Then the entire team dropped to the bottom of the gorge at dangerous speed. She screamed the whole time not out of fear but in an effort to give the guards sounds to follow, though her pragmatic side told her it had all happened too fast. The guards probably hadn’t even made it to the top of the cliff yet. And there was little chance of anyone else hearing her—almost no one flew this low in the gorge, so low that she could feel the spray of water from the thundering river beneath.
Xi’s men and women had to have been watching her, had to have learned her habits.
Her hard-fought discipline and allegiance to order and routine had been used against her.
Face pressed uncomfortably against the netting, she managed to insinuate her hand down her side to her thigh and pulled out one of her two blades. It was viciously sharp but when she tried to hack at the netting, she made no progress. Metal filaments, she realized. That was why the strands felt like they were cutting into her skin. She wasn’t getting out of this until Lijuan’s people unwrapped her.
She worked to hide her knife again. Since she never practiced in the public training areas, Xi might not be aware that she wasn’t a soft target. If they didn’t search her on landing at Lijuan’s Refuge stronghold, she could use the blades to help in her escape. While not as confident with them as with a sword, she’d been sparring with Venom since his arrival and he’d taught her a few sneaky tricks.
However, as the minutes passed and the terrain changed below her, she realized they were leaving the Refuge. Her heart chilled at the only possible explanation. She was being taken directly to Lijuan’s citadel, a place where she had no friends, no allies, and that was reputedly far from all civilization.
A place where the living were sacrificed, and the dead walked.
5
Naasir caught Andromeda’s scent on the breeze as he went outside, was about to follow it when he saw a small body flying frantically not far from him. Frowning because he knew the cub was far too young to be up so early and because he could smell the acrid bite of fear, he ran after the child and lunged up to catch one small ankle in his grip.
Sam cried out as Naasir drew him down, but then threw his arms around Naasir’s neck, his glossy black curls atumble and his black-tipped brown wings drooping over Naasir’s arm. “Naasir, Naasir, they took Andromeda!”
Naasir went motionless. “Who took her?” he asked the boy.
Chest heaving, Sam tried to get the words out. “An angel with gray and red wings,” he said on a gasp. “I thought it was a game but the angel and his friends wrapped Andromeda up in a net and took her away!”
Naasir had been moving at high speed toward Sam’s home even as he listened to the boy. “Which way did they go?” Only one angel had wings of red-streaked gray and that angel was allied to Lijuan.
Sam pointed, his brown eyes huge. “I could see them even though they went all the way to the bottom where I can’t go. I promise I saw them.”
“I believe you.” The direction taken by the enemy squadron didn’t lead to Lijuan’s Refuge stronghold. It led out of the Refuge altogether.
Blood hot with the need to hunt, to track, Naasir ran through the open door of Sam’s home. The very small cub’s mother was in the kitchen and her mouth fell open at seeing Naasir’s tiny burden. “Sameon! I thought you were still in bed.”
Sam dove into his mother’s arms. “I was going to sit on the cliff and watch Galen’s squadron but then I saw the bad angels take Andromeda. They were mean to her, Mama.”
Hugging her trembling son close and rubbing his back, Sam’s mother met Naasir’s eyes, her own gaze dark with worry.
“I will find her.” With that promise, Naasir raced out and followed Andromeda’s scent to a point on the cliff where it disappeared without a trace. She’d either flown off in an effort to evade Xi and his squadron, or been pushed off.
A few steps to the left and he confirmed it had been Xi who little Sam had seen. The general’s scent was familiar to Naasir after the years Naasir had spent in the Refuge. Xi’s scent, too, disappeared without a trace.
Aware he was racing against time, Naasir ran to the weapons arena where Galen was readying his squadron for an early-morning drill. The weapons-master took his men and women immediately into the air on hearing Naasir’s report, arrowing out on the flight path Sam had indicated.
Naasir didn’t stop. He made his way to Astaad’s Refuge territory and quickly located Dahariel. For the cruel, dangerous angel to have taught Andromeda to fight without ever making any demands on her pointed to a deeper emotional connection than Andromeda realized.
Dahariel was not known for his kindness.
The other man’s gaze glittered with ice on hearing Naasir’s report. “I’ll take my squadron to join Galen’s,” he said, his tone as cold. “You’re certain Sameon saw what he believes he saw? He is only a child.”
“Yes.” Sam didn’t lie and he was clever. “I’ll search the Refuge in case Xi doubled back and hid her here.”
A sharp nod and Dahariel lifted off on powerful wings patterned like those of an eagle, in shades of brown and black. It was possible the aerial pursuit would catch up to Xi and his men—had Illium been here, that would’ve been a certainty. But the blue-winged angel was in New York, his speed unavailable. And Xi had a head start. All he’d have to do to evade detection was take an atypical route or set down in a hidden area until nightfall.
Teeth gritted, Naasir snuck into Lijuan’s Refuge territory. There was no sign of Andromeda. Neither was there any sign of her in the Refuge territories of any of the other archangels. Her scent was freshest at the clifftop and even that had faded by the time he completed his intensive ground search.