Archangel’s Ascension (The Guild Hunter Series)

Illium’s new territory had countless ancient structures and long stretches of desolate lands, along with the glittering spires of modern cities. What it didn’t have—and that became immediately clear—was a strong sense of cohesion.

This was a territory that had been fragmented for centuries. Some of its people were fiercely loyal to the archangel who’d watched over them in years past, while others were excited to be part of a territory under the control of a new archangel; still others were scared about the same.

Vivek was already making up lists of senior people who could be trusted, and others who had a question mark over them. Anyone associated with Aegaeon, Illium had asked to leave the territory as soon as he arrived. Well aware of the tension between father and son, none had argued, and he’d been sorry to see a number of them go—they were good people.

But even if Aegaeon was a shit father, he was a good archangel overall, and there was too high a risk that his people would continue to be loyal to him. No doubt Aegaeon’s spymaster had sleepers embedded in the territory, but that was to be expected. Dulce had already seen signs of other loyalties in people applying for positions in Illium’s court.

On the flip side, Illium wasn’t exactly blind when it came to knowledge about the other territories, either.

“I’ve already started creating our own spy network,” Vivek had said smugly soon after his arrival. “Jason and I made a deal to pass on anything useful to each other as long as it doesn’t affect the security of our archangels—Raphael knows about it, too. Since I’ve always had my own contacts quite apart from Jason’s, it works. Plus, Kat’s network is vast and labyrinthine—and she likes you.”

The latter was a coup indeed. Lady Katrina was a law unto herself, but from what Illium had seen over the centuries, while she might choose to live in the gray, she’d never once backed anyone who chose to do evil. He also had the feeling that Vivek didn’t grasp the depth of his influence on his lover—because Katrina looked at him the same way he looked at her.

Having decided to set up his temporary base in a tall silver spire that overlooked a sprawling and green city, Illium had acceded to Vivek’s request to take over the basement. “You sure you don’t want more light?”

“No, this is perfect for when I’m in the Spire. I’ll be traveling a lot as part of my duties.” The hunter, lithely muscled as a result of his Guild training, still had sharp facial bones, but was no longer rail thin as he’d been for so many years.

Not only had he put on muscle, but he’d been able to exercise his hunter-born instincts after his spine healed to the fullest extent. “I no longer have to use half my mental strength to contain the urge to hunt,” he’d told Illium at the time. “I never realized how hard I was always working to not give in to the urge—if I had given in while paralyzed, I’d have gone insane. The freedom is dizzying.”

Before Vivek took on the travel duties that were a natural part of a spymaster’s role, however, he had to set up his complex technological network. “We each have our strengths. Tech is mine.”

While Vivek got down to that, and Aodhan juggled myriad duties, Illium had undertaken a flight across his territory. His aim had been to take the pulse of the region, discover its strengths and weaknesses, judge the current state of the population—and let them see that they were now under Illium’s wing.

It had been a long and intensive task.

At last, he stood once again at the top of the Spire—as everyone had taken to calling it—and considered his next move. Situated on a hill, the Spire dominated the landscape. But more importantly, it gave him and his team a clear line of sight in every direction.

He’d learned the value of that in the war against Lijuan, would never forget it.

As it was, the more time he spent in the Spire, the more he liked it. It fit him far better than any of the castles or citadels or palaces in the region. He’d grown into adulthood in a time of considerable change, had helped Raphael’s Tower become the most state-of-the-art court of any in the Cadre. Now, he intended to take that crown for himself.

Already, he had a team working on a system that would create a sonic shield around the Spire in case of attack.

As for aesthetics, the building was sleek and aerodynamic, with the required balconies set into the building itself rather than jutting out. Any railings on the higher floors had already been removed. Cosmetic changes could be made later. First, they had to get the basics right. Not only in the building but in personnel.

Smiling as he saw a clear bullet of a vehicle hover to a stop above the entrance path to the Spire, he flared out his wings and stepped off the edge of the roof.

Zoe was standing on the path by the time he landed, her pack beside her, while the vehicle had taken itself off to the garage under the building. Lean but muscled, her black curls currently contained in two braids, one on either side of her head, she wore rugged pants in a brown fabric that hugged her legs and was likely to be fine armor, along with a simple black vest top that left her arms bare and exposed a strip of her belly.

A metallic tattoo ran down her temple, flowed across her cheek, the bronze and silver of it arresting against the brown of her skin.

