch,” Alexander vowed. “I know you. I’ll tell you at once if you begin to act in ways that are outside your personality or your morals.”

Zanaya had always had a mischievous streak that led her to stir up trouble—but it was never trouble deadly or dangerous or ugly. No, it was the wicked kind that had almost made him burst out laughing at more than one tense meeting of the Cadre.

Zanaya loved to tweak “the general’s” nose.

Now, she pressed her lips together. “I would not have you watch over me, lover,” she muttered. “But let us consider this a battle exigency. It stops the instant we know that I’m myself again.”

Alexander agreed with a nod. “It appears you’ll be ruling the northern half of Africa. Your Nile will welcome back its queen.”

Raising both eyebrows, she said, “The Cadre moves faster than it did in my time.” She shifted to place one hand over his heart before he could reply.

As if she, too, couldn’t bear to be apart.

He closed his hand over hers, spoke through a throat gone rough. “No. Titus has simply made it clear he has no quarrel with another archangel taking over this half. He’s caring for it because there was no other option—but he feels spread thin, believes it shortchanges his people.”

“I knew I liked Titus.” A pause, a tap of her lower lip. “So, how much have I missed this time? Another grandson?”

“It has been but ten years,” Alexander said, his voice ragged. “And how could I father another child when I have touched no woman since?”

Her expression softened into piercing tenderness. “Ah, I’m sorry you had to see me fall, lover.” Fingers touching his jaw. “I didn’t wish to rise until I knew you’d survived the war.”

Chest aching, he wrapped her up in his arms and his wings again. She slid her own arms around his waist, laid her head against his chest. And they just stood there for a long time, in an embrace that healed fractures in both of them.

When cool night winds blew through Alexander’s hair, he looked up and saw that the stars of early evening had begun to appear. Zanaya’s darkness was fading, to be replaced by the natural state of the world.

Zanaya sighed and stepped back.

Fighting his need to hold on, he released her. And picked up the mantle of the Cadre. “There’ll need to be a meeting.”

“Yes. When can it be arranged?”

“A day or two. We’re at peace, so not everyone will be at their strongholds.”

Expression pensive, Zanaya nodded but lines creased her forehead.

“Will you spend the night with me, Zani?” he asked, reaching over to smooth away those lines. “Before the world re-enters our lives?”

They were archangels; it was inevitable.

A soft half-smile that held as much sorrow as joy. “Will we begin our dance again?” For an instant, she appeared tired, looking downward again before she lifted her hand and thrust her fingers through her hair. “Do you never wonder if we aren’t meant to be?”

“No.”

Her lips tugged up. “The general is back, I see.” She went to step forward, then frowned, glanced down one more time. “Look.”

Following her gaze, he saw the bleached bones of a bird, the black hollow of its empty eye socket staring up at them. “Your winds must’ve exposed it.”

“Yes, I suppose so.” Zanaya sounded distracted as she glanced around, as if expecting to see more bones.

“It’s only a single bird,” he reassured her, and when she scowled, added, “Zani, we were all seeing nightmares around every corner for years after Lijuan. To this day, I flinch every time I pass a small child.” He couldn’t forget, couldn’t erase those memories of a scourge so piteous and horrible.

Features stark, Zanaya said, “Oh, Alexander . . .” and came into his arms. “The answer is yes, I’ll lie with you. I need you. I need us.”

Wanting every moment they could steal for themselves, they flew a short distance to a forest verdant with life and devoid of any mortal or immortal inhabitants. The starry night was their ceiling, her bed his wings. A single magical night before reality crashed into them with the sunrise.