Hissing out a breath, his eyes hot red, Riker fisted his hands. She almost wished he’d say something that crossed the line so they could legitimately cut off his head and rid the world of his nastiness, but he just bared his fangs and said, “It’s inside my ribcage, where it belongs.”
“You should try to keep it there.”
An unblinking stare before he turned on his heel and walked back to where he spent his time waiting for Michaela.
“I didn’t know you could be scary enough to terrify genuine psychopaths,” she said to Aodhan.
“Galen made me practice.”
Shoulders shaking at the cool statement, she ate more of the damn nuts.
“Hungry, Elena?” Tasha’s voice, the warrior angel strolling into the room to pick up a grape from the table and pop it into her mouth.
Elena was glad she hadn’t taken a seat at the table. Being seated while Tasha stood would’ve irritated the hell out of her. “All this lounging around looking at art gets tiring.”
Tasha watched her eat a piece of high-fat cheese. “Yes, Lumia is a little too peaceful for me, too.” Shrugging her shoulders, she drew a sword from a thigh sheath and, moving away from the table, swung it through the air.
“Aodhan, will you spar with me later today? I need a little activity to relieve my boredom and Titus’s Mau’lea has already made plans to train with Astaad’s escort.” A glance at Elena. “I know the sword is not your weapon of choice.”
It wasn’t, but Elena was learning. “That’s a heavier blade than I would’ve expected you to favor.” Yes, Tasha was stronger than her, but why go for a heavier blade when a lighter one would use up less strength and get the job done as well?
“It’s what my trainer used,” Tasha replied, sliding the sword back into its sheath. That sheath wasn’t a decorative one—like Aodhan, Tasha was dressed as a warrior, dressed as Elena wished she could dress. “I suppose I became used to it and it is what feels right in my hand.”
“If you two want to spar, I don’t mind,” she said to Aodhan and Tasha both. “Maybe I’ll learn a few new tricks by watching.”
Tasha’s eyes narrowed. “I can’t tell if you’re being gracious, or if there’s a little venom there.”
Swallowing the last bite of a little quiche she’d picked up, Elena said, “Venom sinks into the blood and I don’t want to end up like Michaela one day.” No matter how much Tasha annoyed her, Elena wasn’t going to waste her energy on unnecessary jealousy.
Raphael’s heart was hers. If she ever lost it, it wouldn’t be because of Tasha, but because something had gone catastrophically wrong between her and her archangel. She couldn’t even imagine what that might be.
“I hate it when you make sense, Elena.” Walking to the table, Tasha ate a few more grapes. “Aodhan?”
“Not today,” he replied. “Perhaps tomorrow. Today, Ellie and I were planning to fly to the closest township, stretch our wings.”
Elena frowned inwardly—why would Aodhan give away their plans?
Face brightening, Tasha said, “Do you mind if I join you? I swear I’ll lose my mind if I have to wander one more hallway or speak to one more of these hooded men.” A sneer. “All of them afraid of women and hiding it under the veneer of a ‘brotherhood.’”
Damn it. There she went again, saying something that made Elena want to grin. “Sure, you can come,” she said, since any other response would’ve been odd. “Maybe we should ask Xander and Valerius as well. I know Xander’s definitely bored.”
“I saw the boy in the nearest courtyard,” Tasha said. “I’ll go speak to him. When shall we meet?”
“I need to change,” Elena said, having zero intention of exploring the town while in her Lumia getup. “Say, twenty minutes?”
“Done.”
Elena waited to speak to Aodhan until they were away from the Atrium and headed to her and Raphael’s suite. “Why did you tell her?”
He bent, spoke close to her ear, his breath whispering over her skin once more, the touch of his wing over hers almost familiar. “We may need to go to the town multiple times. It would be highly suspect if it is only the two of us who keep turning up. A group of bored escorts, on the other hand . . .”
Oh. “You’re good at the sneaky stuff,” she said approvingly.
“Jason made me practice that,” he said in the same cool voice as earlier. “It took seventy-five years before he declared I’d be passable as a spy if I didn’t glow in the dark.”
Laughing so hard that her stomach hurt, Elena tried to see if he was joking. “Did they ever leave you alone?” she asked when she could speak again.
“No, no matter how hard I tried.” A smile that held an ineffable joy. “They were always there, Ellie. Constantly hauling me back from the edge of the howling abyss.” He swallowed. “Illium . . . he used to sneak into my house and leave art supplies everywhere, until what could I do but start using them or be buried in them.”
Elena dared link her fingers to his for a second, felt her heart squeeze when he curled his own around hers. “We lucked out with the people who love us, didn’t we, Aodhan?”
His answer was a smile that lit up even the secret-shadowed hallways of Lumia.
* * *
Tasha, Xander, and Valerius weren’t the only ones waiting for them in the courtyard. Titus’s escort, Mau’lea, was also there, as was Neha’s general, Hiran.