Archangel's Sun (Guild Hunter #13)(89)

Sharine watched the child for multiple shifts, with Ozias volunteering to take the risk of infection and stepping in so they had another person in the rotation who could be with the infant without protective gear.

“No child should spend her first days in the world without the comfort of touch,” Titus’s spymaster had said firmly. “I know enough about babysitting after surviving all the children that have been raised in your court, sire, that I’m unlikely to kill the infant by accident.”

Needless to say, Ozias was a most unusual babysitter.

The one mercy was that Sharine had found confirmation in Charisemnon’s journal that the infection set in early and visibly, so the three of them only had a stand-down period of two hours after contact with the infant. After that, they were safe to return to the fight, sure they wouldn’t inadvertently carry the infection to Titus’s troops and staff.

On the evening of the fifth day since the child’s birth, Titus came by with dinner for Sharine and found the child asleep in her crib. As they ate, seated side by side on a sofa, Sharine asked for an update on the reborn situation; her last external shift had been twenty-four hours earlier, when she’d single-handedly saved three ground teams from being overwhelmed by a hidden nest.

Day by day, hour by hour, she was becoming ever more comfortable in her power and better able to direct it. Titus had the strong feeling they’d still only seen the tip of the iceberg—Sharine had plenty more surprises up her sleeve.

His people were over the shock of the Hummingbird not being at all what they’d expected, and were now well on the way to total adoration. Tough, loyal, and newly hard-of-heart Kiama often tracked her down for conversation, Titus’s harried cook somehow had the time to make a “little something” for her each day, and one of his lead vampiric commanders had threatened mutiny if Titus didn’t manage to hold on to her.

“I said nothing when you scared away the others,” India had said with a flash of fangs, “but, sire, I’ll surely rebel if you lose Lady Sharine.”

Tall and heavily built Amadou, a fellow senior commander, had nodded in solemn agreement.

Even Tanae had been moved to say, “I like her.” From his troop-trainer, that was praise unbounded.

“The extermination effort is continuing to pick up speed now that the hunters are out pinpointing nests.” Which was partly why he wanted to talk to her. “We’ve now gone so far out from our initial starting point that it makes no sense for me to fly back each morning, then fly forward again. I’ll be staying in the field for some time.”

“Do you need me to watch the babe full-time?”

“No, you’re too necessary in the field.” Sharine’s reserves were deep, her bolts of power of violent intensity. It had become clear over the time she’d been with them that she was stronger than Tzadiq—and Titus’s second was in the top tier of non-archangelic fighters.

“Do you think she knows she could’ve been a general?” Tzadiq had said to him the last time all three of them had been in the field at once, the pale green of his eyes following Sharine in the night sky as she protected the vampiric troops with precision fury. “People follow her, she has the martial power, and the quick-thinking intelligence.”

“I’ll ask her,” Titus had said, “but can you imagine a world without Sharine’s art?”

Tzadiq had paused to wipe off his gore-encrusted sword. “You’re right, sire. We have enough generals. We have only one Hummingbird.”

Today, however, Titus was forced to ask her to be the general and not the artist. “I need you to fly northward with Ozias’s squadron and two ground teams, clearing any reborn nests as you go. You’ll meet Alexander’s troops at some point, and the group of you can do a final comprehensive sweep of the north to make sure it’s clear.”

He didn’t want to send her away from him, but it was the best possible use of resources. Nala and Zuri also had the ability to fire energy bolts in their arsenal—adding Sharine’s firepower would make the team unstoppable against the numbers of reborn in the north. “Once the north is clear, I don’t have to worry about reinfection from that side.”

He paused, scowled. “Remember—don’t listen to anything my sisters say about me.”

A twitch of her lips, but her gaze was solemn. “What’ll happen to the babe with all three of us gone?”

“It appears she has charmed one of the scientists.” No surprise that—the babe smiled in her sleep and cried but rarely. “Asiah is more than willing and happy to watch the child without protective gear. The little one will be safe and tended while we are gone.”

“Asiah . . . yes, she’s the only one of the scientists I’d trust with her,” Sharine muttered. “She treats her like a baby rather than a science experiment.” Glancing at Titus, she put one hand on his thigh.

The muscle jumped, went rigid, his entire body focused on the heat of her. “Sharine.”

“Take care of yourself, Titus.” It came out an order. “Simply because you’re an archangel doesn’t mean you can go forever without a rest.” Then she leaned in and kissed him, and his abdominal muscles clenched, his pulse staccato.

Breaking the kiss before he could reach for her, she rose. “I’ll see you when our task is done.”