Around each wrist was a bracelet of hammered metal, a set that Deacon had fashioned for her on her Making, and that Illium had never seen Zoe without. Inset into the left bracelet was the diamond from Sara’s engagement ring and a shard of dark metal that had once been part of Deacon’s favorite sword, while the bracelet on the right bore a message written in her mother’s curving hand in a code the two had developed when Zoe was a teen.

Illium knew what it said only because Zoe had told him once: Live your wild, baby girl. We love you more than the moon and all the stars. ~ Mom and Dad

Sara and Deacon would be incredibly proud to see who their daughter had become.

“Are my eyes deceiving me”—having removed her sunglasses, Zoe squinted as she looked up—“or is your entire building electrified?”

“Shield midprogress. Sadly the sparks will disappear once the system is up and running.” He held out his forearm. “Welcome.”

Zoe clasped his forearm…and sucked in a breath. “Whoa. You’re waaaay more buzzy than Raphael.”

“You should have seen me right after ascension.” His power had felt as if it floated at the top of his skin, just ready to leap out. “Nice tattoo.”

“Removable—new tech I’m test-wearing for a friend. He wants to see how long it lasts on vampires.” She shifted her head so the metallic colors caught the light. “Neat, huh?”

“Your mom would’ve had a coronary.”

Zoe grinned. “She would, wouldn’t she?” Lifting the bracelet with Sara’s diamond in it, she pressed a kiss to the metal. “Then she’d have researched the hell out of it and come with me while I had it done to make sure they did it right. So, Archangel Illium. In. Sane.”

“You have no idea.” Illium kept being surprised by the new power that danced in his veins. “I’m very happy to have you with me, Zoe.”noveldrama

“A century,” she said, as firm as her legendary mother. “That’s the trial period. If I don’t like it, I go back to being a weapons-maker.”

“Agreed. Your priority task is to build me an armory.” He’d been a first general, could handle strategy and other logistics while she focused on that.

Zoe nodded, all business.

“And by ‘build,’ ” he clarified, “I don’t mean you specifically. Your time is too valuable and I want you to save that energy for the weapons you decide need your expert touch.”

“It’d be too slow if I did it all anyway.”

“You have a ton of buildings to choose from—we’ve acquired this entire area.” He’d made sure any affected residents had been relocated to even better homes in locations they chose because it would’ve been a bad omen to start his reign by kicking people out and leaving them unhappy. “Aside from any personal weapons owned by my squadrons, you’re starting from an inventory of zero.”

Zoe’s mouth fell open, her eyes shining. “Are you serious? All of it?”

“No one’s officially ruled this as one territory for centuries.” Illium shrugged, hands on his hips. “Uram’s armory is long gone, and the archangels who looked after each of the discrete areas have withdrawn their people and weapons. So yeah, all of it.”

Even as her expression turned gleeful, she frowned. “How vulnerable are we?”

“Raphael says the Cadre has an unofficial understanding that it’s bad manners to attack an archangel in the first century of his rule. Still happens now and then, but no one on the current Cadre is out for my blood.”

Aegaeon might be enraged by Illium’s rejection, but he was also too prideful to attack his son—at least at this early stage. “We need to be up and running by the end of that period, but I’d prefer it if we hit an earlier deadline.”

“I’ll have us sorted in a year.” Zoe waved a hand and only then did he notice that her nails were painted a glittering black. “The pretty weapons can wait; we have to be practical. Does Lady Katrina still like you?”

“She’s here, with Vivek—my new spymaster.”

“Well, damn, that should speed up the timeline even further. Woman has connections everywhere even if she hasn’t been in the weapons business this century.” A crisp nod. “I’ll get you up and running. Leave it to me.”

So he did. As he left others to their tasks while being aware of the bigger picture, and keeping his focus on building up their squadrons and ground crews. It wasn’t about readying himself for war, but about having the forces to deal with any uprising in his own territory—especially the vampiric kind.

Illium also made it a point to speak one-on-one with any senior vampire or angel in his territory who wanted to join his units. He did the same with the applicants from outside his territory after Aodhan created a short list.

They’d had a massive influx of applications.

“Color me surprised,” Elena’d said dryly when he mentioned it on a call. “Of course all those people who’ve interacted with you over the years, who know that you’re both smart and fun to be around, want to work with you. Oh, and Jason said he’s hearing courtiers whispering about going to your territory to attempt to catch your eye.”

Illium had groaned. “I’m going to off-load that handling to Dulce.” He had no room in his Spire for courtiers, but some of them could turn vicious if insulted, so Dulce would have to find a way to keep them calm but out of the way.

