Archangel's Sun (Guild Hunter #13)(95)

He couldn’t help his bark of laughter; he did love his sisters.

After a touch more family chatter, including updates on Charo and Phenie, the twins passed the phone to Sharine. As always, the sight of her knocked all the air out of his lungs even as sunshine flooded his bloodstream.

Sharine had become his sun, the star around which he revolved.

The realization still terrified him on a daily basis, but Titus was no lily-livered coward. “I hope my sisters aren’t driving you too mad?”

“Truly, they’re wonderful.” A smile so deep he could almost touch it. “They do adore you, you know. Such praise I’ve heard of your exploits, Titus. If I didn’t know you, I’d think you a god among men.”

He scowled. “I am a god among men.” But he had something far more important on his mind. “Zuri tells me that another week or so and you’ll be back in Narja.”

Sharine inclined her head. “It’ll ease your heart to know that this side of the continent breathes easier. They’ve found hope in the heavy presence of angelic squadrons, as well as the methodical cleanup of reborn nests.”

“Good.” Titus wanted his people to be able to live without fear. “I must continue to fight in the south for weeks to come.” Gut clenched, he said, “Will you be able to stay?”

“No, I must return to Lumia.” No smile now, the remnants of play eclipsed by harsh reality. “All is well there at present, but the world is fragile and Lumia is a symbol. Angelkind needs to see that everything remains stable in that small pocket of civilization.”

Titus had known her answer before he asked; he understood the responsibility she carried on her slender shoulders. “Then I will come to you.” A rough promise. “After this is done, I’ll come to you and we’ll dance in that fire.”

Her eyes glowed from within.



* * *



*

As it was, fate changed their plans six days later.

The team in charge of discovering the secrets held in the body of Charisemnon’s child contacted Titus with the news that they’d solved the enigma of her blood. Aware he could no longer justify leaving the Cadre in the dark, he flew back home at speed and arrived at sunset to find the northern squadrons settling in.

Sharine was in her suite, preparing to leave for Lumia on the dawn.

Taking her hand, the gauntlet around his wrist and lower forearm catching the fading light, he ran the pad of his thumb over her skin. “Sira called you?” Titus had instructed the healer to share all knowledge of the child with Sharine.

Fingers sliding between his, their hands entwined, she said, “Yes. I went down to the isolation ward after my arrival and had a face-to-face chat, was able to view the results. Have you had a chance yet?”

“Yes, it was my first stop.” Titus wanted badly to close the door to her suite, shut out the world, and just drink in Sharine, but he wasn’t Charisemnon, to wallow in his own desires when the fate of the world hung in the balance. “I must call a meeting of the Cadre.”

A fleeting brush of her fingers on his jaw, then they were moving.

Sharine went once more to take a position in a corner of the meeting room, out of sight of the cameras, but he shook his head. “Stand with me. You are my witness to all that has gone before.” No one would dare call him a liar, but given the utter depravity of what he planned to share, there was no reason not to add another voice to his own. It might stop the inevitable wave of disbelieving questions.

In truth, it was all an excuse; he wanted Sharine beside him.

It took several minutes for the entire Cadre to respond. Each and every one of them had faces worn with exhaustion, though Aegaeon’s grew fiery with new energy the instant he laid eyes on Sharine. “Lady mine,” he began.

“You may address me as Lady Sharine,” was the icy interjection from Titus’s side.

He tried not to look smug.

“Caliane, my friend,” Sharine said with unhidden warmth while Aegaeon was yet gaping at her, “it’s good to see you.”

Eyes of intense, pure blue smiled. “Sharine.”

Since Caliane was the last one to join the meeting, Titus decided to begin without further delay. “Our friend Charisemnon left us another gift.”

As they listened, their faces growing angrier and more tense word by word, he told them of the pregnant infected angel—and of the child she’d borne. “The babe is of Charisemnon’s line and she’s typical of an angelic child in every way,” he said before the more hotheaded among the Cadre could explode at the fact he’d permitted her to live. “A perfect little girl.”

Caliane wrapped her arms around her body, her skin suddenly seeming thin over her bones. “She’s a carrier? Did the mother’s infection spread to her child?”

“No. The babe is a miracle.” A treasure undeserving of Charisemnon. “Her blood holds the cure to the angelic infection.”

A roar of questions.

Titus gave as many answers as he could, with Sharine answering an equal number.

“Yes, I was with the squadron that discovered the living infected angel,” she said after Titus told the Cadre of that angel. “He is the test subject for the cure, and he’s showing visible signs of improvement. Titus and I stand witness to that.”