Dulce rolled her eyes when he warned her what was incoming. “I know how to deal with snotty old immortals. I’ll handle it.”

In better news, a suspicious Navarro had accepted the interim first general position. “Do you think I was born yesterday?” he’d muttered on arrival, even as his eyes scanned the lists of Illium’s current forces. “You have every intention of seducing me into a permanent role.”

Illium had grinned. “Of course I do. You know you’re going to love it.”

Aodhan, as his second, meanwhile, handled all other details of setting up a functioning center of rule and liaised with everyone from Navarro, to Dulce, to their new head of administration—an angel who’d resigned his position in Elijah’s court to join Illium’s.

Vivek had been able to confirm that there were no hard feelings there, the transfer expected, given the age of the angel and the opportunity for a more senior role.

One unexpected but very welcome transplant was Laric, who was now the healer in charge of setting up the infirmary in the Spire, and building up a team around himself. Andreja had come with him, of course, with Navarro rapidly drafting her to a lieutenant role under him.

So it went.

A number of scholars had also relocated to Illium’s home base, their task to chronicle the beginning of his rule. As a favor to Jessamy, Aodhan made sure they had the access they needed without getting underfoot. His parents had actually applied for the post but been declined because their expertise was in a different area of scholarship. However, Menerva and Rukiel were excited to visit once Illium and Aodhan had more time on their hands.

Aodhan’s own chosen center of operations was an entire floor high up in the Spire that offered a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view when the blinds were up. “It can double as your war room,” he told Illium. “For now, I just like the light.”

Aodhan was thriving in that light, angels flying in and out of that floor as he sent them on their tasks, or they reported back. A number still had difficulty looking at him even though the glass was treated so the light didn’t blaze off him, but everyone they’d chosen to join their staff was in awe of his skill.

“This will work,” Illium said after his return from a flight to quell a small stirring of vampires who’d gotten the bright idea that a busy and brand-new archangel meant they could go off the leash and start a bloodthirsty game of hunting mortals without attracting attention.

They had learned differently, as those who’d witnessed their punishmet had learned that their archangel could be ruthless when lines were crossed. Still, Illium knew he’d be putting out such idiotic fires for a while yet. His hold on the territory would be built over hundreds of such interventions and actions that taught his people that they could trust him, look to him for protection.

Fear, too, was an important factor. Like Raphael, Illium didn’t intend to rule with fear. However, he did need young vampires, and any others with violent urges, to dread the wrath of their archangel enough to toe the line. Once things stabilized, Navarro and other senior members of Illium’s team could handle such matters, but for now, it had to be him. He had to personally deal with every incident, burning both his power—and his intention to watch over them—into the minds of the populace.

It was going to be exhausting—but it was exhilarating, too.

He took Aodhan’s hand as they stood on top of the Spire that night, while the stars glittered overhead, and their city sprawled out gently in all directions. The lights were muted, lush green rooftops dominating until they overlooked a thriving low forest.

“Ellie will love it here,” Aodhan murmured, his mind clearly on the same path as Illium’s. “This entire place is like the Legion’s tower.”

“Yes.” Its green heart was part of why Illium had chosen this small city at the center of his new territory as his home base. Built atop an ancient city that had been all twisting lanes, and strange avenues, it had kept that rich depth of character even as it walked into century after century.

Power attracted power, so the city would grow, but he would ensure it never lost itself.

Aside from the Spire, there was a small grouping of high-rises in the distance, but even those buildings had been designed to be nourished by the rain and energized by the sun. That made Illium’s chosen base an anomaly in its hard exterior, but that suited him. No matter how the world advanced, vampires continued to be driven by blood and angels by power.

They needed to respect the Cadre.

A stabbing pain. “I’ll miss making mortal friends,” he said. “I can no longer walk into bars and bakeries and just pull up a chair.” No matter what, however, he vowed in that moment, he would not permit ascension to steal from him the part of his heart that understood and cherished mortals.

Aodhan didn’t tell him that he was wrong, that nothing was stopping him from carrying on as he’d always done. He understood that an archangel occupied a different stratum of existence, that for him to make mortal friends would just put those friends at risk. Instead, he said, “This is only the beginning, Blue. Once you’re settled, your reign solid, that’s when you can start changing all the rules.”

His wing slid over Illium’s.

“Adi?”

“Hmm?”

“You know you’re my consort?”